Would love some feedback on our plans and some hotel reservation suggestions too. Traveling in Sept with 9 people - 7 adults and 2 children (12 and 2). Will be spending first part of the trip staying with relatives then venturing out on our own. The more nights we can stay in one place and still conveniently see the things we plan to see the better - that way we aren't constantly packing and unpacking all of our stuff. Thanks in advance for your opinions!! Friday, – Land at 7:20AM; Family visits, maybe see downtown Frankfurt in the evening Sleep at Family's House Saturday – Hahn AFB, Traben-Trarbach, wine tour, Rhine on Fire at night in St Goar Sleep at Family's House Sunday – Dahlheim, Burg Eltz, Koblenz Sleep at Family's House Monday – Colonge or Frankfurt and anything else we missed Sleep at Family's House Tuesday – Heidelberg, maybe Stuttgart, drive South need to book hotel somewhere between Neuschwanstein Caslte and Zugspitze? Wednesday – Neuschwanstein Castle need to book hotel Thursday – Zugspitze need to book hotel Friday – Eagle's Nest need to book hotel Saturday – maybe Salzburg? need to book hotel Sunday – Dachau, dinner out at Beer Tent/ Festival Grounds Hotel booked Monday – Oktoberfest
*Hotel booked Tuesday – Flight leaves at 12:15
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I don't think you need a hotel between Frankfurt and the Bavarian Alps. Even with a stop in Heidelberg and bad traffic (which you will almost certainly hit at some point), the entire day's drive time should total less than 5 hours. September is a great month for the Alps, but even in this month, you can't count on the weather to cooperate. Here's what I would recommend- stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen after Frankfurt ( Gasthof Fraundorfer is a fun choice). If Wednesday has good weather, use it to ascend the Zugspitze. If it's overcast or raining, use that day for Neuschwanstein, which is less than an hour's drive away. Consider the same strategy for Salzburg and Berchtesgaden. Pick one for your base, and use your first good weather day for Kielsteinhaus (sorry, pet peve of mine... I refuse to call it the "Eagles' Nest", because that was the name of an entirely separate Führer HQ near Frankfurt). Salzburg and Berchtesgaden are very close together. You can easily visit one from the other, especially with a car. Köln is very easy to reach via Frankfurt, both by car and ICE. But is it worth it? To me, Köln is like a less attrative version of Frankfurt (a vastly under-rated city, in my opinion). There's so many other worthwhile destinations within an hour of Frankfurt that a trip to Köln seems unnecessary. You have the stunning Odenwald region to your south, the Taunus mountains to the north, Wiesbaden, and Mainz just to the west, and dozens of attractive smaller towns in the Mittel and Nord Hessian countryside a little further north. But, since you're staying with family, why not get some more ideas from them?