Sept 2017 Germany itinerary

Old Mar 30th, 2017, 07:10 PM
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Sept 2017 Germany itinerary

I've just started planning my trip and here is my itinerary. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.
Arrive in Frankfurt on Sunday...

SUNDAY-MONDAY - BACHARACH
(BERG ELTZ/BEILSTEIN/COCHEM then back to Bacharach to sleep.)

TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY BADEN-BADEN
Drive thru Black Forest - stop in Triberg for waterfall and see sites along the way

THURSDAY STAUFEN to sleep

FRIDAY - SATURDAY FUSSEN (CASTLES)

SUNDAY - ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER

MONDAY WURZBURG
TUESDAY DRESDEN
WEDNESDAY DRESDEN
THURS; FRI; SAT BERLIN SUNDAY GO HOME
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 05:03 AM
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James:

Lot of distance between Wurzburg and Dresden. My wife and I just returned from Berlin and Dresden and enjoyed very much. Why not concentrate on central Germany (Nuremberg, Heidelberg and such towns) and save Berlin and Dresden for a future trip? Both are fantastic. You could easily spend a week in just those 2 cities.

I have made multiple trips to Europe and the one thing that I always say to myself after the trip is that I travelled too quickly and did not spend the time in an area to truly appreciate it.

There is nothing wrong with your schedule at all though. I would prefer to break it up.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 05:19 AM
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"I've just started planning my trip..."

Hey, James. You still have plenty of time to work on this. You have made some good choices, but in places it sorta looks like one of those Rick Steves "starter kits" that has you spending too much time of your Germany time with hordes of foreign tourists rather than Germans (and/or in oddball places.)

You have 13 nights. That's good. But that's not enough to really see/enjoy and travel to all the places you have in mind anyway.

I suggest you dedicate 3-4 nights to TWO separate regions, 2 nights (as you have already) to Dresden, and 4 nights to Berlin instead of 3.

So, which 2 areas? You have yourself in the Rhine/Mosel region, the Black Forest, AND Bavaria. I like the Black Forest a lot but Staufen and Baden-Baden are IMHO maybe the worst places you could go to see the Black Forest, and the whole region is a time-eating detour. I say drop it.

RHINE/MOSEL: 3-4 nights. (You don't have to go to Beilstein just because Rick likes it. There's not much there.) Burg Eltz is great, Cochem is fairly touristy but completely enchanting, and fun - good picks IMO. You can do Eltz and Cochem in one day. That's plenty in 1 day. Right now you have less than one day for the Rhine. On the Rhine, Bacharach takes only a couple of hours to enjoy - there isn't much there either. Here are some things you could choose from with an additional night or two in the area:

Marksburg Castle: In Braubach (excellent, near Koblenz)
Trier: Roman history, Germany's oldest city
St. Goar: Rheinfels Castle
Oberwesel: walk along the old town wall from tower to tower
River Cruise: best scenery is from Bingen to St. Goar
Boppard: chairlift to lookout over the Rhine - http://ext.pimg.tw/samlucky5711/1379...g?v=1379089585
Hiking: The clifftop trails are very scenic.
WINE FEST: There's one every weekend. Book your initial Sunday night in whatever Rhine town has the fest that weekend and go straight there. WHAT is your ARRIVAL date?
Oberwesel Fest 9/8-11
Boppard Fest 9/22-25

BAVARIA: 3-4 nights.
Würzburg is an interesting, attractive historical city. A full day there would be good. About Rothenburg: way too many international tourists, way too many trinkets and Kitsch. Maybe you visit for a couple hours since Würzburg is so close, or maybe not - there are several other great small, old-world towns nearby that are NOT tourist-trampled and that are closer to Würzburg... Sommerhausen, Marktbreit, Ochsenfurt, and Iphofen spring to mind.
Iphofen photos: http://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org...24f5b4df6d3b34

And BAMBERG is a simply outstanding old-world university town less than an hour from Würzburg. Nuremberg is also an excellent destination, about 1 hour from Würzburg. Füssen is ridiculously far from Würzburg; Neuschwanstein is not a castle. It's a palace built just before the beginning of the 20th century with a fake castle facade. See your castles on the Rhine instead.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 05:23 AM
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Also, for better advice, besides your travel dates, it would help to know if your plan is to use trains or a car, and whether you have any travel companions.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 06:39 AM
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Hi
We are planning on driving the entire way. We are picking up the car in Frankfort and dropping it off in Berlin where we are flying out of. We will drop off our car before we stay in Berlin.

