Rhine/Southern Germany

with 7 days, may I suggest flying into Frankfurt. Rent a car and drive straight to Rothenburg. Stay two nights. Drive to Munich stopping at whatever you want on the way. Spend the rest of your time in Munich with day trips to Fussen and Salzburg. And fly home from Munich. I don't know much of anything about Obgam? So that is why I didn't include it.

I suggest the car only because I think driving on the Autobahn is a great experience. It was easy. I thought it made Rothenburg easier to access and we liked stopping at other places along the way.

OH OH OH - but we had a nightmare of a time returning our car to the munich train station. So if you do, find out exactly WHERE to return the car. Or return it during office hours when someone can help you drive it to its location. We circled the train station for almost two hours looking for car rental return. Ended up parking it someplace random in the train parking lots and dropping the keys in the dropbox.

In 7 days, I would probably do either Bavaria/Tyrol or the Rhineland, but not both. Perhaps in Bavaria, spend a few days in Munich, then pick an Alpine town (Garmisch-Partenkichen, Mittenwald, Oberamergau, Fuessen, Berchtesgaden, etc.) as a base to explore the region. Why Rick chose to focus on Reutte as a base is beyond me. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing really to distinguish it from anywhere else in the region either.

If I had two weeks, I would do both SE Germany area (Munich, Rothenburg, Salzburg, and the Tirol) and the Rhein/Mosel/Trier area, but I think it is a little too much for 7 days. Save the Rhein/Trier for another trip and exploit Bavaria/Tirol/Salzburg. Spend a few days in Munich, do Salzburg as a day trip, make overnight trips to Rothenuburg and the Tirol.

All this is easily and far less expensively accessible by train.

You might consider taking the train from Munich to Oberammergau. Linderhof can easily be done from Oberammergau in a day by bus, then go by bus to Füssen, see the castles, take the bus to Reutte, then come back by train through the Tirol (Ausserfernbahn) to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, then to Munich. It is also easy to get from Füssen to Pfronten by bus. I'd spend a night there. The train from Pfronten to GaP goes through Reutte.

Thanks so much for the replies!!!

I'm thinking it's nice to start in a smaller place,

How about this idea:

Rothenburg 2.
Oberammergau 2.
Munich 3.
(With daytrip to Salzburg)

Check the school vacations for the states you are going through. This will jam up the roads nicely.
Nothing like spending hours of vacation time sitting in a traffic jam. If I was visiting a new country, I would feel like I was missing half the scenery by having to concentrate on the road, instead of relaxing in my seat watching the mountains and forests and castles go by. You can pretty much get anywhere by train in Germany.
http://www.holidays-info.com/School-Holidays-Germany/2009/school-holidays_2009.html

Just thought I would mention that in Germany it is much less expensive to rent a car in one location and drop it off in another city. In the US, there can be quite a penalty for doing so. We picked our car up in Frankfurt and left it at Mannheim and I think the charge was $50. DITTO re: finding out where to drop the car. At the Mannheim rail station, there was no obvious rental car parking lot, nor in the terminal was there a rental car desk. It caused quite a panic upon arrival at the rail station, and with speaking almost no german and being taken by surprise that there was no obvious HERTZ lot or desk, it was not fun. So I agree, find out EXACTLY where to leave the car & keys.

I'm getting close to deciding to fly in/out of Munich. That way if we do rent a car for the first portion: Bavaria/Tirol, we would know where to return it.

I'm also thinking of skipping Rothenburg, and sticking closer to Munich/Salzburg area.

Those that have been to Rothenburg, am I making a mistake to skip it? (Lots of people loved it, but it didn't sound as interesting to my husband.)

Also, are all the "castles" the 1800's variety? Or are there any more ancient nearby? The ruins near St. Goar and also Berg Eltz sounded very appealing to me. So I'm sad to miss those as well.

It's tough trimming the itinerary!

Thanks everyone, for your great input. You've been so helpful.

Linderhof and Neuschwanstein are definitely late 1800s castles. However, Hohenschwangau is a bit older, but not much. Hohenschwanstein was built over the ruins of a much earlier castle. Ehrenburg, outside of Reutte, and Falkenstein, outside Pfronten, are much older ruins. Both are a hike from town.

A more accessible castle is the one at Burghausen (www.burghausen.de) east of Munich on the Austrian borger. This castle, started in the 12th century, is the longest fortification in Europe. Burghausen Bahnhof is 2 hours from Munich (change in Mühldorf); the castle is a local bus trip from there. The whole journey can be done as a day trip with a Bayern-Ticket.

If you want to see which castles to go to, here is the website. Take your pick.

