Question on Germany Itineary

Hi Jill, We did a very similar trip in October 2007, with 10 nights, although we flew into Frankfurt and out of Munich. I'd suggest that, as it wasn't any more $ (for us at that time, check and see for your trip) than r/t Frankfurt. Even if it's a bit more, it saves time and gas not having to "backtrack" to Frankfurt. Also, we had no 1 nighters. Here's what we did: Arrived Frankfurt at 6:30am, drove (and stopped a few times) along the Rhine, visited Marksburg castle and arrived in Cochem (Mosel) around 3pm. Based here for 4 nights. Visited Burg Eltz, Beilstein, Trier and Bernkastel. Drove to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for 2 nights. From here we visited Dinkelsbuehl and Creglingen. Drove to Ramsau (by Berchtesgaden) and stayed 4 nights. Visited Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, Bad Reichenhall, Zell am See and "Mad" King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee. We also spent our last night here, as we had a 3:20pm flight out of Munich. Hopefully this helps you. Paul

Sounds like a bear to me. If you have an early arrival in Frankfurt, Boppard is only a couple of hours if you run the left bank of the gorge, so you could conceivably stop in three towns on the way down the river, but you wouldn't remember much since they'd all blend together. Running the Mosel north bank is slow and if you made only a couple of stops, you wouldn't get into Trier in time to see much. It's worth a couple of days, maybe one and a half. Staufen is at least four hours from Trier and Fussen another four. Since Staufen is rather fifth tier, I'd skip it and go direct to Fusen, but it's still going to take you all day to get there. The advantage is that you'd save one night. It's going to take all day to see both castles and stuff your face somewhere. Salzburg can't be touched in two days. Munich needs three and so does Frankfurt, just to scratch the surface in each. Your route is over a thousand miles, very little of it on freeways. Maybe thirty hours of driving if you're lucky. I might try it in three weeks, but I wouldn't like it. I'd also be missing a lot of good stuff along the way. My cuts, after Staufen. would be the castles (tourist traps) and Salzburg (distance). You'd still have to cut more, but that's as far as I care to go

Hi, It is slow going driving the Mosel itself. We took the highway from Cochem to Trier (a bit over an hour), spent most of the day there, then drove to Bernkastel, walked around, had dinner and then drove back to Cochem. We also drove mostly highway from Rothenburg to Ramsau/Berchtesgaden. This drive was about 4 hours or so. I also agree you have too many places on you itinerary for 10 days. All 1 nighters won't give you any time to see any of the places you are. Paul

Thank you all so much for your responses. I had a feeling we were trying to do too much. Now we have to decide what to cut. I can't cut all the castles, they're my favorites even if they are tourist traps. It sounds like there is a lot to do in Trier. Is it worth the time to see it?. How much time do you need there? Also I've heard Munich is wonderful. All the tourbooks suggest several days. I don't really like the big city scene. Taking that into consideration how many days do you think I really need to enjoy the beer garden, museums and city square.

Hi Jill, To really spend any time in all the places you'd like to see would require twice as much time or 2 seperate trips. Also, flying into Frankfurt and out of Munich makes some of the things more doable, although you'd still need to cut places from your list. 3 nights Mosel, 1 night Rothenberg, 2 nights Fuessen, 2 nights Salzburg and 2 nights Munich before departing. That's still rushed in my opinion. You say you can't cut the castles.... basically, flying into/out of Munich would make the most sense if that's your priority. You could see Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee, Oberammergau, Salzburg and Munich. For this I'd suggest 2 nights Fuessen, 2 nights Mittenwald/Garmisch/Oberammergau area, 3 nights Salzburg and 3 nights back in Munich before departing. It's normal to want to see everything, just not practical. It's better to really see and experience a few places than stop in many places and see and experience little or nothing. Paul

Agree w/ James and others who've said it's too much. You'll be in the car most of the time. And if you use a car at all, I wouldn't take it into or out of Salzburg, or especially Munich, unless Phoenix traffic is fun for you. Staufen really is Nowheresville, a waste of travel time. Instead of this giant circle, I'd suggest a much more modest one. Right now, your plan zooms right past all kinds of scenery, castles, palaces, and interesting sights. Take a little time in the Rhine & Mosel valleys. Rent an apartment for 3-4 nights and do some daytrips. Trier is great. There are of course dozens of real knights' castles here that are around 800-1,000 years old, and you can tour several of them; Burg Eltz (near Cochem) and Marksburg (Braubach) are amazing, and Reichsburg's (Cochem) falconry show is tops. Then start your journey toward the southeast. Stop in at Heidelberg, travel along the scenic Neckar River via Bad Wimpfen, and visit Ludwigsburg Palace near Stuttgart, then move on to Schwäbisch Hall, Weikersheim Palace on the Romantic Road, and Rothenburg. This segment is part of the "Castle Road": http://goeurope.about.com/od/mapsofgermany/l/bl_castlerd_map.htm Hirschhorn Castle outside of Heidelberg, btw, is a great place to stop for a meal - nice terrace dining area overlooking the river and town. Near Rothenburg: Würzburg's Residenz and the Vierzehnheiligen Basilica north of beautifully-preserved Bamberg are amazing; also look into a trip to Nuremberg for some WW II history. Try an apartment for the Rothenburg area for a few days too. Stay in Würzburg on your final night, and you're only 1.5 hours from FRA.

I have done two trips to Germany now. The 1st we did two nights in Ruette, two nights in Nurnberg and two nights in Berlin. With side trips to Rothenburg and Dauchau. Then this time we did two nights in Bacharach, two nights in Trier and two nights in Baden-Baden. With a Rhine cruise, Burg Eltz visit, 1/2 day trip to Luxemborg from Trier (I don't recommend Luxemborg, not much to do there) and a black forest drive from Baden-Baden. Both were jam packed trips but not bad with a two night stay.For the sake of the driver, I recommended at least two nights in every place. I recommend Bacharach for the Rhine area and Crusing the Rhine. Burg Eltz is great even though they are doing some renovations on it right now. Trier is a great place to stop...Don't stay at Hotel Astoria. We had some Customer Service issues here and they don't take Credit Cards at the moment. Reutte, Austria is a great place to stay to see the Ludwig Castles. I recommend Hotel Das Beck. And Rothenburg is a great place to visit. It really only requires a day trip. So you may not need an overnight here.