Itinerary around Germany ?
 

I am trying to plan a 14 day trip to Germany this late spring. Arrive Dusseldorf and want to visit Munich area? and Berlin for sure, before return to Frankfurt to catch flight home.

Since its been 35 years since Ive been there last, I would appreciate any thoughts as to an itinerary from Maybe:
Cologne-Stasbourg-Munich-Berlin ???

Any suggestions from anyone familiar with the area would be greatly appreciated. I would prefer train travel as one of our party doesn't do well on long car rides anymore, and Im willing to give in, even though Im a big Europe driver.

Many people are familiar, but how do we choose something suitable for 14 days matching your taste we don't know from a long list of destinations?

An obvious question is, neither Dusseldorf nor Frankfurt are on your destinations. Why are you using these airports? Why consume a day or more (10% of your time in Germany) to include non-destinations?

Also, cars and trains have both pros and cons. Not car does not automatically mean trains. A person may do well neither in cars nor in trains. I don't know the reason for no car. If that person is a heavy packer or have mobility problems, train trips can be a hassle.

I would limit my time in the larger cities you have suggested - if Berlin and Munich are for-sures, then spend 7-8 days seeing them, but pen into your itinerary some smaller towns too. There are many fine German destinations that unlike the places you named were not destroyed and rebuilt in the 1940's and 50's and retain a lot of old-world character.

Have a look at some of Bavaria Ben's trip reports to gather ideas. Here's his most recent report:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/goingpo...rmany2013.html

Others are here:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/tripreports.html

Here are a few towns you might investigate in different parts of the country.

Oberwesel (Rhine River) - http://s1.germany.travel/media/conte...T_1024x768.jpg

Gengenbach: (Black Forest) - http://www.stadthotel-gengenbach.de/...innenstadt.jpg

Hannoversch Münden: http://www.ralf-stutzer.de/Rollergem...20M%FCnden.JPG

Ladenburg (nr. Heidelberg) - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...z_20100704.jpg

Iphofen (northern Bavaria near Nuremberg, several photos) - http://www.stadtbild-deutschland.org...&threadID=2985

How large is your group and how mobile? You will get plenty of suggestions on places to visit but it would help to know a little more about what you are able to do or if you are expecting to be in the larger cities only.

Taking the train to each destination will involve either long walks, taxi transportation or long waits for ground transportation, all with luggage in tow. As you well know with a car it is much easier to reach out-of-the-way places like Seiffen, Garmish, Ettal, Rothenburg, Quedlinburg etc.

Thank you for the info.
Our party is 4 people, have no mobility issues, just one that can't stand high speed on the roads- they freak out.
I do not need to visit large cities, in fact i would prefer smaller more picturesque towns, just not too far off the beaten path since time is short
Unfortunately flight ONLY goes into Dusseldorf (AA) and leaves from Frankfurt (AA) on the dates we have in May, we r trying but not sure we can change cities in and out.

The only city we don't want to miss is Berlin since two of the party have never been and they are art fanatics.

Strausburg is the type of town we like, but I am open to suggestions. If we have to take a car part of the way, I guess it is OK (I prefer car travel),

Probably stay in Frankfurt the nite before we leave.

Let me know if you have any other questions I can answer to make it easier for anyone to make suggestions.

Don't know where you're flying from, but we just went to Dresden from JFK. We also used AA and had to first land in Dusseldorf, and then connect to a flight to Dresden (on Berlin Air, a partner with AA). I'm pretty sure you can do the same if you want to go to Berlin using AA/Air Berlin.

If you are staying in Frankfurt the day before you leave, you might want to set aside some time to visit the Städel and perhaps the Schirn too. If your friends are art fanatics, they will enjoy these two art museums.

http://www.staedelmuseum.de/sm/index...websiteLang=en

http://www.schirn.de/en/Exhibitions.html

"I do not need to visit large cities, in fact i would prefer smaller more picturesque towns... The only city we don't want to miss is Berlin... flight ONLY goes into Dusseldorf (AA) and leaves from Frankfurt..."

After a night in D'dorf to rest up...

Berlin (4-5 nights)

Then begin your tour of smaller places as you make your way toward the Frankfurt area... some suggestions...

Wernigerode
Goslar
Hameln
Hannoversch Münden and its 700+ half-timbered buildings: http://www.ralf-stutzer.de/Rollergem...20M%FCnden.JPG
Gelnhausen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtCzNK12U3U
Büdingen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX0yo8dtbEI

The German Half-timbered House Road includes some of the above towns and other towns that may interest you as well:
http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/cont.php3

Oberwesel, Bacharach, St. Goar, Boppard (Rhine villages, castles:

http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.d...php?id=274&L=3
http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.d...php?id=288&L=3

Then spend a final night in Mainz before flying out of FRA (Mainz is about 25 min. by direct train from FRA.)

All the towns I have specifically mentioned above are accessible by train.

Strasbourg is a long way to go on a DUS-FRA flight duo with Berlin as the only absolute must.

Neither Dusseldorf nor Cologne are high on the list of most folks headed to Germany. If you don't want to stay in Dusseldorf for a day before heading to Berlin, with all the packing unpacking that entails, and then take a 4+ hour train trip to Berlin the next day, you could take that train trip the same day (long day but not much longer than if you had a connecting flight to somewhere in Europe anyway), or you could fly on to Berlin from DUS. Air Berlin has one way flights for about $91US regularly.

On the way back to FRA, from Berlin, there is also Dresden to consider (did someone say "art fanatics"?)

The northern Harz towns mentioned by Russ (Wernigerode and Goslar) are fantastic, but he didn't mention Quedlinburg, probably the biggest jewel of them all. They are all close together and accessible by train, with a connection in Halberstadt

Forgot to mention that that same day as arrival train option from Dusseldorf to Berlin leaves from the DUS airport and has no connections - it's a direct trip and it 4:11 hours.

The trains leave hourly, on the hour. It is 111 Euros fully flexible - no reservations, any train, and the price can be as low as 79 Euro for a specific train booking

Here's another suggestion. After Berlin, head toward the Dresden area, from which you can also take a number of day trips to places like Leipzig, Saxon Switzerland, Goerlitz, etc. Then go to the Bamberg-Wuertzburg region, from which you could also visit places on the Romantic Road, such as Rothenburg. From there, Frankfurt is an easy drive or train ride.