10 days from Hannover to Stuttgart - route recommendations, please?
Jul 13th, 2014, 10:23 AM
#1
10 days from Hannover to Stuttgart - route recommendations, please?
After a considerable amount of umming and erring, I have finally succeeded in getting DH to commit to 10 days in Germany this September. The clincher was that Flybe offer flights from our local airport [Newquay] to Hannover and and Stuttgart, which is considerably better than having to fly from Bristol, a three hour drive away. OK, we'll have to cool our heels at Birmingham for an hour or so each way, but we can put up with that for the convenience of being only 30 minutes drive away from Newquay.
So the rough plan is to fly into Hannover and out of Stuttgart, leaving on 4th September and coming back on the 15th, which gives us exactly 10 days [11 nights]. However, we are likely to be spending the last 3 nights with our friends in Landau, which cuts down the actual trip to about 8 days, the last one of which will largely be spent travelling to Landau.
We have never been to Hannover and arrive quite late at night, so my plan is to spend a couple of nights in Hannover and then to pick up a car and set off.
This is my first stab at an itinerary:
Sept 4 - arrive Hannover at about 9pm.
Sept 5 - Explore Hannover.
Sept 6 - collect car, and drive through the Harz to Quedlinburg, which seems to be the most highly recommended of the possible stopping places.
Sept 7 - stay Q'burg and explore area.
Sept 8 - drive to Erfurt - stay 2 nights
Sept 9 - explore Erfurt and area
Sept 10 - drive to Bamburg, stay 2 nights
Sept 11 - explore Bamberg and area
Sept 12 - drive to Landau
Sept 13, 14 - with friends
Sept 15 - fly home.
This gives us only 2 nights stops in each place - am I selling anywhere short? Would it be better to stop longer in fewer places, and if so, which one would you leave out?
as ever, many thanks for any thoughts and ideas you may have.
So the rough plan is to fly into Hannover and out of Stuttgart, leaving on 4th September and coming back on the 15th, which gives us exactly 10 days [11 nights]. However, we are likely to be spending the last 3 nights with our friends in Landau, which cuts down the actual trip to about 8 days, the last one of which will largely be spent travelling to Landau.
We have never been to Hannover and arrive quite late at night, so my plan is to spend a couple of nights in Hannover and then to pick up a car and set off.
This is my first stab at an itinerary:
Sept 4 - arrive Hannover at about 9pm.
Sept 5 - Explore Hannover.
Sept 6 - collect car, and drive through the Harz to Quedlinburg, which seems to be the most highly recommended of the possible stopping places.
Sept 7 - stay Q'burg and explore area.
Sept 8 - drive to Erfurt - stay 2 nights
Sept 9 - explore Erfurt and area
Sept 10 - drive to Bamburg, stay 2 nights
Sept 11 - explore Bamberg and area
Sept 12 - drive to Landau
Sept 13, 14 - with friends
Sept 15 - fly home.
This gives us only 2 nights stops in each place - am I selling anywhere short? Would it be better to stop longer in fewer places, and if so, which one would you leave out?
as ever, many thanks for any thoughts and ideas you may have.
Jul 13th, 2014, 03:53 PM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I can say a little about the Harz - cute places to see on the way to Quedlinburg are Wolfenbüttel (plenty of Fachwerk and home of the Evangeliar of Heinrich des Löwen, which is a book worth about 3 mil. Euros, maybe more now), Goslar (again, Fachwerk, but so beautifully painted), Wernigerode (Fachwerk, a castle), and the Brocken (a mountain which is home of the witches, and there is a steam train ride there from Wernigerode, the Brockenbahn). A trip you might make from Hannover is Celle (painted trompe l'oeil facades).
From Erfurt (my husband has been, I have not), you might also do Weimar, which is a trip worth a few days if you understand the historical background (Weimar is the stage of a lot of different moments in German history such as the Weimar Republic, the Bauhaus movement, the spectacular 18th century library of the Duchess Anna Amalia, the painter Lucas Cranach the elder; even Goethe and Schiller have their links to the city and you can see Goethe's house).
Lavandula
From Erfurt (my husband has been, I have not), you might also do Weimar, which is a trip worth a few days if you understand the historical background (Weimar is the stage of a lot of different moments in German history such as the Weimar Republic, the Bauhaus movement, the spectacular 18th century library of the Duchess Anna Amalia, the painter Lucas Cranach the elder; even Goethe and Schiller have their links to the city and you can see Goethe's house).
Lavandula
Jul 14th, 2014, 01:22 AM
#3
Hi Ann, Bamberg is lovely, well worth a visit also look at Wurzburg (with the bishop's palace on the hill and the fancy old bridges) and, of course, try the Franken wine.
