emcninch

My hubby and I are going to Frankfurt in Nov. We want to go to Munich also. I'm not sure if we should drive or train between these 2 cities. We're flying into and out of Frankfurt and have about 10 days in Germany. How long does it take to drive to Munich? We are definitely thinking of visiting some smaller towns. I'm thinking driving will cost more but maybe it will be about the same if we visit a few small towns? Your opinion is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Marbie

We drove from Munich to Frankfurt last summer. We did the Romantic Road. We stopped 2 nights in Rothenburg, and enjoyed that greatly. We stopped at some of the towns along the Romantic Road and got to Rothenburg around 3 pm. I think it was about 4 hours of driving. You can check Michlen web site for driving distances, I found them to be fairly acurate. After Rothenburg, I think it was about 2-3 hours to Frankfurt. We stopped at Wurzburg to visit the Residenz. Then we stayed up near the airport. Depending on your flight times, you could drive from Rothenburg to Franfurt airport in one day. The airport is very easy to find, and the car return was very smooth. The romantic road was fun, and gave a nice sense of small town Germany.

Bird

If you intend to visit small towns then perhaps you should drive. I would recommend that you stay in a city such as Rothenburg or Wurzburg on your first day so you aren't driving on the road that much right after you fly into Frankfurt (jetlag and all). That said, my preference is to travel by train, much more relaxing and civil. Driving in Munich looks like torture. Have fun. (Make sure you try the apple wine in Frankfurt.)

Russ

You can do it either way, but my preference is by train. Many small towns have stations, and if you're using Munich as a base, train travel is a snap from Munich's main station. From Munich, the two of you can travel on one daypass for 21 Euros weekdays, 28 weekends, and hit Garmisch, Mittenwald, Fussen, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, and dozens of other well known places within a couple of hours of Munich.

It's easy to stop in Wurzburg, Rothenburg, and other towns between Frankfurt and Munich as well, for an afternoon or overnight.

I would only rent a car here if there were some specific town I was dying to see that was not accessible by train; driving in, out of, or into Frankfurt and Munich really isn't much fun, and there isn't much need for a car in the smaller towns; Rothenburg is virtually closed to traffic within the town walls anyway.

juliae

Hello,

What a wonderful trip you have in mind! It is beautiful countryside.

I would get a nice hotel or bed and breakfast just outside of Frankfurt for your first night. There are some lovely, very German, family-run guesthouses that are affiliated with Best Western, but only for marketing purposes. They are almost all very unique and the German hosts are just lovely, hospitable and very kind. There is something about those long flights that seem to make many people tired and want to crash quickly when they arrive.

Either driving or riding the train is going to be fantastic! I have traveled throughout Germany by both methods. The trains in Germany are great - very affordable, timely, fairly clean. But, I think I would drive, personaly. Don't take the Autobahn because you won't see any of the countryside - take the secondary highways and you will get to meet the lovely German people and see the "real" Germany.

It only takes a few hours to drive from Frankfurt to Munich on the Autobahn. Europe is a lot more compact than the U.S. Take your time and "follow your feet." Stop in the sweet little German towns for lunch, if you get tired at 1 p.m., then stop for the day. I agree that Rothenburg ob der Tauber is worth a stop, the Romantic Road/Romantische StraBe is beautiful and fascinating, and do take a tour of Neuschwanstein, the classic German castle.

Best Regards,
Julia Elzie
Cruising Co Etc.

RufusTFirefly

We did both train and car on our trip last year. Both were fine, but, even though I usually don't enjoy driving, I must admit that we got to see and experience a lot more on the days that we drove--it wouldn't have been nearly as good a trip without the driving part.

The trains were very good and convenient and excellent for getting from place to place quickly and efficiently. Driving wasn't at all difficult. But there's no need for a car in Munich--it would be an inconvenience.

You could take a train to Munich, stay there 2 or 3 days and then rent a car for the rest of the time. That's basically what we did except we took the train from Frankfurt to Bamberg where we stayed 3 nights before taking the train to Munich.

