I last posted a draft intinerary in October. My husband and I are taking our belated honeymoon to Germany and Switzerland at the end of July/beg. of august for 16 days total (2 of those days for travel). Our Germany itinerary is pretty much done. I am now researching Switzerland .. and the more I research the more perplexed I get in where to go. So far, this is what I have/what I am thinking.

I received valuable responses the last time I posted (very much appreciated) and am looking for more valuable information!

Germany:

-Fly into Frankfurt (rent car)
-Spend 2 nights in Cochem (Cochem, Burg Eltz and Beilstein)
-Drive to Rothenburg via Heidelberg (stop along the way) and spend 1 night in Heidelberg. Haven't decided precisely what towns I'd like to visit on that route.
-Rothenburg for 2 nights (daytrip to Nurnberg)
-Head to Fussen via Romantik Road. Spend two nights in Fussen. Ludwig Hotels and I'm currently researching what other area to daytrip to???? Maybe 2 nights in Fussen is too long? Won't get into Fussen until pretty late the 1s night as we are planning to stop in towns along the Romantik Road.

Now, this is where I tend to get perplexed. At this point we have spent 7 nights in Germany ... and we have 7 nights left. I'd like to head into Switzerland. Let me first say that we are currently thinking of flying out of Munich. We would also like to visit Munich for a day with a trip to Dachau. So with this being said here goes:

The areas we are interested in seeing are:
Luzern
Appenzell
Heidiland
Meersburg
Lindau
Bodensee/Lake Constance

I am thinking I have two options:
1. Visit Munich/Dachau before hitting Switzerland and drop off rental car in Germany ... take trains around Switzerland (I've heard and read so much about the trains) and do open jaw out of zurich or someplace else?
2. Keep my original plan of flying out of Munich thus having roughly 5 nights in Switzerland (with car) before having to drive to Munich/Dachau (also don't want to get hit with drop-off fees in another country).

Is it necessary do you think to have a car in switzerland with the above places we'd like to see?

We are more interested in staying in chalet/rustic type housing than modern hotels. I'm not sure Lucerne has this so we may have to stay in lake towns???

I'm sure you all have tons of thoughts on this crazy schedule of ours. Any help/feedback on Switzerland would be great!

Thanks in advance!!!!

Weather can be a problem in October. Maybe snow in the mountains, but on the other hand it is often cloudy in the lower areas and sunny above - especially Lake Konstanz/Bodensee and Lucerne suffering from that.

Anyway, I suggest you drive in Switzerland. The rail connections between Bavaria and Switzerland are not sufficient. (I am a railway fan otherwise.)

You can easily drive from Füssen to Appenzell, stay there for a night or two, drive on to Lucerne (which has beautiful old-world charm hotels) and stay there for another two nights. I like the idea of seeing Heidiland (that would be Maienfeld in Graubünden). I recommend you stay one or two nights there, maybe day trip to Chur.

Finally I think you might be interested in seeing the picturesque village of Guarda in the Engadin (my favourite Swiss region) and stay there for one night. The drive from there to Munich would be approx. 4 hours.

Hi Katzen,

I don't have a map in front of me, but from memory could you possibly do:
Fly into Frankfurt, pick up car, drive and stay 2 nights Cochem- see Burg Eltz etc.
From there, head for Switzerland, stopping at Heidelberg.
Spend 5 days as you like in Switzerland, but travel west to east ending up in Fussen. From Fussen to Munich, then Rothenburg, Nurnburg and fly out of Frankfurt. Keep the route circular without backtracking too much, and if you don't pre-book all of your hotels, you can travel at your own pace, staying longer or skipping places as need be. If you want to cover this much ground, you'll be OK with one night in Rothenburg and Fussen.

Whitey

Ingo and whitey, thank you for your responses. Whitey, yes I could possibly do that route. I think one of the issues I am having planning this trip is which route to take (which makes the best sense and what airports to fly in and out of). Also, whether or not we need a car for the entire trip.

I have been to Luzern in Switzerland but have not been to the other areas I mentioned in CH. Also, once I'm in CH I'm not sure of the best route to take to visit Luzern, Appenzelland, heidiland, Bondensee, Lindau and thank you to Ingo, Guarda?

ttt

Hi K,

I'm no expert with Switzerland, I've only spent about 24 hrs in the country total..but I've been doing a lot of research lately and I just booked airfare last night - we plan to spend at least a week there this September. Have you thought about spending a few days in the Berner Oberland, a couple of days in Ingo's Engadin region, and some time in Appenzell on your way back to Germany?
I can certainly help you out with any Germany questions; we hit a lot of your proposed areas May of this year.
Whitey