St. Goar to Fussen

I'd suggest spending your time in Franconia, a sub-region of Bavaria, where you can visit... Bamberg, Nuremberg, Rothenburg, and Würzburg - especially the Residenz Palace there (see guidebooks for above) Also of interest: Bad Windsheim's Franconian Open Air Museum: http://www.stripes.com/military-life/travel/bad-windsheim-time-travel-at-franconian-open-air-museum-1.102354 Nuremberg or Würzburg would make a good base - each has good train connections to the other towns. I'd pick Nuremberg. From Nuremberg, daytrips to Rothenburg and Bad Windsheim are possible on a "Tagestticket Plus", a daypass you can buy for 15.60 Euros at a ticket machine in Nuremberg, that lets you on all the regional and local trains and buses within the service area. If you get it on Saturday, it's good for Sunday too! Here's a map of the area - green lines are trains, red are buses. For the other destinations, use a Bayern ("Bavaria") ticket daypass: details below. http://www.munich-touristinfo.de/Bavaria-Ticket.htm

Actually, Linda, Bamberg is also part of the VGN network, and the Tagesticket plus will get you there too. The more expensive Bavaria ticket would be needed only if traveling to Würzburg. Idea: see Würzburg on the day you leave St. Goar; there are lockers at the station to stow your stuff. Then go to Nuremberg for your first evening and daytrip to the other places from there on the cheaper VGN daypass.

If I were doing this and I had four whole days, I would Day 1: Go from St. Goar to Heidelberg. I don't care if Rick pans it. It's interesting. You can go from St. Goar to Mannheim with a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket (€24 for 2 people). Mannheim to Heidelberg will require a separate S-Bahn ticket. You can complete this travel by noon and have the afternoon to tour the castle. Day 2: Heidelberg to Triberg (cuckoo clocks, waterfall), in the southern Schwarzwald. Travel to Offenburg, then take the line to Hausach and up the Gutach on the Schwarzwaldbahn to Triberg. Again you could leave Heidelberg and be in Triberg in very early afternoon. Use a €29 Baden-Württemberg-Ticket for the entire trip. Day 3: Triberg to Lindau (Beautiful middle age walled city on the Bodensee), 3½ hrs. Leave after 9, get to Lindau early afternoon. The €29 Baden-Württemberg-Ticket includes travel from Friedrichshafen to Lindau (which is in Bayern). Day 4: Lindau to Fuessen. Use a Bayern-Ticket. Take the train north to Kaufbeuren then another train from there to Fuessen. Total time just under 3 hours. Slightly longer would be the train to Kempten, the Ausserfernbahn to Pfronten, and a bus to Fuessen.

An alternate connection from Lindau to Fuessen: take the 7:47 ALX from Lindau (you can only do this with a Bayern-Ticket on a weekend or pay point-point) to Immenstadt (8:44). Take the spur line from Immenstadt to Sonthofen (8:50-8:59). From in front of the Sonthofen Bahnhof, take bus 9718 to Fuessen. I've taken this bus trip from Sonthofen to Fuessen twice and it is much more interesting than Kaufbeuren to Fuessen. You start by going up a shear mountain side with switchbacks out of Hindelang, then through the ski resort of Oberjoch, through Oy-Mittelberg and Nesselwang, to Pfronten and then to Fuessen. It will take an hour longer, but it's much more scenic. Since you have to leave Lindau at 7:47, you'll still get to Fuessen by 11:35.

Many thanks Lee and Russ....you've given us wonderful alternatives to consider!

We did something similar. From the Rhine we had planned Heidelburg, followed by the Romantic Road then on to Fuessen/Reute. Our friend in Heidelburg got sent out of town at the last minute, so we instead went straight to Wuerzburg then Rothenburg odT and Reute, with short stops in Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl.

I have to admit, I'm a fan of the Franconia options that Russ presented. That area is near and dear to my heart, especially Nuremberg.

Thank you all for your suggestions! At this point we're planning on seeing Heidelberg, Triburg and Lindau on our way to Fussen. Then later in our trip we're heading to Berlin via Nuremburg and Rothenburg. Based on the information you provided, it should be a great trip!