My wife and I will be taking a trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the end of May. We will be flying in and out of Frankfurt and will be traveling by train. We would like to know if the following itinerary is doable and some ideas about places to visit and or stay. We want to be able to see the sights but also get a good taste of the local cultures.

5/18 Land in Frankfurt around 10:30 a.m.
Take a train to Rothemburg
5/19 Rothemburg
5/20 Take a.m. train to Bern Switzerland
5/21 Day trip from Bern
5/22 Day trip from Bern
5/23 Bern to Insbruck (Depart late afternoon)
5/24 Insbruck (Depart late afternoon for Neuschwanstein castle area)
5/25 Neuschwanstein castle area
5/26 Neuschwanstein castle area
5/27 Depart for Frankfurt early afternoon
5/28 Frankfurt
5/29 Fly home in the early afternoon

It always concerns me when someone asks if their itinerary is possible. It's possible, but you won't be able to relax and experience the country. I always tell people that when you have a short time in a country (like a week to 10 days) to try to limit what you're taking in. If you look at the itinerary 9 of the 10 days you're traveling somewhere. Relax, enjoy. Europe will be there next year and the next. You can always go back and enjoy the rest.

I agree with Ann1. It sounds like a train trip with a few interruptions and not travels to interesting and beautiful places by train. If you get the difference...

I can't specifically comment on your itinerary vis-a-vis available train service, but I will say that Berne is worth a day or two itself, not just as a base for day trips. Having said that, though, Berne is a great base for day trips.

I agree, this seems like a lot of time on a train. You've picked wonderful places to visit and all are charming but you might want to rethink this a bit and pick some places that are closer together. But maybe your heart is set on these towns and the time in the train is not an issue, it's up to you. I did some quick checks on the German rail site (which I find to be a great planning tool) and this is what I came up with (times may vary a bit depending on type of train and departure time):

Frankfurt -> Rothenberg 3 hours
Rothenberg -> Bern 7 hours
Bern -> Innsbruck 5-6 hours
Innsbruck -> Fuessen 4.5 hours
Fuessen -> Frankfurt 5 hours

Also, I'm not sure what you'll do with 2+ days in Neuschuanstein area - unless you are going to take the train to Lindau one of the days. I've stayed in Fuessen twice and taken the local bus to the castle. It is a nice small town and fun to wander around in. You can do the town and Neuschwanstein in one day, IMHO. But it depends on what your interests are.

Here is the train site that I like:
http://www.reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Have a fun trip!

Hello, Caz. If you like riding trains, you've picked some beautiful country. That really is the question. I love trains, so the time spent looking out the windows as the countryside passes by is not what I consider to be time wasted. A couple of your routes involve multiple train changes, but that should not scare you either. You'll be amazed at how easy it is. Now, of course, I have some suggestions of my own:

First, if you've got your heart set on Innsbruck, then reverse the order of your itinerary a bit: Rothenburg, then Fuessen (that's how I finally found it at the DB site), then Innsbruck, then Bern, then back to Frankfurt the day before you fly home. (I certainly would not devote two nights to Frankfurt.) With this outline, I'd stay two nights Roth., two nights Fuessen, two nights Innsbruck (did you know you can daytrip to Salzburg from Innsbruck?), four nights Bern, one night Frankfurt. Bern has an extraordinary number of daytrip possibilities like Grindelwald, Brienz and Ballenberg, Avenches, Lucerne, Zurich, Lausanne (spend the day riding the lakeboats, walking in the vineyards, and visiting the castle of Chillon), and on and on. Bern is a graceful old city which doesn't get enough respect at this forum IMO. Bern to Frankfurt is about 4 hours.

An alternative to Austria that I'd like to suggest would shorten a couple of your travel journeys: If you can bare to save Innsbruck for another trip, I'd substitute Lindau on Bodensee (Lake Constance). And if that were the case, I might stay three nights there and three Bern (but I'm dithering back and forth as I write this). Lovely places to visit on Bodensee including Meersburg and the island of Mainau. Lindau is a terrific lakeside town with interesting architecture and a marvelous harbor. From Lindau to Bern is about 3:30 hrs compared to about 5 from Innsbruck. Fuessen to Lindau is about 3:30 compared to about 4:30 Fuessen to Innsbruck. (Are you confused yet?) But if your heart is set on Innsbruck, don't let anyone deter you (but do consider a daytrip to Salzburg even though it's 2 hours one way).

With all my rattling, I've got to say that I don't stay fewer than three nights in any place when I travel these days, four if I can manage it. The relaxation factor is important to me. But with your wish list or mine, I'd have a hard time deciding what to give up. Let me know here if you'd like some train schedule specifics, because I've enjoyed the heck out of playing with your places. J.

Anything's possible - but for me that would be WAY too much time on the trains (and I love Swiss trains!).

It is a "possible trip" and I think it sounds like a fun one. If it was me I would substitute Salzburg for Innsbruck. Unless you have something else going on there the sights in Innsbruck are mainly the golden roof and the ski jump. On the otherhand Salzburg has the castle, Mozart's birthplace and all the music that surrounds it, the Altstadt, Heilburn Palace, the marionnette theater and of course the Sound of Music. You can make train connections through Munich between Salzburg and Fussen and perhaps stop at the Hofbreau Haus for a beer.

