need help on itienerary for Switzerland, France/Germany

With less than 2 weeks to go you may have to settle for the also runs in the Berner Oberland, if any are left, in terms of hotel. You won't be able to park in Wengen, you need to park down at Lauterbrunnen and take the train. Luzern will be difficult with a car. Where do you intend to stay? The boat on Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstaettersee) is next to the station, an easy bus goes to the Transport Museum, Titlis and Rigi are best reached by train. Spiez is extremely hilly. You can catch a boat from there to Thun and/or Interlaken. The last bit on the Thunersee boat to Interlaken is in the canal. We much prefer the Brienzersee boat and lake. The boat on the Brienzersee goes from the Interlaken Ost station (the same station for the Lauterbrunnen Valley) while the Thunersee boat ends up at Interlaken West. Its a bit of a walk between, or 5 minutes by train. It is neat to see the vineyards along Lac Leman (Lake Geneva) but I think that the vineyards in Alsace are more fun to drive in. Lausanne is easy by funicular and bus; driving can be challenging. If visiting Gruyeres if you like chocolate the Callier factory tour at Broc is very good. We liked the show dairy at Gruyeres too. Both Gruyeres locations are easy by car. Its not clear where you are turning your car back in. Beware huge drop charges if you don't return it in the same country as you hire it in. If you get your car at the French side of the airport it is unlikely to have the Mandatory Swiss Vignette which allows you to drive on main roads in Switzerland. It will cost you CHF40 at the border. If you try to avoid it expect a large on the spot fine when caught. ... con't...

... continued ... What route do you propose to Fuessen? If you go around the east end of the Bodensee (Lake Constance) you will need a €7,90 Austrian Vignette. Unless you intend to stop part way its a long drive Wengen to Fuessen. The Alcase wine route is easy by car. I'm just looking at some pictures on my wall. The villages are - the only way I can describe it - quaint. I'll be there next month. I will also spend quite a lot of time in the Schwaebische Alb and Schwartzwald, both of which I commend to ypu. That Schloss Lichtenstein looks wonderful. We will be in Tuebingen so being just down the road we will definitely stop in. Thanks for that lead.

Yes, all that Swiss travel plus Alsace plus Füssen (these are palaces, really, not castles) makes for quite a bit of driving. You could head across the border from the Alsace and check out some palaces and real castles there. Any of the ones on this map of southwest Germany (and on the scroll down list) would be much easier to reach. http://www.schloesser-magazin.de/en/Monuments/237469.html

I can only speak to the Alsace wine route. The scenery is beautiful, there are wonderful villages to explore, and the wine is fantastic.

If the OP wants to see palaces (N'stein and Hohenschwangau in Füssen are palaces) she can do that as I outlined above without all the ground travel. She can see castles there too. But palaces and castles are different. Scholars don't normally label either Hohenschwangau or N'stein, the main attractions in Füssen, as "castles" - they lack the fortifications that are a prerequisite for using this term. Sloppy language use often overextends the base meaning of "castle" to other structures and abounds in countries like the USA that have no castles. Here, a man's home is his castle. But it's easy to find out what the core meaning of "castle" really is if you go online. "A large building or group of buildings fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and in many cases a moat." "A castle (from Latin castellum) is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified..."
"a large building, typically of the medieval period, fortified against attack with thick walls, battlements, towers, and often a moat..." "The Bavarian Department of State-owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes" calls Neuschwanstein a "Schloß" or "palace" - not a "Burg" or castle: "Willkommen in Schloss Neuschwanstein" http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

You will not regret including the Alsace region in your itinerary.
It is far from bland. The villages of Kayserburg and Riqhweir are well worth your time as is Strabourg.

I think the area of Fussen is well worth the drive, especially if you break it up, and will give you lots of diversity on the trip. However, I love driving through the countryside of Germany and stopping to explore whenever I see something intriguing. I loved N'stein and don't really care if it is old, or new or a castle or a palace .... I had a great time there and I thought it was stunningly beautiful. I, like most people, think it looks like what I imagine a castle would look like (Cinderella's Castle) but if the scholars are correcting me, can I just call it a building? The Lake of Constance is also a beautiful area as someone else suggested.

Nigel - Just to clarify what we have planned so far. 1. Pick up and dropoff of car at Mulhouse EuroAirport. 2. Drive to Luzern and stay at Hotel des Balances for 4 nights 3. Drive and park at Lauterbrunnen and take train to Wengen. Not sure if there is an alternative to get to Wengen such as a gondola or cable car. 4. Spend three nights at Beausite Park Hotel in Wengen. 5. Drive to and stay in Spiez at th Strandhotel Belvedere for 2 nights to give us time to explore both Lake Thun and Brienz. 6. Drive to and stay at Hotel Angleterre in Lausanne for 3 nights, visit Vevey, Gruyeres, Chateau de Chillon. At this point, I could not decide where to go from here considering that I have to get back to Mulhouse EuroAirport for our return flight. We would very much like to visit Colmar, Strausbourg and Nancy but was not sure how many days we needed for this considering the drive time. We presently have a reservation that can be changed at the Best Western Hotel Le Schoenenbourg in Riquewihr for 5 nights. Should we change it to 4 nights and spend to 2 nights in Nancy and 2 nights in Strasbourg? We plan to come back another time to visit Germany and give it all the time it deserves. I will defenitely keep everyone's advice for our future trip. Thank you all for the great information. Would greatly appreciate hearing from anyone who can advise how to include Nancy and Strausbourg in our itinerary. Should we cut down the number of nights in Riquewihr and spend 2 nites in Nancy, 1 nite in Strausbourg and last night in Mulhouse to catch flight home the next day? We need to be at the airport approximately 9:30 a.m. to return car and get to gate on time. Thank you, all, for taking the time to help us plan a great trip.
Maxine

Colmar and Strasbourg are only about an hour apart if you don't stop. Nancy is maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours from Strasbourg? (I just did that drive!) There are of course tons of villiages and things to see inbetween all these places. You'll have to figure out what is most important to you to see. That said, Nancy is a fantastically beautiful and fun city that never gets any press. It's also about 45 minutes from Joan of Arc's birthplace and some other historical sites connected to her. Just throwing that out there. Nancy also isn't too far from Verdun. I shouldn't be giving you more suggestions, though, there's already enough for you to see without going further afield! That said, there's not a ton to do in Nancy so if you're driving, one night is probably fine. You can see the most beautiful squares and some of the architecture and take in a museum in that time. If you can schedule it so you're in Nancy on a Friday night, be sure and catch the light show at Place Stanislaus, it's amazing. Strasbourg can also be seen in an overnight on a driving trip, although I'd prefer two nights and maybe venture out to one of the villages on the wine route. Both Nancy and Strasbourg are relatively affordable (esp Nancy) and hotels are cheap and easy to get. Check booking.com now to get some good rates.