My husband and I (both early 50's) will be traveling from CA to Germany in the spring. I have come up with a rough itinerary but would love your feedback and any specific suggestions for restaurants and things to see/do.

Sunday - flight to Germany
Monday - arrive Munich (mid afternoon)
Tuesday - city tour (should we do on our own or do a professional tour?)
Wednesday - BMW factory tour/Olympic Village
Thursday - Dachau
Friday - finish seeing city/Fruhlingsfest
Saturday - rent car, drive to Linderhof, night in Fussen
Sunday - Ludvig's Castles, drive Romantic Road to Rothenburg OBT
Monday - Rothenburg
Tuesday - Rothenburg
Wednesday - Return to Munich/Night at the Airport Kempinski (only non-refundable booking of trip)
Thursday - Fly home

Will there be enough to see/do in Rothenburg and surrounding areas for two full days? Does anyone know if there are stables around Rothenburg where you can rent horses?

Thank you for any help!

Hi Ike,

>Will there be enough to see/do in Rothenburg and surrounding areas for two full days?<

Yes.

See Ira Visits Europe – May, 2007 (Salzburg, Fuessen, Bodensee, Burgundy, Alsace)
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...2&tid=35014078
for details

Sounds like a good trip. I have a couple thoughts/recommendations.

I generally like to take some sort of organized tour when we visit a new city - something that lasts a few hours where we can get a good introduction and the lay of the land. I prefer walking and bike tours to coach tours, but have enjoyed the Hop On Hop Off tours in a few cities. In Munich we have taken the Mikes Bikes tour, which we enjoyed. We have also taken a beer and brewery tour with Munich Walks, which was also very good. Munich Walks also does several other tours.

I might take a night from Rothenburg and add it to Fuessen. Touring the Ludwig castles is going to take most or all of the morning (if you book tickets ahead for early in the day), leaving just the afternoon for the drive to Rothenburg. The Romantic Road itself is just a road - it is the towns along the way that make it special, so you will want to make sure you have time to stop. If you stayed an extra night in Fuessen, then you'd have more time in that area and then you can take your time enroute to Rothenburg.

Don't miss Wieskirche, just north of Fuessen. You can see it the same day as Linderhof or swing by there on the way to Rothenburg.

a few hours in Rothenburg is enough for me or was both times I went there - sadly overrun with tourists and tour bus groups - at night though is romantic.

But i'd stay one day and put another day in for a day trip to Salzburg from Munich, less than two hours by train and one of Europe's most serenly gorgeous city IMO - a Baroque wonder through and through and you'll have a taste of Austria, quite different than Bavaria.

Sunday you want to see Ludwig's castles and also drive to Rothenburg - well that could be a long day unless you book a visit time for Neuschwanstein in advance - otherwise just show up and even one November I had a few-hour wait to get in.

The Romantic Road IMO is also not that romantic but IME a busy two-lane road that can be tedious driving so leave more time than expected - be sure to stop by the Weisskirche church that is a mile or so off the main road from Fuessen to Augsburg. Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen are both delightful old towns.

I agree that two days in Rothenburg is too much; however you ought to spend one night - it's a wonderful place. We stayed at Hotel Spitzweig. The proprietor is a colorful gentleman that serves you a wonderful breakfast. Also on the romatic road be sure to stop for a tour of Harburg Castle - it's phenomenal although not heavily advertised. Look for signs along the way.

Sandeman's offers a free walking tour of Munich as well as several other European cities. There's really not that much to tour in Munich, so the free one should suffice.

http://www.newmunichtours.com/daily-...free-tour.html

Don't know how much you are into beers, but the beer tour mentioned by november_moon is a good one.

You didn't say anything about any of the palaces: there's Nymphenburg which is really worth a half day, easily reached via the metro; also the Residenz in the heart of Old Town, not much to look at from the outside but quite a lot to see inside the walls.

For food, try the Viktualienmarkt and the Munich morning special of a Weisswurst.

Watch this youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW-J84hYMfc

You must have the correct mustard, the obligatory pretzel, and, of course, the wheat beer, the weissbier.

AND, do not forget, it has to be consumed before noon!

Enjoy!

Thank you for the responses. I'm going to have to tinker with the plans.

Ira, your trip report was wonderfully entertaining and I took lots of notes. I only wish airfares now were what you paid.

We do plan on going to the Viktualien Market, English Gardens, Residenz and Nymphenburg while in Munich. Our debate on the tour (we have looked into Sandemanns) is that it doesn't start until 10:30 and we are early birds so sitting around in the morning is never an option so we would need to find something to do.

Beer (for husband) is part of the reason he picked Germany for this trip so that will fit into the plans. Weisswurst will not. I can't get past the white color. I may change my mind once we are there, but for now it's a no.

While in Fussen, we were hoping to get there early enough on Saturday to do Hohenschwangau in the afternoon and have early reservations for Neuschwanstein the next morning. I will look into adding an extra night to have some time to see the town and not have to rush to drive to Rothenburg. I was hoping to find something to do mid-day in Rothenburg to go outside the wall and avoid the crowds but we are looking forward to having the relatively quiet mornings and evenings.

If your husband is a beer lover, you should try to visit Bamberg, which is relatively near Rothenburg.

Forgot to mention that November Moon wrote an excellent trip report about her recent beer-saturated visit to Bavaria and Prague (including Bamberg, which I mentioned above):

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...rip-report.cfm

It makes my mouth water just reading it.

Two days in Rothenburg is not too much. It makes a great base for visiting the area. Dinkelsbuehl, Feuchtwangen, Schwaebisch Hall, Nordlingen, Wurzburg, and Nurnberg are all within about a 60 minute drive. Bamberg is only 90 minutes away, as well.

Fuessen is Fuessen. Nice enough but the drive to Rothenburg is only a little over 2 hours if you take the highway. That does not put it into the "stay an extra night category" for me with so much more to see around Rothenburg.

Here is a suggestion of how it could work;

Sunday afternoon - drive to Rothenburg, have dinner and take in the Nightwatchman tour.

Monday - tour Rothenburg on your own - walk along and outside the walls, hang out in the Burggarten. Take a stroll in the valley down to Detwang (you can see it - its about a mile away) and visit the Church of St. Peter & St. Paul.

Tuesday - take a day trip to Wurzburg, Nurnberg, or Bamberg (all north of Rothenburg), or Schwaebisch Hall

Wednesday - visit Dinkelsbuehl and Nordlingen (south of Rothenburg) as you make your way back to Munich


There is a riding club in Rothenburg. Their website is in German;

www.reitverein-rothenburg.de

or the local tourist office could surely advise you;

http://www.rothenburg.de/index.php?get=121

I second the recommendation for Hotel Spitzweig-a traditional inn within walking distance of the main square in Rothenburg.

I also second the recommendation for Bamberg-stay in the alstadt if you can fit Bamberg into your schedule. It is a beautiful town.

Have fun!

Pat