Hi Everyone,

I am working on my itinerary for my upcoming trip to Western/Central Europe.

I would like to see some quaint half-timbered buildings, and other architectural gems. We want to have a balance between cities and towns/villages in our itinerary, and we would be concerned that we would be trying to fit in too much if we tried to do all of the options. Less is more as they say.

We have approximately 8 extra days in our planning to devote to the following regions below. We will be coming from a week in Paris, and ultimately plan to work our way down towards the Berchtesgaden area in southern Bavaria.

We have narrowed down our choices to the Alsace region around Colmar, the Franconia region in Germany, (Bamberg & Rothenburg specifically), or the Mosel region around in and around Cochem.

While it ultimately comes down to a personal preference, which region would you choose and why? I would love to hear your answers and experiences about these regions.

We stayed a few years ago in Gengenbach ("Rothenburg for Germans"), a beautiful half-timbered town, and day tripped to the Alsation towns of Strasbourg and Colmar. Great choice! Also visited the German outdoor museum of Vogtsbauernhof.

My second choice would be lovely Bamberg, Amberg and Nuremberg, especially if you like to try new beers (have you had smoke beer? Mmmmm!

Are you referring to Rothenburg ob der Tauber?

We have spent time in all of these areas and they are all lovely. If you want to see the half-timbered buildings then I would recommend Rothenburg and the Alsace region.

The Mosel is also a very lovely region. There are several lovely towns in the Alsace area. We stayed in Obernai and very much liked the location.

If you really want to experience all three areas than I would recommend 3 days Mosel (Bielstein), 1-2 in Rothenburg ob der Tauber (best in the evening after the tourists leave) and 3 days in the Alsace region.

We just spent a week in Alsace in June and loved it!

We can see our pics here to see what you can expect

https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...7644953485474/

jamikins...You took some stunning shots of the region. I love the night shots. So pretty. It looks like you guys ate your way through the Alsace region. Great pics of the food. I absolutely loved this area...makes me want to go back.

Thanks Michele! We did our best to try all the local specialties we loved it as well!