Germany with teens
 

We will be going in May and we will have 7-10 full days. We have never been to Germany
What are the must sees? We want to see castles, the countryside, picturesque villages etc. Also one of our grandsons is fascinated by WWII so what sites should we see? I know its not a long time but we will make it work and will cram in as much as possible. Thanks in advance!

Where are you arriving and departing Germany? That will help narrow your scope.

If you are going to be in southern Germany, Nuremburg is a good choice. You've got the parade grounds for the WWII buff son and a good castle. It is also a good base for seeing the surrounding countryside - Bamberg, Rothenburg, and Wuerzburg are all easily reached by train for day trips.

november_moon has it right about Nuremberg and surroundings. The "castle" in Nuremberg is a youth hostel. I'd spend 4-5 days in that area - known as Franconia - and 4-5 days in the Rhine/Mosel, where there is a multitude of excellent castles to tour:

www.burg-eltz.de
www.marksburg.de
http://www.st-goar.de/17-0-burg-rheinfels.html
http://www.burg-cochem.de/

Excellent falconry show at that last castle, Reichsburg in Cochem:

http://www.falknerei-reichsburg-cochem.de/fotobuch.htm

Trier, with lots of Roman ruins and other historical sights, is in this area too.

We are not sure Most likely frankfurt, Berlin or Munich. Is one better than the others? Cost is probably going to be a small factor. I am willing to spend a little more to fly if it will be easier tho

Frankfurt gives you easy access to Franconia (Nuremberg) and the Rhine/Mosel if that is what you choose to do. It will probably turn out to be the cheapest airport to fly into.

Munich gives good access to Nuremberg and Franconia, too, with the Alps the other nearby draw.

Berlin, which probably has as much WW II cachet as any place in Germany, plus all the Cold War intrigue, is the most "remote" of the three airports mentioned. It takes a little longer to get to Nuremberg and/or the Rhine from there that from either Munich or Frankfurt.

There a couple of ways to potentially deal with this; you could look into booking an open jaw flight - into Frankfurt and out of Berlin, for example. Or you could make your way from Frankfurt to Nuremberg, and then to Berlin, and then back to Frankfurt to leave. Berlin to Frankfurt is a little over 4 hours by train. You can connect right to the airport and just take hotel for the last night, for example.

I agree that the Rhine/Mosel area is an excellent idea for a first trip to Germany. Plenty of castles and gorgeous scenery (although I'm not sure when the vineyards leaf out). Burg Eltz near the Mosel is not to be missed. Cochem is a good town base for the Mosel. On the Rhine, Marksburg has a good tour; Rheinfels is a massive ruin, great for exploring. Another fun one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Burg Pfalz, in the middle of the Rhine - you have to take a boat to get there. For a splurge and a true castle experience, consider staying at the Hotel auf Schoenburg in Oberwesel on the Rhine.

For WWII history, probably the most famous site in southern Germany is Dachau, near Munich. Depending on your grandson's interests and maturity, it could be a very educational and thought-provoking visit for your family. If flying in/out of Frankfurt is the best option, you could start in Frankfurt, hit the Rhine/Mosel, then Munich, and then head back to Frankfurt.

"For WWII history, probably the most famous site in southern Germany is Dachau"

Quite true. But in the Rhine town of Remagen (north of Koblenz) there's a VERY good museum that chronicles the taking of the Rhine at this location by US forces; the museum is housed in the supports of the former bridge that crossed the Rhine there, and most of the displays have English descriptions. The 1969 film "The Bridge at Remagen", with George Segal, is an entertaining way to engender interest in the events there:

www.bruecke-remagen.de

Russ - I didn't know that the castle in Nuremburg was a youth hostel. We toured it a few years ago and didn't notice that part. Curious about why you put the word castle is in quotes too. It seemed like a real castle to me - fortification since the 11th or 12th century if memory serves, the tremendously deep well to help the occupants wait out seiges, big walls to keep people out, a moat, etc.

Nuremburg has the largest grouping of Third Reich sites if your son is interested in that aspect of WW2 - the old parade grounds where the Fuhrer (sp/) was in his special box in the stadium overlooking the vast parade grounds, all still there.

@n_moon: I was incomplete with my comments. The Nuremberg castle was a confusing place for me in that so much of it has been parceled out for different uses - the 350-bed hostel, banquet rooms, etc. and it isn't entirely accessible. It's an interesting place to see, however, if you're in Nuremberg, and I didn't meant to make it seem otherwise.

taylor - are you taking trains or renting a car? Trains go everywhere, even to Mad Ludwig's fantasy castles at Fussen - if going by train I'd elaborate more as I have ridden the rails in Germany now for too many years to admit.

Frankfurt is good to fly into and out of but not to visit; Munich and Berlin are good for flights but also have much to offer as stops.

Can you do an open-jaw? Fly into Frankfurt and out of Munich/Berlin? From Frankfurt do the Rhine-Mosel, then head out ot Nurnberg, etc. and end up in either Munich or Berlin.

