texasjoy

I am planning a trip to Germany for 2 weeks in September. We are 2 couples (myself, DH, Brother & SIL), and enjoy history, nature (Mountain Views and pretty gardens, but not serious hiking), learning about local culture. Music (we heard a boys choir in Dublin just because we visited the church on a tour that morning and saw the concert advertised… beautiful!) The plan is to fly into Munich/home to USA from Frankfurt. The rough initial plan is:

Arrive MUC early on the 15th, stay 3 nights
3-4 nights in or near Salzburg
Drive up the Romantic Road, perhaps a couple of nights near Rothenburg au Tauber
Remaining nights near Frankfurt… I’m thinking Mainz as a base.

I like to plan more activities in each location than we can actually do, and then we have choices depending on weather, or if we just want to do something different! We are not foodies (honestly, that is always the weakest point of my trip planning), but are happy for recommendations of favorite places to eat. Since there are 4 of us, we are thinking an apartment or AirBnb might be a nice alternative than hotels for some nights.

Questions for the experts:
1. I think by starting in Munich, we are there and gone before Oktoberfest begins. I’m thinking a walking tour, perhaps seeing the Oktoberfest grounds (is that a possibility?), a beer garden, a day trip to Dachau. I’m looking at hotels near Marienplatz… other suggestions?

2. Would it be easier to rent a car when leaving Munich, drive to Salzburg, keep it until we end up in Frankfurt, or take the train to Salzburg and back, and rent a car from that point forward? I know we need the vignette to cross into Austria if we drive.

3. Salzburg: We want to see Salzburg (yes, I’m a big Sound of Music fan!), Hallstatt, perhaps Bergenstachen. I’ve read about a cooking class to make Apple Struedel that sounds fun. Or, a drive to Melk Abbey and/or other lake towns. Should we stay in Salzburg, or somewhere nearby?

4. If we lucked into a nice weather day, I’d drive via Garmisch-Partenkirchen and ride the cable car up the mountain. I love Mountain Views! Would it be better to do this as a day trip via train from Munich? (Would obviously need to add a day to Munich, and have backup plans if weather is crummy)

5. Is Mainz a good base? We also are considering Trier. Somewhere else? My SIL’s dad was part of the US Army during the Battle of the Bulge. If our research yields enough details, we want to go to the museum (either at Bastogne or Diekirch), or even a guided tour based on his unit. Other thoughts for this area are a day cruise on the Rhine, perhaps a day trip to Cologne, maybe a day trip towards the Black Forest area. Wine tasting is on the agenda… recommendations?

6. If we tour a castle or two (or seven), which would you recommend? Which to just view from outside and which are interesting to tour?

I welcome recommendations for places to stay, day trips or city tours or other sites to see. While I am interested in WWII history, we don’t want the trip to be all about WWII. There is lots of other history to explore!

Thanks so much!

lavandula

Hi TexasJoy, quite a wish list! I won't comment on everywhere you mention, but just wanted to talk a little about Mainz as a base. It's great if you want to be near the airport if you have an open-jaw ticket and leave via Frankfurt. It's also good as a destination in its own right, and also good if you want to take day trips up the Rhine. Trier is also nice, as the ending to a trip down the Mosel, but it's actually not well connected to other parts of Germany and a little bit isolated. Great if you are leaving via Luxembourg though. So it depends on what you want to do with each of those stops. I would put Mainz at the end of your trip if you choose to leave via Frankfurt. Cologne and the Rhine are therefore then locked in near the end of your trip.

Could you go north past Lake Constance (Mainau for the garden lovers) and come up through the Black Forest and then detour to Trier that way? Then you could drive along the Mosel going north, and come slowly down the Rhine, doing Cologne and finally Mainz...?

Lavandula

Michael

Unless the rules have changed, the vignette is necessary only if you drive on the autobahn. Since Salzburg is on the border with Germany, you could use secondary roads when entering Austria. At the border after Piding, choose highway 1 instead of A1.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sa...xbWY?entry=ttu

bilboburgler

Giving your timing I'd look at the worlds biggest wine festival
https://www.bad-duerkheim.de/kultur-tourismus/
https://kanoa.org.uk/events/durkheimer-wurstmarkt/
While it is normal to think about holidaying in say Germany, I would look at the area around Mainz as a sort of sweet spot of lots stuff in a few countries. Trier and the Mosel is a wonderful walking area with great little villages, wine estates and boating, the Pfalz is similar and then south from Durkheim is the Alsace which is beautiful.
https://www.visit.alsace/en/

Masterton

Sounds like a great trip - even if it seems quite a lot to squeeze in to 2 weeks. All the places you mention are fantastic, and I especially enjoyed Melk on the Danube. Cute little place and definitely less touristy than some other place. Your personal connection to Mainz is great and a good reason to go there. However, it is a fair distance from a lot of the other places - at least in European driving terms