kiramoli

I am planning to travel to Germany and Austria in the mid-July with my husband and our 16-years old son.We have 14-15 days. We will rent a car.
Here is our itinerary, would like to get opinions on it.
July 18
Day 1 ? Fly into Frankfurt,Rent a car,
Drive to St. Goar.Stop at Wiesbaden on the way?

Day 2 ? boat ride to Rhenfels castle, Bacharah, Boppard.
Sleep in St.Goar

Day 3 ? drive to Burg Ertz , have lunch at Zell.
Visit Bernkastel (if fits)

Day 4 ? drive to Cologne,visit Cathedal and Ludwig museum.

Question that I have is. Should we stay first around St.Goar and then move to Cochem? OR it's better to pick one place n the middle and stay there for 4 nights rather than split it into two-and two?
Also, looking for castle-hotel in the area.
I would like to hear from people who stayed there. We are looking for something that conviniently located in terms of commute to other towns and is somewhat luxurious. The budget is up to $200 per night.

Day 5 ? drive to Stuttgart (if we get the tour of factory Porche, if not -to Baden-Baden).

Day 6 ? spa in Baden-Baden.

Again need advice on the hotel in the mid to high range in the center.

Day 7 ? daytrip to Heidelberg.

Day 8 ? Short Black Forest drive to St. Margen,
visit Badenweiler or Freiburg?

The rest of the itinerary needs more twicking.

Day 9 ? Lake Constance
What to see there? Where to stay?

Day 10 ? would like to do alpine drive. To where?

Days 11,12 ? Berchtesgaden.
Need advise on activies and sights there.

Days 13, 14 ? Salzburg and salt mine

Aug2 - Monday
Day 15 - fly back.

I posted the first part of this itinerary with the second part going Switzerland. We decided that Sw. will be a separate trip. So now I would like to concentrate in the details such as accomodations, and sights to see in the Bavarian Alps and Lake Constance.

TuckH

For days 11 and 12:

http://www.berchtesgadener-land.com/...1A71EAC9BC5CAF

rach

kiramoli:
Have stayed in both Bacharach and St. Goar on separate trips. I would choose one place for all four nights, unpack, settle in and get to know your 'own' neighborhood in the evenings. If you are driving (or even taking the train) this whole area is pretty close, so travelling distances/times will be comparatively small. I actually enjoyed Bacharach a bit more than St. Goar (town walls to walk on, little village with nice cafe restaurant up above the town, gothic church ruins, youth hostel above, more shops and restaurants to explore), although St. Goar's claim to fame is the castle RUINS above town and one can take the ferry over to Goarshausen to meander a bit. Both have lakeside park benches for lazy evening river-watching. Cochem and Burg Eltz are EXCELLENT choices....easy to get to from the Rhein. I have never been to Bernkastel, but have plans to visit there (and the Wein Institut) this September!
On day 8, I vote for Freiburg, and IF TIME, 15 minutes further, Staufen im Breisgau. A lovely forest hike of under 3 hours can be made between St. Peter and St. Maergen. Take a picnic lunch!
This sounds like a wonderful trip, although I would not extend so far east to Salzburg, and instead, devote another day to the Swiss Oberland area of Interlaken/Brienz/Thun/Lauterbrunnen
for fantastic alpine scenery! I wish I were joining you!

roterbaron

You have a lot of questions. Do you want someone else to plan the minute details for you?
I can help with Salzburg by telling you that there is no salt mine in Salzburg. To visit a salt mine you need to go to Bad Aussee. That's where the best salt mine is located and it also makes for a very scenic 45-minute drive from Salzburg.

mikemo

Sounds like you're German auto enthusiasts. The MB museum in Stuttgart is better than Porsche and BMW.
The Mittelrhein and the Moseltal are great. If you get to the Dom in Cologne, be sure to look for the Tombs/gold coffins of the Magi (Wise Men) - many have never seen those.
Don't miss Burg Eltz and you will be so close to derNurburgring: go there and drive the Nordschleife for a few Euros - the best former F 1 race track in the world.

bettyk

Linderhof on Bodensee (Lake Constance) is a charming town. I understand Meersburg is also worth visiting, tho I haven't yet stayed there. You might try a search on Fodor's for further info.

There is a salt mine in Hallstatt which is lovely little town on a lake about 90 minutes from Salzburg.

bettyk

Sorry, that should have been Lindau on Bodensee. I think Linderhof is the name of one of the hotels.

Sue_xx_yy

There is also a salt mine in Hallein which is just due south of Salzburg. The 'salz' in Salzburg is a clue that there are plenty of salt mines in the vicinity of this city!

Regarding your question about moving around, you must decide between spending longer time commuting on daytrips or more time unpacking and checking in. For us, we'd rather move, albeit ideally up to a maximum of 3 1-nighters in a row.

ekellyga

If you are making it to Bertesgarten (sp?), that will give you some "alpine driving"
Meersburg on Lake Constance is a nice town, and you can catch the boat across to the island of Mainau (sp?) which is a botanical garden type place, for a nice walk for a few hours. This will give you a nice boat ride too.

I enjoyed staying in Cochem and Bacharach. I love strolling the streets after dark, and there is a fair amt of activity in Cochem after dark. Bacharach is more sleepy.

Once in Salzburg, you are close to Hallstadt, which is worth it if you have time, especially if you can stay overnight and see the lake in the early morning. Stunning beauty. The salt mine is right there too, as someone else mentioned.
EK

smetz

I was in Freiburg last year, and thought it was great. The town is criss-crossed by bricked-in "brooklets" that range from 6 inches to 6 feet or so across. The altstadt is very nice. One thing I noticed and wish that I had done was a chairlift that commenced in town and proceeded some 45 minutes up to a peak in the Black Forest, with several hiking trails nearby. The chairlift must stretch for 10 kilometers.