tomboy

Sam- I take it you like castles. REAL castles. For your bucket list: Beynac, and Castlenaud, in the Dordogne; esterhazy, east of Sopron, Hungary; Schonbrunn, Vienna; several in Czech Rep

Swabian

@tomboy Esterhazy in Hungary and Schönbrunn in Austria aren't castles but palaces.
@SamRothstein In my opinion Marksburg is the most authentic castle in all of Germany, whereas Burg Eltz looks beautiful from the outside but the inside is not authentic. It consists of a medley of furniture and things from eight centuries. The heating and the water supply aren't authentic, either. If you visit Marksburg and Burg Eltz you will nevertheless get an authentic picture of castles in Germany. There are similar castles in other parts of Germany, but I'm afraid they are too far from your planned itinerary. During the summer season there is a guided tour in English in the Marksburg every day at 1p.m. www.marksburg.de/en/
www.burg-eltz.de/en/

kleeblatt

Unless you're in the area, skip Lichtenstein. It's pretty enough from the outside but it's certainly not worth a detour for.

SamRothstein

I'll add those to the "one day" list. Thanks!

Marksburg might win out for convenience vs Eltz. There's so much I'd like to see, but I'm trying to make concessions where I can. I can skip the beauty of Eltz for the authenticity of Marksburg since I also plan on seeing Lichtenstein and Hohenzollern which are very beautiful. This way I feel I can get a real sense of both styles.

I'll be making a day trip to the area to see Hohenzollern, and they're only about 45 minutes apart by car. It's also pretty enough to be on my "must see" list. I really want that fairytale castle experience.

quokka

Within easy reach from Luxembourg, you have the castle of Vianden. To give you an idea, here is a little blog entry of mine: https://germany-kathrin-e.travellerspoint.com/63/ Hardly known, but quite impressive.

neckervd

Hochkoenigsburg too was rebuilt in the 19th century. The restaurant and the rather kitsch Troubadour pefrormances are very popular with tourist groups, however.
I suppose you know that there is a lot of backtracking in your post 20:
1.2 Mainz - bingen - Boppard - Koblenz - Eltz (close to Cochem) - Koblenz - Mainz
1.3 Mainz - Speyer - Mannhiem - Heidelberg - Mannheim - Mainz
2.1 Mainz - Mannheim Stgt - Tuebingen - Stgt - Mannheim - Mainz
3.1 Mainz - Mannheim - Strasbourg
4.1 Luxemburg - Trier - cochem (lose to Eltz) - Trier - Luxemburg
4.2 Luxemburg - Trier - Luxemburg

SamRothstein

Vianden crossed my radar, but I don't think there will be time for it with my other plans. It does look very nice though.

I'm looking at it as short roundtrips rather than huge backtracks. Some backtracking is necessary it seems, but most of these train journeys are short direct trains. I think the longest one will be Luxembourg - Cochem, and Mainz - Tübingen. Also, we'll be staying the night in Tuebingen and continuing on to Strasbourg from there, rather than going back to Mainz. Hopping to a new hotel in a new city every night is out of the question, as it seems more impractical with time lost checking in and out everyday and presents little to no downtime.

lavandula

Hi again Sam, the area near the Hauptbahnhof is not what I would call bad (unlike many cities), but there are a number of cheaper hotels around there (usually the closer, the less salubrious). Of course I don't know what you are looking for in a hotel (although I assume you are looking for easy access). There are a few hotels a couple of streets back from the station in the direction of the river that are a bit better, so be choosy. I would also suggest you have a look at the Hilton Mainz; it represents quite good value because it is on the river (prestige location), just a short walk along the river to Adenauer-Ufer, where the KD boats depart from, but also quite close into some of the sights in the city (like Mainzer Dom, Gutenberg Museum). It is also a favourite of the airlines for flight crew layovers. Just something to weigh up, you have plenty of time to sort out these sort of trifling details.

Lavandula

kleeblatt

Well, if you're in the area then, you might want to consider visiting Schloss Sargans as well. It's a very old castle with a decent museum.

neckervd

There is no need to justify your choice. You got a lot of good advice from different posters and decided to do exactly what you planned before coming to this forum.
That's your right. It's always better to do things one is convinced of, despite the fact that others would have other preferencies. It's YOUR trip!

SamRothstein

That Hilton does look nice, and I’ve got status with the brand, but it shows a 20 minute walk from HbF. Are taxis readily available outside the train station? I was looking at Hotel Hammer right near the station or Hilton hotel Mainz city. Granted I’ve only given hotels very brief look.

Am I missing something? That’s a 3 hour drive from Hohenzollern and Lichtenstein castles.

SamRothstein

I’ve been very appreciative of all the advice received, I hope that’s understood. I have made several adjustments based on feedback here, everyone has been super helpful. Unfortunately we’re constrained by lack of time and over abundance of choice.

neckervd

MAINZ
Hammer, Koenigshof and Schottenhof are welll known traditional hotels around the railway station, popular with both, businessmen and tourists.. If you want to sleep in the medieval city center, check Hotel Ehrenfels.
CIty buses between the railway station and the historic center (Hoefchen Listmann) run every few minutes.

SARGANS CASTLE
authentic but not too attractive and incredibly far away from your itinerary.

bilboburgler

beauty is in the eye. certainly Lichtenstein does not fall into my idea of beauty, Esterhazy is a tatty palace. Berg Eltz is great from the outside and nicely run down inside.

I would look out for wine festivals along the way, nothing worse than turning up to be told "it was a great party yesterday". World's largest festival https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wurstmarkt

SamRothstein

good to know about the buses, and Hammer. I’ll check out the others as well.

Would the busses be covered under the RMV or other day pass tickets? For convenience sake, I was looking at the 10 day Eurail pass, but I’m starting to see that might not be the best option.

tomboy

Originally Posted by Swabian View Post
@tomboy Esterhazy in Hungary and Schönbrunn in Austria aren't castles but palaces.

Just for my edification, what's the difference? Age? Construction? Purpose? Builder?

kleeblatt

Sargans is a 15 min drive from Lichtenstein

I’m talking about Liechtenstein on the border of Switzerland so maybe that’s where the mix-up came about.

SamRothstein

Lichtenstein the country? I’m obviously intending to visit Lichtenstein Castle, as indicated several times.

kleeblatt

You do mean Liechtenstein, the country that borders Switzerland and Austria? If yes, enter Liechtenstein and Sargans into Google and you’ll see they’re quite close

kleeblatt

https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schl...n_(Württemberg)

If you mean the above, then of course Sargans is way off your course and I apologize for the confusion.