Tentative Itinerary: 1st 3 days (So-West Germany) of Circle Driving Tour

Oh jeez, Jerry, if you plan to post similar itineraries for another 21 days, please use paragraphs and clear questions.

I'm exhausted just reading your first day.

Yep, way too confusing. Use the edit function and see if you can make it clearer. Perhaps, with seperate lines for each day, leave the small chatter out (why do we need to know your 15 year old grandson is mature?).

Don't drive over here, so have no idea what those routes mean. I am strictly a train person. Sorry!

Jerry: The way the Helpline forum here is programmed, it isn't very user friendly re formatting your posts, such as line breaks and paragraph breaks. Paragraphs and line breaks are done using HTML commands, this: using HTML commands. If you don't do that, look at what your previous post looks like, that's what we have to try to read, not to many want to wade through a 10 line itinerary when there's no formatting. Use the "<"br">" line break command to differentiate lines and days of your itinerary, remove the four quote marks, I have to use them here to fool the HTML intepreter into thinking they're not commands.

Mainz is on the West side of the Rhine river. From the airport you don't have to go via Mainz to get to the East side. Follow signs to Wiesbaden and then to Eltville. Do stop at several locations in that area, which is the Tuscany of Germany and birthplace of Riesling wine. www.rheingau.de.The river is called Mosel in Germany, you won't find the French spelling "Moselle" over here. In the Mosel river canyon I find Bernkastel-Kues to be a place where you need to spend at least a couple of hours. Your day 3 seems way too packed! Also why passing Luxembourg if you're not going to visit it? The city is definitely worth half a day at least.

Doug, Jo & Kent,
Thank you very much for the editing suggestions. Your points are well-taken. In fact, after reading my post & before reading your replies, my wife had raised some of those same questions! I'll proceed right now to do some editing.
Thanks again,
Jerry

"Some of the things we especially enjoy are scenery, mountains, local cultures (we stay in budget B&Bs), walks & history."

With 3 days, you might have time for some of that, but you don't have 3 days. You have less than 2 on the ground in Germany and you're driving 250 miles in the car, so there isn't much hope. SCENERY? It's wonderful, but my guess is that jet lag will make sure that at least one of you asleep is in the car or on the cruise. HISTORY? Trier is a treasure trove of Roman history, but you will wave as you drive through, I guess. There's also a WWII museum in Remagen you'll miss, Marksburg Castle in Braubach and Rheinfels in St. Goar. WALKING? When, exactly? There's a lovely walk from Alf to Arras castle and the Marienburg, but you've no time. CULYURE? Not on a one-night stay.

There's so much you're zooming past here. You should squeeze in another two nights.

I have just now finished a little editing, per some suggestions, of our tentative itinerary for the 1st 3 days of our roughly-planned circle tour.

I realize, even tho edited & revised, my initial post is still very long! But i have tried to space it out to make it more readable. I have also added tried to be clearer by breaking it into shorter sentences. And I have added some of our specific questions.

A general comment: except in some special situations, as some above, we try to avoid making B&B reservations when traveling in the shoulder season - since not having them allows us flexibility & spontaneity.

Thanks again!

I totally agree with Russ, you guys will probably be exhausted due to jetlag and yet put so many things into your itinerary (particularly on Day 3). Take your time and ENJOY! Trier is great and I would definately also spend a night or two in Luxembourg before heading for France. Remember, it's not about how many things you see or how many countries you visit - it's all about how you experience history, culture, people, and the beautiful sceneries!
Good luck!

Thanks to all who have replied! I should have explained the purposes of our tour---which should help to explain why we are just getting a quick overview this time.
One goal is to introduce our grandson to several countries & cultures rather than to just one. Second, my wife & I want to get an overview of southwestern Europe to see what areas we would like to come back to next trip & visit in greater depth.

Not quite sure why you have "day 1" listed as part of your German trip, since you will not even be here. Your trip starts on day 2 of your vacation.

I think you have way too much planned for your first day in country. After landing, why not take a train to Mainz and walk around, see all the cool stuff there and get some sleep. Here is Mainz tourist website, which might convince you to stay there. I love the cathdral there. I liked it even better than the one in Cologne.

http://www.mainz.de/WGAPublisher/online/html/default/akah-67wd32.en.html

The next day, you can get up early and make your way down the Rhein. If you are either taking the slow train towards Koblenz or driving, you will see as much as the boat does, only a little bit quicker. If you go on the train, everyone gets to sightsee, if you drive, the driver will see nothing other than the road in front of him or her. Seeing as how you have limited time here, taking the train and getting off in a couple of spots that intrigue you, sounds like a better and easier deal. Perhaps that is just me. The way you have it planned does not sound like any fun to me. It sounds extremely rushed and stressy.

Seeing the Mosel area sounds like a great idea, as does visiting Trier, where I think I would stay overnight and spend time seeing the Roman ruins.

Here is a nice castle website, where you can pick out the ones you like best. Though it is in German, once you click on the castle, it goes to the website that is in English.

http://www.burgen-am-rhein.de/sites/index_1024.htm