20 days to enjoy Germany sights, pastries, quaint towns,etc..
 

Hi Fodorites,

i enjoyed this forum very much and is now in the midst of planning a 20 day trip to Germany (13 June ~ 2 July) with excursion to Prague and Salzburg.

We are a 50's couple ... this is our 2nd trip to Europe after a lapse of 27 years. A very close friend of us will join us in this trip from Frankfurt airport... she is a pastry/cakes instructor. The 3 of us enjoy memorable sights ... good time in quaint towns. We don't mind crowds but at times also look forward to peaceful moments.

The purpose of this trip is to reward ourselves (after all these years :-) )...and to learn something about pastries, cakes...especially for our close friend.

Will arrive Frankfurt FRA from New York (after a 3 week holidays in the US with the kids) and will meet up with our close friend at Frankfurt airport. The kids will fly home by themselves from FRA.

At this moment, i had drawn out the basic routing and sights, ... travelling by trains using the various passes.

...would appreciate any nice ideas and experiences from kind folks in this forum:

Arrival:
Take train from FRA to St Goar or Bacharach (3 nights stay).
- a bit undecisive whether to chose St Goar or Bacharach..and even toying with the idea of one night in Cochem... so any nice idea/experience will swing the decision making

Depart Rhine/Moselle area to Berlin ... with 2~4 hour stop over in Cologne to see the Dom and enjoy a cup of coffee nearby

Stay (3 nights) in Berlin with excursion to Potsdam

Depart Berlin for Prague (3 nights)

From Prague, will go to Bamberg, Wurzburg, Rothenburg areas for (4~5 nights) .
- any good ideas on which is a good base for these areas

Then we head towards Munich, Salzburg and also the Fairy tale castles areas (4~5 nights)

We intend to spend the last 2 nights in Heidelberg ...due to its short one-hour travel time to FRA for the next morning flight at noon time.
- beside Heidelberg, is there any nearby place to stay for a memorable last night in Germany?

Once again, appreciate your ideas and comments...

not an expert on Germany, but 3 nights ( 2 full days) including a day trip will not give you much time in Berlin,
If you have even a slightest interest in history and art -
the city is a treasure.

I would suggest at least 3 or even 4 full days in Berlin as a minimum and then add on an additional full day for Potsdam to see Sans Souci. 3 Days for Berlin and Postdam would be too rushed.

I once did a 3 day weekend trip around Mosel with the first overnight in Trier (very beautiful town and to see the Negro Porto), and then overnight in Cologne the next night. There were many stops along the way between Trier and Cologne in quaint little villages with abandoned castles and mansions along the way. After the overnight in Cologne, I saw the cathedral the next morning and wandered around town in the afternoon. But I agree that half a day is sufficient to see the cathedral and then you can move on to your next destination.

The 4-5 days for Munich, Salzburg and Neuschwanstein (castle) sounds about right. You can base in Munich for this as the drive to Salzburg is not very long (sorry, dont remember exatly how long but perhaps around 90 mins). When you go to Neuschwanstein, I recommend to ride the horse-drawn carriages from the castle back down to the main road. During peak season, you may need to book the English tours of the castle in advance. I went in November so a tour was readily available.

Happy travels =)

hi danon,

thanks your reply... in fact i'm aware that the time for Berlin is too short,.. but considering i'm also doing it for my 2 lady companions (who are not great fans of art or history...more interest in having a coffee chat,..strolling and soaking in the local atmosphere..perhaps maybe enjoying a great sight or two..

...so maybe we visit Charlottenburg and enjoy its garden, walk along recommended street, etc

Berlin is a huge city and we have to divide the duration to appreciate a few major sights in Germany and enjoy her quaint town charms.

hi Piccolina,
i will consider Trier and thanks for you good advice on booking the English tour in advance for Neuschwanstein.

Hi there, if you are not into much of the arts, history or museums, then in my opinion I think two full days in Berlin would be okay.
As you are going to be in Heidleberg for two nights, perhaps you could look at going to Speyer - its a gorgeous town with famous cathedral, on the Rhine river and has a nice town centre. If you are interested, I am halfway through a trip report of my recent three weeks in Germany. An alternative is Strasbourg - just over the border in France - and close to Speyer. Just tossing that in for an additional idea.
I had two nights in Bamberg - its an absolute treasure. On my next trip I want to spend extra time in this area - like what you are doing.

hi nz101,
thanks for the suggestion on Speyer.. will look into it.
as for Strasbourg, may have to drop it:-( .. since it is far away from Frankfurt airport for our last night.

