Could you please name the "do not miss" cities & towns in Germany for a 3 or 4 week travel time? I would also like to go to Prague on this trip which would mean adding additional time to the trip. Would like to see Warsaw & Krakow & Budapest sometime, but I wonder if that should be part of another trip rather than add to this one. We could have a total of 6 weeks travel time.

Well, that's a tall order. We've never been in northern or eastern Germany and now tend to gravitate towards the smaller towns, but here goes:

- Bad Wimpfen on the Neckar River
- Rothenburg on the Tauber and Dinkelsbuhl on the "Romantic Road"
- Wurzburg and many of the small surrounding towns such as Dettelbach and Iphofen
- Heidelberg
- Any of the small towns on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers
- Fuessen and the King Ludwig Castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau
- Garmisch-Partenkirchen

And too many more small towns and villages to name. It's hard to go wrong in Germany.

Thanks, Betty! When I first started thinking of this trip, I wanted to go to several countries. At some point, I began to see that Germany is full of interesting places! It would be great to spend a lot of time there.

Concur with Betty's suggestions. And, if you do decide to head north, Goslar is a very nice stop. It is out of the main tourist zones in the south so it is less well known. It has half-timber houses and cobble-stone streets in a compact city center with a pedestrian zone. Best of all it feels lived in. It is one of the most walkable cities that we visited in Germany.


Regards, Gary

Hi Marsh,
I was in Germany for 4 1/2 weeks in May 2005, and, bearing in mind that my 'do not miss' cities and towns will differ from others, may I put forward a case for the obvious tourist places, such as:-
Berlin - apparent really; history, old buildings

Nuremberg - easy to walk around, good rail connections, castle with a spectacular city view, Durer House

Trier - not quite so easy to walk around, but full of Roman ruins (our tour guide said proudly last May 'that Trier has more Roman ruins that Rome has' such as the Porta Negra, the Roman baths, the Auola Palantino (sp??)

Dresden and Leipzig - both small cities, easily walked, good transport systems for tourists, fascinating histories (on the outside of the Residenz in Dresden is a mosiac of all the rulers of the city since it began - you don't see that here in Australia)

Munich - I thoroughly enjoyed much more than I expected to - Nymphenberg Palace, the Residenz (amazing treasury of goodies here; swords, reliquaries, medals, crowns etc; the Teddy Bear Museum, and the Museum for Unusual Collections; the Glockenspiel; the Olympic Stadium; the list can go on longer

Fussen was pretty, but both times I was there it was raining, and I had bronchitis, so I wasn't as appreciative of the castles as others are

OOOOOHHHH two other places that come to mind - Lindau, and Mainau
Lindau a town on the edge of the Bodensee (Lake Constance which shares borders with Italy & Switzerland I think) - lovely small town, friendly people, beautiful scenery
Mainau is an island closer to the coast of Italy, and used to be the summer home for the Kings of Bavaria. It is often called 'Blumeninsel', the island of blooms. It is covered in the most spectacular gardens - there are rose gardens, nature gardens, vegetable gardens etc Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. But this is a day trip coz it takes approx 3-4 hours to get there.

I did not 'do' museums, and walked almost everywhere, stopped off in kellars for meals etc to meet more of the locals, rather than other tourists, but I appreciate that this is possibly not what you are after.

As a final piece of advice, please be aware that you will not see everything!! And the more you read or plan, the more you will find to visit - I found this was the case when I was planning my trip!! Enjoy the planning, but be flexible, circumstances can change!!

If I can be of any help, please let me know.

cheers,
Alli

Marsh--what time of the year will you be there?

I'd like to encourage you to spend one of the weeks in the East. It's still "off the beaten path" for non-Germans and large regions are not crowded. Berlin should be a must for you, but it is not really like the rest of the East. Dresden, Meissen, Görlitz, Weimar, Quedlinburg, Potsdam are the highlights of the cities/towns IMO (but there are endless choices); Saxon Switzerland, Spreewald, the Harz mountains and the Baltic coast (Rügen Island) are the highlights of nature (to pick a few).

