Hello, all!

After a wonderful 1-1/2 weeks in England in August, I've decided that trip will NOT be my last trip to Europe. By hook or by crook, I will visit Germany (the land of our ancestors), and hopefully, take along my (now) 75-year-old mother so she gets this experience.

Mother did have some problems in England due to her arthritis. The walking tours were especially hard on her, and she had to drop out of several of the cathedral tours because it just got to be too much for her. I believe being part of a group tour, when we had to keep up with the group, contributed greatly to her difficulties. So, we would need to take Mother's mobility issues and energy level in mind.

I believe our ancestors came from the Hesse province (I know Frankfurt is in Hesse). I don't know the name of the town (I'll have to ask relatives), but it was a small town (not Frankfurt).

Our interests are mainly musical/cultural. I'm a symphony orchestra violinist, and Mother's a retired church organist. Of course, I'd want to hear orchestras, and Mother will probably want to visit some of those great Lutheran churches (such as Thomaskirche in Leipzig, where J. S. Bach was employed).

Here are my questions:

*Besides Hesse/Frankfurt and Leipzig, any other "must see" cities/places (other than the obvious tourist traps)?

*I'd love to go to Berlin (a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic would be worth it), but is everything prohibitively expensive in Berlin?

*How about Dresden (Dresden Staatskapelle)? Is that a good city to visit?

*What can you tell me about Frankfurt/Hesse province?

*What about Munich-is it overly touristy, or should we schedule it in? What about Cologne?

*Any thoughts on what city we should fly in/out of?

I appreciate any thoughts you might have. Any trip will probably be 2-3 years away, at least. I hope Mother can be persuaded to go so she can have this experience.

In the meantime, I need to seek out a German class to brush up on my 2 years of high school German!

Hello Violin:

I too suffer a mobility problem and have just returned from a tour of Germany including a number of major cities. What appears to be the trend in the Alstadt (old) sections of German cities, where the great historic buildings generally are located, is a move toward pedestrian only areas. This means that any type of tour involving a motor vehicle is not possible. As a response to this development, entrepreneurs have adopted the bicycle driven "rickshaw" which is permitted in the restricted areas. This means that your mother could enjoy touring these cities despite limited mobility, but of course at a price. My experience in Dresden, for example, was the use of a rickshaw at a cost of about 20 Euros per hour. It's not ideal but better than foregoing the experience entirely. Good luck. Gradyghost

I would consider a small collapsible wheel chair. Your trip sounds great. Keep us informed. CJ

I'll give a few thoughts:

How long of a trip are you considering, m2violin? Obviously to fit in all the cities you mention, you'll need more than a 10 day trip!

Also, would you rent a car and drive or would you take the trains? On our 5 trips to Germany, we've always taken the train. It works well for us, and we love relaxing, reading and looking out the window.

I think going on your own is a great plan, and there are probably ways you could address the mobility at your own pace. When we traveled with our 80 year old father there were times when he rested/napped at the hotel while my brother and I did a walking tour, or he would stay in the body of a church while we climbed the steeple.

Berlin is fantastic and we did not find it any more expensive than other German destinations. It is a very spread out city, however, so you would probably find it worthwhile to take taxis. Public transportation is quite extensive and with limited mobility the buses and trams are probably preferable to the subway (S-bahn and U-bahn). When I went to Berlin with my daughter she developed a foot problem so we were very aware of each step we needed to take.

Dresden is quite striking - a fully Baroque city center that has been rebuilt. It's not terribly far from Leipzig or Berlin. We found Cologne to be a city of contrasts - amazing cathedral (and we liked the music at the High Mass on Sunday am, but we are NOT musicians!) and very interesting set of old Romanesque churches. Otherwise, it was full of postwar buildings and was very crowded with tons of drunk loud people - we were there on a weekend.

We did not have enough time in Munich, but really enjoyed the warmth of the city.

Frankfurt itself is not reputed to be as interesing a city as some of the others you've mentioned. Our relatives are from near Frankfurt as well, but in Bavaria.

Hi M2Violin,

Sounds like a wonderful idea - music as a trip theme works wonderfully in Germany. I don't have answers to all of your questions, but I can offer some thoughts:

* You ask if Berlin is prohibitively expensive. No, in fact it is one of the most reasonable cities for lodging etc. That would certainly be one of MY "must sees" - but be careful not to pack too much into one trip.

* Dresden is quite amazing and certainly worth a trip.

* You could start the trip in Frankfurt, travel to Leipzig and Dresden, and then north to Berlin. You could arrange a flight out of Berlin. This might make a practical plan.

* Another suggestion that you might add to your list of sights is a trip to the city of Eisenach, which is right on the train line and Autobahn between Frankfurt and Leipzig. Eisenach has Luther's famous Wartburg castle and the famous Bachhaus and monument (which was the first Bach museum, I believe). Certainly worth a day trip and it might be a good place to stop off between your other destinations.

Personally, while I think Cologne and Munich are lovely, I think that all of that might be a little much. Perhaps Cologne or Munich, but probably not both, unless you are taking several weeks. Just my opinion. I prefer to stay a few nights in each destination, rather than changing hotels every night. Depends on your time, I suppose, but all that travel might wear on your mother, eventually.

