20 days in Germany
 

Hi guys,
after reading many different topics about Germany, I must say that you have already helped me creating my itinerary for my next vacation.

In May 2015, my fiancee and I (possibliy my brother will join us) are going to spend around 20 days in Germany. We are a young couple, who when travelling always try to mix with the locals and go at least a bit off the beaten path.

The reason why we're going to Germany is because our first trip was a 4 days in Munich and surroundings (Berchtsgaden, Chimsee, Salzburg and Dachau).
My idea is to go around Germany to get a taste of every part in it, so this is the itinerary so far:
4N Munich, then head to Bamberg for 3N, then 3N in Wernigerode, heading to Berlin for 2N (we're not a metropolis/city fan, rather country and tiny ones). And here is where I need your help, we have 3 nights available here before going to Oberwesel, and then to some city in the Black Forest for another 2 nights, from where we will go to 1N Jagsthausen in and then we leave back to Brazil.

Questions are:
- Where do you suggest we should spend these 3 nights between Berlin and Oberwesel?
- Which city in the Black Forest you recommend us to stay for 2N?
Thank you a lot!!
cheers,
Andre

Forgot to mention, we'll rent a car during the whole trip. We just love to be able to stop at anywhere during the road trip to get to enjoy it better.

Well Freiburg is the regional city for the Black Forest and is a good base but you may want to go up to a smaller place in the Black Forest itself - like something around the famous Titisee - Donauswortjh if I recall the name correctly is a town up there at the source or near the source of the Danube - I was on the train but looked around town and it was rather neat and in a gorgeous area.

Thanks for the suggestion PalenQ. I googled it and you might be referring to Donauwörth which is in the Bayern region, a little eastern to the Black Forest itself. Though I might consider paying it a quick visit when in München because it looks lovely, unfortunately it will not do as a base for the Black Forest region.
if you have any other suggestions to add to my itinerary, would be mostly welcome!
thanks!!

Berlin for 2N (we're not a metropolis/city fan, rather country and tiny ones). And here is where I need your help, we have 3 nights available here before going to Oberwesel -

Not sure if it fits into your direct itinerary but the area around Leipzig is great - not so much for Leipzig itself which is a nice large city but three smaller gems near it - Naumburg, Weimar and Erfudrt - each very close to each other and each very different and each really sweet. Eisenach is also there and this automobile manufacturering center is kind of gritty but does have the old castle where Martin Luther once hid out in a small cell-like room with ink stains still on the wall when he threw his ink well at the Devil who dared intrude upon him here.

South of Berlin is Lutherstadt-Wittemberg, a historic old town where Luther left his mark on many things, including the church door where, according to legend anyway, he nailed his demands of reforming the Catholic Church - in manhy ways the Reformation (meaning 'protest', giving rise to the word 'protestant', was launched. Maybe on your way south from Berlin and try to at least drive by Potsdam on your way in or out - Sans Soucci Palace is the Prussian Versailles and sits in a park with lots of notable follies - whimwsical edifices, including some in the Chinese stayle reflecting a fascinating around the time the Schloss was built with all things Chinese (including ceramics).

Hi Andre- I noticed there was no mention of the middle Rhine and Mosel river- this might be an area where you could spend a few days. And if you need a Black Forest city, you could try Gengenbach- and I believe there is a spring festival in Munich the first week in May if that is of interest to you.

Have a great trip...

((B))

Thanks Travelforbeer (by the way I was checking your reviews on the other site and got some ideas, we're also into beer/craft beer, so breweries are on my to do list).
Any suggestion of cities around that area? we'll be driving from Berlin. Also I need to check Cologne (that's a must, right?), so if there is city worth staying around there could also be a possibility.
I'll check about Gegenbach, I might have read something about it before in a different topic.

ttt - no time to contribute at the moment but I'll be back....

ok, back now.

Here's another vote for the area around Weimar, Erfurt and Naumburg, which would make a very good base for exploring the area being a nice, interesting small town which is well placed for getting to the rest of the region. You could also add Halle to your list - quite an industrial place but well -worth visiting for the birthplace of Georg Fredrick Handel [the Haendelhaus] and the excellent local beer.

