wanttotravel

Hi everyone - I'm a Lonely Planet Thorn Tree refugee. I've been searching around on here for an hour and you guys rock! Just wanted to say that first.

So, I see there are plenty of posts already about things to do/see/stay in Bavaria. I just wanted to post my planned intinerary here and get some feedback as to whether the times are reasonable, etc.

We're leaving next week and will be flying to Munich. Visiting family in Regensburg Fri-Sun. We'll probably spent that time relaxing, exploring that town, and surrounding areas. Monday morning we're going to rent a car in Regensburg and do the following:

Day 1 (Mon): Drive to Nuremburg. Visit there and maybe Rothenburg and stay at a place in that immediate area.

Day 2 (Tues): Cut East and pick up the Romantic Road. Maybe stay in Rothenbur ob der Tauber or somewhere else more South - maybe Augsburg.

Day 3 (Wed): Drive South to one of the towns near the two main castles - maybe Fussen.

Day 4 (Thurs): See the castles early in the morning. Drive to and stay in Garmisch. (Already booked a room at Gasthof Fraundorfer)

Day 5 (Fri): Drive to Munich. Explore the city a bit. Say in Munich.

Day 6 (Sat): Fly out of Munich in afternoon.

One thing I want to work in somehow is a trip to Dachau.

After reading over my post I realize this is way too ambitious. Any suggestion on how to cut this down are welcome. Thanks in advance!

~W in NYC

Bob_KY

I don't think it's too ambitious. Every one has different tastes - my last trip over we stayed in a different place every night and it went fine. Every thing is much closer together than you think, at least it was for me. We drove the entire Romantic Road in one day, starting in Rothenburg, with stops in at least 4 towns and still made the last castle tour of the night at Neushwanstein.

Dachau can be done in a half day trip from Munich.

Betsy

Spend some time browsing at http://www.bensbauernhof.com for good first-hand info on this area.

noe847

We went to Germany in December. Regensburg is lovely, and fun to explore. We had two days in Munich, and didn't even scratch the surface. Of course, traveling with 2 teenage girls, we do spend a *bit* of time shopping! And the Christmas markets were going on, so wandering around the squares also took a few pleasurable hours.

I have not done the Romantic Road or the castles, but if you can consolidate that part fo the trip and spend a bit more time in Munich, you could fit Dachau as well as exploring Munich.

Intrepid1

I would turn the car in as soon as you arrive in Munich and use public transport to get around after that.

Dachau is in what <s>some would call a &quot;suburb&quot; of Munich; anyway it is easy to reach by train from the center of Munich and then a short public bus ride after that. You could easily see the entire complex in a couple of hours.</s>

Intrepid1

Sorry for the script...easy to reach by rail and then a short public bus ride and the complex can be toured on your own in a couple of hours

lvk

I just wanted to chime in here, as I am watching the German Channel on TV right now. They are having record cold weather and snow in Southern Germany right now. (I just watched a segment where the Germany Army has been called in to clean the snow off of roofs to prevent collapsing.)

You need to factor icy and snowy roads into your travel time equations. My in-laws live near Augsburg and they say that it is the worst winter they have had in years.

On the upside, Germany in winter can be absolutely beautiful. When the sky is blue and the ice crystallizes on the trees ..... magical! (My MIL just told me the German phrase for this, but it escapes me now!)

Your relatives in Regensburg can update you on current road and weather conditions.

Have a great time!

adelheid

Hi LVK What German Channel are you watching? I miss my German TV.

wanttotravel; your trip sounds great. we were there last year and all I can say is be prepared to not have enough time for everything you find you will want to do. We are going back this August and basically are going back to all the places we were last year to do the things we didn't have time for!

If the weather is that bad, you won't be able to see the castles that quickly in Hohenschwangau. We spent two nights right in the town at the Alpenhof. It was fantastic. Once the tours ended, the people all left and the town and hiking trails were all ours.

Zeus

German Channel?????!!!!! How?????!!!!!! Where?????!!!!! Is it on one of the dish systems? If it is, please tell us which. I'll drop my cable tomorrow.

lvk

We subscribe to 2 German channels. When we did our research last year, we found that they are only available on Dish Network as an add-on (extra $20/month). Pro-Sieben-Sat-1 and DW.

We subscribed mostly because of the live Bundesliga games on Saturday mornings (here in CA), but we are finding the German news and documentary programs very interesting also. These are now probably the most-watched channels in our house.

lvk

Oops, I was wrong on the price. It's $16.99/month:

http://tinyurl.com/6555z

Sorry to hi-jack your thread, wanttotravel.