Germany Travel Advice
Apr 15th, 2002, 03:46 AM
#1
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Germany Travel Advice
I have booked to travel by KLM, Bahrain-Germany through Amsterdam during August 2 to 30. We are 4 including 2 children 9 & 11 years. My plan to spend 3 nights at Hamburg, but yesterday changed to Cologne. I have booked the last 4 nights at Munich. In between booked a car to tour within Germany and parts of Austeria. My question is it OK to spend 3 nights at Cologne or just arrange a car and drive on. My interest is for scenery such as mountains,lakes & good beer, wine and food. Not much with museums....etc.<BR>My plan to spend 2 to 3 nights in each place. I have bought some travel books on Germany and Austeria such as Michelan 2001,Rick Steves2002 & Roughguides 2001 but, still not easy to plan. My current plan is to book the first 3 nights and then just to travel to scenery places hoping no problem with accommodations. My plan is to stay at good informal accommodation 2 to 4 stars and family accommodation when possible. Budget within reasons is no problem. Any suggestions and advice would be highly appreciated. Ahmed<BR>
Apr 15th, 2002, 06:12 AM
#3
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Hi Ahmed!<BR><BR>It is hard to give detailed advice on places to go in Germany, as there is such a wealth of mountain, lake and forest scenery. However, I think you would be wise to give less time to Cologne and head into the Eifel (south-west) or the Westerwald (south-east) for a start. Almost any little town will have its individual charm and reward a stay of a couple of days.<BR><BR>The Mosel valley is not to be missed. You would find the little town of Beilstein quite a nice place to base yourselves for three days while you explore this part of the river. As Rex says, Burg Eltz is a must and it is only some 25km from here, on the other side of the river. Cochem is also not far away. <BR><BR>My other recommendations would be the Rhine around Rudesheim, the Black Forest near Freudenstadt, Wertheim on the Main, Regensburg on the Danube and Munich itself. A day trip from Munich to Salzburg and back is feasible if you want to get to Austria.<BR><BR>For accommodtaion I can not recommend highly enough the type of self-catering apartment known as the 'Ferienwohnung'. I'm sure that the Rough Guide will mention some of these, but if not you only have to ask at the tourist office of any town you choose to stay in, or even people in the street, and they will direct you to one. Unbelievable as it sounds, you as a family of four should never have to pay more than $40 -$45 a night for a two bedroom apartment with fully equipped kitchen, sitting room and outdoor area, nearly always in a delightful setting on a farm or vineyard. I should point out however that the minimum stay is customarily three nights. But as you can see, I have made seven suggestions of areas where you can easily fill in three or four days, and this takes up the time you have available.<BR><BR>Good luck<BR>Harzer
Apr 15th, 2002, 07:54 AM
#4
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If you don't want to be in overcrowded cities, don't book in Cologne or Munich.<BR><BR>Harzer's suggestions are good ones. In the Eifel region, just west of Cologne, Monschau, Bad Münstereifel, Mechernich (interesting open-air farm museum here), and Altenahr are some smaller, scenic places you might want to look into. From the Rhineland to Munich, you might also look into the towns along the beautiful Neckar River Valley. South of Munich you'll find many lakes,<BR>including the Ammersee, where nearby Andechs Monastery serves up some wonderful monk-brewed beer and traditional German food. And, as Harzer says, with a family, the Ferienwohnung is surely the way to go for the most comfort and the best price.
