My husband, son (11 years old)and I are planning to go to Germany for a short visit from 11/18-11/24/07. We are flying into Frankfurt on 11/18 and would like to see some of the Romantic Road sights, ski one day on Zugspitze if there is snow, see Neuschwanstein and then head to Koln to visit friends for a day.

We plan to rent a car. Any advice on where to stay on the Romantic Road would be helpful. We are thinking of Wurzburg or Rothenburg.

Thanks!

Hi S,

You might find the RR part of my trip report helpful:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35014078

It's a long drive from the Zugspitze to Koln. Assuming you're flying out of Frankfurt, I would drive one way south to Fuessen and then buy 2 adult train tickets (your 11 year old travels for free) to Koln. There are many cheap offers if you're willing to take the slower trains (non ICE trains). From Koln you can take the ICE train into the Frankfurt airport in just one hour, so you can actually spend the night in Koln and give yourself a two hour window to get to the Frankfurt airport to be safe. German trains do get delays sometimes.

You might enjoy staying in a real castle (only a few miles from Rothenburg):

Burg Colmberg
http://www.burg-colmberg.de/

I suggest Hotel Greifen-Post in Feuchtwangen - a charming town, centrally located on the Romantic Road.

Rooms are nice, they have a pool and a sauna, and a good restaurant with refined regional fare.

http://www.hotel-greifen.de/Home.71.0.html

Frankly, you don't have much time really especially if you are flying from the US or someplace else that will result in jetlag the first day or two.

Unless you are totally committed to skiing and Neuschwanstein, I would suggest you not travel so far south. There is still so much to see without spending most of your time driving:

You could spend several days on the Romantic Road visiting one or more of the following:

1. Wurzburg
2. Rothenburg (staying at Burg Colmar as suggested would be great)
3. Feuchtwangen
4. Dinkelsbuhl
5. Noerdlingen

Then you go to Bad Wimpfen, about an hour from Heidelberg on the Neckar River. Lovely little town with medievel town walls and towers as well as the ruins of an Imperial Palace.

From there, stay in Heidelberg with more castle ruins before heading over to Speyer and the Technik Museum with all sorts of intersting things for an 11 year old (aircraft, helicopters, cars, trains, fire engines, etc.):

http://www.technik-museum.de/uk/speyer/

Finally, continue on to the Rhine River area with more castle ruins on your way to Koln.