Jordan475

Hello all,
My partner has a conference in Zurich in late May. We had originally planned and booked a 9 night trip starting in Zurich after the conference, with 2 nights on the Rhine in Germany and then 5 nights in Belgium. However, our flight back from Brussels through Atlanta on Delta appears now to be cancelled, and there is a great deal of uncertainty over what flights will be running out of Brussels Airport. We are concerned about how this will all play out, so we are considering preemptively switching to a Germany based itinerary, and switching to fly out of Dusseldorf instead of Brussels. We are early 30's; enjoy scenery, historic cities, castles, wine/beer, bike riding, local culture. I do like to pack a lot in, but my partner prefers it to not be too hectic. Here are my current thoughts. I've never been to Germany/Switzerland, and would appreciate any suggestions!
Day 1- I fly into Zurich in the morning, meet my partner, who will have already been at the conference for several days. Spend day in Zurich
Day 2- Day trip from Zurich to Liechtenstein, ride boat on Lake Zurich on way back, night in Zurich
Day 3-Train to Freiburg, spend day in Freiburg, ride the cable car outside Freiburg, night in Freiburg.
Day 4-Rent car for day out of Freiburg for Black Forest excursion, cuckoo clock museum in Furtwangen, Triberg, Toboggan ride. at Gutach. Is this the best of the Southern Black Forest? night in Freiburg
Day 5-take train/bus to Colmar, France. Explore Colmar; bike ride to Eguisheim; wineries; night back in Freiburg
Day 6-Train to my partner's ancestral hometown of Weinheim. I realize this is not on the usual path, but we really want to spend some time there; go into Heidelberg for dinner/exploration; night in Weinheim
Day 7-Train to Oberwesel on Middle Rhine. Picking this specifically for the Castle Hotel Schoenburg, Boat ride on Rhine; night in Oberwesel
Day 8- Day trip to Mosel for bike riding; wine; castles. Up for suggestions here; night in Oberwesel.
Day 9-morning for perhaps another Rhine castle; then train to Cologne for cathedral, nightlife. Does Cologne offer more than Dusseldorf? We could perhaps do either one.
Day 10-fly out of Dusseldorf airport back to the States.
Thank you so much. We had already had our itinerary set, and now we need to scramble to assemble a new one!

Dukey1

I've had more than a few people say that the only thing to do IN Cologne IS the cathedral. I'm not sure I totally agree with that but I can say that the cathedral, as massive as it is, is certainly worth a visit.

traveller1959

>>I've had more than a few people say that the only thing to do IN Cologne IS the cathedral.<<

Dukey, you talk to the wrong people.

Cologne has

- the Romano-Germanic museums which belongs to the very best archeological museums about the Roman times at all - with one of the best mosaics and definitly the best antique glassware,

- the Wallraff-Richartz Museum which is one of the best museums of medieval art,

- the Museum Ludwig which is a world-class museum of modern art,

- several Roman ruins and medieval Jewish archeology.

Jordan, you see there is a lot to see in Cologne. Düsseldorf is also a beautiful city with a lively boardwalk along the Rhine, a beautiful gaslamp quarter (Carlstadt), two splendid baroque churches, several excellent museums of modern art, an elegant shopping street and the most extensive nightlife of all German cities.

Fussgaenger

I would re-do the first 5 days. One day in Zurich is adequate IMO. And I'd probably forego the Lichtenstein outing. When you travel to Freiburg (only 2 hours away)... I suggest you stow bags at the station and spend 3-4 hours there having lunch and exploring the old town - then just head to Colmar for the night. Freiburg is nice for a short visit but it isn't the perfect travel base for your Black Forest destinations anyway. Then spend your evening and following day/night in Eguisheim, Colmar.

After that, return to Freiburg and catch a train to the Black Forest. Stay in one of the attractive old-world towns along the Black Forest Railway for 2 nights. Gengenbach is very attractive.

http://www.stadthotel-gengenbach.de/...innenstadt.jpg

Haslach is too. Or stay in Gutach where the Vogtsbauernhof open-air museum and summer bobsled run are located. Rotbauernhof? http://www.bensbauernhof.com/rotbauernhofgutach.html

After you check in, you'll get a KONUS guest card, which offers free train travel during your stay and on the day of departure throughout the Black Forest (not available in Freiburg.) Take the train to Triberg (about 35 minutes from Gengenbach along one of Germany's top scenic train routes.) The Hubert Herr cuckoo clock workshop is there - check out the Black Forest Museum there as well - really interesting.


On the Rhine... Schoenburg Castle will make for a poor travel base for train travel since it's high on a cliff above town. Plan on taxis for coming and going, rent a car for that part, or perhaps just stay at one of the many nice inns closer to the river... If you stay in Boppard, your trip to the Mosel will be much less time consuming - and Boppard is a lovely place as well, with a great chairlift ride to a terrific lookout point (to replace the Freiburg ride you skipped.)

Cindy_McGregor

Düsseldorf is a lovely place. Excellent art galleries, nice architecture (Zollhof and Gehry buildings), wonderful parks, charming Altstadt... You should visit the Japanese quarter! By the way, Düsseldorf is a shopping mecca with all these fashion boutiques. Hope you two enjoy your time there

Cindy_McGregor

Here's an overview of Düsseldorf http://www.globejourneys.com/destina...ny/dusseldorf/
The video will give you an idea of the city, and there' a shortlist of sights to visit too