Bindery

My wife and I are going to rent a car in Cologne May 27 and driving the Mosel Valley and the Romantic Road ending in Stuttgart on June 1 (to drop off the car and take a train to Lucerne).
i have reserved a room for a night in Ehrenburg Castle on May 29th.
i would like to just stay in simpler Bed and Breakfast's in the area for the other nights.

Should I try to reserve those in advance, or just look for places and we go?

Fussgaenger

The weekend of the 29th, 30th and 31st along the Mosel will be extremely busy. 50,000 or so visitors are expected for "Happy Mosel," a bike/rollerblade extravaganza that takes place on Sunday 5/31 and shuts down the river road between Koblenz and Schweich. This is a very fun event; extra trains are put in place to move people and their bikes from town to town. If you are hanging around for the fun, don't plan to drive that main road on 5/31.

I doubt that the weekdays prior to this weekend will be impacted by Happy Mosel. That said, it's a nice time of year to be on the Mosel for both you and others, and you will always have the best choice of B&B accommodations at the best prices if you book ahead. Deciding as you go will take up vacation time and will mean accepting leftovers at whatever the price happens to be.

Fussgaenger

The Romantic Road doesn't start or end anywhere near Stuttgart. If you are leaving Ehrenburg on 5/30 and driving to Stuttgart, then maybe you are driving along the "Romantic Rhine" before you get there????? That would make sense, maybe in combination with a drive along the Neckar River Valley, (which is also a romantic place and roughly on the way.)

annhig

the local tourist boards will have lists of B&Bs [Zimmer frei is usually what is seen hanging in the window] - or many are on the net.

I'd not heard about Happy Mosel, Fussgaenger, but it sounds like fun.

Bindery

Did not know about Happy Mosel.
I am just planning out trip. We are going to fly into Amsterdam and then take a train into Germany (I just picked Cologne). Then drive around and see what we can see. I picked Stuttgart because its close to Lucerne.
Maybe I should plan on dropping the car off in Munich, then train from there to Lucerne.

Fussgaenger

"I picked Stuttgart because its close to Lucerne.
Maybe I should plan on dropping the car off in Munich, then train from there to Lucerne."

If, after the Mosel, you're just trying to visit some nice places on your way to Lucerne, you'll have no trouble finding them. The Romantic Road and Munich mean a huge detour, and you need to be in Lucerne fairly soon. Munich is 5+ hours from Lucerne by train, and it's not like the RR is some gorgeous drive.

Suggest you follow (roughly) the Rhine as you move south instead. Drop the car in Freiburg. Then it's only 2 hours or so to Lucerne by train (vs. 4 hours from Stuttgart.)

On the way you'll have a lot of choices. A few:
Bacharach: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...arach_BW_9.JPG
Ladenburg (nr. Heidelberg): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...z_20100704.jpg
Heidelberg: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...and_Bridge.jpg
Gengenbach: http://www.stadthotel-gengenbach.de/...innenstadt.jpg
Schiltach (Black Forest): http://images.fotocommunity.de/bilde...f221859dc0.jpg
Strasbourg, France
Freiburg: http://www.heinzalbers.org/picture-frb0057.jpg
Stuttgart is possible too on the way if you had something in mind there.

Bindery

Fussgaenger-I mapped out the route you suggested and it seems just what we would like to do, with one side trip.
My wife wants to see Rothenburg. I seems like that would be doable.
They seem to have reasonable bed and breakfasts in town.

I have another thought. Keeping the car and driving into Switzerland and ending up for our flight home in Zurich. Renting from Hertz it would be $250 more, but we would then have a car to travel in Switzerland.

Any thoughts?

bilboburgler

The German town and village tourist information sites are fantastic and should be used. Search and you will find.

Fussgaenger

"My wife wants to see Rothenburg. I seems like that would be doable."

Yes, you could do R'burg on 10/30 and then head toward Freiburg and Luzern. Substantially more mileage than a direct route toward Freiburg - like 200 miles altogether. (Definitely not worth the driving and the gas IMO for the hypertourism you will find in R'burg when Germany has many excellent less touristy options. R'burg is sold VERY hard in the visual media; it's hell returning home and telling friends you didn't go to R'burg like they did. OK, I'll be silent now.)

On the long drive from R'burg to the Black Forest and Freiburg on the 31st you may wish to visit Schwäbisch Hall, Tübingen, and to overnight in one of the BF villages.

I don't know if you need a car in Switzerland or not. You can certainly use the train for your route for far less money

From Freiburg to Luzern it's 2 hours and €38 total price for a savings fare ticket for two from DB. (Buy ticket 92 days in advance if possible to get this low price; prices rise as tickets sell.)

From Freiburg to Zurich main station it's less than an hour and CHF 25.20 for two total (if you get the supersaver fare from the Swiss Railways site a week or two in advance.)

Bindery

From what I am getting from other people Rothenburg is touristy, but my wife does want to see it.
Still thinking about taking the car into Switzerland. We dont need it, but it might be fun to drive around.