Hi Everyone, First time travelling to Germany this summer! I'm very excited but need some feedback on my itinerary. I'll arrive in FRA on Fri, June 27th at 10am and depart from FRA on Thurs, July 4th at 2pm. Over the weekend I will be visiting a friend in Munich. I'd like to fit in some day trips and overnights in other towns. I get stuck planning the end of my trip when I start heading back to Frankfurt to catch my afternoon flight. Here's what I have so far. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! 6/28- Land in FRA, hop on train (Bayern-ticket?) for day trip to Rothenburg ob der tauber, train to Munich in the evening 6/29-6/30- Munich sightseeing 7/01- Neuschwanstein & Linderhof Royal Castle and Oberammergau Tour from Munich (Grayline); Overnight in Munich 7/02- Travel to Salzburg, explore, and stay overnight 7/03- Salzburg to Würzburg. (Is there time to visit another town en route?) Overnight in Würzburg 7/04- Direct train from Würzburg to FRA
7 days (including jet-lagged arrival day), Rothenburg, Munich, castles, Salzburg, Würzburg. I'd call that pushing it, particularly the first day. FRA-Rothenburg odT-Munich using a Bayern-Ticket. Yes, you can use a Bayern-Ticket for this trip, but the first part, FRA-Kahl, is not in Bavaria. You will have to purchase, additionally, a local, RMV (Frankfurt metro) ticket to Kahl an Main; you can use the Bayern-Ticket from there. FRA Regionalbhf to Rothenburg - 3¾ hours. Rothenburg-Munich - 3¼ hours. Seven hours of travel plus time in Rothenburg, after flying trans-Atlantic. Painful! I would consider 2 days a bare minimum to see things in Munich. Yes, you can do Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Oberammergau in a day using the bus tour, but you have to be on their schedule. You'll probably have to give up thoroughly seeing some things (esp. Linderhof, where I spent 6 hours) on their schedule. Salzburg to Würzburg takes 4-5 hours by express train, over 6 by the regional trains available with a Bayern-Ticket. If you want to see anything in Würzburg (Residenz or Marienberg, not both), you probably don't have time to stop anywhere else. I'd suggest adding some days. You'll spend the same for airfare whether you stay one week or two. Make it worth the cost by staying longer. What time do you have to be back at FRA for your flight? 11 AM? Using a regional train (Bayern-Ticket) takes close to 4 hours. How early do you want to leave Würzburg? Here I would suggest your getting a non-refundable, advance purchase Saving Fare ticket (19€ up) for an express train that goes directly from Würzburg Hbf to Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbahnhof.
You can't use a Bayern-Ticket from Frankfurt airport to RodT because Frankfurt is in Hessen, another state (land). What do you want to do in Würzburg? That might affect how much time you have to add to the only 2 hour train trip. Shame you will miss all the cool things in Frankfurt, the town. It is 90 minutes on a fast train from Würzburg Hbf to the airport in Frankfurt. You will want at least 3 hours for check-in at the airport.
Thanks so much for the feedback. I can see now that I've packed WAY too much in my short visit. I will axe Salzburg :-( I think it'll make more sense to head north up the "Romantic Road" Tuesday-Wednesday from Munich and catch my flight in Frankfurt. Thanks again!