My husband and I are planning to go to Berlin and Worms Germany this July. I'm also interested in going to the Mosel ( Spelled wrong) valley
that I know is close to Worms.
I don't think this will take more than 4 days to see. My problem is that I'm not sure where else to go on this trip.How doable is Munich from Worms and is it worth seeing along with Dachau? Is Dachau a preserved concentration camp or is it a monument? Also how far is Vienna from this part of germany?
I'd love some ideas for an itinerary for this trip.. We don't want to spend more than 5 days in Germany but we want t o go somewhere else that is not so far away although we would fly to another city ( I assume Vienna is a plane ride away. Any suggestions would be grealy appreciated, natjgc

You could easily spend 5 days in Berlin alone and make some daytrips into the environs (Potsdam, Schwerin).

If you want to go the Mosel too, 5 days seem pretty short (2 days Berlin, one day travelling, 2 days Worms/Mosel).

München (which deserves another 3 days) is pretty far away from Worms, and in order to get to Wien (another 3 days), you have to fly.

If you have only five days and if you do not want to spend more than two days in Berlin (I would at least spend two days in Berlin and one day in Potsdam) but to go the Rhein/Mosel I would suggest to stay the rest of the trip in the area. Rhein and Mosel are great for sightseeing (castles, convents, picturesque villages, boat trips) and there are great towns to visit (Trier, Köln, Heidelberg, Speyer..).

Berlin is far from the Mosel Valley. The Mosel Valley is six hour drive from Munich. Looking at lots of travel time. If you're going to Berlin, why not travel to Vienna, Prague or Budapest from there? Or if you're going to Mosel Valley, my favourite part of Germany, maybe stay more in the south going to Munich and down to Fussen or heading west towards Brugge or Amsterdam. Lots of options, depends on what you like to do and how much travel time you want. Five days does not seem like near enough time to see Berlin, Mosel Valley and Munich.

Mosel is correct, the German spelling of the river's name (in France it's the Moselle).

I will presume you "need" to start in Berlin - you don't say.

Berlin should be at least three days, so you would have to cut that to two and then travel to the Mosel (you spelled it correctly, and the accent is on the first syllable) for a day and one in Worms.

You will have absolutely no time for Munchen and will have to get to Frankfurt for a flight to Wien, because it is almost 7 hours driving and a 1.5 hour flight.

If you did Salzburg instead of Wien, you could also fit in Munchen on that part of the trip (I don't know how many days you have).

Salzburg rules!

The Mosel valley is not exactly close to Worms, so don't underestimate driving (or train?) times. For just five days, Berlin, Worms and the Mosel is almost too much. Don't cram more destinations into such a short trip, you'll regret it.

We were thinking that Berlin could be seen in 3 days but maybe not and it's not written in stone to be in Germany for only 5 days. So, we could spend more time in germany.
How far is Berlin from Worms?
The Mosel valley is far from Worms?
How far? Maybe we should skip Munich and go to Vienna from Worms.
Does this seem more reasonable?
I'm thinking 9-10 days to see what we've planned out but I'm confused and I dont want to deal with a
travel agent so that's why I've appealed to the people on this website. My husband is interested in the Jewish history of germany and I would love to see germany and it's beauty but I dont know what the best route is for us.
Potsdam and the other township mentioned would be worth seeing also.
I quess we could rent a car-- would that be better than a train pass? Then fly to Vienna from the closest
city which is Frankfort?
natjgc

It's about 2 hours from Worms to Bernkastel, on the Mosel.

Berlin to Worms is something over 6 hours - you will "lose" a day getting to Worms, or the Mosel from Berlin.

Frankfurt to Wien after 6 days in Berlin/Worms /Mosel seems quite possible, but Dachau is in Munchen.

Are you traveling by car or train in Germany?

If train i'd tell you to look at German railpass if going to all those places or the Austria-Germany railpass as from Munich the train ride to Vienna is rather scenic and not that long - also an overnight train

Here my suggestion:

Arrive on day 1 in Berlin.

Spend three full days in Berlin including one daytrip to Potsdam.

You do not need a car in Berlin.

On day 4, take a morning flight from Berlin-Schönefeld to Köln-Bonn (with Germanwings or Air Berlin). Rent a car there. See at least a bit of Köln. Think about staying overnight in Köln.

On day 5, drive to the Mosel. Stay there for at least one full day. Two overnight stays.

On day 7, drive through the Rhein Valley (sightseeing there) to Worms.

On day 8, visit Worms.

On day 9, fly from Frankfurt to Wien.

Hi,
We don't really have to start in berlin, we thought it would be a good starting point to begin there and travel either further south and
east after. We dont have to go to Munich either. Vienna or Budapest looks interesting. We've been to Amsterdam and Prague and of course
loved both. Budapest looks very far.
Which city is more interesting, Budapest or Vienna? natjgc

To answer part of your original question: I went to Dachau in 1989. It is a preserved concentration camp and is solemn and moving to visit, even for someone with no connection to the events which occurred there. It is near Munich.

http://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/englisch/content/

If you do go to Munich you can catch a train to Salzburg, Austria. It takes about 1.5 hours. It's a nice journey through the alps.

