coachella

Hello. I posted a couple of months ago with a much more adventurous plan but have since decided to simplify. I would appreciate advice, suggestions, changes, etc. Thank you in advance. Please excuse misspellings.

We will arrive in Frankfurt, renting a car and heading to a town close to Heidelberg. We have friends who live in the area so we are staying close to them. We will be making day places in the area and close by for about 5 days. This part of the trip will be taken care of by our friends. On day 6 we are thing of heading to Bamburg for a couple of days, then to Rothenburg on day 8 for maybe a day or two. After that we leave directly to Prague for the remainder of our 15 day stay. We fly out of Prague. Ideally I would love to drop the car off in Bamberg at the end of our couple of days there and taking a train to Rothenberg or maybe dropping the car in Rothenburg. I really don't want to drive to Prague. We can always rent a car in Prague if we decide to take self driven day trips from there. How does this sound? Am I passing some wonderful town on the way? Should I skip Bamberg or Rothenburg for another town? I really wanted to see the Cesky Krumlov but have no desire to drive into Czech Republic and incurring high drop of fees unless the Krumlov is really that amazing to skip. Tried to see if we could take a train there and then to Prague but found nothing simple or fast. Again, thank you for your advice!

maitaitom

A day trip to Cesky Krumlov would be nice (especially if you could stay overnight and drive back to Prague the next day).

You could also drive or take the train to Kutna Hora and Sedlec Ossuary for a day trip.

Below is my website (with photos). Click below and then click on Prague 2008 and then to Český Krumlov to Kraków 2008 for lots of info. Have a great time.

http://web.me.com/tomfielding1/Tom_%...e/Welcome.html

adrienne

It looks like you have 4 or 5 days in Prague. I would not leave Prague for Cesky Krumlov or Kutna Hora. Neither town is wonderful enough to take a day away from Prague. Here are my photos from my trip last month. Both CK and KH are shown. Of the two towns, CK is prettier than KH but neither are prettier than Prague nor do they offer as much diversion as Prague.

http://modigliani.shutterfly.com/cze...kowfrankfurtpa

treplow

Why Bamberg and then Rothenburg, followed by Prague? That's backtracking. Why not Frankfurt, Rothenburg and then Bamberg? Drop the car off there.

You cetainly don't want to take a car picked up in Germany to Prague, and drop it off there. That incurs a very expensive drop-of charge.

I would pick up the car in Heidelberg, drive along the Neckar River (Route B-37, Burgenstrasse/Castle Route)) as far as Moosbach. There pick up the B-27 to Tauberbischofsheim. From there take the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Highway) to Bad Mergentheim (pretty spa), Weikersheim (small palace), Creglingen (well known carved altar by Riemenschneider in the Herrgottskirche)and Rothenburg. NOTE: There is nothing romantic about the highway, it's the towns that it connects that makes it worth driving.

After Rothenburg, take the A-7 Autobahn north to the A-3 at Wuerzburg (also worth a stop) and the A-3 as far as exit 79, and route B-505 to Bamberg,

Is Cesky Krumlov worth a trip? As you will have figured out by now, that's a matter of debate. I personally like C.K. We stayed at the Hotel Ruze Rose), a converted Jesuit Monastery and loved it.

coachella

thank you. We do plan to have 5 days in Prague. I was thinking of skipping Rothenberg or shortening that part of the trip to include CK. My husband actually wanted to see KH. Still torn. We are traveling with two children so the extra travel to CK or KH won't come with a bit of difficulty but the pictures look so good. I might have to wait until we are in Germany to decide. Thank you both!

quokka

The point is - Rothenburg is between Heidelberg and Bamberg and Bamberg is closer to the Czech border, so going to Bamberg first and then to Rothenburg makes a zigzag and unnecessary detour.