Help with October trip to Southern Germany and Austria inOctober
 

We are driving from Calais to Germany leaving on the 6th Oct and returning home via Brugge on the 27th October. We are going to Brugge for my sisters 60th birthday celebrations.
We would like some help with planning our trip!
We thought we would spend the first night between Nancy and Strasburg and then spend three nights in the Black Forest. Where would be a good place to base ourselves?
We would then move on to an appartment in Munich. Is three/four nights enough?
Next Salzburg area. Any suggestions where to stay?
Then on to the Alpine Road to Lake Konstance for few days and then we thought we would take the Romantic Road to Wurtsburg. Would we need to book accomodation on this route in October? How many days should we allow for this route? Any suggestions where to stop and stay the night would be welcome.
Any other help/suggestions would be much appreciated.

All questions: For accomodation search, this is a good site:

www.hrs.de

>>Black Forest. Where would be a good place to base ourselves?

I would suggest a village in the Hochschwarzwald, the highest area of the Black Forest. Good options are the area around the Feldberg, Schluchsee, Titisee. In this area, you have mountains, hiking, lakes, St. Blasien monastery, traditional farmhouses, cozy restaurants. Quaint Freiburg is in easy reach.

If you like staying in a spa town, Badenweiler would be an option. Badenweiler is closer to Basel and Colmar and has a different atmosphere than the other towns.

>>Munich. Is three/four nights enough?

Four nights means three full days. Two days are okay to see the city and the spectacular museums, and one day is good for a daytrip to Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Wieskirche.

>>Salzburg area. Any suggestions where to stay?

I would stay right in Salzburg. It has a nice old town and a castle on top of the mountain. Staying in old town gives you opportunities for evening strolls.

>>Would we need to book accomodation on this route in October? How many days should we allow for this route?

Without reservation, you certainly find accomodation, but maybe your prefered hotels are fully booked. I would reserve.

For further information on the Romantic Road, you might look into my goList:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDet...o_History.html

For the Romantic Road, one day will be sufficient. The nightwatchman's tour in Rothenburg is recommended, so you should stay overnight in the area.

Würzburg (sp!) has a fantastic palace. The area southest of Würzburg is also very nice, with beautiful villages and excellent wines. Iphofen is the capital of wine-making in this area.

If you specify your budget I may give you some hotel recommendations.

Hello joandg,

My husband and I were in Southern Germany this summer and drove from Frankfort to Worms to Rothenberg and spent the night in Rothenberg.
We enjoyed the walled Medival town and did see the Night Watchman's tour. We thought it was very interesting so if you decide to stay overnight in Rothenberg definitely do the tour.
We then drove from Rothernberg to Munich, spent 2 nights and 1 1/2 days there. It wasn't enough time to enjoy Munich. We loved it and that's why we plan on going back.
natjgc

Just in case you wish to look it up, it is spelled RothenbURG. And since there is more th an one Rothenburg in Germany, it is Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

bettyk,

Is the other Rothenburg also in the Romantic road?? i assumed there was only 1 in the area and sorry for misspelling it. natjgc

Thank you to everyone who replied to my post.

So far we have only booked three nights in an appt in Munich but I will be following up every ones suggestions.

Any info on good hotels in the mid price bracket and restaurants would be helpful.

I'm getting really excited about the trip now.It was my partners idea and I was not that keen but it looks as though we will have loads of interesting and different places to see on our trip.

We also loved Iphofen near Wurzburg. We stayed at a great hotel, the Zum Hirschen.

In Salzburg, we stayed at the Trumer Stube. It was in a good location and we found it to be a great place to stay.

Last September, we stayed in Meersburg at the Gasthof zum Baeren, a lovely, historical hotel with a great restaurant and a very nice owner. It has received great reviews on Trip Advisor and is a Karen Brown hotel.

In Rothenburg ob der Tauber, we've stayed a couple of times at the Roter Hahn across the street from the Criminal Museum and just down the street from the Main Square.

http://www.hirschen.iphofen.de/

http://www.baeren-meersburg.de/

http://www.activehotels.com/1/1/4961...n-iphofen.html

http://www.trumer-stube.at/

http://www.roterhahn.com/rothenburg/index.php

bettyk,thanks for all your useful info. I have checked out all your suggestions and was going to book the trumer strube in Salzburg but looked on Trip Advisor and found a lot of adverse comments.
Did you experience a lot of noise,poor bathroom etc.

I also liked some of the other hotels you recommend but have not had time to research the area etc.

Does anyone have any more suggestions for hotels in Salzburg?

Thanks

We stayed at Haus am Moos, just 10 minutes outside of the city center of Salzburg. We had a car so did not find it inconvenient at all, and really enjoyed our stay there. Also, made it convenient for our daytrips outside of Salzburg - Berchtesgaden, Hallstat, etc. Also gets great reviews on TA

www.ammoos.at.

Our stay at the Trumer Stube was a few years ago but I don't remember any problems. Sometimes things can change quickly with hotels though.

Iphofen is a very small but lovely town. The Zum Hirschen is right by one of the old town gates and around the corner from the town square. Our room was modern and large by European standards.

The Zum Baeren in Meersburg is not on the lake but near one of the old town gates,the Rathaus and Tourist Information office. It's only a short walk to the lake and castle(s). We enjoyed it because of the building's historical significance and the really charming decor. The amazing food was a plus also.

One technique find places to stay in Germany is to access the town website. Most towns have a site www.(town name).de

Generally you will find a list of places to stay, many of which you can click on to access the hotel website.

Some websites (Rothenburg is one) have English versions. On some sites with English versions, you get an abbreviated list of hotels.

Thanks everyone for even more suggestions. I have booked the Am Moos in Salzburg,looks very good value.
Another question Can we do a day trip to Lake Konstance from Fussen? I like the look of the hotel Hechten there. If we decide to stay near the lake for one night where would be the best place and hotel to stay in?

joandg - can't answer the question about distance from Fussen to the lake, but just wanted to mention that we did stay at Hotel Hechten and thought it was great. Excellent location right in the middle of the town, and it comes with free parking right out the back. Good breakfast with a charming couple serving.

We took a day trip from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden Salt Mines and loved it. There is some video on Youtube if you want to check it out.

jjg Did you stay at the Hotel Hechten recently? The posts on Trip Advisor are very mixed some good some bad. Does anyone have any other suggestions for a hotel in the centre of Fussen?

joan - we were there in June. I too was a bit concerned as many here on Fodors recommended it, but there were some negative reviews on TA that I had noticed as well. We were a family of 4 so we had the "Family room" which was huge and had tons of space for us. I did not feel that the furniture was old. I would agree with some comments of mediocre front desk help. Just found her not too particularly friendly. To be honest we were only there for one night. Had we been there longer that might have been an issue.

In sharp contrast we found the older couple running the breakfast room to be very kind and helpful. We did eat dinner in the restaurant there, based on recommendations on fodors, but to be honest we didn't care for it - our least favorite meal on our 2 week trip. However, there are several other restaurants nearby.

We liked this place due to the location, parking, and the large room we had (largest of our 2 week stay). From some of the reviews it does appear as though it depends on which room you get - ours was very nice.

Hi Joan -

We stayed at the Hotel Hirsch in Fussen and thought it was adorable and quaint and right in the middle of town too. Have fun!

Miac,

Did you have one of the 'packages' with half board etc? If so was it worth it?

Thanks

Jo

Hi joandg,

Don't know if this will help (it's a bit dated now) but we stayed at the Hotel zum Hechten in Fuessen twice... Oct. 2001 and Oct. 2003. We had no issues at all and would stay there again if we were looking to stay in the area.

Paul