Looking for suggestions--Germany

Salzburg to Trier is going to be a long haul. Your best bet is to book on the Bahn website well in advance (from 92 days), and get a Saving Price ticket (from €29/P) from Salzburg to Trier. It allows you to use express trains. In 2004, I spent 5 nights on the Rhein based in Boppard. I picked Boppard because I got a really good deal on a Privatzimmer there, but the riverfront hotels are pretty pricey. There was an RE directly from Boppard to FRA. I believe that RE now stops in Oberwesel, as well. If you go from St. Goar or Bacharach you probably have to take an RB (called an MRB) to Oberwesel (or Bingen or Mainz depending on schedule) and change to the RE from there. The RE, being a regional train, goes into the Regionalbahnhof at FRA. You just come up the escalators, and you are in the departure hall of Terminal 1.

My first question is your order of visit. Why not start in Salzburg, then head to munich to avoid backtracking? Salzburg to Trier is pretty much crossing Germany, so I would break that up as much as possible. Rothenburg is great, I definitely recommend a stop for a couple of nights. I assume that the King's Castles are on your itinerary (day trip from Munich?). If not, I'd add them for sure.

I would probably cut Salzburg off of this trip and find a stop in between on the way to the Rhine. You could put Rotheburg in here. The amount of time you'll spend traveling is going to be quite long, especially if going by train. My other question is why 4 days in Munich? Are you planning on day tripping to the castles from there?

Thanks for the info on the trains. Also, I've thought about starting in Salzburg but so far the best prices, airline-wise, have been to Munich. We haven't ruled that out. We are looking to visit Dachau and the castles so we figured we'd stay 4 nights in Munich so we'd have time to take in the city along with some day trips. My husband really wants to do Salzburg so that'll be hard to cut out since we'll be so close.

Hi, My suggestion for a logical order for your intinerary would be: Fly to/Arrive Munich airport and head directly to Salzburg: Salzburg - 2 nights back to Munich - 4 nights Rothenburg ob der Tauber - 1 night Mosel (Trier, etc.) - 2 nights
Rhine - 2 nights Fly out of Frankfurt IF you didn't "need" to overnight in Salzburg, you could add a night in Munich and see Salzburg as a day trip from Munich. This would also allow you to add a night to one of your other stops on your trip. Just an option. Personally, we love Salzburg and would probably do the 2 nights there. Paul

Saltzburg is awesome. Don't cut it out. I agree with not having to stay there though. It's very close to Munich you could for sure day trip. The Rhine and Mosel are so close you don't need to stay in both places. We stayed in St. Goar and it's close enough to do all the castle towns nearby.

I really like Salzburg, so I definitely wouldn't skip it, but it can be a day trip from Munich. Then, if you want to see more, you can always plan on coming back some day :) I would make the stop in Rothenburg for the break between Munich and Trier. Your trip sounds great-I love all of those places!

I would recommend spending at least one day seeing Frankfurt. It turned out to be my favorite on my trip to Germany. One day in Trier and I felt I saw most all of it. Can't imagine Bacharach or St. Goar for 3 days. I had 5 days in Frankfurt and didn't exhaust its resources - though one day was a trip to the small, picturesque town of Buedigen (probably misspelled). Of all the towns in the Rhine/Mosel area, Monschau was by far the most charming.

Don't overlook the fine Roman museum in Cologne if you're there. Also, there are tiny fragments of Rome all over the city. Check on the status of the open-to-view archaeology dig near the City Hall. But there's nothing like the Amphitheater and the Porta Nigra in Trier. However, visiting Trier is not like visiting Rome. After you've seen the few big monuments, well, it's off to Karl Marx's house or the beer hall ... But the Mosel River is just beautiful, if without the Rhine's castles. The Mosel is better for biking than for boating.

I like Paul's suggested itinerary. Salzburg is one of may favorite places in Europe - we've been 3 times, and if You're husband is looking forward to it I think it would be a shame not to spend at least 1 night there. On our first big trip to Europe we spent 4 nights in Munich and 2 in Salzburg. For us - we would have been happy with 3 in Munich and 3 in Salzburg. We're planning on seeing Trier as a day trip from Cochem on our next trip. I would think you could easily enjoy 2 days each on the Rhine and the Mosel.

If you go directly to Salzburg (you probably have to fly into Munich and take the train) and then come back to Munich, Munich to Rothenburg is about 3½ hrs by regional train and you can do it with a €29 Bayern-Ticket. Leave Munich at 9:35. and you can be in Rothenburg at 1 PM. That will give you some time in Rothenburg that afternoon, because the next day's trip will still be a long one. With an advance purchase Saving Price ticket, for as low as €49, you could stay in Rothenburg until noon (12:06) and use express trains (ICE, IC) to get to Trier by 7 PM, or leave Rothenburg an hour earlier and get to Trier before 5 PM. "Can't imagine Bacharach or St. Goar for 3 days." No, but in 2004, I based in Boppard (4 days) and spent one day touring Braubach and the Marksburg, another day in Bacharach, St. Goar (Rheinfels), and Oberwesel along with a K-D boat ride, and another day in Koblenz and Deutsches Eck. The last day I just spent in Boppard looking at the town, wall ruins, a visiting neighboring towns. So, 3 days in just St. Goar and Bacharach might be overkill, but there is much more to see on the Rhein.

"The Rhine and Mosel are so close you don't need to stay in both places." Probably true for many itineraries, but it's not easy to get from one place to both Trier and to FRA easily and quickly. For example, if you use Oberwesel, you're only one hour from FRA by direct train, but you're 2.25 hours from Trier. It's probably best to pick one spot for the bulk of your Rhine/Mosel time - Cochem gets you to Trier in under one hour, to Braubach (Rhine) for Marksburg Castle just over an hour, and maybe 1:20 to St. Goar (Rhine). Cochem is also just a few minutes from the Moselkern stop for Burg Eltz Castle. And Cochem itself is a true delight. Then spend your final night at a hotel near the Mainz train station and take the S-Bahn to the airport in the morning (25 min.) It's only 20 Euros/day for a daypass (mini-group ticket) that gets you from Cochem over to the Rhine, around, and back: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/leisure-ticket/ The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (daypass) works too and gives you a broader area of travel; use it to travel to Mainz on your final day. It's 24 Euros for 2: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/

Salzburg is incredible! Please don't cut that out of the itinerary. And make sure to see Burg Eltz - I thought I had found Camelot!

Travel paces are pretty individual but this trip would cover too much ground for me in the projected time. The long legs would consume too much time. Salzburg to Rothenburg is about 5-6 hours depending on how much your are willing to spend on the train. Rothenburg to Trier is ~6-8hours, also depending on cost. That is a good part of two days of sight-seeing. I have visited and enjoyed all these places but would cut something to better enjoy the rest. Quickie stops do not work for us. I would not day trip to Salzburg as the city is so beautiful in the evening, maybe the best part of our visits there. Trier was worth two days to us. In your itinerary, you would lose the first day to getting there. We spent 8 nights on the Rhein/Mosel in May 2009 and felt that we were rushed. Our pictures: http://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Germany-2009 Plan 2 trips;) Regards, Gary

Thank you for all of the tips and suggestions--much appreciated. Hoping airfare goes down--also need to do some studying on the German train system. Looks like they have some good deals--just need to learn more about the different types of tickets. We've traveled by train in previous European trips but seems like there are more options here. Thanks again.