We spent a couple of nights in Wernigerode recently - enough for us to be honest; one day for getting the train up the Brocken and then....what have you planned for the second day?

i also recommend spending at least 1/2 a day in Potsdam - Sans soucci is definitely worth the trip. And the big omission on your itinerary is Dresden - I know that you say that cities aren't your thing but even so, a day or two there with a river trip should definitely be included.

we also spent 2 nights in Bamberg on that same trip and we weren't that keen - perhaps if it'd not been raining so much we'd have liked it more but after you've seen one Fachwerk house, honestly you've seen them all. Very pretty [in the dry] and ok for a 1/2 day, but i wouldn't stay there.

Where are you flying out of? i see that you have a night in Jagsthausen [?] so rather than going down to the Black Forest, why not explore the Neckar valley, or if you are flying out of Frankfurt, cross the Rhein and spend a few days in the Pfalz - a beautiful area of Germany which is pretty well ignored by all but german visitors.

Where are

Annhig, thanks a lot for your comments!!!
You guys are starting to convince me to make some changes on my itinerary, possibly by adding another day to Berlin or region.

The reason why so many nights in Wernigerode and Bamberg was to use these as bases to explore the region. I did it based in two posts I read in the forum, one from mokka4 for Bamberg and the other from Quokka regarding Wernigerode. Seems that both areas have a couple of nice cities around (i.e. going to Nürnemberg from Bamberg, and from Wernigerode visiting Goslar and Quedlinburg).

I was really in doubt regarding Dresden. I will look for it and get a better insight about it.

We're flying out of FRA, Jagsthausen was just for the sake of staying at the Schlosshotel Götzenburg, but (and she doesn't know) I got 2 nights at the castle in Oberwesel, so I could change this night for some other place.

Which cities would compass the Neckar Valley or what's your recommendation for the Pfalz (since this sounds really off the beaten path)? I kind decided spending 2 nights in Gegenbach after some comments, but still would have one night to get to some other place.

Goslar and Quedlinburg - and also Celle is a sweet pastel-hued city.

If you have not considered the Mosel Valley to me is one of the most awesome places in Germany - Cochem is the picture postcard wine town (large town) of your dreams - Burg Eltz a famous castle is a short drive away and boat trips on the Mosel, say between Cochem and Beilstein are superb. and it's just about smack on the way down to the Black Forest from Cologne.

Images of Cochem!
https://www.google.com/search?q=coch...w=1455&bih=977

Baden-Baden I loved too - makes a nice stop - old spa town with a parklike setting - great ornate casino that once was the watering/wagering hole of the rich and famous.

Baden baden is lovely, look at heidelburg and rothenburg as well

Heidelberg is a larger city but real nice - one of the few German cities not blitzed to bits in WW2 - some asy because the Allies or Americans at least wanted to use it as their post-war HQs, which they did - there are still U.S. bases around the town and lots of GIs in and around it - but a lovely castle on a hill and the famous student inns - in this very lively university town.

Hi Andre-

Most of my thoughts do not have the details of PalenQ and Annhig (and other contributors to this forum). I would stay (and have stayed) in Heidelberg and day tripped along the Neckar valley and the Pfalz. Also, Heidelberg is only an hour south of the Frankfurt airport I have yet to see a GI in uniform in Heidelberg.

Everyone appears to be enchanted with Cochem on the Mosel- but I had a bad experience the only time I tried to stay there in a 4 star hotel across the river on the south side. It was in June and veeeery warm. If you do stay there during the summer you might want to look for digs with air conditioning. The Mosel valley is pretty quiet and has many smaller towns to stay in if that is of interest to you. One or two days will probably be enough. A 2 hour boat trip on the Rhine is also a pleasant way to see some nice scenery. Boat trips on the Mosel are not nearly as interesting...

I spent several nights in Quedlinburg a year ago- it was OK but the town square was completely torn up. I wouldn't make a special trip to go there. My friend stopped in Goslar several years ago and raved about it. And to me, Gengenbach was much more interesting than Quedlinburg.

