Summer Travel/Transportation in Germany

Susie, You've received some great suggestions so far! With only a week, my preference would be to keep the touring to a fairly "limited" area in order to minimize transportation times. Regarding transportation, I generally find well planned rail trips to be the easiest and most efficient method. No worries about parking or other issues. Just "for the record", I haven't found Baden-Baden to be overly crowded. In addition to the Spa's and Casino, it's a beautiful city and wonderful to walk around. However, it's somewhat more distant from from the other locations on your list, so I agree with the others that it might be better to skip it on this trip. With such a short time frame, you might consider making a "loop" from Frankfurt to Rothenburg and then back up towards the Rhine and Mosel areas. Burg Eltz is definitely a worthwhile stop, although it requires a bit of planning to visit without a car (details are in the Guidebook). As your husband is a WW-II buff, you could also consider visiting the remains of the famous Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen. The "Peace Museum" in the Towers is somewhat "low key" but very interesting. I didn't have a problem walking from the station (it was about 1 kM each way, according to my GPS). One advantage of spending your last night in the Rhine area, is that it's a quick trip from there directly to Frankfurt Airport by train. I travelled from Bacharach to the airport last year, and the trip was only about an hour. Happy travels!

Susie writes, "My husand is a WWII buff and Im sure would love Nuremburg. Since it is close to Rothenburg, would you suggest that we keep our reservation in Rothenburg and do day trips?" You can do daytrips from Rothenburg by train or by car. It's about 1:20 to get to Nuremberg by train, not bad, and cheap by Bayern Ticket daypass, 29 Euros total for your group for all your train travel on a given day. However, I'd be tempted to move from Rothenburg, especially if you stay within the town walls simply because I would be tired of all the tourism. Nuremberg is nice but bigger, so if you want to stick to small towns, try the handsome town of Neustadt an der Aisch, midway between Würzburg and Nuremberg. I stayed there once for a few days and daytripped by train to N'berg, Rothenburg, Bamberg and Würzburg very easily. It's 30 minutes fron Neustadt to Nuremberg by train, and 40 min. to Würzburg. Neustadt is also only 20 minutes from Bad Windsheim. Loved the town itself too. the 3 of us had a little studio apartment there which now rents for 28 Euros/night: http://www.fewo-beck.de/ For the pretty walk to Burg Eltz from Moselkern: http://www.bensbauernhof.com/burgeltzfrommoselkern.html

I would encourage you to rethink your destinations a bit. You're flying into and back to Frankfurt, presumably. It seems that you are interested not in major cities but smaller places. OK. But here are the problems I see: you're covering too much ground; you're traveling for hours to get to Reutte, a town that will only disappoint, then turning around the next day to head back north; you have targeted the most touristy places in Germany. Rothenburg is a bit like Disneyland but it really is a worthwhile place to visit. Keep it for sure. Are you interested in casinos or spa treatments, high prices, and crowds? There's not much else in Baden Baden. If you're interested in seeing some amazing castles, you don't need to go all the way to Füssen. A fine collection of genuine 800-1,000-year-old castles that helped determine Europe's historical path are just northwest of Frankfurt in the Rhine and Mosel Valleys. I would plan to spend at least 2 or 3 nights there. Tour a couple of castles, take a river cruise, try7 the wine, and enjoy the scenery and the area's half-timbered villages (like Bacharach.)

(part 2) And right near Rothenburg, you've got lots of interesting places at your feet. Bamberg to the NW is a well-preserved architectural gem. Würzburg has an amazing palace called the Residenz, all gilded in gold. Nuremberg has a very nice old town and some good historical sites to visit. Attrractive Bad Windsheim is even closer to Rothenburg and has an interesting open-air museum: http://www.stripes.com/military-life/travel/bad-windsheim-time-travel-at-franconian-open-air-museum-1.102354 Rick pays the area near Rothenburg very little attention, but it really is worth seeing, and 3 or 4 nights in this area would let you see a bit more of the real Germany. I'd also spend a day in either Mainz, near FRA, before leaving Germany. With group daypasses, this trip would be VERY cheap by train. Lee or I can give you tips.

Rather than go all the way to Rothenburg, why not go to Buedingen instead. Original, medieval walled town, never burned down, never been bombed. No tour buses, or tacky souvenir stands but oozing charm and quaint. This is an hour train ride outside of Frankfurt. Rather than go all the way to Baden-Baden, you could visit the spas and baths in either Bad Homburg or in Wiesbaden. Bad Homburg is nestled in the beautiful Taunus mountains, and has plenty of interesting things to visit and see. Kaiser Wilhelms summer palace, the Saalburg - a reconstructed Roman fort, one of Germanys oldest casinos, and right now a huge sculpture exhibition in the Kur Park. Oh, and you won't find either of these towns in Ricks' books.

Hi Susie, I have to agre with Russ. I think Reutte will be a let down. Never been to Baden Baden though. We always rent a car and prefer it. Just our preference. I'd also suggest for such a short trip, see Rothenburg and some sights in the area. The Nightwatchman Tour in Rothenberg is informative and fun. Best hour we spent there. www.nightwatchman.de Instead of driving all the way to Reutte to see castle's?, maybe go to the Rhine and Mosel area's. For castle's, Marksburg (along the Rhine) and Burg Eltz (along the Mosel) are fantastic. Burg Eltz is our favorite anywhere. Even if your intent is seeing Neuschwanstein (from Reutte), either of these is better IMO. They are authentic, 800+ year old castles. www.burg-eltz.de/e_index.html www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm We stayed across the river from Cochem along the Mosel and loved it. Just some opinions. Paul

Russ, THANK YOU!!! I so appreciate your advice! We live in the US but will be visiting our daughter in Rwanda, Africa the week prior to our time in Germany. She will travel with us to Frankfurt and then back to Africa. The reason that we chose the destinations was for 2 reasons. First Rick Steves and second, my parents stayed in Rothenburg in 1977 and loved it so I researched in Rick Steve's book and it seemed as if we would enjoy it (in spite of the fact the it is touristy, it did sound like it would be fun for us since we have never been to Germany) And NO, we are not interested in big crowds and casinos so Baden Baden may have to be tossed out! So at this point we have reserved our first 2 nights at the Hotel Spitweg in Rothenburg and from there we are up for anything! I love your ideas about the surrounding areas near Rothenburg and we will totally avoid Fussen if you feel like we could have a similar experience closer. My husand is a WWII buff and Im sure would love Nuremburg. Since it is close to Rothenburg, would you suggest that we keep our reservation in Rothenburg and do day trips? We love wine so your suggestion to go to the Rhine and Mosel Valley is great!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I welcome any and all advice!

I would keep your Rothenburg reservations, but dont day trip from there, there is a lot to see and enjoy in the town itself and in the valley below the walls. Nuremburg is defnitely worth seeing, but why not spend the whole day and night. Wiesbaden and the Rhine are definitely worth it. And relatively close to Frankfurt for when you need to leave

Two more cents. My wife and I were in Baden-Baden in April 2009 for two nights, the week after Obama's entourage left town. There were no crowds. We loved the spas, and Rick's hotel and restaurant recommendations (especially Weinstube Baldreit) were spot on, so go and have a good time. We stayed at Rothenburg for three nights, which was one night too many. Be sure to go on the Night Watchman's tour. It's as good as everyone says.