German 16 day itinerary - possible?
 

Hi all,
After tons of reading and advice from everyone, I think we've come up with a tentative itinerary. It seems like a lot to do in 2 weeks though, so I wanted to run it by all of you to see if it is feasible. As we usually do, we picked 1 or 2 things we really want to do in an area and other than that, we just like taking it easy, enjoying each town and playing it by ear. Listed below are the key cities we are thinking of making our home bases to explore the surrounding areas. Are we crazy to expect to do this much in 16 days?? Let us know your thoughts and as usual, many thanks for your help planning!!! :)

- Day 1 & 2: Drive from Munich to Halstatt or Salzburg
- Day 3 & 4: Berchtesgarten
- Day 5 & 6: Schwangau
- Day 7: Triberg or Staufen
- Day 8 & 9: Drive to Heidelburg
- Day 10 & 11: Beilstein or Trier
- Day 12 & 13: Kassel/Gottingen area (undecided)
- Day 14 & 15: Bamburg
- Day 16: Back to Munich

-buzzy -- doable, but a lot of traveling! You might want to consider saving the Mosel as anexcuse for another trip to Germany and focus this time on southern Germany, You could then include Lindau or Meersberg as a stop on your way to the Black Forest. Rather than Gottingen or Kassel, I would suggest a few days in the Harz Mountains (Goslar, Quedlinburg, Wenigerode). This is my favorite area in Germany - not yet found by American tourists and delightful medieval towns. Enjoy yor trip!!

"Goslar, Quedlinburg... - not yet found by American tourists"

Hey, I found Goslar and Quedlinburg just fine a few years ago, and I'm an American tourist. :-)

Funny, when I read Gottingen/Kassel I immeduiately also thought Goslar!!! Do not miss it, it's really beautiful.

Funny, when I read Gottingen/Kassel I immediately also thought Goslar!!! Do not miss it, it's really beautiful.

We loved Bamberg. We spent about 24 hours there this past February and weplan to go back for 2-3 more days on our next trip to Germany.
This is just my personal opinion, but I did not find Heidelberg all that impressive when I visited in 2002. The castle, bridge, and old square were pretty, but I think one could adequately "do Heidelberg" in an afternoon and move on to more charming towns.
RufusTFirefly, hsv, and TuckH are two posters who can provide a lot of valuable insight on Germany. If they don't respond to your post, you might try "paging" them.

oops - make that 3 posters who have a lot of great advice about Germany.

It must be tax season... the burned out accountant can no longer count to three ;-)

I just returned from Bamberg (son in Army there) and I enjoyed it more than Heidelberg. There are few American tourists, yet everyone speaks at least a little English, and the prices are reasonable. The Altstadt (Old City) was untouched by bombs during WWII and it's a great strolling area.

If you're interested in using Bamberg as a base for a week or so, we stayed at a wonderful one bedroom ferienwohnung (vacation apartment) there for only 35 euro per night and it was within walking distance of downtown. Search for "Gartnerhausla" and you'll probably come up with their website.

hailbuzzy - I think you have the makings of an excellent itinerary. The only adjustment I would recommend would be to drop a day in Heidelberg and add it to the Black Forest. By the time you make the drive from Schwangau you will only be left with a half day in the Schwarzwald. I think it's worth at minimum a day and a half no matter which area of the Forest you visit.

hailbuzzy,

I have been planning a tour of Southern Germany, also for 16 nights. We will be driving from England (yes, us & the Germans are back on talking terms lol!) through to Munich and back through Bavaria & the Black Forest. The idea of the trip is to pack as much as physically possible into just over 2 weeks, so I have really had to plan this out carefully. My itinery initially started with just a few cities like yours, but I realised that to see everything we wanted, we would have to be very organised. Now I have logged names, addresses, locations of pretty much everything worth doing/seeing in the South & Alps region!
I would say your itinery is excellent. Just make sure you have plenty of scope to change your plans and if necessary, shorten you trip. Trust me, there really is a lot to do in the south. It would be a shame to miss out on something because you have had to move on.
Triberg is well worth seeing, and there is a lot to do at Berchtesgaden. The Castles at Schwangau are also a must.

Have you considered any of the following?

