My husband and I have 9 days to play in Germany & Switzerland. We fly into Frankfurt and out of Zurich, 9 days later. I know it's a short trip~ any advice on 'not to miss' spots? Thanks in advance!!

What time of year will you be going?

What are your interests?

There are dozens of answers - but without more info it's hard to be helpful.

Thanks~ We are arriving mid- March.... Very interested in local culture/history (Dachau)/castles/ Switzerland mountains and scenery...not into shopping or expensive eating.

Will you have a car? If so, consider driving the Romantic Road, although March is still a bit early and the countryside is more brown and gray than green and pretty.

If not, train travel is really easy.

Not sure, what you means by "local culture/history" because there's plenty of that no matter where you go in Germany or Switzerland.

Do you want to go to museums - as part of the "culture" thing? If so, then Berlin is not to be missed.

marking

Our first trip to Germany was in March. The countryside was pretty white with some icy grays woven through when we came upon rivers and lakes.
The Romantic Road is a nice journey by train. It will be a good time to go if you're dressed warmly.

Is there any reason you are going from Frankfurt to Zurich in such a short time? I spent a week on the RR alone.

we will be going by train~ wish we had more time, sadly the work thing gets in the way

9 days is better than no days. Have a great time. Rothenburg ob der Tauber for a couple of nights. It's a lovely little town, be sure to take the Night Watchman Tour and then on to Munich.

You'll be taking one of those Glacier Express trains over the Alps, right?

(I've only been to Basel Swizterland so can't comment on Zurich.) I'll bet the train across the Alps will be pretty if it's not snowing.

WIth 9 days and presuming that you would like to see some of Zurich, rather than just depart from the airport, this would work.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber - 2 nights
Munich (Dachau) - 3 nights
Meersburg - Interesting place with easy connections to Zurich - 2 nights
Zurich - 2 nights

There are a couple of issues with it based on your expressed interests. Zurich is north of the Alps and you won't really see them.

If you want to actually see the Swiss Alps, you will have to head south from Munich and then then move west and south quite bit before coming back north to Zurich. You could use one of the days in Munich to see the Bavarian Alps.

You also won't see a lot of "castles" on this route. There are better routes for that south and south west of Frankfurt for that but you will have trouble getting to Munich and Dachau and back to Zurich if you head that way.

With 3 nights in Munich, they would have time to see Neuschwanstien, it's a day trip.

There's debate about the quality of castle that it is but it's famous and one many people think of when they think of a castle in Germany.

March is still winter. The towns in the lower country and valleys will be chilly and possibly rainy while the mountains will be snow covered and full of skiers. I think you are too early for hiking although you can see mountain scenery from gondolas. If it were me I would stay in larger cities and plan on doing mostly indoor things. It;s true that the Romantic Road is charming - but in May or June - not late winter.

You could spend a couple of days in Berlin, then a few in Munich and environs and finally leave from Zurich (primarily a business city with really not that much to see or do - esp in winter.)

Excellent thoughts- i like the idea of a couple of nights each place with day trips. we will be packing light, but still. The guidebook info on Lucern looks beautiful as well as jungfraujoch area...so much we want to see...

We went down the Romantic Road in March and it was great. There were few people in Rothenburg and we had the place to ourselves.

LSky- did you travel by train?