Help! Leaving for Germany on Friday. Need advice!
 

Hi all,

I would love your expertise/advice on this itinerary. My boyfriend and I will be traveling in Germany for 2 weeks as part of a work conference. I am so thrilled and excited to see the beautiful country! Here is our tentative schedule...please let me know if you have any tips for what to see in each place, and also if it is realistic in terms of timing. We're young and energetic travelers, but it might be a bit too ambitious.


Saturday/Sunday--Munich

Monday--Friday--Stuttgart (Tubingen) for conference (Note: this will end around 2PM each day--I'd love suggestions for short trips, excursions, activities, etc. in the area)

Friday-Sunday--Skiing in Garmisch
Sunday night travel to Fussen

Monday--See castles, drive to Rothenberg

Tuesday--See Rothenberg

Wednesday--Where else should we go?
Thursday--See Nuremberg
Friday--Go home

Thank you so much for any advice and insight that you can offer! Are we missing anything critical to see? It's intimidating planning travel in a different country on my own.

hi there,
when do You go? And do You have a car? Starting 2 pm there is not too much time to go by public transportation. Even in winter.
Wendesday perhaps visit Wuerzburg.
The schedule is ok if You go by car. By train/bis it will cost You a lot of time on the road.
have fun
Gar

Stuttgart has one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and it's open well into the evening hours, so you should pay it a visit. In addition to the German products/foods, this year there will also be a Finnish area.
The spa/resort town of Baden-Baden is only an hour and 15 minutes away by direct train. You could catch the 15:08 train, stroll the streets and parks of BB, have a light meal, relax in the extravagant Caracalla spa, then catch a direct train back around that night.
Heidelberg is only 40 minutes away by direct train, you could easily go there after 2 pm (for example, there is a direct train at 14: 37 (ICE) and a direct trains back to Stuttgart at 21:14 and 22:10--enough time to wander through town, have dinner, etc.

I haven't been, but both Wurzburg and Bamburg get high praises on this board, and I don't think either of them are too far from Rothenburg.

We've been to both Rothenburg and Nuremberg and had a great time in each. Have a wonderful trip!

Tracy

Sounds like you will have a car which will enable you to catch some other sights such as:
Mittenwald, about 10 miles from Garmisch--described as "a living picturebook" by Goethe.
Dinklesbuhl, on the way to Rothenburg--a mediaeval looking town with multi-colored houses and buildings.
Be sure to enjoy the Christmas markets in the various places you will be.
And don't miss the famous Nurnberger bratwursts, small fresh pork sausages grilled to perfection!

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover

Thanks so much, all.

Do you think it is overkill to try to sqeeze Salzburg into this trip?

Tubingen is an interesting town. Be sure to visit the area around the Alstadt. You might enjoy this webcam: http://www.tuebingen.de/1559_webcam.html

It's only an hour by train to Heidelberg, another university town worth visithing.

I envy you. I wish I could stwo away. On your way from Garmish to Fussen go to Ettal Monestary, Oberammergau, Schloss Linderhoff and Weisse Kirche. They are all on the way and well worth seeing if you take the right road.

Ulm should be a nice place to take a short train ride.

There should also be plenty of locals at your conference to give you some helpful tips. ((b))

Boat trip!

The Rhine gorge between Mainz and Koblenz is the best part of the entire river. It's a half-day excursion. See http://www.k-d.com for schedules and fares.

Agree with others on some sights to see as you drive about.

On the road from Hohenschwangau/Fuessen to Rothenburg both the Wieskirche referred to by Aisleseat and Dinkelsbuhl mentioned by jinx are worthwhile. Nordlingen is another town on the Romantic Road that people enjoy.

On the drive from Garmisch to Hohenschwangau/Fuessen, I'd catch Ettal, Linderhof, and possibly Oberammergau, then dip into northern Austria and drive along the Plansee, through Reutte, Austria and on into Fuessen and Hohenschwangau.

We'll have our car.

We have an extra day. We're not sure whether to spend it near Garmisch/Fussen or Rothenberg/Nuremberg.

From what it sounds like, it may be worth spending extra time near Garmisch/Fussen. Does this seem right?

If so, where should we stay the extra night? We're scheduled now to stay two nights in Garmisch, followed by Fussen. Is there somewhere we should stay either between the two or after Fussen?

Thanks sooo much--your expertise is invaluable.

Just returned from 10 days in Germany - spent 4 nights in Munich and 2 in Rothenberg.

In Munich took a 3 hr walking tour w/Monica Hank and really enjoyed it. It was very cold when we were there so we tried to fit at least 3 hrs a day in a museum. Be sure to take winter silks and good bodycream for dry skin. Rothenberg was really cool since we stayed overnight and got to see the town when all the "tourists" had left. We didn't have a car this time but we have enjoyed Wurzburg, Weikersheim, amd Markelsheim on other trips. Be sure to do the Night Watchman's tour...8pm for the tour in english. It was really hard to leave and I can't wait to go back next year.

Great suggestions from all these posters! The Residenz in Würzburg is wonderful, as are Kloster Ettal, Linderhof (I'd love to see it in the winter!), Dinkelsbuhl, et al. I love Bamberg and Baden-Baden, too. I haven't visted Tubingen yet. So many places, so little time....

My choice would be to spend the extra night in the Garmisch area. That is a beautiful area with much to see. You could stay in Fussen on Monday night and drive to Rothenburg on Tuesday morning. That way you could see Ludwig's castles plus some other local sights.

I recommend you drive autobahn 7 north to Rothenburg (2 1/2 hours).

Cheers,

Jinx Hoover

I noticed you said tentative schedule. Right now Christmas market is going on in Rothenberg. I had a difficult time getting hotel reservations inside Rothenberg city walls. You might want to contact tourist office and see what they can do for you. The Night watchman tour was fun.
Christmas market also in Nuremberg and I think Fussen was just on weekend. You might also go to Bamberg. We had a 1 1/2 english guided tour in Bamberg for 4 euro each but you have to arrange ahead of time with:
www.schloesser.bayern.de
It also has christmas market. It was one of our favorites and we are going back in 2006 to see more.