Trip to Bavaria/Austria help please (and Switz too?)

Ok, I'll skip Switzerland. Sniff. Any other suggestions on the other questions are greatly welcomed.

"The things I think we'd like around there are the Frankenstein castle and the Guttenburg museum." Burg Frankenstein is mostly ruined. Not the least interesting castle in Germany, but not nearly the most. Drive down towards Heidelberg and you'll pass 5 similar castles (well, one is completely rebuilt). If the weather is clear, however, the view from here is amazing. The restaurant is pretty good too. If the day is overcast, though, check out the Residenzschloß and Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt. "This looks to be about 2.5 hours but it looks like the 'romantic road' can be traveled to get there. Is this worth it?" The point of the Romantic Road is the towns the route links together, not the road itself. Drive it if you want to stop at two or more towns along the way, otherwise, just jump on A7. I'm not too impressed with Reutte, and much prefer Garmisch. Much better ion of restaurants, nightlife, etc. "I'd love to see at least part of Switzerland. Is there some way to incorporate this into this time frame? Is late May even a good time to travel there by car". It's a significant detour off of your route. And you're already going to see plenty of the Alps. Alpine weather in May can also be finicky. If you're going to go far out of your way, you risk arriving to nothing but cloud cover. Better to stay where you are and enjoy the good weather that fate allows.

12 days is not very long to do all you posted. I understand hubby as my hubby says the same. Try to concentrate on a few areas, and do them well. Even though all these countries are very close, it takes many many hours to travel through them, especially when you get into the mountain regions of the Alps, be they the Germany, AUstrian or Swiss. The area of CH near Germany and Austria isn't as grand a scenery as the middle or south of CH. I would leav CH out of this trip and do it right the next time, flying into Zurich. Munich and Salzburg are must dos. Good food, good shopping and good sites. I lived near Munich for 18 years. Neuschwanstein is also a must, but get a reservation as the waits may be long. Rothenburg is also a must see, as well as Berchdesgaden and surround. The old part of Frankfurt is interesting, but I would not spend too much time in that area as most of the sights are more south. Weather can be tricky in May in the Alps, so a good jacket and walking shoes with umbrella are a must.

Hi Angela, How many nights total (incl. your last night) do you have? For 10 nights with what you'd like to see, I'd suggest: 1 night in/around Frankfurt 1 night Rothenburg 3 nights Fuessen (Fuessen, Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Tegelberg luge ride, Wieskirche and do the Zugspitze cable car from nearby Ehrwald, Austria) 3 nights Berchtesgaden area/Salzburg (Salt Mines, another luge ride, Eagles Nest, Konigsee, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, etc.) 1 night Purgstall
1 night Munich IF you felt up to driving the 2 hours or so from Frankfurt airport to Rothenburg, add a night in somewhere else, such as Rothenburg or your last stop, Munich. If interested, we have photo's of all these at: www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html Paul

Thank you so much for the break down of days! We'll be there actually 11 nights, so this would give us one extra night somewhere. I'm thinking we'd need to shake off the jetlag and might do better to stay a night or two in Mainz (?) or Darmstadt (?) before heading to Rothensburg. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures, reminds me of the beautiful snowy winters when I lived in Austria as a child.

A wise decision not to drive on your first day. I like Mainz very much, but I would just get on a direct train at FRA for Würzburg - which unlike Mainz is in the direction of Rothenburg. Figure 1.5 hours of train travel. Check into the Regina or some other hotel near the station and pick up your car at the station the next morning. If you have some energy later, see the Residenz, a fabulous Baroque palace. Use your FRA arrival date and copy/paste these destinations to find train schedules at the site below: Frankfurt(M)Flughafen Würzburg Hbf http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en I see there are some 29€ fares (2 passengers) available on some dates in May for some trains. "Neuschwanstein is also a must..." I would dump N'stein and Füssen in a heartbeat if you're already visiting Salzburg, Berchtesgaden and Garmisch and if it meant I'd have time to see the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland.

You should stay in Garmisch not Fuessen, it's more picturesque and interesting.