We drove from Munich to the village of Hohenschwangau (where Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are located). We stopped at a couple of small towns along the way to check out antiques, then a couple of hours at Linderhof, then cut through a bit of Austria (stopping at a nice restaurant beside the Plansee), through Reutte, and then back into Germany. A very pleasant drive.

After 3 nights in Hohenschwangau, we drove up the Romantic Road stopping to see Wieskirche, Dinklesbuhl, and Nordlingen before spending 2 nights in a castle hotel a few klicks east of Rothenburg.

We finished up by driving to the Mosel River where we spent 3 nights--spent our last night at a hotel near Frankfurt airport. We wanted to stop at a couple of towns on the way to the Mosel, but temperatures hit 100 F. that day, so we just kept the a/c going in the car, got to Beilstein on the Mosel early, and then sat in the shade and sipped very cold white wine.

emcninch

Thank you so much for your advice. After checking car rental prices, we're probably going to train. But we'll think about renting a car for a day or two. Now I have to learn about train tickets! It seems that there are many kinds of discount tickets available. Thanks again!

Russ

Since you're going back to Frankfurt, you may want to look into the heavily discounted round trip ticket option for two travelling together. If you buy in advance from Die Bahn and they send you the tickets in the mail, it should cost less than 100 Euros for two round trip, 2nd class, as I recall. You get half off, and your spouse pays half what you pay. (These are good only for the trains you designate, however, in advance; if your plane is super late, the ticket may not be usable.)

mrwunrfl

You can fly for 92 Euros.

See the offer at the link below. It doesn't say one-way or round-trip, but the * mentions minimum stay, Sat. nite stay requirements which might mean 92 Euros round-trip (or maybe it's each way base on round-trip?):
http://cms.lufthansa.com/fly/de/en/g...921508,00.html

sanschag

In regards to the airfares from Lufthansa, yes they are round trip (and, according to the web site, no minimum stay except Berlin-Frankfurt). However, it's only 3.5-4 hours by train, so I think by the time you include travel time to/from the airports (~1 hour total), check-in time, and baggage collection upon arrival, the train is faster and you get to see something of the countryside.

In regards to the train fares, there's basically 3:
1) Normalpreis: This is the "walk-up" take the next train fare. For Frankfurt-Munich, this ranges from €53-65 (more expensive for ICE vs. IC only).
2) Plan & Spar 25 (Plan & Save 25): If you book at least 3 days in advance, pick specific trains, and buy roundtrip, you save 25%.
3) Plan & Spar 50: If you book 3 days in advance, pick specific trains, buy a roundtrip, and stay a Sat night, you save 50%.

Both Plan & Spar tickets are limited in number. In all 3 cases, the second through fifth passengers get 50% off the first fare. Also, something not necessarily applicable to you, but the Plan & Spar fares are only available on Deutsche Bahn routes, which means not on trips with only local transport (RE/RB) (bascially) within 1 state (really a transport system).

Having said all that, if you really just want to go Frankfurt-Munich and back, I would say to definately get take the train. If you want to see something of the countryside, I would say to take a car as the train connections to some smaller villages can be inconvient.

Enjoy yuor trip,
Paul

Jack31

The drive from frankfurt to munich is between 5-6 hours depending on traffic. I would prefer to drive becuase you would have the opportunity to easily deviate from your plans should you find somewhere you want to stop. If you are dead set on just seeing frankfurt and munich, I believe they have a highspeed, nonstop train to Munich that leaves from Frankfurt airport. It takes 4 hours to get there from that train.

emcninch

We definitely want to see the smaller towns between Frankfurt and Munich. Since we only have about 10 days, I'm wondering if we should just not even worry about going as far as Munich. I'd rather spend the time seeing different towns than riding a train or bus. Since I've only been to Heidelburg, I thought I'd go to Munich because that seems like a must see kind of place.