lam1234

My husband and I decided last week that we are going to Germany for Christmas this year. We were in Germany and Austria for a bike ride in August and we decided that we HAD to go back and see some more sights. Here is what I am planning:

Dec 24-Arrive in Frankfurt at 7:10 am. Make it to Nuremburg just in time for the last day of the Christmas Market (over at 2:00). Overnight in Nuremburg.
Dec 25- Explore Bamburg or Wurzburg. Overnight in Nuremburg again.
Dec 26- Overnight in Rothenburg
Dec 27- Overnight in Fussen
Dec 28, 29, 30- Overnight in Innsbruck and go skiing
Dec 31- Overnight Munich
Jan 1- Fly home to Iowa


Here are my questions that I hope you can help me with:
#1- I don't really expect tourist sights to be open on Dec 25 but I would like to be able to walk around a town and get out and about for the day. Would you recommend going to Bamburg or Wurzburg for Christmas Day?

#2- I have been looking at renting a car vs. using the train. Renting a car for this time would run around $400 - $420 US. It looks like point to point train tickets will run about $220 euro ($300 US) per person. I have checked out www.bahn.de for tourist specials and have also looked at EuroRail passes. I am trying to find a Germany/Austria rail pass that would discount train travel but am having a hard time understanding the Bahn.de sight. I would like go with the train vs. the car so that my husband doesn't have to drive the whole time (I don't do manual!). Does anyone have any advice on getting reduced train fares in Germany? Is there a tourist ticket/discount that I am overlooking?

#3- We have never been skiing in Europe before but have done a lot of skiing in the states. Is skiing in Europe just like in the US? Or, are there different 'rules of the road'? How does a piste differ from a ski run?

Thanks for your assistance! I use this site for all my vacations and have found it extremely helpful.

Cowboy1968

#1 Both places are great to see. Bamberg has more a small town flavor even though the historic center is quite big. So it's mostly walking around, so it would not matter if museums were closed or not. Churches never "close" since they have services all day. In general, catholic churches are always open, though one should not roam around while a service is going on.

Even on Dec 25, life does not come to a standstill as in some other countries. Trains run on regular Sunday/Holiday schedules which means that usually only early morning commuter trains are affected.

I find Würzburg to be a bit more impressive with the palace aka "Residenz". The palace seems to be open also on Dec 25.
http://www.residenz-wuerzburg.de/eng...denz/index.htm
So while many museum may close for Dec 25, you may still find regular tourist sights to be open.

Dec 26 is also a public holiday.

Dec 27 will be the first regular working day. This means that millions of people rush to the stores to trade in the vouchers they got for Christmas, or to exchange presents that do not fit their likes. City centers tend to be really busy.
You seem to be on the Romantic Road on that day, so I would skip larger towns (are there any?) because parking can be a hassle.

Since I do not know anything about rail passes or skiing, I will leave those questions to the more knowledgeable.

lam1234

Thanks for your response Cowboy. Does anyone else have suggestions for #2 or #3?

Lovejoy

Question #3
From Wikipedia "A Piste is the name given to a marked ski-run or path down a mountain for the purposes of skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. The term is most often used in Europe; in North America, a piste would more often be referred to as a trail, a slope, or a groomed run."

J_Correa

Look into the Bayern ticket (I think that is the name - someone correct me if I got it wrong) since most of your travel will be in Bavaria. This is an inexpensive ticket good for several people traveling together. There are some restrictions - I believe you cannot take ICE trains and have to travel after 9 am on weekdays.

Frankfurt, and I think Bamberg and Wurzberg are out of Bavaria, but you can use it for Nuremberg to Rothenberg, Fuessen, and Munich.

hausfrau

I really enjoyed Wuerzburg and the fortress there is definitely worth a visit. As others have said, there's plenty to see just walking around, but expect a lot of restaurants and shops to be closed for the holidays.

We always drive so I can't help with #2. If you do rent a car, make sure you get winter tires.

As for #3, we've taken two ski vacations in the St. Anton area in the last two years. You need to do a bit of research beforehand and determine what area/s you want to go to and how you are going to get around, especially if you don't rent a car. We based ourselves in St. Cristoph, which is a tiny village just up the road from St. Anton, and had a fabulous time. We never even bothered to take the shuttle bus to the other ski areas in the area (Lech is one; I can't remember the others offhand) because there was so much excellent terrain nearby. We weren't looking for nightlife, which is what a lot of people go to St. Anton for, but rather an awesome skiing experience, and that's just what we got.

I grew up skiing in California and Colorado and from my own experience and reading reviews, it is my general impression that the runs in Europe tend to be more difficult than in America (meaning that an intermediate run in America is considered an easy run here, and the expert runs here are REALLY expert runs!) so be sure to find an area that matches your skills. At least in St. Anton, there are fewer groomed trails (pistes) and more ungroomed terrain (off-piste) than you would find at a comparable resort in America.

Cowboy1968

Yes, the Bayern Ticket can save you a lot since up to 5 people can travel for 27 Euros.

Several restrictions apply, though:
no trains before 9am, except on sundays and holidays
just local trains (RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn, IRE - NO ICE, or InterCity trains!)
You can check if itineraries fit your needs if you choose "only local trains" on www.bahn.de travel planner.

While your whole itinerary can be done by public transportation, it may also be an idea to travel by train until Dec 25, and pick up a car on Dec 26 in Nuremberg to travel to Rothenburg, Füssen, Innsbruck (no train between Füssen and Innsbruck, maybe bus service), and return the car in Munich.

As I said before, I am no expert when it comes to skiing, but I don't know if the city of Innsbruck is where you want to stay. I'd rather stay in the ski resorts (Seefeld is close to Innsbruck) or check for others that are in short driving distance from Füssen.

I think that the winter sports villages or resorts in the Alps are more crowded than those in the US. You can expect MANY people there lining up at the cable cars, especially between Christmas and New Year when almost everybody is taking the days off.

Cowboy1968

I wish would use the edit function before I post...

You cannot use the Bayern Ticket from Frankfurt Airport to Nürnberg as Frankfurt is not in Bavaria (yet quite close to the state border of Bavaria).

There are ways to get a train ticket for a few Euros to the first station in Bavaria, and continue from there with a Bayern (=Bavaria) Ticket. But I don't know if you want to do this after a long overnight flight from the US.. or rather buy a regular train ticket for that first leg from Frankfurt airport to Nürnberg (and may also use fast trains in that latter case).