Seamus

We plan to land in Frankfurt on a late June Sunday morning from the US. The next fixed date will be flight from Munich to Rome on the following Saturday. Two adults, two 18 yo boys, one who speaks basic German and is interested in local history. Thinking to rent a vehicle and meander from FRA to Munich. Did something similar 20+ years ago and enjoyed it Greatly appreciate recommendations for itinerary/routing, stops and places to stay along the way. Do not require posh lodging, have IHG points to burn if that works. Know that we will want to take in a castle or two (Neuschwanstein? Linderhof? other) and visit Dachau and Nuremberg, otherwise open to all suggestions.
Thanks in advance!

traveller1959

You are already having the right idea. Meandering is exactly the right word for what I would recommend. The direct route from Frankfurt to München via autobahn takes just four hours, but there is much see right and left of the direct route. Here are a few suggestions for you to pick from:

- In the area of Frankfurt Airport you spend a day with driving a few kilometers in the other direction to see the Rhine. If your boy is interested in history, it might be interesting to visit Kloster Eberbach (near Oestrich-Winkel). It is a splendid monastery from 1136 A.D. and was the building where "The Name of the Rose" was filmed (watch the film before you travel). Besides, the monastery has a winery with a picturesque line of wooden barrels in the cellar which makes one of the best rieslings. Driving time from the Airport to Eberbach is about 30 minutes. http://kloster-eberbach.de/en/monastery.html

From the monastery you may drive another 15 minutes to Rüdesheim which is the epitome of a romantic Rhine village. It is touristy, but there is a cable car to the top of a nearby hill with a monument and once you float in the air above the wine fields and the river you will feel quietness and solitude. http://www.ruedesheim.de/en/

You may even drive a few kilometers up the coastal road along the Rhine to the Loreley cliff with a splendid view of the Rhine gorge.

- Driving eastwards from Frankfurt in the direction of München: Very close to the autobahn, there is Wertheim. It is a quaint town with a medieval castle. http://www.tourismus-wertheim.com/

- A number one attraction comes a little further east: Würzburg Residenz. The rococo styled palace is one of the major attractions in Germany. Make a tour to see the interiors. http://www.residenz-wuerzburg.de/eng...denz/index.htm

- Southeast of Würzburg in Franken. You find there many picturesque villages, many churches with spectacular altars made of most intricate wood-cut and aromatic regional wines (the specialty is the silvaner). You may just drive the small winding roads and explore the little villages.

- A little further eastwards, you find the historic town Bamberg, beautifully located at a river, with many microbreweries and beer gardens. http://en.bamberg.info/?forceLanguage

- Driving back to the autobahn, you find Nürnberg, which is already on your list.

- Then you will reach Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a most picturesque (however touristy) small town. Climb the tower of the city hall, see the crime and torture museum and do the nightwatchman's tour. http://www.tourismus.rothenburg.de/index.php?id=467

- Rothenburg is on the socalled "romantic road". The road itsself is not romantic (just an ordinary highway) but it connects many romantic small towns like Rothenburg, Feuchtwangen, Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen (completely walled). Southwest of Nördlingen, you find Neresheim with a splendid baroque abbey.

texasbookworm

traveler has given you a good route.

There is so much to choose from. A few comments/suggestions

1.Spend a night or two in Frankfurt. I think it's under-appreciated. Would let you get over jet lag a bit.
2.Kloster Eberbach is nice.
3. Mainz is a wonderful destination--Gutenberg Museum and wonderful cathedral and very walkable.
4.The Rhine area is worth a visit.
5. Heidelberg, Speyer, Worms--any or all are great as you travel sorta toward Munich.
6.We found Wurzburg so crowded we couldn't even find a parking spot to see the Festung on a rainy weekend day, but the Residenz is amazing.
7. Bamberg was also crowded but we really enjoyed our strolls around the lovely old town.


Here's an alternate idea--my favorite city (town?) in Germany is Trier--oldest in Germany--many Roman ruins and a lovely town center. We spent 2 days in and around there and then went to Luxembourg and to a couple WW2 sites including the American cemetery where Patton is buried.


So Sunday and Monday in Frankfurt; for an excellent walking tour of Frankfurt, see http://www.frankfurtonfoot.com/ Takes about 3 hours and boys will enjoy and will learn a lot of local Germany history. Then spend Tuesday in Mainz and drive on to Trier for the night. Spend at least Tuesday there. Then drive Wednesday somewhere--Worms has a great cathedral and the oldest extant Jewish cemetery in Germany--much to learn there--and spend the night??? Then get to Munich maybe late Thursday ? I'd guess you'd want to spend a day in Munich?

This will have you moving around a lot but it's not impossible.

Or you could stay IN Frankfurt for most of the week and take day-trips to many places. They boys would learn a lot about train travel this way. Day trips to the Rhine, to Mainz, to Heidelberg, to Worms are all very doable. Then drive to Munich for a day or so?

SOOO many choices! and none will be wrong. Much to see and much history whichever way you go.

Seamus

Thanks so much for the great suggestions! I like the idea of staying put for a day or two to allow jet lag to pass. I am leaning toward meandering in a rental car rather than day trips as in the past I really enjoyed that.

Though a little out of alignment with full on meandering, with the boys in tow will probably book ahead rather then relying on luck finding <<zimmer frei>> signs along the way as have done in the past.

Have been told that Kemwel is the best source for booking a rental car. Anyone have a better suggestion?

