Germany Itinerary Train Help Needed
 

Here's my current itinerary for the end of July (after the World Cup). Please help with the trains! I'm having trouble figuring out the website (and if that's causing me trouble, I can't imagine what it would be like to drive there!)

Day 1-2 Munich
Day 3 Train to GP
Day 4 Hike/ PM Train to Fussen(what is the station stop in Fussen? I can't find it on the schedules}
Day 5 Castles/ night train to Hamburg (via Augsburg)
Day 6 & 7 - Rent Car in Hamburg (I am not excited about this but see no option); Drive to Baltic Coast
Day 8 - Drive to Berlin; Return Car
Day 11 - Fly home

The trains in Germay work very well and are incredibly pleasant. Since you are starting in Munich, I have a great resource for you. At the Munich Hauptbahnhof (main station) there is a Euraid office which is a travel assistance service for English speakers (lots of people buying Eurail passes and seeking hostels) but they'll help with any travel inquiries you have. They can figure out your exact itinerary, help you with the best rates (because there are so many fare schemes, it's hard to figure out the best one) and sell you the tickets (at no extra charge).
Alternatively, you could go to the regular DB offices at the station and the people tend to speak English but you'll probably find longer lines and more difficult communication. Euraid is the way to go.
Alternativley again, driving is really not a big deal there. It's all quite organized. If speed is not your thing stay in the right lane.
Have fun.

keymom,

Day 4? Hike/PM train to Fussen?? What is PM? GP to Fussen is about 10 miles over the mountains. There is no train track shown in the Thomas Cook Timetable. There is not even a road according to the German Auto Club ADAC Atlas.

If you can't imagine what it would be like to drive there it might be best that you didn't. German trains are fast and efficient and usually on time. What do you want to see on the Baltic coast? Have you looked for a train?

You are probably trying to do too much, especially if, as I suspect, this is the first time you are going to Germany.

GP to Fussen is closer to 20 miles than 10 as the crow flies--of course the crow doesn't have to worry about climbing up and down mountains.

Bus takes about 2 hours; train close to 4 hours (regular fare shows as 29 euro); car takes just under an hour--it's a very pleasant drive past Oberammergau and Linderhof Palace (worth stopping for a visit) into northern Austria and then along the Plansee through Reutte and back into Germany.

Did you try www.bahn.de? In Fuessen, you want to go to Fuessen Bahnhof. Actually, going from GP to Fuessen by train is kind of awkward.

Unless you want to see GP and have your heart set on Fuessen, I suggest you take the train from Munich to Buchloe, change there to Fuessen. Return to Buchloe and take train from there to Augsburg, etc. Buchloe is where the main lines split between those going to Munich and those going to Augsburg, etc.

Now, this is my personal opinion: Given a chance of going to Fuessen or GP, I would prefer to latter. For me, going up to the Zugspitze is more impressive than looking at a faux castle, built in the last part of the 19th century by "mad King Ludwig".

Besides, of the castles/palaces he built, I think Linderhof (busses there from GP) and Herrenchiemsee (near Prien) are far more interesting than Neuschwanstein.

Check it out, but you may have better connections from Munich (after your return from GP) to Hamburg than via Augsburg.

treplow--it's not a faux castle. It is real. Just not as old as the ones that it's more or less (in Ludwig's fevered brain) patterned after.

I think your plan to come out of Munich in the morning and then go on to (near) Füssen is a workable one. I did something similar years ago, but went back to Munich for dinner.

It won't take that much time to see Garmisch. It is just a very touristy resort, but not that much to see. The most interesting thing is the Zugspitze. I went up using the cable car. It's faster.

From G-P take the train (Ausserfernbahn) through Austria to Reutte; it takes just under an hour. You could even go on to Pfronten in Germany, if you could find a place to stay. In the morning there are buses to Füssen from either town.

Using a Bayern ticket, the entire trip, from Munich to G-P to Reutte or Pfronten will cost €25 total, for up to 5 people.

Regarding the Northern portion of the trip:

I would travel to Hamburg, not rent a car immediately, but allow for 1 day of seeing the city, which is worthwhile in my (biased) opinion.
I would then pick up the car and combine the drive to Berlin with a stop-over at the Baltic Sea. The beach resorts East of Wismar and near Rostock jump to mind, probably even slightly East of Rostock on the Fischland/Darss peninsula, Wustrow, Ahrenshoop, Prerow and Zingst.
The new A 20 from slightly South of Luebeck gives you good access to the area and going on to Berlin is easy via the A 19.

One question: Why go to Berlin when you haven't got at least a day to spend there? Berlin is pretty vibrant - and I would think two days in the city are an absoulute minimum.

Sorry. Forget the last question. I did not see that you indeed have planned for 2.5 days in Berlin. Great!

RUFUS, as I prefaced my comment, this is my personal opinion. I simply compare Neuschwanstein with castles like the Festung Marienberg in Wuerzburg, Hohensalzburg in Salzburg, or the castles along the Rhein. These places were built with defenses in mind not the wagnerian dream of a lonesome young king and they have fascinating histories.

As sights and scenery, Neuschwanstein is great. But when pressed for time, as Silvia seems to be, a tourist could skip the interior and still enjoy the location.

We're all giving our opinions.

And mine is that the history of Neuschwanstein (and Ludwig's other castles) and the story of Ludwig is fascinating, tragic, and strange--madness (or extreme eccentricity), wealth, wasted youth, Wagner, fairy tales, gods--what a story!

The history of a castle like Burg Eltz (though it is a great one to visit, too) is a bore next to Neuschwanstein.

And I do agree that Neuschwanstein is a great castle to visit even if you don't go inside. But better if you do. The only thing I don't like about is that the tours are so time-controlled because of the numbers of visitors.