Draft itinerary Germany please improve
 

After a week in Berlin, we fly to Frankfurt to spend a week at Diedeshine (timeshare exchange)- our first visit to Germany, part of an 8-week trip to Europe from Australia
Wk 6: DIEDESHINE Sat 24 April to Sat 1 May
Sat 24 April: fly to Frankfurt, pick up car, drive to Diedesheim
Sun 25: ? day morning Cruise on the Rhine
Mon 26: Rothenburg, Wurzburg (& Nurnberg? Bamberg) Roth: Nightwatchman?s Tour; the criminal museum; dinner at Reichs Kuchenmeister. (Hotel Klingentor Gastof, Rothenburg 65E)
Tues: 27: Deidesheim?
Wed 28: Drive to Luxembourg/Trier or Strasbourg/Black Forest
Thurs 29: Heidelberg
Frid 30: Deidesheim?
Sat 1 May: depart frankfurt 9.15, arrive Madrid 11.45am

Other thoughts: experience a Biergarten; a spa? Baden Baden & Strasbourg (Boat trip on Ill river; vineyards Neckar;Marburg? Rothenburg: Night Watchman?s Tour; Augsburg; Salzkammergut; Black Forest, eg Gengenbach has a nightwatchman tour. Cologne cathedral; any town with a brewery. Bamberg? Any suggestions for experiencing German life are very welcome. Jim

Topping

I wasn't really sure if you meant to try to see Rothenburg and Wuerzburg and Nurnberg/or Bamberg in one day or were trying to choose which one of these places to see. I think that if you are trying to see more than one of these cities in one day it will be a very superficial visit and you won't see much of anything worth seeing because you'll spend most of your time parking and driving. If your only desire is to take the Nightwatchman's tour in Rothenburg then you COULD see Wuerzburg during the day and drive to Rothenburg in the late afternoon and do the tour. It's not what I would prefer but people travel differently. I think a day trip into the Black Forest is a great drive, we've been in early March and there was still snow on the ground and tons of skiing options and in the summer when it was green and lush, absolutely beautiful countryside. Wow, you've got a lot on your plate, good luck with your trip.

Thank you for replying. Yes, if we were to include Nurnberg and/or Bamberg, we would probably stay overnight at Rothenberg. Alternatively, we would only go to Wurzburg and/or Rothenburg. Please excuse any spelling errors of these places.

If you have a timeshare in Deidesheim, I'm not particularly sure why you would want to wander too far into Bavaria; with just 8 days, there are literally dozens of terrific places to go and things to do right in your own backyard. Trier is great, but so is the rest of the Mosel Valley; it would be a shame to miss out on Burg Eltz (my favorite castle in Germany), Cochem, Bernkastel, and other towns in this area at a very pretty time of the year. The Rhine towns of Boppard, St. Goar, and Linz, north of Koblenz, make for very interesting stops as well, and between towns, there's some excellent walking territory that runs along the cliffs with pretty views of the Rhine Valley. Idar-Oberstein, between Deidesheim and the Mosel Valley, is known for its chapel-in-the-cliffside and is a good spot for gem buffs. Heidelberg is okay, but I find the region just to the east much more enchanting. Michelstadt, Miltenberg, and Bad Wimpfen and the other towns that huddle along the Neckar River are just a few stops that make for a good ramble. If you actually find yourselves going to Wurzburg, make a stop in Weikersheim too before you get there - an attractive town with a palace of its own to boast about. Worms and Speyer have cathedrals that are superb. The German wine road is littered which passes right through the area you'll be in is littered with cute towns, wineries, and a castle ruin or two; some nice hikes in the area as well.

If you can drive or train from Berlin instead, I would recommend going directly to Bamberg for an overnight stay there if B'berg is on your must-see list, then continuing west from there the next day; it really is a very attractive town. But I would not bother to include anything south of Bamberg or Rothenburg (Salzkammergut??) simply because of the geographic and time limitations you are under. You'll be spending too much time in the car.

I agree with Russ. Michelstadt is nice. Speyer has a Brewery the Domhof. It also has a beer garden and a wonderful german restaurant, bring a healthy appeite the food portions are huge!

Thank you for your responses. That's the kind of information we are after. I have downloaded your thoughts. Yes, we recently had a similar experience on a visit to England, driving for hours to places until we realised that there were great historical, beautiful, and interesting places where we were staying. Of the places I've listed, what might be cut for this trip?

I think all your chosen destinations are worthwhile (although I really am not a fan of touristy Rothenburg, or of Heidelberg, especially, others are.) But I'd also say that no single destination you've listed is absolutely imperative for a trip to Germany either. I just think you'd be smart to use Deidesheim as your base and really explore the immediate area around you, which is plenty full of castles, wineries, cute towns, pretty river valleys, and stunning architecture. Define a driving radius, do some homework on the area, don't be lured far afield by such tricks of the tourism trade as Nightwatchman tours, and enjoy yourselves.

Actually, if you want a more real cultural event than a nightwatchman tour with other international tourists, you'll be in the area at a perfect time. On April 30, in Oberwesel on the Rhine south of Koblenz, there is a local festival called "Weinhexennacht" (Wine witch night). A straw "wine witch" is burned in effigy to mark the end of the previous wine season, and to celebrate the new, a new wine queen is crowned amid fireworks, music, parades, and of course, lots of wine drinking and other merriment. I've never seen this event myself, but the secondhand reports on this Fest are excellent.

If you go to Wurzburg (which I'd recommend), be sure to tour the Residenz. The castle on the hill is ok, as is the cappella on the adjacent hill.
If you willing to go to Rothenburg (which we find a bit touristy), I can recommend a wonderful B&B/gasthouse near Lauda Konigshofen, called Zum Laum. We used it last year for 2 three-day periods as a base from which to make day trips to Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Ulm, Bad Mergentheim and numerous other towns. And yes, they make their own wine, and understand English.Advise if you want phone #

Thank you for the great information. We will definitely go to the Weinhexennacht on 30 Apr and will most probably go to Wurzburg. Could we please have the tel no. for Zum Laum B&B? I guess they don't have an email address? Thanks again!

ttt

Jim: looks like a misspelling to me - probably "Zum Lamm".

Russ, thank you. I'm trying to squeeze the last couple of ideas out of this post. I've had some great suggestions and am really looking forward to the week. Best wishes, Jim.