Romantic Road Drive

Hi Monica,

We did a similar trip in Oct. '07. Depends on your interests of course. Is that 4 days/3nights or 4 nights? The Romantic Road isn't romantic, by the way but we loved Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Two nights and a full day here is good. While Dinkelsbuehl was nice, it didn't compare to Rothenburg in my opinion.

While I'm not really answering your question.... a suggestion would be if you have 4 nights, from Frankfurt drive to the Rhine and spend 2 nights (try to see Marksburg castle) and then 2 nights in Rothenburg (be sure to take the Nightwatchmans Tour). You could then drive from Rothenburg to Munich in just a couple of hours.

I think Salzburg is certainly worth seeing. Two nights and a full day would be good for Salzburg.

www.marksburg.de

www.nightwatchman.de

We have some photo's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

Paul

I can't comment on the Rhine and Romantic Road part since i am going there myself next summer. You could stop in Dachau to tour the concentration camp on your way to Munich. Salzburg is definitely worth a detour, it deserves a full day. You might want to compare car vs train prices, since these towns are all easily reached by train.

"what cities should we pick around the romantic road. We are planning around 4 days of driving."

Do you plan to stop in Rothenburg and go all of the way down the Romantic Road to Fuessen? That will take a lot of the four days.

In 2007 I did the Romantic Road from Wieskirche to Wuerzburg in five days, all with public transportation (a car is not really necessary,and an unnecessary expense, in Bavaria). I spent a lot of time in towns along the way. My best suggestion would be Noerdlingen. It's a lot like Rothenburg, with a mostly intact wall with a Wehrgang you can walk on, but much less touristy. Other than that, interesting, but not essential towns, Feuchtwangen, Donauwörth, and Landsberg, maybe Augsburg.

Wuertzburg (thanks Lee) is one of my favorite stops on the Romantic Road. It's a good place to start.

Rothenburg (thanks again Lee) is another good stop.

We also visited Dinkelsbuehl and Noerdlingen.

Each stop has its charms. Whichever stops you decide on. Follow the signs to the center, park, visit the TI, then decide what you want to see.

Monica, I would agree with the towns mentioned above. I would second Augsburg. I would recommend saving time to go to Fuesen to tour the castles and perhaps drive through Oberamergou on your way to Munich. Yes, Salzburg is worth a stop. BUT, save plenty of time, at least 3 days, for Prague. In our opinion, Prague is the most beautiful city we have seen - above London, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Florence, Vienna, Salzburg, and even Venice. Wonderful architecture at every turn.

My wife and adult son flew into Frankfurt, then did a 4 day drive to Munich for Octoberfest, meeting another son. By suggestions from this site we stopped at Bamberg, Wurtzberg and Rothenberg on our way to Munich. Munich two days (suggest Mike's Bike tour) while in Munich. We headed to Salzburg for a day and wish we stayed longer. I can't describe the beauty of that area.
Following the Romantic highway is a bit confusing. A GPS keeps you honest but the roadside signs do not say which direction you are headed. Stopping at a spot then following the signs could send you back to where you just came from.
As you are planning for Bavaria, we are now planning to return to our favorite city Amsterdam, then onto Bruge. Keep an eye on this site for we got many good suggestions for our recent trip.

Thanks all for your suggestions! Keep them coming.

Mike, will definitely stay tuned... and we are pretty much neighbors I just noticed.

I drove along it a year ago, or I should say I tried to drive along it. Guidebooks like Rick's say it is well marked. As another poster noted, that isn't really the case and certainly wasn't my experience. If I was going to do it again I'd get one of the good Michelin maps in advance of the trip and spend some time figuring out the route.

Tickets are booked!!! Sept 8 - 24, was able to use miles and fly into Frankfurt and home out of Prague. Now the planning begins. Just dug up Rick's 2007 book used for our Oktoberfest trip planning then. Will have to get 2010's for hotel recommendations along the Rhine, Austria and Prague.

The easiest way to navigate the RR is, as elsewhere in Western Europe, follow the names of the towns, not the route number or route markers. And if you do accidently stray off the route, you'll discover a secret- most roads in the area are equally scenic.

One stop I would suggest is to stop in Brilon in Saarland.
I think the inn is Weiglemann's--rooms for around 50 Euros, however, the dinner will be as much and the food will be WORLDCLASS.

I would fly out of MUnich on AirBerlin(see their route map at www.airberlin.com) to any where East.

Just a suggestion here but you could stop by the castle Mespellbrunn on your way from Frankfurt. It's only about an hour away. This is an awesome little castle that reflects into a peaceful pond complete with swans. They even have a nice hotel. A famous German movie was made there and they sell the DVD. It's a nice start to your vacation and not out of the way at all. So many awesome sights are just off the autobahn but so many people pass right by them.

If you're looking for romance, in my opinion the most romantic medieval town is Rothenburg and the most romantic old place to stay within its old walls is the Altfraenkische Weinstube. They also hold the English Conversation Club there on Wed. nights that Rick mentions in his book. You can have your dinner, wine and good conversation and afterwards just walk upstairs to your room! I lived in the town for 5 glorious years and still never got enough.

Monica, one city not mentioned is Augsburg. In my opinion, it has the most to offer, after Rothenburg, between Werzburg and Munich. I would recommend strong consideration to a day trip to Fuessen to tour the castles and perhaps drive back through Oberamergou. Yes, Salzburg is worth a full day. It is lovely and quite compact. But, Prague will be the highlight. Be sure to have at least 2 full days. In Prague, the Arcadia Residenza, Kozna 6 building is great.

Thanks David! We have now added Augsburg to our trip since starting to plan it.

Rick doesn't give Augsburg or Koblenz a lot of PR, but have found positive things about both town in Trip Advisor. Plus we are using both as bases to travel to other towns along the Rhine since we decided on a twin saver pass (Bahn) rather than driving. I have a separate thread here asking for Augsburg hotels. If you have any, I would love to hear about it!

For now it looks like we are doing 3 days in Koblenz, 2/3 in Rothenburg, 3 in Augsburg, 2/3 in Salzburg and 4 in Prague.

Monica, we drove from Cologne to Rothenburg with a quick stop in Koblenz and detour p the Mosel. Stayed 3 nights in Rothenburg during which we walked all of Rothenburg, drove up toward Wurzenburg and south. We then drove to Munich seeing the rest of the romantic road with stops in Ulm to see the cathedral and Augsburg. We could have used more time on the Rhine. I would recommend rethinking mode of transport. Yes, you can get to main towns by rail, but a car allows many short stops. Most of the towns only take an hour or so to wander the city center areas. I would recommend shortening Koblenz and Augsburg by a day, spend 2 days in Rothenburg, and add Munich for 3 days with day trip south to Fuessen and Oberamergou. Then on by train to Salzburg.