I Need help planning a trip to Germany
 

Hello all,<BR>I am thinking of taking a trip to Germany this summer.<BR><BR>Would like to see drive through the black forest, see southern germany and maybe make a day trip to Austria (city depends on are we stay in).<BR><BR>I have been before many years ago but on a tour and would like to do this on my own.<BR>Planning 1 week<BR><BR>What would you recommend would be a good base city for exploring? I am planning on renting a car.<BR><BR>Also where is the best place to start looking for good airfare from NY?<BR><BR>Thanks<BR><BR><BR>

Do a Germany search on this site and you will find a lot of good info.<BR><BR>Flying into Frankfurt then going to Rothenburg, down the Romantic Road to Garmisch will make a good trip. Once in Bavaria Garmisch is a good town to base and explore the area. Innsbruck is an easy day trip from Garmisch.

A few years ago I spent a month driving in Southern Germany; it was a wonderful trip. If you'd like to read my trip report, please e-mail me directly. I flew into Frankfurt and out of Munich. Obviously I covered more than you could in a week but you could pick out from my route what would suit you. I would do it all over again!

My first thought was why are you traveling alone in a rented car. Are you doing this &quot;on your own&quot; as in planning, or traveling solo. OK, I will assume you mean Planning it on your own.<BR><BR>For one week I would stick to one small part of Germany. Fly into and out of Munich. I perfer the Berchtesgarten area near Austria. Just curious. Why are you choosing to rent a car? Train travel offers more opportunities to meet people.

Rob I like the convinience of a car <BR><BR>Also I like to just stop where I want when I want so that is the reason of a car. I will be going with 2 friends.<BR>

Nancy I would love a copy of your report but I don't have your e-mail address.<BR><BR>Mine is [email protected]<BR>

Take the Alpenstrasse (http://www.german-alpine-road.de/). It is a beautiful drive. It extends between Lindau on Lake Constance and Berchtesgaden. I've driven the piece between Schwangau and Berchtesgaden and from Garmish to Lindau.<BR><BR>I think the entire route is roughly 300 miles.

sdfg

Thoughtful reply, xxxx.

Ga-just ran across your post. We're planning a similar trip to Germany for November this year. I know it will be cold, but we have to go during Thanksgiving using our vacation days linked to the holiday. I have NEVER even been to Europe-I am feeling kinda overwhelmed-I'm thinking we'd like to fly into Munich to include day trips to Austria and Switzerland. Wish you a lovely journey...

I'm sorry, I tried to post a response a few days ago when the site wasn't cooperating, but maybe better late than never...<BR><BR>While we lived in Europe, we several times made what we called the &quot;Bavarian loop&quot; for all the visiting friends who think Bavaria is Germany (kind of like all our German friends who think Miami is Florida). It's easy to arrange, but with a little twist for you, since you want to go through the Black Forest, but there's no such thing as &quot;basing&quot; if you want to see all the areas you mention in one week. Try this:<BR>Day 1 - Fly into Frankfurt; drive to Heidelberg for lunch. Continue on Autobahn 5 to Autobahn 8 towards Stuttgart. Exit and get onto the Schwarzwald Baderstrasse; stay overnight in Calw? Or Tubingen? <BR>Day 2 - Get onto Autobahn 81 and travel south to Oberndorf; exit and go to Schramberg, then follow the Deutsche Uhrenstrasse to Triberg, down to Furtwangen, and on to Titisee-Neustadt. Allowing for stops along this route, you may wish to stay in this deep southern section of the Black Forest. I bypassed Freiburg, knowing nothing about what you're interested in seeing/doing, so you might need to adjust the itinerary to include it. I like the forests and meadows and small villages.<BR>Day 3 - Go back east to Autobahn 81, then go southeast to the Bodensee and follow the lakeshore (hwy 31) to Autobahn 96. It sounds backwards, but it'll be a much faster drive to get on the autobahn and go noth to Memmingen to join Autobahn 7 going south. This will take you almost to Fussen, and from there, what I assume you mean by southern Germany will be open for you to choose from. Certainly a day in this area would be worthwhile - Neuschwanstein, the Wieskirche, Oberammergau, Linderhof, the Zugspitze below Garmisch, and in general, the Bavaria people picture. <BR><BR>I agree with Snoopy that the Alpenstrasse is a beautiful drive going further east, but very slow for the amount of time you have. I'd really suggest staying in the Garmisch area for the night of Days 3, 4, and 5. Then, departing from here on Day 6, you will have a day's drive to get back to Frankfurt. If you can depart from Munich, you might want to go from the Garmisch area to Munich early on Day 6 so you can spend a full day and your last night there.<BR><BR>Hope this helps. Let me know if you want any specifics or ideas for where to stay. Or, if you'll give us more info on the types of things you want to see/do, maybe we'll have better ideas.<BR>Best wishes...