Travelforbeer

Hi Seamus- try www.gemut.com for information on car rentals in Europe. They seem to be well respected. I have used them several times in the past.

texasbookworm has some good suggestions. When flying into FRA I have spent time overcoming jet lag in Frankfurt proper, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, and Mainz. (I also drove quite a ways in my younger days but this is not recommended to everybody.) And I liked Wurzburg, RODT, Dinkelsbuhl, and Bamberg as I drove to Munich. Personally, Speyer and Worms did not impress me.

Have a great trip!!!

traveller1959

How about spending your first night in a medieval castle on the Rhine?

Look here: http://www.hotel-schoenburg.com/

Driving time would be exactly 1 hour, but there is something to see on they way. The castle hotel is on top of a hill, but the village of Oberwesel is also very picturesque, one of the most beautiful ones on the Rhine.

Seamus

Nice idea, traveller1959, but it is in the opposite direction from which we will head (roughly south and east) and not sure if the experience would be well savored on the first jet lagged day. Any suggestions for something similar on the other side of Frankfurt?

traveller1959

You are right, the Rhine would be detour. But do not worry too much about that. You have a full week for a rather short distance and we are speaking of one hour driving time from the opposite direction. My idea was that you might see a different part of Germany which is very close to Frankfurt Airport. And meandering means to go a bit off direction...

Well, if you want to skip the Rhine, I would probably suggest to drive directly to Würzburg (driving time 1:30) and stay there overnight. You find a good choice of hotels of all categories in Würzburg. Use tripadvisor or hrs.com or another search machine for hotel search.

For a castle experience, you might stay in a medieval castle which is close to Rothenburg o.d.T., called Burg Colmberg:

http://www.burg-colmberg.de/showpage...iteID=1&lang=2

Dukey1

Nurnberg: by all means do not miss the Nazi parade grounds but more importantly for the one "interested in history" the Documentation Centre

http://museums.nuremberg.de/documentation-centre/

In terms of the possible Ludwig builds: yes, we all know about the iconic exterior of Neuschwanstein and IMO the rather boring interior; Linderhof is much more interestingly-decorated; Herrenchiemsee is the largest of all and a palace as opposed to a castle and the interior decoration is the most lavish of the four builds. Getting to the exterior on that boat across the lake can be fun, too.

In Munich and if you are "into" palaces, etc., the the Residenze and the Treasury would be musts IMO.

I would GET RID of the car the minute I got to Munich, too.

Seamus

Dukey, Herrenchiemsee looks great.

So how does this sound for an itinerary:
Arrive FRA Sunday morning, stay in Frankfurt overnight.
Monday pick up car, drive to Wurzburg [1.5 hr]
Tuesday drive to Nuremberg [1.5 hr]
Thursday drive to Prien to visit Herrenchiemsee [2.5 hr]
Friday drive to Munich [1 hr] drop off car
Friday and Saturday in/around Munich on public transport
Sunday flight from MUC

Travelforbeer

Seamus- on Thursday, drive to Prein, visit Herrenchiemsee, then drive back to Munich to spend the night. The Herrenchiemsee visit should not exceed 5 hours. This will eliminate one of your 1 night stays. The rest of the itinerary is pretty good- I would personally pick up the car Sunday and drive directly to Wurzburg for the first 2 nights but that is only to eliminate the time wasted with the logistics of adding another hotel the first night.

Have a great trip!!!

Dukey1

Re Herrenchiemsee: you have to park the car actually in Stock which is the little "village" by the lakeside which abuts Prien...no problems there as they have pay lots. You then buy a ticket for the next ferry over to the island. You can either walk to the palace from the dock or take one of the horse-drawn carriages. There are English-language tours periodically. Be aware that despite the place having about 200 rooms the tours only cover between 20 and 30 of them. They are beautifully decorated as you have seen.

I more or less would agree that the whole thing shouldn't take more than 5 hours but I would certainly allow more than 2.5 if you are planning to take a tour in English (since you may have to wait for one).

Herrenchiemsee is a very popular site amongst the Germans (as is Rothenburg) and while all of us have been dying to see Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, etc., and for good reason) it is not a place that many people around HERE usually recommend because they haven't been there I suppose.

I also agree that using public transport or even walking in Munich is a good idea. The U/S-bahn systems are easy to use and buy tickets for from the machines and that includes the ticket for Dachau which requires a transfer to a local bus (worth it IMO...the main building's interior is very "in your face" with those huge blow-up pictures...go there!!! you'll see).

wunderbar2

Seamus, sounds like a great trip. As to your using IHG points, if you're visiting and planning to stay in/nearNürnberg , there are a few Holiday Inn hotels you may look at, I believe there is one located in the city center. However we spent several nights at Holiday Inn Express : Nürnberg-Schwabach since we too were driving and didn't want to hassle with parking in the city. This one was nice, good breakfasts, free parking and wifi and was a very short walk to the train going to Nürnberg. Just a thought.
Enjoy your trip.

Seamus

Thanks, all, feel like it's coming together now.
Would it make sense to head to Heidelberg when we arrive on Sunday morning, spend the night then on Monday drive to Wurzburg to continue as planned? Or would it be preferable to stay another night in Heidelberg then go to Nuremberg, skipping Wurzburg? Have been to neither place so rely on your guidance.

[Could pick up the car at FRA and drive to Heidelberg or train it and pick up the car in Heidelberg.]

Dukey - have visited Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, agree they are worth seeing. Not including them this trip to avoid cramming too much in too short a time.