Germany in a Hurry
 

Hi! I just found out that I will be traveling to Germany next month (mid-June). I've never been to Germany or Europe and am wondering if anyone can give me tips on places to see and bordering countries (France? Belgium?) that you have loved. I will be flying into Frankfort. How did you travel in and around Germany, is English spoken by most travel agents? I speak spanish and italian but no German! Any advice would be awesome! Thanks :)

wow what a great opportunity

, the public transport system is very good, inparticular the trains are great but buses fit in well betwenn. You can rent cars but you need to know where you are going etc, you cannot drink. Germans also have a good number of bike paths and bike rental is easy.

Germany has a highly educated population so you should find that many people will speak extremely good English. If you can avoid the vernacular it will help them.

Trains at www.bahn.de if you click the little Britsh flag you get english. Getting into France is easy as is Belgium. You might enjoy the Mosel Valley (Germany) which becomes the Moselle Valley (France) or the Rhine with Alsace on the French side and Baden Wurtemburg on the German side.

What do you like to do, art, architecture, walking, riding, disco.... ? Give us an idea and we can advise. Where are you staying?

We love to walk and see places, biking also sounds great. My husband has to travel there for work and I am going to join him as it will save a lot of $$. It also happens to be our 25th annv. while we are there so it's pretty awesome. I am open to any itinerary suggestions. Basically, I will be traveling around Frankfort the first week by myself (hubbie working) then the 2nd week we can do a bit more extensive travel. It's my 1st time in Europe and I don't want to plan too much as I would rather just really take in one or two areas.

laurita - it sounds like a fantastic opportunity. i have to say that if i were you, I'd stick to seeing Germany - there are a few threads here about Frankfurt [note spelling] which is very underrated, and the surrounding areas. think about the Rhine and Mosel valleys, the Harz mountains, the Pfalz, the romantic road - all are within easy reach.

I suggest that you arm yourself with a map and a guide book, and start planning!

forgot to mention that we will be staying in the town of Russelsheim, Germany.

oh Laurita, so many lovely places near to Rüsselsheim. [don't forget the umlaut - that's the funny little dots on top of the U].

Koblenz, Bingen, Aachen, Speyer, Mainz, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Würzburg [there's that umlaut again] - you'll have a ball. the green Michelin guide to Germany might be a good place to start.

take a look at the Romantic Road... google it and you'll find lots of good stuff

Have a look at http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/Mosel_Guide.php

Bavaria is full of charming places to see and its capitol, Munich, is pretty easy to get to from Frankfurt by air or train. A good way to explore the Alps South of Munich is with a rent car. Don't pick it up at the train station or airport or you will pay an extra 19%. That area is full of mad King Ludwig's castles and storybook villages like Oberammergau, Bertschesgaden, Salzburg (Austria), and Mittenwald, the violin maker's village.

I try to use my broken German and I find most of the people speak English a lot better than my German.

There is no way you can cover it all so just pick a few places thhat are on your "A" list, enjoy them and start making plans for your next trip. Have a super time.

Thank you for all the responses! I am picking up some travel guides today and will begin planning! So excited :)

Several of the destinations which annhig mentioned can be reached very easily and without even transferring trains from Rüsselsheim station.

For week 1, when you will be going on your own, I would suggest you take a look at:

Frankfurt (esp. the Museum mile along the river, if that interests you)
Mainz
Wiesbaden
All with suburban trains that run in regular intervals so you don't have to care about timetables.
Bingen (with regional train)

Once you familiarized yourself a bit with the area, I'd say that Heidelberg would make a very nice day trip. Also very easy to reach in little time.

to start researching trains, look at bahn.de [there is an english version].

make sure you put in the umlaut in Rüsselsheim for your departure point.