Another post suggested train travel, but I might suggest a car rental for this trip. It's true that trains are generally pretty reliable and comfortable, but you will have to deal with luggage on and off, as well as climbing your mother on board. Again, not impossible, but with a car you could just pull right up to the hotel and even drive to the sights you want to see. If your mother needs to stop, it's not hard to change your route, stop for lunch, etc. This probably depends on your comfort level with driving. I found, believe it or not, that traveling with my wife the car rental was significantly cheaper than train, although the expensive petrol costs do even things out.

I repeat my suggestion of Eisenach/Wartburg, which is worth a stop. Sometimes smaller towns are a little less stressful and easier to manage than big cities, too. On the way from Eisenach to Leipzig, you could stop in the small village of Arnstadt, a Bach town. This is where the Bach family lived for several generations. There is a cute Bach chapel there. This is the city where the "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" was written in the early 1700s. The city is at the edge of the Thuringian forest, which could make for an interesting drive.

Anyway, wonderful idea M2Violin. I'm sure you and your mother will have a wonderful trip!

Thanks for the great suggestions! I've gotten some great ideas here. Sounds to me that Berlin, Dresden and Leipzig would definitely be in the mix.

Woyzek, thank you for suggesting Eisenach/Wartburg/Arnstadt. Besides the generally lower stress level not having to fight the huge crowds in the smaller towns, my mother and I both enjoy off-the-beaten track towns, since they give more of the true flavor of a region.

And you must be psychic or something, Woyzeck! My mother was raised Lutheran (her mother/my grandmother was a DEVOUT Lutheran), so Wartburg will mean a lot to her.

And the Bach towns, of course (Mother played lots of Bach in her organist/choirmaster days).

Now, to persuade Mother to take the plunge . . . thanks, everyone!

"And you must be psychic or something, Woyzeck! My mother was raised Lutheran (her mother/my grandmother was a DEVOUT Lutheran), so Wartburg will mean a lot to her."

I wish I were psychic! You mentioned you wanted to visit Lutheran churches - and other Luther monuments popped into my head.

Not to pile on suggestions, but Wittenberg (Lutherstadt) is only an hour or so north of Leipzig (in the direction of Berlin). I've never been there, but it could make a worthwhile stop.

East of Eisenach is the state capital of Erfurt, which has been mentioned in these forums as an "underrated" city and has 2 beautiful cathedrals right next to each other (one catholic and one protestant, I believe). The city of Goethe and Schiller Weimar is just east of Erfurt, both of which are a very short drive from Arnstadt.

This is shaping up to be a very nice trip indeed!

Let me know if you have any more questions. I'm sure other posters will have good advice as well.

You don't want to do too much, but

I just got back from several weeks in Germany. Dresden was one of my favorite towns, as was Munich. As others have mentioned Dresden is a beautiful Baroque city, stunningly rebuilt after the war. They also have a magnificent opera house. Munich is definitely not too touristy, and I was there just before Oktoberfest. The art museums at the Zwinger in Dresden and Alte Pinakothek in Munich rank with the Louvre and Uffizi Gallery.

Berlin is interesting and does have many fabulous museums, but it is very large and quite cold-feeling.

If at all possible, I would highly recommend visiting Heidelberg and/or Rothenburg. Heidelberg's castle and old town are wonderful. Rothenburg, a completely walled town is my favorite location in Germany.

Finally, you could always fly into and out of different cities. I fly into Frankfurt and out of Berlin.

M2violin - I'm wondering how the trip planning is going or if you've made the trip already

Bonn, of course, is Beethoven territory. His family residence and birthplace are both there. Bonn is easy to get around, being mostly flat. From Bonn, you can take a train up the river to Rüdesheim, then float downstream past the Rhine Gorge and Lorelei. k-d.com

Across the river from Bonn in K&ouml;nigswinter, you can ride a rack railway to the top of the Dragon's Rock. The #66 tram will get you to the street it's on, but it's a bit uphill to the cog railway station. Another way is to take the DB train from K&ouml;ln and either walk or take a taxi to the <i>Drachenfelsbahn</i>. www.drachenfelsbahn-koenigswinter.de

A K&ouml;ln or Bonn WelcomeCard will take care of all your transport within those two cities. http://www.stadt-koeln.de/en/koelnto...omecard/01987/

This is a year late, but for a devout Lutheran, the Wittenberg Center and also the ELCA run tours. A few years ago the Wittenberg Center ran a roots of Lutheran spirituality tour that was very well received.
http://www.reformationtours.com/site/490868/page/299080
http://archive.elca.org/wittenberg/calendar.html

I believe that there are already plans being made for a 2010 tour to combine highlights of &quot;Luther Land&quot; with a visit to Oberammergau for the passion play.

I am planning to take a trip to Germany with my 80 yo mother in October. We plan to fly to Berlin, train down to Dresden and make Dresden our base with daytrips including Meissen, Leipzig, Herrnhut (world headquarters of the Moravian church), a river cruise, and of course, explore Dresden itself. We will spend our last night in Berlin, taking a tour of the city and then fly back the next day.
Our backup plan is to fly into Munich, spend a night there, train up to Dresden, same plans for Dresden as above, then back to Munich for the last night before she flies back to the U.S.