1st trip to Germany in March. Need help!
 

I'm travelling with my wife to Germany in March 2006 to visit with friends in Frankfurt for 3-4 days. We plan on travelling to other areas in Germany, but would like some input. We also would like to take as many day trips as possible out of Frankfurt to cut down on the lodging cost since we can stay with our frieds.

1. What's the best order of travel?
2. Should we go car, train or both?
3. How long do you think we need?
4. Any advice on the best place to find airfare rates?

We would like to go to:
Frankfurt
Rhein Cruise
Heidelberg
Rothenburg
Munich (Dachau,Olympic Park, BMW, Hof Brau)
Garmisch (Zugspitze)
Berchtesgarden - Salt mines
Berlin

We appreciate any advice you can offer.

Thanks.

ttt for Familee

Hi Familee,

How long do you anticipate staying in Germany? You have <b>a lot</b> of destinations on your list and they are not all close together. If you really want to hit every spot on your list then I think you need 14 days in addition to the 3-4 you are spending in Frankfurt, which is usually considered of little touristic interest by the way.

Also, keep in mind that March is still winter in Germany. We visited in Feb. 2005 and it was cold and snowy. I've been told that March is much the same, though there will be more daylight. Many museums were on winter hours and were only open for 4 to 6 hours per day, so you will really need to do your research to maximize your time. I'm not sure about river cruises this time of year, they may not be running.

I have done the &quot;Romantic Road&quot; by both car and train and I highly recommend renting a car, especially since March is not peak tourist season. If you are uncomfortable driving in Frankfurt I suggest taking the train to Wurzburg, about an hour away. Wurzburg is the first stop on the Romantic Road and has some amazing sights. You can pick up your rental car there and spend a few hours touring the Residenz Palace, Dom, and Marienburg Fortress. Then you can take the beautiful (and leisurely) Romantic Road autoroute to Rothenburg.

Look here for more information:

http://www.romantischestrasse.de/?lang=uk

By the way, I highly recommend Gasthof Greifen hotel in Rothenburg.

http://www.gasthof-greifen.rothenburg.de/e_index.php3

Here is my review from our stay last February:

We stayed at Gasthof Greifen for 3 nights (February 11, 12, 13) in a double room (room 17) at 58,50E per night. The hotel is the former residence of Mayor Toppler and was built in 1374. We really liked the hotel and the owners were very kind and friendly. The location is <u>wonderful</u> - less than half a block off the market square. The hotel was lovely and the main areas were beautifully decorated with antiques. The breakfast room is Mayor Toppler’s old office and there is a very interesting old safe with a medieval combination lock that we found fascinating. The breakfast was quite good and was served from 7:30am - 10am. There were several kinds of cereals and breads, yogurt, fruit, cheeses, and meats.

Our bedroom overlooked the biergarten and parking lot behind the house and was very quiet (of course, the entire town is quiet in February!). Our room was quite large and modernized with a nice-sized bathroom (great water pressure in the shower) and a good heater. No hair dryer. There was a small TV. We loved the warm and comfortable down duvets, but the down pillows were a bit hard to get used to. We found out later we could have requested different pillows but we did fine with what we had. Each side of the bed had a reading lamp. We received a 10% discount for staying 3 nights and the parking lot behind the hotel was free. The owners kindly scraped the snow off our car early the morning we were heading out of town and mapped out a very pretty driving route for us to our next destination.

Incidentally, the restaurant was very good as well. They even served us hot chocolate when we came in freezing cold after the kitchen was closed. Mastercard is accepted and any meals taken in the restaurant are put on your room bill. We would definitely recommend this hotel to others and will stay here again when we bring our parents to Germany in 2007.

I just saw your comment about cutting down on lodging costs. I stayed in the Youth Hostel in Rothenburg in 2002 and it was nicer than many B&amp;Bs I have stayed in. There may be an age requirement, many hostels in Bavaria only allow the under-26 crowd. You might want to look into it as the hostel is right in the old town and is in a very picturesque building.