our itin of 5 days or 1 week on each: arrive FRA, bacharach, colmar (france), salzburg, munich, rothenburg, berlin, krakow (by plane), FRA to fly home. direction of travel looks efficient. found out that at the time we're in munich, oktoberfest is in full swing with exorbitant hotel rates. so had to revise our itin. new itin (# of nights in paren): fly into FRA(1), bacharach(5), colmar (france)(7), rothenburg(5), berlin(7), krakow (by plane r-t, cheaper)(5), salzburg(5), munich(7), FRA(2). that takes us to munich oct 15 - 22. direction looks crazy. pls advise if too crazy. also, will train rides be too expensive? thanks lots.
Posted by
Paradise
7070 posts
FRA (1) Bacharach (5): W/ 5 days you'll want to see the Mosel River as well - 3 days is more than adequate for just the Rhine near Bacharach. to keep you in Bacharach, probably. So plan on 2 nights in Cochem as well. Actually, I would suggest 3/3 - there's no reason to stay at FRA on day 1 since Bacharach is only about 1 hour by train. Colmar (7): Really? Are you seeing the Black Forest during this week? Consider staying near Freiburg in Kirchzarten or some other village where you can daytrip by train around the BF (and to the French border) for FREE (yes, really free) on the Konus Card (not available in Freiburg.) From Breisach at the French border, it's a short and cheap bus ride to Colmar, which you can see on a daytrip. http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus Rothenburg (5): Too long. Are you seeing nearby towns too? R'burg is not well located as a base for travel. Suggest you spend the whole time in Würzburg and daytrip to Rothenburg, Bamberg, Bad Windsheim (Franconian open-air museum) and Nuremberg (Cheap daypasses are available to these places too.) - or spend 1 night in R'burg then 4 in W'burg.
Posted by
OP
Margate, FL, USA
204 posts
thanks russ. isn't it possible to visit cochem from bacharach? and wurzburg and nurnberg from rothenburg? just don't want to pack and unpack every 3 days. thanks.
Posted by
Paradise
7070 posts
It's possible to see Cochem from Bacharach - figure 3 hours round trip by train, however, since Bacharach lies toward the southern end of the Middle Rhine area and is not the best base for Mosel trips. Boppard, a really nice town closer to Koblenz, would be better; you'd be just a tad over one hour each way from Cochem and 22 min. from Bacharach. But using Cochem as a second base allows you to daytrip over to Bernkastel and Trier much more easily. Trier would be close to 5 hours round trip from Bacharach by train. Adorable Bernkastel would require 7 hours. Also, from Cochem you are much closer to Moselkern, the starting point for a walk to Burg Eltz. And Cochem itself is just a delightful place, especially if you stay in/near the old town. Some options there: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/altethorschenkecochem.html http://www.bensbauernhof.com/hausandreascochemmosel.html "and wurzburg and nurnberg from rothenburg?" This is possible too. But there's something about staying in touristy Rothenburg, with all the Schneeballen and tour bus visitors and Käthe Wohlfahrt shops, that begins to grate after a day or so. And if you want to see Bamberg, really the most attractive, interesting and genuinely authentic place in the region, IMO, you'll spend about 2.5 hours each way on the train if you start from Rothenburg. It just ends up being a lot of transit time, which you could turn into more feet-on-the-ground time by staying in Würzburg. I don't like moving every night or every other night. Moving after a stay of 3 days is doable for me. But if you feel you need to stay closer to a week in one spot, I'm sure you know yourselves best.