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/objects/as_joh.htm

As to moving from one city to another to stay overnight, if there is a place where you want to stay, then do it. It is not that much of a hassle to move from one hotel to the next. It takes me about 15 min. to pack, another 5 to check out and then move on. Believe me, if I only had 7 days vacation to see Germany or any other country, I would not be wasting it laying around in bed, sleeping in. It is exciting to travel around, and it is fun to see all these new sights. I sleep and recover when I get home.

It is tough trying to figure these schedules out, and always hard to cut something you were looking forward to. Having been in this area a few times, I would divide my time between Munich, Salzburg, and the castle area. But your alternative of Rothenburg, Munich, and the castle area would also be fun. (I'm not much help here, am I) Rothenburg is a wonderful, quaint town and it is fun to spend a day and one night there. (The watchman's tour is wonderful) It is also very "picture perfect". Salzburg has great sights, is located close to some wonderful Alp scenery, and you could easily spend 3 nights there. With the time you have, I would not try more than 3 places. I also would not base in Munich and try to see the others from there. I try to minimize one night stays, but I also like to stay in an area that I am sightseeing in. Salzburg at night is beautiful!!

Jo's suggestion about checking the school holidays is a good one. We were visiting family near Frankfurt a couple of years ago and drove down to Austria for a week. The drive down and back was a nightmare. From Mannheim to Salzburg should have been a 5 hour trip but took 7 hours with the traffic. Coming back was worse -- 11 hours. With a 3-year-old. It was like Atlanta rush hour almost the entire way (being from Athens, thought you might have some experience with that).

Also check which days you'll be driving. We were going back and forth on Sundays, which we were told would be easier since trucks aren't allowed on the autobahn those days. I think everyone in Holland heard that, too, and all decided to go camping.

Oops, forgot to mention the time of year we were there. It was late July/early August.

If you stay on the Rhine or the Mosel River, you can use the river boats to visit some of the smaller towns; you can also rent a bike and bike one way, then take your bike on the boat for the return, or vice versa. Cochem, Germany makes a good base for the Mosel area.

From my Architecture History classes, I'm aware of the difference between the "real" castles, and those built in the 1800's.

Which Rhine castles are your favorites? (I don't think we'll make it up there this trip, though. ) : (

Any suggestions for old castles or ruins in Bavaria/ Tirol?

current working itinerary:

Ehenbichl, Austria (Fussen area) 2 nights.

Hall in Tirol 1 night.

Salzburg 2 nights.

Munich 2 nights.

The pitfalls of email communication! I was worried about how my reply came across as well. I sent you a private message after! (click your profile to find it, I think...)

I would love to see Berg Eltz! Sounds great from the show and books I've seen.

I think many people want to see a more "real" castle. But our whole fascination with castles is a very "romantic" notion, much like the architectural movement from the 1800's. : )

Thanks for being so kind.

Alyn, I have been to all the places you mention and drove it all. I would fly into Munich and if you rent a car do it from the airport which is easy to return to. If you rent,get a GPS because Munich is a pain to drive even with a real good map. Lots of construction and one way streets which some maps didnt show. I would go to Fussen and do the castles there in one day. If you get there early you can see both castles and Marys bridge in 5 hours. Ruette is a 20 minute drive south and you could hike up to the castle there in the afternoon if you get an early start to your day. If you stay in Fussen at Suzannes B+B she is an American married to a German and has lived there for 30 years. She has maps and tourist info and tells you all the secrets to driving the area. She has a one day drive that shows you how to see Linderhof,Weiskirche and Obberammergau all in a one pleasant day drive. The castles and the drive for us was a busy 2 days but was awesome. Hall is about 3-4 hrs from Ruette on beautiful small highways. An afternoon in Hall to see the city center and go up the mountain is sufficient. Salzburg is an easy drive from Hall and was the best part of all trips I have taken to the area. You can see the town and castle in one day and then the absolutely beautiful countryside in another day and then spend the last 2 in Munich. A night walk in Salzburg is beautiful. If you have to skip anything I would drive from Ruette to Salzburg in one day which is easy giving you 2 in Munich and 2 in Salzburg. Fussen is much more fun than Hall. Returning the car to the airport is much easier than in town. This itinerary is also very easy using buses and local trains and might be cheaper and less stress than driving. Have a great trip and always plan to return because once you've been there you will go back. The Rhein can be your next trip adventure. It is an easy trip from the Rhein down to the Swiss Bern Oberland. Its the most fun and beautiful hiking Ive ever done. Happy travels

We rented a car in Germany and thought it was a lot of fun - as long as you have a GPS. I know some people may disagree, but I would skip Rothenberg. I imaged a small, quaint walled city, but what I experienced was a lot of tourists and not at all what I had pictured. I loved the Rhine Valley. However, I liked staying in St. Goar where you could overlook the river. I would recommend Hotel Hauser - and ask for a balcony. Castle Katz and the town of St. Goarhausen is lit up and night. You can sit on your balcony or stroll along the river watching the boats and barges. It's quite captivating.

Enjoy your trip!