Given the options on where to drive I struggling to come up with one option. Stuttgart does have two car factories you can visit but for a lawyer, maybe not. Ulm old town centre is pretty (and mainly original) as is much of the catherdral and while the old town hall is decorated it is mainly 1960s work. For many reasons I seem to end up there too often. But it may be too south for this trip.
Other than that I tend to dig out wine districts and visit them
Hence the Franken wine region. Hanover impressed me on my last fleeting visit. You could go north to Luneburg which I think is spectacular but it is in the wrong direction for you
Given the options on where to drive I struggling to come up with one option. Stuttgart does have two car factories you can visit but for a lawyer, maybe not. Ulm old town centre is pretty (and mainly original) as is much of the catherdral and while the old town hall is decorated it is mainly 1960s work. For many reasons I seem to end up there too often. But it may be too south for this trip.
Other than that I tend to dig out wine districts and visit them
Hence the Franken wine region. Hanover impressed me on my last fleeting visit. You could go north to Luneburg which I think is spectacular but it is in the wrong direction for you
Jul 14th, 2014, 04:53 AM
#4
thank you both. it's nice to have ideas validated by your esteemed selves.
I'm not sure that we've got time for several days in Weimar, Lavandula, [nor the deprth of knowledge to do such a long time justice] but of course we know about the Weimar Republic, Goethe, Schiller etc [I had Iphigenia auf Tauris inflicted upon me for A level, but I'm not sure if that's a help or a hindrance!] so certainly a day there would be worthwhile.
I picked Erfurt and Quedlinburg [and indeed Bamberg] on the basis of what looked like sensible routes to take from the map, and also what I read in my 2011 Fodors Germany guide. if there are better bases roughly en route I'd be glad to hear about them. I think that I went to Ulm a very long time ago on a trip to germany with my parents, but wouldn't mind going again, though as you say, Bilbo, it's quite a way south from the obvious route.
I'm not sure that I want to spend a precious day of holiday going round a car factory, even a German one, though DH might - I'll have to ask him. Do you have to book it up in advance? and of course by then we may be all "fachwerked out" and be dying for a change of theme. Talking of which is there anywhere we might had for to spend half a day between Bamberg and Landau, besides Stuttgart? We have been to Heidelberg with our friends, but I've never been to Mainz or Mannheim. Which would you choose?
Bilbo, i'm with you on the wine regions - thanks for the reminder and the mention of Wurzburg; if we stayed in Bamberg we could call in there on our way west. When you have been on these wine-tasting trips, have you had your own car for transporting it home, or have you ever paid for it to be shipped? if so, how much did it cost? getting decent german wine in the UK is as you know quite difficult, and we might be up for importing some if it isn't ruinously expensive.
I'm not sure that we've got time for several days in Weimar, Lavandula, [nor the deprth of knowledge to do such a long time justice] but of course we know about the Weimar Republic, Goethe, Schiller etc [I had Iphigenia auf Tauris inflicted upon me for A level, but I'm not sure if that's a help or a hindrance!] so certainly a day there would be worthwhile.
I picked Erfurt and Quedlinburg [and indeed Bamberg] on the basis of what looked like sensible routes to take from the map, and also what I read in my 2011 Fodors Germany guide. if there are better bases roughly en route I'd be glad to hear about them. I think that I went to Ulm a very long time ago on a trip to germany with my parents, but wouldn't mind going again, though as you say, Bilbo, it's quite a way south from the obvious route.
I'm not sure that I want to spend a precious day of holiday going round a car factory, even a German one, though DH might - I'll have to ask him. Do you have to book it up in advance? and of course by then we may be all "fachwerked out" and be dying for a change of theme. Talking of which is there anywhere we might had for to spend half a day between Bamberg and Landau, besides Stuttgart? We have been to Heidelberg with our friends, but I've never been to Mainz or Mannheim. Which would you choose?
Bilbo, i'm with you on the wine regions - thanks for the reminder and the mention of Wurzburg; if we stayed in Bamberg we could call in there on our way west. When you have been on these wine-tasting trips, have you had your own car for transporting it home, or have you ever paid for it to be shipped? if so, how much did it cost? getting decent german wine in the UK is as you know quite difficult, and we might be up for importing some if it isn't ruinously expensive.
Jul 14th, 2014, 07:01 AM
#6
Stuttgart car factories, you'd have to check the websites Mercedes and Porsche, time has passed and I would be wrong to advise.