As posted by others, any trip is do-able. It would be easier for us to help you if you gave some idea of what you like (big city/small; hiking/music/art museums/castles etc)and why you picked the cities you did. For example, I can think of many more interesting Swiss and Austrian places than Berne (e.g., Luzern, BO area, Locarno) and Innsbruck (e.g., Salzburg), respectively. However, not knowing the basis on which you chose your destinations makes giving advice difficult. I would heartily agree with suggestions to reverse order and to spend less time in Frankfurt.

Thank you all for your feedback. As a result, we are now definately going to have a car for a large portion of the trip. The reason that we are going to Bern is that we have friends to stay with there. We would like to try to use their place as a home base while we are there. As far as suggestions of places to omit and other places to check out, we are open to anything. The only things we have decided for sure is that we are flying in and out of Frankfurt, we want to see Rothemburg, we are going to Bern and we are going to the Bavarian region of Germany. As I said, we are open to any suggestions.

There is a lot I could suggest about this plan but my question is are you absolutely determined/required to fly in and out of Frankfurt?

Could you fly into Zurich and out of Munich, for example?

Caz--
What kind of things do you wish to see and do? That will help those wishing to give advice. Without it, we might give what we like, without matching it to what you like.

In that light, if your interest is in a sampler of Bavaria, Austria and Switzerland, here's a possible itinerary:
5/18 Land in Frankfurt go to Rothenburg
5/19 Rothenburg
5/20 Take a.m. train or car to Munich (I'd do train, since parking in Munich is difficult and public transportation is great). Day trips from Munich to the places listed below are easy via train, and cheap if you use the Bayern Landskarte.
5/21 Explore Munich
5/22 Day trip from Munich to Neuschwanstein via train
5/23 Day trip from Munich to Salzburg via train
5/24 Train from Munich to Bern
5/25-28 Enjoy Bern and/or take day trips from Bern to Luzern or Berner Oberland (if weather clear), lakes Thun/Brienz, Lac LEman area, or Fribourg/Gruyeres/Basel.
29 Fly home in the early morning from Zurich if you can get an open jaw flight--or leave a day earlier for the Frankfurt area if you cannot do open jaw.

If you do get an open jaw flight and want to rent a car, you might save the rental for Switzerland to avoid a large car rental drop off fee.

First of all, it's "Rothenburg" and it's lovely. Take the advice to fly in and out of Munich and/or Switzerland. Visit Innsbruck. It is like being dropped in another century and if you like looking at architecture, gardens and just plain everyday sites...Go there. There is an Alpine Zoo, folk museum, the Emp. Maria Theresa's palace and lots more to take in easily by just strolling around. I lucked out and booked a room at the Hotel Weisses Kreuz and think that I slept in the same sweet room that Mozart and his dad used so long ago. I drove from Fussen to Innsbruck in about 2 1/2 hours...and it took about the same time to reach Munich from either place. When you go to Fussen, check into seeing the musical "Longing for Paradise" which is about Mad King LudwigII. The music was lovely, they display English translations and the sets, costumes and horses and lakes on stage transport you to another world. Plan to stroll in the theater's gardens and eat their delicious quiche for pre-show dinner. I don't know why this musical is never mentioned in tour books, etc. Look for the web site.
I had to do this part of my trip (including driving) by myself or never get to this area. It was all so easy and enjoyable. Have a wonderful time...You've picked out great sites to see.

Well now, if we're talking driving, may I amend my original suggestion to read Rothenburg, Salzburg, Fuessen, Bern, and back to Frankfurt? I've never been the driver, but as a back-seat rider I remember the drive from Salzburg to Fuessen through Bavaria to be very beautiful. We stopped along the way at Benediktbeuren, where the manuscript to Carmina Burana was found. I still hope you'll be able to see Lindau; maybe as a driving stop between Fuessen and Bern? Remember, I'm not a Europe driver, so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. Oh, heck, did I say salt? I wish you could see Hallstatt (no time to check spelling) in Austria not far from Salzburg.

If you decide to slow down, then simply stay in Rothenburg, Fuessen, and Bern. There are so many places to see in those areas that your trip will be memorable w/o our other brainstorms. The best thing about those three locations is that they contrast with each other beautifully. J.

You have 11 nights. In 2001, we had 14 nights, and did this:

Flew into Frankfurt, then nights as follows:
Rothenburg - 1 (you don't need 2 nights)
Ottobeuren (great abbey church) - 1
Hohenschwangau for Neuschwanstein - 1
Appenzell, Switzerland - 1
Meirengen via Sustenpass road (might just be open in late May) - 1
Here we went to Murren for 3 nights and then Murten for 1 night, suggest you go to Bern for 3 nights to visit friends; subtotal, 8 nights for you;
Baden-Baden - 2 nights subtotal 10 for you
We went to Beilstein and Cologne for a night each, suggest you drop this and go straight to
Frankfurt - 1 night total 11.

This means 7 stops in 11 nights (we did 11 in 14 nights, a record!) which is a lot of unpacking but does mean a relaxed drive between each stop. If you're interested, search under Switzerland and 'SW Germany and Switzerland trip report' for details.

I appreciate all of your help. I also wanted to let you know that we are a young couple and enjoy the outdoors. I think we would be most interested in things involving castles, hiking and the like by day and local establishments where we can experience the local culture, food and drink at night.