Munich is where Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch took place, albeit much earlier than WWII, but still a critical piece in the history of the rise of Hitler to power. As mentioned Berlin has a lot to offer in terms of WWII, the Cold War, and also marvellous museums.

WE will be taking trains everywhere.

Fly into Frankfurt take train to Rhine Mosel region, from there take train to nurnberg, take train from there to Berlin

check out
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/misc_...htm#heidelberg

"WE will be taking trains everywhere."

DB has the best deals for long-distance travel.

Two can get from the Rhine/Mosel - say Koblenz - to N'berg for 49 Euros total, and from N'berg to Berlin for 49 Euros, using Sparpreis tickets (advance-sale for specific trains) at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

You should be able to get the Sparpreis tickets for May, assuming they'll still be offered at similar prices. But be sure you buy them 92 days in advance of your travel - when they first go on sale - to get the lowest prices.

The same tickets will get 2 pasaengers to Koblenz from FRA for 29 Euros.

You can check all these prices by inputting a fictitious travel date of December 8 or 9 or thereabouts.

For daytrips around the Rhine/Mosel, look into the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (24 Euros/day for 2) and the VRM mini-group ticket (more limited travel range around Koblenz, 3 days = 40 Euros.)

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...-pfalz-ticket/

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...eisure-ticket/

Thanks for the clarification about the castle in Nuremburg Russ. I was wondering if we were talking about the same place, and we are.

If you are taking many train trips then be sure to also investigate the German Twin Railpass which allows you total flexibility to just show up at the station and hop any train anytime - the discounted tickets Russ thoughtfully mentions are train-specific and should be booked way in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers per train.

If you want flexibility to hop any of the zillions of trains anytime then the pass will be a great deal as such fully flexible fares are often extremely expensive - there is also a cheaper Youth Pass for anyone under 26.

To me flexibility is priceless as I just like to get up whenever I feel like it and leisurely make my way to the station and not have to rush to make the one train my ticket is valid on - marshalling teens to get up and out IME is difficult and stressful perhaps.

Actually the German Railpass per day can be less even than the discounted Spar tickets - and the Lander or regional tickets also have restrictions on them - you cannot take the faster trains.

The railpass is also valid in full on K-D boats on the Rhine that are very popular with tourists and which your kids may especially like - and for castles the Rhine between Rudeshseim and Koblenz, the classic Rhine cruise, is studded with castles, many ruined but some like fabled Marksburg in pristine condition.

Great sources of info on German trains (besides Russ, above, one of Fodor's German train experts IMO) check out these Wunderbar IMO sites - www.budgeteuroeptravel.com; www,seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. www.bahn.de the official site of the German Federal Railways has all the schedules and fares to compare to a pass.

And if I were traveling with teens I would go first class because there are always IME of years of traveling on German trains oodles of empty seats in first class whereas with a group of 3 or 4 in 2nd class you will often be hard pressed to find seats together IME - the railpass is an especially good deal in first class compared to skyhigh first class fares.

Still confused on the best cities where to stay in the rhine mosel region, please help thanks

What kind of hotel budget? large hotel or small b&b? Please provide some parameters.

We love b&b but like hotels. And under $150 per night if possible. What else do you need?

Cochem is a perpetual favorite for the Mosel and can be a base also for the nearby Rhine - you can use the train to get to Cochem and from it to places like Burg Eltz (castle of your dreams - a few miles from Moselkern train station, and train via Koblenz to Rudesheim to hop the K-D boats down the best part of the Rhine (railpasses valid on boats just like trains.)

Taylort771: If what you said is your actual itinerary...

"Fly into Frankfurt take train to Rhine Mosel region, from there take train to nurnberg, take train from there to Berlin"

Then German railpasses for 2 advocated by PalenQ, in the cheapest possible version, will cost $380 - the 3-day, 2nd class twinpass. For 4, you'll pay $760. The 1st-class versions PalenQ recommends would cost $560 for 2, $1120 for 4.

With the cheapest advance-sale tix, the price for these 3 legs for 2 would be 127 Euros, about $170. For 4people over age 15, the grand total is $310. Thus, if there are 4 of you, the railpasses are about 2.5 times more expensive than the comparable 2nd class adv. sale tickets.

And if your teens are under 15, your price for the adv. sale tickets will be even lower - they travel free with adults. A 13-yr-old, a 14-year-old, and two adults travel Koblenz to N'berg at the adult price for 2, 49 euros total, for example, and the whole trip costs $170.

That said, if you don't buy the advance-sale tix early enough, the cheapest ones go quickly, and the tickets will go up little by little in price as they sell. It is possible that at some point, the adv. sale tickets will cost as much as the railpasses if you dilly-dally.

One other caveat: If your plane to FRA is late and forces you to miss your train, you're out 29 Euros (for 2) with your adv. sale ticket, so this might be a ticket you don't want. But it's a simple matter to get regular tickets for this leg, or, depending on which town you're headed to and what day you arrive, a regional daypass, once you get to the airport train station. FRA to Oberwesel is 13.90 euros per head for a regular ticket (kids under 15 are free.)