Thanks for the feedback.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 06:45 AM
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Also, we re arriving Frankfort Sunday 9/9/17 and leaving Berlin Sunday 9/24/17.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 06:49 AM
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My wife and I are traveling and we are in our middle 60's. We have taken a trip to Europe almost every year since 2001. We probably tend to move more quickly than a lot of travelers.
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 06:55 AM
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CAR: Not my choice, too much driving for me, especially in/into cities like Dresden and Berlin. But since that's how you're doing it, here are a few suggestions...

On the way between the Rhine and Würzburg, route yourselves via Michelstadt and Miltenberg.

MICHELSTADT:
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/73...4519fdb7fa.jpg

Walking guide - http://lifeslittleadventures.typepad...t-germany.html

MILTENBERG:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rg_am_Main.jpg

Between Würzburg and Rothenburg - Sommerhausen, Marktbreit, Ochsenfurt:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLUgpoQIFHI

NEAR ROTHENBURG - BAD WINDSHEIM'S FREILANDMUSEUM:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...e_Francon.html
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 07:12 AM
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"Also, we re arriving Frankfort Sunday 9/9/17"

Great - the Oberwesel Wine Market fest will be on. There's a parade that afternoon. The Rhine wine fests are popular with locals and Germans, mostly. They are NOT rowdy, very civilized, but casual and fun - nothing at all like Oktoberfest. Suggest you book there in Oberwesel for your stay (or in nearby St. Goar or Bacharach - then you're only 5 minutes away.)

Oberwesel town wall walk: http://www.oberwesel.de/en/wandern0/stadtmauerrundweg/

Oberwesel/St. Goar bilingual accommodations directory:
http://www.oberwesel.de/uploads/medi...2015_final.pdf
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 08:36 AM
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The german wine festivals are very calm affairs. The glasses of the cheap stuff are close to pint, but the good stuff more like 200ml (not sure what that is in US Imperial units)
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Old Mar 31st, 2017, 04:46 PM
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Thank you to all for your feedback. You are right I read Rick Steves and start from there. I also read Fodors, Frommer and Rough Guide to add to the info.

I wanted to go to Baden Baden to start our trip into the Black Forest. I wanted to do the drive from there to Staufen, see everything in between and then sleep in Staufen. We will be leaving Bacharach and driving to Baden Baden for our 3rd night, perhaps 4th night, too? I wanted to go to the Baths of Caracalla. When we were in Budapest we went to their thermal pool and it was a lot of fun.

I picked two nights in Bacharach to make it our base. I thank you for the helpful hint about skipping Belstein.

As touristy as it is, I really want to see Neusschwanstein.

We are not locked into any of these places. After Neuschwanstein I wasn't really sure where to go but I wanted to end up in Berlin. After reading about the towns, Dresden seemed really good and had a lot to do. I picked Wurzburg because it had a few recommended places to see (Residenz Palace being one) so I though that would break up the long drive between Fussen and Dresden.

I agree it is not good to take a car into big cities but we are dropping it off as soon as we get to Berlin. Debbie
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Old Apr 1st, 2017, 03:26 AM
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When you google the route from Füssen to Dresden, you see that you have several options (and some more options which Google does not show).

Your initial itinerary with stopovers in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Würzburg is just fine.

But since you do not seem to have very strong feelings against other options, you could as well do:
(in brackets = waypoints, not necessarily stops)

Füssen- (Ulm)- Dinkelsbühl - Nürnberg - Bamberg - (Bayreuth) - Dresden

Füssen - Landsberg - (Munich bypass) - Landshut and/or Kelheim - Regensburg - Dresden

Füssen - (Landsberg) - (Munich bypass) - Regensburg - Cheb - Karlovy Vary - Annaberg-Buchholz - (Chemnitz) - Dresden
The last variation will take you a bit through the "spa triangle" of the NW Czech republic, check rental car fine print if driving in CZ is allowed. Also more routing via highways, thus slower)
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