We will be arriving early in the morning on the 20th in Frankfurt by train and renting a car. We need to be in Munich by the 28th to catch our early morning flight back to the US on the 29th. This is our first time in Germany so we would like to visit as many of the sites as possible. I have read all of the postings back to January 1, 2005 and got lots of great ideas. I have also visited Ben's website but I am still having trouble coming up with a good itinerary. Any ideas, suggestions you could give would be great.

Thanks,
Amy

Hi Amy,
It will help knowing about your interests--hiking? museums? shopping? churches? Mountain or water scenery? Whether you like frenetic pace or to linger a while? Big cities or small towns? Rustic or high-tone accommodations/dining? There's a ton to see, so tell about anything that will enable people to give you good advice.

In general, I think folks would suggest that you stay in one or two places over the eight day period, day tripping to nearby sites, rather than constantly moving. You might wish to spend a few days in the nearby Rhein/Mosel area and several days in Bavaria.

Well we like to see churches and castles. We prefer Mountains to Water and we would like a slow pace until we get to Munich. We would also like to visit little towns such as Rothenberg. We would also like to cross over into Salzburg for one day to take the 1/2 day Sound of Music tour.

I would go to Rothenburg(1 night), the Mosel valley(1 night), Fussen, Oberammergau(1 night), Bretchesgaden (sp), Salzburg(1-2 nights), then Munich with stops along the way to see NeueSchwanstein and perhaps Linderhoff castle, WiesKirche, and Herren Chiemsee castle.

What month are you traveling?

Leave a day or two for Munich on the end of the trip. I know lots of people don't like to change hotels every night but we do like to keep moving and we try to get everything we can out of a trip. Happy planning.

We are traveling next month (May). We are starting in Paris for a few nights and then moving to Germany for the rest of our trip.

Are you flying from Paris to Frankfurt?

I think the mosel is a bit boring and would not try to cram that in unless you want to wine taste. I would try to go to Heidelberg to see the castle it is really fantastic. I went to school in Bavaria and absolutely adore Munich and the surrounding nature (go hiking outside of munich). Vienna is not that far either so you could also elect to do a bit less in germany and head down to Vienna. It is a city really rich in culture and very beautiful. I also think Berlin is magnificent if you can find time for that. Regensburg has an amazing cathedral and is a quaint little town. Nuremberg is one of the oldest medeival cities and is worth visiting.

Frankfurt-Wurzburg-Nuremberg-Regensberg-Passau-Munich
This was a memorable trip 10day trip we did in 1994. Lots of good Bavarian food, beer and sights. However, I'm glad we took the trains instead of driving. As I said there was lots of beer.

We will be taking an overnight train from Paris to Frankfurt. We wanted to experience a train ride since we were renting a car while in Germany instead of going by train. Thanks everybody for your help. This has really helped me get a little more prepared.