..will certainly find ourselves at least 2 nights in Bamberg..and enjoy the beer there too :-)

Have stayed both in St. Goar and in Bacharach.
To me, St. Goar was far more 'sleepy' with much less to do (visit castle ruins above town and sit on lake side promenade).
Highly recommend Bacharach with more eateries, wine cafes and small shops though still a small town. See ruins of WernerKapelle. Walk up above town through the town arches for lunch in the 'suburb' ?name and good views. Take boat cruise to St. Goar for lunch and climb up to castle ruins.
You can easily daytrip to Cochem, OR if you relocate for a night to Cocem, daytrip to Trier from there (great Roman amphitheatre and Roman bath ruins, in addition to the well-known Black Gate (Porta Nigra).

"- beside Heidelberg, is there any nearby place to stay for a memorable last night in Germany?"

Mainz is very close to FRA - roughly 20-25 min. and 3.90 Euros away via regional train or S-Bahn. The old town area that comprises the Dom, the Marktplatz, and Augustinerstrasse is a delightul pedestrian zone with numerous pastry shops, cafes, wine bars, etc. See the Gutenberg Museum and the Stephanskirche (Chagall Windows) if interested.

"From Prague, will go to Bamberg, Wurzburg, Rothenburg areas for (4~5 nights) .
- any good ideas on which is a good base for these areas"

Of those, I think I would choose Wurzburg as the base - the train connections are good and it is in the middle of the three. There is a direct train to Bamberg, which takes about an hour. To Rothenburg obT, it is also about an hour by train the other direction with 1 connection at Steinach.

If you stay in Bamberg, you've got to change trains in Wurzburg to get to Rothenburg obT anyway. And Rothenburg obT is at the end of a spur line, so it doesn't make a good base when using the train because you have to connect to get anywhere.

Nuremburg makes a good base as well - the train station there is pretty large and has lots of trains so connections are good.

Since you'll be arriving in that area from Prague - there is a long distance bus that goes from Prague to Nuremburg (we are taking that this summer for our trip in August and I hear that this bus is quite good). From Nuremburg, you can take the train easily to any of the three towns you mentioned.

thanks mokka for the ideas on Bacharach..i think both St Goar and Bacharach has its merits..
seem Bacharach has more eateries, cafes and small shops than St Goar.. it may appeal to my 2 ladies...

Hi Russ,. thanks your idea on Mainz,.. in fact we will visit Mainz on the 1st leg before returning to Frankfurt again for the 2nd leg

On the 1st leg, had booked 2 nights stay in Frankfurt which is a short walk to Frankfurt Hbf station...so we can catch the early morning flight(8:30am).
we will have 2 full days and beside Mainz, probably plan to go to Marburg, Budingen or Kronberg which are well recommended in this forum. Also i think we do not want to miss the Pealing of the Bells in Frankfurt :-) ,.. which we learned is wonderful.

thanks november_moon on where to base for Bamberg, Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Nuremburg...

most probably we will base in 2 towns for minimum 2 nights each to visit the above places. At this moment, the favour is towards Bamberg and Wurzburg...just to have a feel on the nights in different towns for relaxing

I like your selection of destinations but you are doing a lot of zigging and zagging. Take a look at a map to see how you can rearrange your trip so you are not spending more time than necessary traveling between places. How will you be traveling? If you are renting a car out of Munich for instance you can plan to pick it up as you leave town and check it back in when you get back to save the hassel and expense of parking and city traffic. If you do go by car from Munich you can do the map trick again and drive to Salzburg then drive through Bertschesgaden (sp) and Mittenwald on your way to Garmish, Ettal Monastary, SchlosLinderhof, Oberammergau, Wiesskirche and then Neuschwanstein before going back around to Munich.

Its a shame that you don't have time to work in some time in the Saxony region, perhaps on the way to Berlin or before Prague. Dresden has magnificent sites, and as far as small towns go, Freidburg and Seiffen can not be beat. Seiffen is a real jewel, a little bit in the middle of nowhere, but oh so beautiful.

Hi AisleSeat.. thanks for your concern...still in midst of twigging the route plan using DB Bahn website plus googlemap... and will not be driving though….but I think we could manage it..

hi Poconolady... yes it's a pity will miss Dresden..especially the wonderfully restored Frauenkirche,etc..but as you can see, with such a short time, the choice of places to go in Germany is so overwhelming (plus a lot of homework needed to be done..it’s really fun!!..) and they are all so interesting and varied.
Anyway will google on Seiffen to study it.

Maybe to recap a little bit about ourselves and aim for this trip:
- we enjoyed each other company …and had many great times ...
- we are not too heavy into history, arts or museums :-( (although I am solidly into it..)..but then need to balance the interests of the other 2 ladies :-) :-)

...thanks to all again for the feedback..

"From Prague, will go to Bamberg, Wurzburg, Rothenburg areas for (4~5 nights) - any good ideas on which is a good base for these areas"

I agree that Wurzburg would be the best option. It's quite lovely and large enough to be a good base for a few days. I prefer it to Nuremberg personally. Bamberg is very nice but Wurzburg would be my first choice. If you end your trip in Wurzburg there is a direct train to FRA.