Have a good trip-

((B))

yes, we loved Goslar [though it's very busy during the day] and might have liked to stay the night there, were it not for our plan to use Wernigerode as our base for getting the train up to the top of the Brocken. Unless you want to drive to Schelke, it's definitely the best place to start as you can walk to the station, get the train to the top of the mountain, and walk back down to Schelke, where you get the train again. Dead easy and you can leave the car at the hotel for the day.

IMO Quedlinburg can be seen in ½ a day on the way to or from Wernigerode.

Travelforbeer and Annhig thank you very much for your suggestions, all of them are appreciated and are helping me putting down the details for the trip.

Like I first mentioned, my brother will indeed come with us, that should add some fun to the trip. We kind set down the itinerary as this:

Munich - 4 nights (3 and 1/2 days)
Bamberg - 3 nights
Wernigerode - 3 nights
Berlin - 2 nights
Dresden - 2 nights
Cologne - 1 night
Oberwesel - 2 nights
Gegenbach - 3 nights
Jagsthausen (?) - 1 night and then flying off from FRA

Munich we plan doing 1 and half day in the city, the others going to the surroundings. This time we'll visit the Neuschwanstein Castle, so I'm looking into where we could also stop on the way to or back from Füssen. Any suggestions here?

Likely we'll go to Berchstgaden to visit the Eagle's nest and the lake and will stop on Ayinger brewery on the way.

My doubt here is if we should take a day to go to Rothenburg or Nürnenberg. Rothenburg seems nice, but way too touristical. What do you think?

Now, another 'challenge' for you guys here, we'll drive from Dresden to Cologne (!!!), yeah, I know, it's a +5 hours driving... Considering this, we'll basically cross the entire country from central east to central west. On this way, where you think would be worth having a stop by to check around, eat something, etc?? We won't be in a hurry, since to Cologne the main intention is just to visit the Cathedral and central square.

Thanks for all your help so far!!

cheers

imonaroundabout,

I'm not usually in favour of "one night stands" but i think that they can be useful for places like Rothenburg where there isn't that much to see, but you want to see it when all the hoards have gone home. You could get there late afternoon, have a beer and a look round, then in the evening do the "Nightwatchman's Tour" [which though I've not done it some people here have enjoyed] and then after another look round in the morning at the things you missed the day before, set off for your next destination.

It can be tiring doing those sorts of stops if you do too many on the trot, but one night in the midst of longer stays can be ok.

It may be of course that there is enough to do to fill a whole day, in which case a 2 night stay might be better. If you decided on Nuremberg, i would definitely say you needed 2 nights at least as there is a lot to do; longer if you want to spend a day in Bayreuth.

I'm a bit confused about the route you are taking as you seem to be cross-crossing the country quite a bit. I'm not being funny but have you looked at a map? a more logical route might be as follows:


Munich - 4 nights (3 and 1/2 days)
Bamberg - 3 nights
Dresden - 2 nights
Berlin - 2 nights
Wernigerode - 3 nights
Cologne - 1 night
Oberwesel - 2 nights

That avoids your long cross-country drive - Bamberg to Dresden is about 2 ½ hours, then 2 hours to Berlin, and another 2 ¾ hours to Wernigerode. ok it's 4 hours from there to Cologne but i think that you would have cut out a lot of the criss-crossing if you go that way.
Gegenbach - 3 nights
Jagsthausen (?) - 1 night and then flying off from FRA

Hi Annhig,

you're absolutely right about the route. The problem was that, when I first booked the places, I had a different itinerary in mind.

Dresden came on the map later, to replace what I was considering to do that was Hamburg (which was a little more logical for the route). And then I realized having Wernigerode after Berlin would be way better, but then the apartment there is fully booked to change the dates :(

However with your suggestion of putting Dresden first of all, I will go back to booking.com and check about it!! Sometimes we just get lost in the maze of the planning... I'll let you know how it went!

thanks a lot for this!!!!

even though you do not especially enjoy large cities Berlin has so so much varied offerings you may want to add a day there and say take one off Wernigerode - and spend it in say Potsdam's lovely lovely Sans Soucci park with in it the Prussian Versailles - Scloss Sans Soucii and take some nice walks around the park or nearby Wannsee.

PalenQ Potsdam is definetely on my to do list... but is it worth spending a night there or a day trip would suffice?