Dachau or any such camp is always in my opinion a sobering but mandatory visit - not that long ago that 'civilized' folk did such horrors, which unfortunately are still being perpetuated in pplaces like Darfur, which gets fails to really raise the hackles of 'civilized' countries

Take S-Bahn about 30 mins then connecting bus to the camp, in suburban Munich

Ok, You're all very helpful and we think we have a pretty good idea of an itinerary however, I'm confused
about distances. How far is Vienna from Franfort? Do we fly,drive or catch a train? We are going to spend
9 full days in Europe and we are starting in Berlin 3-4 days and then to Worms. We could spend that day there and spend the night in Worms. Then go to the Mosel Valley and spend the next day there. I need help however with finding a couple of towns that
have a wine tour. Is anyone familiar with that? I personally love a bottle of Reisling that I buy frequently from the Mosel valley in Germany and I'd love to find that vinyard ( I'm dreaming right?)So Berlin, Worms , Mosel valley towns, and then on to Vienna.
Do we need a car for the mosel area?
I'm sure I'm confusing all of you too! Sorry. Also how shall we travel from Berlin to Worms? Train or plane?? I don't thnk we have time for Munich and Dachau with this schedule. Not enough time of course. But I do agree that everyone should go to a concentration camp and really see it for sure, Terazine ( outside of Prague) was very upsetting and that was a work camp not a killing camp. Thanks.. all of you are terrific!!

You can find info on distances at
www.viamichelin.com, and for train travel at
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml

Besides the more than 700 kilometers you'd have to drive from Frankfurt to Vienna, there are two more arguments against taking the car:
1. gas is expensive
2. international drop-off fees are even more expensive

From Berlin to Worms I would also opt for either train or plane since your itinerary probably won't give you the time to stop here and there.

The closest airport to Worms is Mannheim, but it has rather expensive services to/from Berlin, so going to Worms via Frankfurt and picking up the rental car there would make more sense. Tickets (e.g. with Air Berlin) start at € 29 plus tax/fees (total price appr €57), per person, one-way.
Worms is appr. a 1hr drive (or less) from Frankfurt airport, and easy to navigate.

When booking in advance, the train will be even a bit cheaper (special rates start at € 29 one-way, but you don't always get them and it will be extra hard in July), and you could go "directly" to Worms (in fact, you would have to change trains at least once in Mannheim).
The total travel time Berlin-Worms would be appr. 5 1/2 hours.

If you take the plane, you will not miss that many sights as the routing of the ICE trains goes through rather unimpressive flat country, or - when it's not flat and boring - you will be mostly in tunnels. Only a short leg of that ride would be kind of scenic.

Touring the Mosel Valley, a car is indeed helpful and, IMO the best way to explore. You should find that vineyard quite easily since names etc. are registered.

As for your favourite Mosel Riesling (not Reisling, please, I don't get why people always spell that wrong) question, tell us what's written on the label of the bottle, then we can find out where it came from and if it's from a small vineyard that can be found or from one of those "Großlagen" - i.e. grapes from different vineyards in a certain area. The address of the producer will be on the bottle, too, contacting them could also help.

Cowboy 1968,

Thanks for all of the info on distances and the websites. I will certainly look into this. It should
be very helpful, thanks.

Quokka,

Sorry about the spelling mistake.
Here's the info:
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Riesling-Qualitatswein
Shipped by moselland eg wnzercenossenscarft.

Hopee this is the right info you
need. Thanks natjgc

The wine you mentioned seems to be a blend from grapes from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area. While this specifies the region, you cannot tell from which vineyard the grapes come from.
This is often the case with a "Winzergenossenschaft" which means that it's a co-operative and not a produce from an individual vintner.
http://www.moselland.de/index.php?id=2&L=1

But you will find lots of vineyards when traveling in the Mosel valley where they make and sell the wine on site.

Yes, this sounds like a blend from the whole area, not even one of those "Großlagen". Grapes could be from anywhere in the Mosel, Saar and/or Ruwer valley. So choose any particularly beautiful vineyard and declare it yours;-)

Moselland is a cooperative covering the whole Mosel valley and beyond, thus a big producer who sells wines to supermarkets all over the world. This doesn't mean they are making bad stuff, but you may find more interesting and more special wines at small local wineries.
If you're lucky, you'll find a hotel/b&b/restaurant at a winery where they serve their own wines. There are quite a number of such places everywhere along the Mosel. Since you've got a car, you could stay in any small village along the river.

*whispers* For example, the Hotel Zehnthof in Ürzig - we had a family reunion there last year, and everyone from 25 year old niece to 95 year old grandfather enjoyed it. Excellent food, good wines from their own vineyards and cellar, a nice hotel with lovely views of the river and the amazing landscape. Their website: http://www.weinhaus-zehnthof.de/hotel.htm is in German, Finnish and Swedish but not in English, unfortunately, but you could phone or mail them for more info.

In the Mosel Vally we loved Beilstein, a small village with a lovely hotel and a few small shops. The hotel is the Haus Lipman. Ask for room four as it has a balcony overlooking the Mosel. It's a favourite on this travel board. Meals are included and are served in the hotel's restaurant which also overlooks the Mosel. A bottle of local wine at the hotel was four Euros served with glasses to our room. In the village there is a restaurant called Zehnthauskellar where you can order a sample of beers or wines - you receive six small glasses of beer or wine which is great fun for sharing. Also, this same restaurant has dancing on Saturday nights which we enjoyed. We were the only non Germans there and although our German is limited, the other patrons were very friendly and included us in the singing and dancing.