Prague would be an easy day trip from Dresden. Trains run every two hours, the trip takes 2.5 hours. You could leave Dresden at 8 am and arrive Prague 10.30 am - I have done this several times and it leaves enough time for some sightseeing and shopping. You could even stay a night or two, no problem.

I.

As mentioned above, we each have a different set of "do not miss" towns in Germany. Here are mine:

Nuremburg: We loved this city. The historic center is great for strolling. The castle is interesting, and there are some great restaurants.

Rothenburg: For obvious reasons.

Berchtesgaden: This is a small town about 20 miles from Salzburg, in southern Bavaria. The mountain setting is splendid, and the town is small and quaint. The cathedral is worth checking out, and a visit to the Eagles Nest or nearby Mt. Jenner and the Konigssee make this a great choice.

Regensburg: We really enjoyed the historic center.

Passau: Another cute town, near Berchtesgaden, in a spectacular setting. The little church alone is worth the effort.

And the area around Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau: Fuessen and Oberammergau are both neat little towns.

Tracy

don't miss Heidelberg! ( best casual restaurant on walkway through main shopping area was Bier Kreig translates to beer wars) don't think anyone has mentioned it and all it has to offer from the castle to the river--it is a real treat--and Linderhof and the castle used for Disney--the N one are just breathtaking experiences for which one day was not enough last August for us

Thanks to all of you for the wonderful suggestions! Rufus, we plan to travel in September and early October. We do like museums and architecture and seeing the quaint old cities & towns.

September and early October are usually excellent times for travel where you are headed--Mrs. Fly is a teacher, so we never get to travel in fine months like those. Boo, hoo.

Do not miss (only listing places we've actually been to that we enjoyed a whole lot):

Bamberg--an absolute gem of a small city with one of the best-preserved Altstadts in the entire country. Plus a river runs right through, just adding to the charm of the place. It's a UNESCO World Heritage city--also, both an Emperor and a Pope are buried there. Unlike Rothenburg, the Altstadt is actually part of the real, living city, not a museum piece. (Though Rothenburg really is quite pretty and photogenic. And Mrs. Fly spent a good deal of time and money in that big Xmas store.)

Munich--One of my favorite big cities. Has all the trappings of a modern big city, but it's still uniquely Bavarian--some really nice museums. Oom-pah-pah and beer garden good times. And surfing and nude sunning in the park.

The towns on the Mosel River. We love the Mosel--more so than the Rhein (though the famous Rhein Gorge is no slouch itself). The Mosel is so beautiful, lazy, laid-back--and has some wonderful castles. We enjoyed using teeny-tiny, quiet Beilstein as our base camp for touring the area by car.

Dinkelsbuehl-in spite of an irritating experience that cut our visit a bit short, we liked this little place a lot. Very scenic stopping point on the Romantic Road.

Berlin--big, busy, energetic, fascinating. The biggest in Deutschland, and certainly worth a visit.

Nuernberg--I am a bit partial to this city because of my interest in German history in the 20th Century and because I did attend high school there for a short time in the 60s. But the history is interesting, and it's a fun city with lots to see and do.

Ludwig's castle route--Neuschwanstein and the family castle, Hohenschwangau; Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee all have their own interest. All worthwhile, especially when viewed in the context of Bavarian history at the time and the larger context of the decline of the great monarchies of Europe in the 19th and early 20th Centuries.

We spent a couple days in Bamberg last February (thank you again Rufus!) and it is indeed a treasure.

There are also some very interesting sights in Wurzburg, the first city on the "Romantic Road" and only about 1.25 hours by train from Frankfurt. The Residenz palace is amazing and houses (supposedly) the largest fresco in Europe, a Tiepolo. The accompanying Court Gardens and the ornate Horkirche chapel are also well worth a stop. I also recommend seeing the Dom, the Kapelle church with its stations of the cross, and Fortress Marienberg (castle on the hill over the town) and the Medieval statues on the Old Main Bridge spanning the Main River. The Juliusspital winery has a wonderful selection of Franconian wines.