JClark63

Trying to plan an itinery and hotels/B&B for a 14day trip, flying into Frankfurt, hiring a car for 14days and flying out of Frankfurt. Family of 4.(kids15 and 12) I was thinking of staying in St Goar or Boppard for the first 2 to 3 nights ( day cruise on the Rhine), then going to Rothenburg (nightwatchman tour) for a couple of nights, then I get stuck because want to visit Heidelburg, Fussen (Neuschwannstein Castle), Triberg waterfall, scenic railway, Europa park, and Burg Eltz and Harburg. I have no idea how to put these into an organized itinery, can anyone help please . Travel dates are arriving in Frankfurt on Sunday 8th July and leaving on Sunday 23rd July.
Your help would be greatly appreciated!

AisleSeat

Consider a multi city or open jaw airline ticket. They are about the same price as round trip and you don't have to back track to your original airport.

Consider Frankfurt to Rothenburg, to the Rhine area including the Berg Eltz on the Mosel. Then go South to Fussen and the King Ludwig country in the alps. End up at Munich and fly home from there.

Russ

Your destinations will involve a lot of driving. Maybe your teens love the back seat experience, but most don't. I'd rethink the itin. with the idea of driving less and seeing more.

Rothenburg is a reasonable distance from the Rhine, the Black Forest, and Europa Park. I'd drop Füssen (not worth all the travel for a 30-min. tour of 19th century N'stein, now adorned with scaffolding, when you can tour 800+-year-old castles like Marksburg and Rheinfels on the Rhine. And near Rothenburg, you can check out Würzburg, the Bad Windsheim Franconian Open Air Museum, and Weikersheim Palace, all on or near the Romantic Road. I'd plan on 3-4 days in the area.

Then head for the Black Forest area via Schwäbisch Hall (amazing half-timbered buildings) and Tübingen (extra nice university town.) The Triberg waterfall is a very minor experience. But the BF Museum (Schwarzwaldmuseum) in Triberg is quite interesting, and there are some other nice places to see including the towns of Villingen, Schiltach, Haslach, Furtwangen, the Vogtsbauernhof near Gutach, and Gengenbach. Hinterzarten and Titisee are also very scenic spots. Do some hiking in the area? 3 nights might be about right.

I imagine you'll spend one night near Europa Park.

The Rhine (and nearby Mosel) river valleys involve a lot more than just a river cruise. I'd pencil in 4 nights to visit the area properly, which would also mean touring a couple of castles (Marksburg, Burg Eltz, Rheinfels and Reichsburg are standouts, Reichsburg mostly for the falconry show there,) some outdoor activities, a chairlift ride (Boppard, Cochem,) a visit to Trier (Roman history) and some of the extra-gorgeous villages (Linz, Bernkastel, Bacharach,) and maybe a stop in Cologne and nearby Remagen for the WW II museum there.

www.bruecke-remagen.de
www.marksburg.de
www.burg-eltz.de
http://www.falknerei-reichsburg-cochem.de/fotobuch.htm
http://www.cochemer-sesselbahn.de/en/index.htm

Russ

(cont.)


Franconian Open Air Museum:
http://www.stripes.com/military-life...useum-1.102354

Vogtsbauernhof:
http://en.vogtsbauernhof.org/

And if you have an extra day or two, check out Mainz and/or Frankfurt, both very close to FRA and interesting places to end your trip.

november_moon

I agree with less driving, more seeing With 2 weeks, we usually plan 3-4 destinations, which we use as bases to see the local area. Also, have you considered travelling my train? It looks like most of your proposed destinations are very accessible by train.