Wine I never send it back but I used to know the right payments scheme to send it back, but again I'd have to dig. Can you do this, it's just Google and HMRC? What you will find is the shippers costs are highish so you need to get the quantities up to a pallet load to make it worth shipping say 144 bottles. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm
Wine I never send it back but I used to know the right payments scheme to send it back, but again I'd have to dig. Can you do this, it's just Google and HMRC? What you will find is the shippers costs are highish so you need to get the quantities up to a pallet load to make it worth shipping say 144 bottles. http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm
Jul 14th, 2014, 01:21 PM
#7
Dukey - not really moving back and forth, just thinking [out loud] about different options. Mainz [or Mannheim] was an idle thought as somewhere to visit en route from our last stopover [Bamburg? Wuerzburg?] to our friends in Herxheim - in reply to Bilbo's suggestion of Stuttgart or Ulm [which I agree is really too far south]
Getting back onto the straight and narrow from those diversions, to answer your question, no, we've not been to Nuernberg. Looking at the map, it's clearly an alternative as a stopover to Bamberg or Wuerzberg. Would you suggest that we go there instead? I've fought shy of it because we prefer smaller places, and as we will be using each of our bases for touring, I don't really want to have to fight into and out of a city to go exploring. It's the old story of course, too many places, not enough time.
Bilbo - thanks for the link. I ought to be able to understand all of that of course, but somehow I just have to look at VAT regulations, and my eyes glaze over. Divorce law is a LOT easier. I'm sure that we could manage a pallet though - we really like german wine!
Getting back onto the straight and narrow from those diversions, to answer your question, no, we've not been to Nuernberg. Looking at the map, it's clearly an alternative as a stopover to Bamberg or Wuerzberg. Would you suggest that we go there instead? I've fought shy of it because we prefer smaller places, and as we will be using each of our bases for touring, I don't really want to have to fight into and out of a city to go exploring. It's the old story of course, too many places, not enough time.
Bilbo - thanks for the link. I ought to be able to understand all of that of course, but somehow I just have to look at VAT regulations, and my eyes glaze over. Divorce law is a LOT easier. I'm sure that we could manage a pallet though - we really like german wine!
Jul 24th, 2014, 10:04 AM
#10
just got DH to commit to the trip and booked the flights which was much harder work than it should have been [booking the flights that is] - the Flybe website is one the worst I've encountered. one of the problems was that we were booking two separate flights rather than a straight return - so i had to do two separate bookings, two separate payments, 2 separate entries of our advance passenger info that they insist on having - it's exhausting!
but the advantage is that as i said upthread we can fly from our local airport which is only 30 mins drive away; DD will be able to take us and pick us up. We will have to hang around at Birmingham where we have to change planes, but we can have a meal, and a drink, as we won't be driving when we get to Hannover as we will get a cab to the hotel.
we've booked 2 nights at the Kastens Louisenhof in Hannover, and then 2 nights at the An Anker in Wernigerode [which Ingo recommended on another thread] rather than anywhere in Quedlingburg as i couldn't really find anywhere I liked there. We will probably have a look at Goslar en route. From Wernigerode we can explore the Harz, see the Brocken, etc. we might even stay another night if we find that there is a lot to do.
After that, I think that we will probably wing it as I'm pretty confident that that time of year, it will be easy enough to find a room for 2 in the sorts of places we'll be visiting, and it gives me a better chance to practice my german if I have to do it face to face!
The plan is not to have a car in Hannover but to pick it up when we leave - so any ideas about how to spend our day in Hannover? The opera will still be shut sadly but are any other cultural highlights we might take in?
but the advantage is that as i said upthread we can fly from our local airport which is only 30 mins drive away; DD will be able to take us and pick us up. We will have to hang around at Birmingham where we have to change planes, but we can have a meal, and a drink, as we won't be driving when we get to Hannover as we will get a cab to the hotel.
we've booked 2 nights at the Kastens Louisenhof in Hannover, and then 2 nights at the An Anker in Wernigerode [which Ingo recommended on another thread] rather than anywhere in Quedlingburg as i couldn't really find anywhere I liked there. We will probably have a look at Goslar en route. From Wernigerode we can explore the Harz, see the Brocken, etc. we might even stay another night if we find that there is a lot to do.
After that, I think that we will probably wing it as I'm pretty confident that that time of year, it will be easy enough to find a room for 2 in the sorts of places we'll be visiting, and it gives me a better chance to practice my german if I have to do it face to face!
The plan is not to have a car in Hannover but to pick it up when we leave - so any ideas about how to spend our day in Hannover? The opera will still be shut sadly but are any other cultural highlights we might take in?