Agree with PalenQ that Cochem makes for an ideal Mosel base for train travelers, especially if you're going to visit Trier, which is pretty far from the Rhine towns to visit on a daytrip. Cochem is one of my favorite towns in all of Germany.

But if you aren't going to Trier, you could stay on the Rhine in a town like Boppard and be somewhat more centrally located for both rivers than you would in Cochem. Boppard's quite nice as well, an old Roman settlement with a few ruins, several wineries, and a cool chairlift ride:

http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de/

But I like Cochem a bit more.

Accommodations:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/accommo...hinemosel.html

Boppard, Cochem you really cannot go wrong - either is more romantic than staying IMO in a large tourist city like Munich, Berlin, etc. Often the guesthouses are family owned and more intimate than hotels in big tourist cities.

a railpass efficacy is if you want total flexibility or not - if you do not and want to lock yourself into a certain train weeks in advance to guarantee and you know that will be fine then of course that is the way to go as as Russ says you can save considerable money - I am a person who thinks just being able to get up and hop to the station and get the next train is priceless but others may not.

and if arriving at airport then the pass does let you just hop the next train - if you do the advance 29 euro or whatever fare you have to build in some fudge factor time in case plane is late or else you lose your discounted train-specific ticket and then have to buy a full fare ticket at a high price.

railpass should not IMO be judged solely on price.

So stay in Cochem as a base, What are the best day trips to take from there? Sorry Im very slow! but thanks for the help!

Regarding places to stay, how many of you are there? How many rooms do you want? Is your budget $150/night per room?

Note that in Europe hotels often have single rooms at a cheaper rate.

Well, there are 4 of us and we prefer to be in 1 room

best day trips from Cochem - OK my foavorite ones are to Burg Eltz, castle of your dreams; Trier, one of Europe's oldest cities with some of the best-preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy, including the fantastic Porta Negra, once gateway to the eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire and an old Roman temple converted to a church in Charlemagne's days here I believe - and day trip on K-D boats along the Rhine for starters.

Okay sounds good! Is there anythign to see in Cochem? or is it just a city we need to stroll around?
Thanks for your help.

Quad rooms are rare in Europe. Look for family rooms. I don't know how available these bigger rooms are in Germany. Maybe somebody else can chime in. But 109 euros for a quad room doesn't seem like much. Have you tried the booking sites?

One of the best hotel resources are the German cities and towns themselves. I usually just google the town, e.g., for "Cochem city tourist guide", the following website came up:

http://www.cochem-tourist.de/office1.htm

Look under "zimmer frei" for rooms.

The Germans are super efficient in this respect and makes it easy to find something appropriate for your needs. The websites usually have English as a search tool and most times have at least three or four different languages, so you know that lots of Europeans use these websites.

I usually find a hotel, B&B and then go go back into google, type in the name and address, and run a search on that particular establishment. google will list hotel reviews from diverse sources.

If Cochem is too expensive, you can always try a neighboring small town with more reasonable prices.

Did you say you will have a car?

You'll find lots of family options in Cochem.

In May you can get a furnished apartment with 2 bedrooms in Cochem for 50-65 Euros/night here:

http://www.mosel-cochem.de/index.php...n/details.html

A 2-BR apt at Haus Flora just over the bridge from Cochem's old town runs 65-70 Euros:

http://www.fewo-haus-flora.de/index....&id=9&Itemid=9

This apt. is close in and runs 40 Euros/night:

http://www.accommodation.de/91032.htm

There is normally a small charge for short stays (less than 5-7) and sometimes a small cleaning fee for apartments.

Okay sounds good! Is there anythign to see in Cochem? or is it just a city we need to stroll around>

Well after literally having spend weeks in Cochem collectively for years I can say there is little in the town itself rather than yes a delightful place to stroll around - there is the Hieronimi Winery just across the Mosel bridge that does tours that come with samples.

But a neat hike up from Cochem goes to the ruins of a castle that sits high above the Mosel - can't remember the name but a hike up there could be a thrill for you all.

Cochem's stellar attraction is of course the castle of your dreams regally crowning a hill jutting out of the town center - you can tour the interior of course - more about the castle of your dreams and IMO the thing, along with the supremely gorgeous Mosel Valley, the thing that sets Cochem apart from other towns in romance.

History - Cochem Castle
www.burg-cochem.de/english/history.htm - It is generally assumed that Cochem Castle was built around the year 1000 by the ... an imperial castle in the time when the Staufer dynasty reigned in Germany. ... The castle remained in ruins until 1868, when a Berlin business- man, Mr. ...
►
Cochem - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochem Cochem Imperial castle‎: The Reichsburg Cochem had its first documentary mention in 1130. ... (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of ... The castle complex long lay in ruins before in 1868 it was ...

Okay thanks so much for all your help!