andy_d_chen

Hi. Would love anyone's thought on our 7 day road trip itinerary below. We have 9 days in Germany. We are starting in Hamburg where my wife will be attending a business conference. I will use those first 2 days to explore Hamburg by myself. We then rent a car on Friday and head out for a 7 day road trip:

Day 1, Friday: Start the fairytale road. Drive to Bremen, then to Hamlen. Overnight in Hamlen
Day 2 Saturday: Get on the Weser Valle Road and make our way to Sababurg and overnight in Sababurg.
Day 3, Sunday: Continue down the Fairytail road and make our way to Marburg and overnight in Marburg
Day 4, Monday: Finish fairytale road and head to Heidelberg
Day 5, Tuesday: Explore Heidelberg
Day 6, Wednesday: Get on Castleroad and drive to Rothenberg odt. Overnight in Rothenberg odt
Day 7, Thursday: Drive to Wurzburg and then onto Frankfurt in the evening. Overnight in Frankfurt.
Day 8, Friday: Catch flight home. . .

Questions - do you think this driving schedule is too aggressive? It's about 2-3 hours in the car everyday except for extra night in Heidelberg. Seems doable if our expectations is that it is a road trip.

Would love your comments and perspectives.

Aramis

Andy - you won't find many people here who recommend moving from location to location each night. It might suit your travel mood but most don't like it.

I really do think that you are trying to cover a lot of ground and I am intrigued by your choice of Sababurg - I had never even heard of it. I do think that there are more interesting places on your way to Frankfurt. Bremen is terrific, but gems like Celle, Goslar, and Gottingen are whizzing by in favour of Sababurg and Hameln? If you have a special reason to be in those places, then that would decide it, for sure, but if not, what drew you to them?

I for one, think Heidelberg is overrated and would not pass south of your departure airport to see it.

I would consider staying north of Frankfurt and perhaps stopping in Goslar for a couple of days - you could visit, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg. and then driving on to Erfurt, Bamberg and Rothenburg, staying a couple nights in 2 of those. Rothenburg is only and easy 1:20 from Frankfurt airport so if your flight leaves anytime later in the morning you don't have to move on.

lavandula

Actually I think it's kind of nice to see someone on this forum who is looking at _anywhere_ in north Germany - most people just seem to visit Rothenburg, Fuessen and Munich, or else the Rhein and Mosel. All totally different faces of Germany. I think your itinerary sounds fine, although probably a little rushed. Hameln is picturesque and I understand perfectly the principle of following a specific road, although there are other places in north Germany which are possibly more picturesque (Quedlinburg, for instance, is UNESCO-listed, and not all of it has been renovated yet, and Goslar is also worth a look - I would pick them over Goettingen, which doesn't have such a spectacular Altstadt, really just a few streets.). But you really can't go wrong on that road. And there are still a few castles such as the Sababurg which I think is worth a visit too. Good for you, I hope you have a nice holiday.

Holly76

fully agree with aramis. hamburg to hameln cannot be done within one day, at least if you're planning a few stops. though bremen has a beautiful marktplatz and towndhall, i would skip it and directly to the south. here is what i would do:
day 1: hamburg to hannover. make a stop in beautiful town of celle. hannover, capital of lower saxony, has numerous museums, beautiful baroque gardens, several picturesque streets in the center and countless hotel rooms.
day 2: hannover to goslar. if you want, make a side trip to hameln. goslar is a very attractive small city with silver mines to be visited.
day 3: visit quedlinburg, wernigerode and harz mountains covering a large national park.
day 4: goslar to erfurt. on your way you may visit the world's largest rose collection in the town of Sangerhausen (if this is of interest to you, of course). erfurt has architectureal gems, including dom (cathedral) and krämerbrücke (a bridge covered with buildings).
day 5: erfurt to rothenburg odt. along the way, würzburg is worth a stop.
day 6: spend in rothenburg and/or make side trips on the romantic road. if heidelberg is a must, you might go there late in the day and spend the night there before exploring on day 7. heidelberg is very touristy. you could go the nearby spayer and worms, before heading to frankfurt.

since frankfurt any vicinity can be heavily congested, make sure you have enough time left to get to the airport.

bikabboy

just found this forum i am also after advice i am going to germany in july and am thinking about 2 nights at the nurburgring/bonn then moving on to baden baden for 2 nights then mullhouse for 2 nights then retun to the mossel region for a few nights does that sound to much or should you spend more time in the black forest area
cheers neil

Russ

bikabboy: post your question as a new thread. This one's 3 years old.