Lake Constance. would recommend a couple of days here, it isn’t cheap, but well worth staying as it can be used as a base for:
Zurich (SWI)
Lindau
Mainau
Triberg
Schaffhausen (Rhine falls, bigger, but not as impressive as Triberg)
Freiberg

Salzburg (AUT)
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Wurzburg

I have a huge list of stuff to do in the South, plus maps which show attractions. If you (or anyone else) is interested I can send you some details. Just mail me if you want: [email protected]

BTW, have you tried the official German site? www.germay-tourism.de

Cheers,

Strawb

Hello, hb.

Don't know if you've already considered this, but, depending on flight schedules and such, you could return the car in Bamberg and take the train back to Munich.

It's a few more places than we would do, but you might be the types who get bored easily. There's nothing wrong with spending only one or two days in a place, depending on the place. But you do have all one or two day stops, which can be tiring and disorienting.

If you haven't done so already, maybe you could try prioritizing what you have planned; e.g., (1) places that if you missed them this trip you'd be really disappointed and upset; (2) places that if you missed them this trip you might be disappointed, but not particularly upset for any length of time; (3) places that you've put on the list only because someone said they're nice, but you have no real deep feelings about one way or the other. Then eliminate the #3s and maybe a #2.

Hi guys,
An update! Taking some of your advice, we have sadly (but I think it's a good move) decided to cut out the 'Northern' cities from our itinerary to give us more time to linger and really enjoy the other cities. Here is our updated itinerary along w/ the hotels we're in the process of deciding on...

- Day 1: Hohenschwangau
: waiting confirmation from Hotel Albrecht and/or Hotel Muller
: explore Ludwig's castles and neighboring towns
- Day 2-4: Meersburg
: Hotel Zum Baren confirmed
: explore Bodensee and South of Black Forest
- Day 5 & 6: Heidelberg
: waiting confirmation from Hotel Anlage and/or Am Kornmarkt
: explore North of Black Forest on drive to Heidelberg
- Day 7-10: Boppard
: deciding on hotels (see other post :))
: explore Rhine & Mosel
- Day 11 & 12: Wurzburg or Bamberg ?? undecided, finding perfect hotel will determine :)
- Day 13-15: Berchtesgarten
: hotel undecided
: explore area + day trips to Salzburg, possibly Halstatt
- Day 16: Back to Munich

Let me know if anyone can shoot holes in this itinerary! Otherwise, as usual you all rock and thanks for ALL the help with planning our trip! :D

Day 11 & 12: Wurzburg or Bamberg ?? undecided, finding perfect hotel will determine: CHECK OUT STAYING IN ROTHENBURG INSTEAD OF WURZBURG. ONLY A SHORT HOP DOWN THE AUTOBAHN AND GREAT TOWN TO VISIT. HOTEL REICHS KUCHENMEISTER OR MARKUSTURM THERE.

- Day 13-15: Berchtesgarten
: hotel undecided" WATZMANN HOTEL IS NICE PLACE TO STAY IN BERCHTESGADEN.

Yup I agree with the Dawg! Rot'burg should not be missed. Hotels not too expensive either.

When in Berchtesgaden check out Salzburg, Eagles nest, Hellbrun Palace, Salt mines at Hallein, Werfern Ice caves, and if Possible Grossglockner Glacier (although this is quite a drive).

We LOVED Gasthof goldener Greifen in Rothenburg. We paid 65€ per night for a large and comfortable double room with private bathroom and a nice breakfast. Since we stayed 3 nights, we received a 10% discount on the entire stay bringing it down to 58,50€ per night. The hotel is in the old town and is three houses down Schmeidgasse (street) from the Market Square. VERY central location.

TexasAggie,

We're staying at Gasthof Greifen in Rothenburg in June, as I had seen your glowing recommendation. Thanks for the suggestion!

I'll disagree a bit on Rothenburg. I much prefer a real city like Bamberg or Wuerzburg. Rothenburg is very pretty, and very well maintained, but just too, too cutesy for our taste when compared to places like Bamberg and Wuerzburg.

Most of Rothenburg is very photo-worthy, but it is just on the verge of being theme-parkish.

That said--many people do enjoy it. And it is pretty. And Mrs. Fly is a Christmas nut (even though she's not even a Christian) so we spent a good deal of time in that big Christmas shop. But it just seems so contrived somehow.

Just one person's opinion. Lots of fine, intelligent, and attractive people enjoy Rothenburg a lot.