I am currently planning a trip to Germany and Austria, leaving May 29 for 2 weeks. There will be 4 of us and we are renting a car from Frankfurt. Any comments or suggestions on the following itinerary would be most welcome:<BR>Day 1: Arrive Frankfurt, drive through Rhine Valley and overnight in a Castle Hotel.<BR>Day 2: Drive toward Heidelburg, visit their castle, etc. and overnight in Neckar Valley.<BR>Day 3: Drive to Reutte, Austria and overnight at a local Gastof or B&amp;B.<BR>Day 4: See Neuschanstein Castle, Mitterwald, Oberamagau, etc. Overnight in Reutte again.<BR>Day 5: Drive into the Austrian Alps and overnight in Zell am See area.<BR>Day 6: Drive Grossglockner Highway to Heilgenblut and back to Zell for the night.<BR>Day 7: Drive to Werfen, see Castle and Ice Caves, stop in Radstadt, then overnight in Hallstatt<BR>Day 8: Visit Hallstatt salt mine and relax for most of the day. Overnight in Hallstatt.<BR>Day 9: Drive through Lake area to Salzburg for the night.<BR>Day 10: Day trip to Berchsgaden, Obersalzberg, Eagles Nest, etc. Overnight in Salzburg.<BR>Day 11: See sights in Salzburg and overnight there again.<BR>Day 12: Drive to Chiemsee, see Herrenchiemsee Palace, then on to Dachau Concentration Camp. Overnight between Munich and Augsburg.<BR>Day 13: Drive romantic road to Rothenberg for the night.<BR>Day 14: Half day trip to Bamberg or Wurzburg. Do Nightwatchman's Tour in Rothenburg and overnight there again.<BR>Day 15: Drive to Frankfurt for flight home.

Dear Terry,<BR><BR>My first impression is that there are too many hours of driving and not enough time enjoying. I'll look at this more carefully and get back to you. In the meantime... have you selected your Castle-Hotel? What are your requirements for the hotel? I know several people have enjoyed Auf Schonburg, but I disliked my flowered wallpaper border. I don't want to pay that much and not have my castle decorated to period (including my guest room). It's a personal preference.<BR><BR>Nissa

Yowza! I though we covered a lot of ground on our trips. It seems that you will be enjoying a lot of sights, but not much culture. I always prefer to set up "base camp" in a few of the larger cities on our path &amp; day trip IF WE HAVE TIME. This allows us to really get to know at least the towns we "reside" in. <BR>It seems gruelling to me, and we're in our very early thirties. But if that's your thing have a great trip.<BR>j.

It looks really good to me with several 2 night stops, plus the driving distances are reasonable. Based on where you plan to spend the nights I would guess you've already selected your hotels....good itinerary!

I don't love this itinerary. I'd tend to route you in this direction Frankfurt-Wurtzburg-Rothenburg-Chiemsee-Reutte-can't comment on the Austrian portion of the trip-up to the Rhine. The list you presented sounds like you are trying to show someone as much as you can as fast as you can, panting all the way and missing good things OR this is your first trip to Europe and your enthusiasm is getting the best of you.<BR><BR>I must warn you than I am nuts about castles. I'd like you to see the Bishop's Palace in Wurtzburg for a dose of Baroque. I'd like you to have some time to enjoy Rothenburg. I'd like you to see Hohenschwangau before you visit Neuschwanstein. I'd like you to visit the Marksburg (Castle on the Rhine). I'd rather like you to visit Burg Hohenzollern (South of Stuttgart) on your way up to the Rhine. As much as I love Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee, I like Burg Eltz on the Mosel better because it is OLD and still owned by members of the same family. Newschwanstein is very new by comparison. See www.burgeltz.de<BR><BR>Nissa

First, your itenerary appears to be a windsprint, and by the end you won't remember what you've seen.... At some point you'll want to slow down, so maybe concentrate on a few of your priorities? Also, I highly recommend spending at least a day in Munich at some point. All of Germany (at least the southern part) is beautiful,as is Austria, so you can't go wrong!

If you want to see all those places and you think this might be your only chance, they I think it is a fine itinerary. I would get a Michelin Guide to both countries and pay close attention to the hours that the sites are open and to Michelin's time recomendation. ALso note that some places (such as the ice caves) can only be visited on tours and if you miss one tour by 1 minute, you might have an hour or so wait till the next one. Will such events mess up your schedule. Only you can decide.<BR><BR>I second the visit to Hollernzollen and would also put in a plug for the castle at Sigmaringen which is not too far away.

Thanks everyone for the input. This is the second trip to this area for my wife and I, so we have seen the Rhine, Rothenburg, and the Neushwanstein area. Austria part is new. We are taking my mother and this may be her only trip there, so we're trying to show her the highlights. We will probably stay in Castle Hirschorn on the Neckar River near Heidelburg our second night. Rhine castles are too expensive. Can anyone recommend a reasonable B&amp;B in the Salzburg and Zell am See (Austria) area?

Dear Nissa,<BR><BR>Castle Reichenstein (a few miles south of Bacharach) and Castle Leibenstein (across the Rhine from Boppard) have very reasonably priced rooms and do take one night reservations. (Just did the same for an upcoming trip.)<BR><BR>As to a good B&amp;B outside of Sazburg --Pension Sallerhof in Grodig (a tiny village about 4 miles south of Salzburg on the road to Berchtsgarten) is a quaint, Swiss -style chalet --- and reasonable.<BR><BR>All three of these recommendations have web sites.<BR><BR>If you have not been to Eisreisenwelt caves , e-mail me for details---this is a physically demanding journey if your traveling companions are a little "up in years".<BR><BR>You might want to consider doing the Grossglockner road "one-way" and coming back on the car train to Badgastein---it would save some driving hours.<BR><BR>Day #7 -- I'd skip Radstadt and drive from Werfen through Gosau into Hallstatt<BR><BR>Day #14-- You are doing "double driving" by staying in Rothenburg a second night and doing a trip up to Wurzburg and back again. Why not do the Watchman's tour on you first night in Rothenburg, tour Rothenburg the next day and drive to the Wurzburg area for the final night. You'll save yourself over 100 miles of driving, plus be much closer to the airport on your departure morning.<BR><BR>These are several very quaint villages outside of Wurzburg that would make a very pleasant last evening for your journey.<BR><BR>

Oops!! Sorry, Terry --got my "authors" confused!!