shultz101

Greetings: Looking for help in planning our eight day, 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Southern Germany this September. We have never been to Germany and we were thinking of spending two nights around the Rhine area, exploring the castles and sights, and then slowly driving towards Munich (maybe day trips from there). Looking at the internet, you get overwhelmed quickly. What I am asking is it possible to get to St. Goar (or similar) via train from Frankfurt Airport then explore the area without a rental car? Then rent a car in Koblenz to continue our trip. I am not afraid to drive and would love not to have to worry about train or boat schedules while we sightsee. Any help in recommendations, especially on sights to see, restaurants and or hotels would be appreciated. Bruce – Phoenix, Arizona

Palenque

Most definately - frequent trains via perhaps a change of trains in Mainz or some other place from the airport to St Goar

and once there there are train lines on both sides of the Rhine Gorge here and more delightfully K-D boats ply this stretch of the river about hourly as well in September

and if you'd like to bike there are bike paths on each side of the river and many places rent bikes - hotels may even provide them.

No you do not need a car here - and from St Goar to Koblenz by train is also a snap - at least hourly and takes only a few minutes.

Palenque

Scenario - do the Rhine sans car - really not needed with trains running on each side all the time and boats about hourly - do not need schedules as service is so often and save a few days' car rental.

Then drive from Rhine to Heidelberg - one of few German towns not destroyed in war - nestled on the Neckar River with the castle of your dreams poking out of the town center

Then drive along the Castle Road - along the Neckar Valley to Rothenburg - one of Europe's best preserved medieval walled towns

and drive along the Romantic Road via dreamy towns like Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen all the way to Fussen - home of Mad Ludwig's fantasty castles

And motor to Munich via another Mad Ludwig fantasy castle - Linderhof and dream Oberammergau to Munich

From Munich you have easy day trips to Dachau (in the suburbs) or Salzburg, Austria or the Chiemsee (yet another Mad Ludwig Castle - Herrenchiemsee, lovingly set on an island in the middle of a lake.

For info on trains like at the beginning of your trip these sites will clue you in - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - download the latter's free and superb IMO European Planning & Rail Guide for not only rail info but many itineraries that can also be done by car.

pja1

Hi Bruce,

Do the 8 days include your arrival day and departure day?

If I had 8 days I'd suggest:
Day 1 - Arrival day) Rhine
Day 2) Rhine
Day 3) Drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Day 4) Rothenburg and area
Day 5) Drive to Fuessen
Day 6) Fuessen
Day 7 Drive to Munich
Day 8) Munich

treplow

The most comprehensive train schedule for Germany (and in fact most of Europe) can be found on www.bahn.de, website of the German Railroad (Deutsche Bahn). Poke around this website for a while, there is a great deal of useful information available. You (and up to 5 of you) can ride the rails all over Bavaria on the discounted Bavarian Ticket (Bayernkarte)day ticket for EUR28 . Lmitations: During the week you can't start before 9AM, and you can ride only Regio (local) trains and busses.

Once you are in Munich, you really don't need a car.

The auto route outlined by Palenque is very nice and scenic, except that after Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuehl and possibly Nioerdlingen, I would get on the A-7 Autobahn to Fuessen. Unlike what the name implies, the Romantic Road (Romantische Strasse)itself is strictly a highway (and in places not a particularly good highway) that simply runs between some nice old towns, as Palnque mentions.

Except for Ottobeuren (west of the A-7, near Memmingen), there's not enough to see to make the drive on the R Road worthwhile.

If you are heading south to the Neckar from Trier (Mosel), look at this rough routing: Trier, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Speyer, Heidelberg, Neckar.

Palenque

I agree with treplow about the un-Romantic Road - a busy two-lane highway that skirts some really sweet old-worldesque historic towns - but the road itself is a real drag IME

The Romantic Road name was simply made up by the Germany Tourist Board years ago and the Romantic Road buses gained fame as well.

The Castle Road however from Heidelberg to Rothenburg IME is really romantic - winding thru cute small towns and lovely countryside in the Neckar River Valley.

And yes i would also hop on the autobahn instead of the tedious Romantic Road to reach Fussen.

norrisken

I also agree with skipping the full Romantic Road. After Nördlingen it's not all that. Going via the A& should only take about 2hrs.
From: Rothenburg ob der Tauber To: Heidelberg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Road lists the towns and castles. This is a map of the route we are looking to travel next Sept.
http://thirdmansystems.com/vacation/...Heidelberg.htm
And these are our favorite stops on a loop: http://thirdmansystems.com/vacation/...20Garmisch.htm

Palenque

And of course you could motor right to Munich from Rotherburg, ditch the car and use the Bavarian Pass to day trip by train to Fussen and Mad Ludwig's Castles - esp if short on time

Driving between say Fussen, Linderhop, Oberammergau or even along the Bavarian Alpenstrasse all the way, skirting foothills of the Alps, to Berchestgaden (sp?) and Salzburg is a sweet sweeet drive.

Palenque

schlutzie101- are you still around?

jw518

bookmarking

shultz101

Thank you for all your help. At first I didn't think anyone was going to respond so sorry about not getting back. Anyway, with all your information, I am now starting to plan our trip. Bruce

shultz101

Oh....We have flown to London, so is the jet lag about the same where the first day is basically a bust?

hausfrau

Yes. You shouldn't plan anything big for that first day except to get to your hotel on the Rhine, preferably a nice place with a view so you have a great wake-up on your first full day in Germany.

Palenque

London is but five hours - Germany six hours ahead time-wise so i guess jet lag may be 1/5 or 1/6 worse?

norrisken

lol. This may open a can of worms. Would it be even more, since you're in the air longer besides the extra hour lost due to the additional time zone. So add 2 hours of jet lag?
1st day we try to get our place to stay, then take a short nap, eat and sight see on foot at a very relaxed pace. Last trip we found a wonderful Wine Stube and then slept like babies all night.

jasuvij

Hi Bruce
Me and my husband are also going to be in Frankfurt in sept for our 10th anniversary.We are there just for 4 days and this is our first trip to eroupe.(first trip after lots of yrs)
We are now deciding where all we want to go as we have 4 days only and we don't know when else we will go again to europe ever
so trying to make most of it I am following your QA now to get the tips

hausfrau

jasuvij, 4 days isn't a lot of time to see Germany, but you could definitely see the Rhine Valley and possibly a bit of the Mosel. If you are looking for a special place to spend your 10th, many of us Fodorites can vouch for the Hotel auf Schoenburg in Oberwesel on the Rhine. It is a fabulous castle hotel and very romantic!

Palenque

Yes the Rhine and or Mosel would make a sweet base for a few days and a special place for an anniversary.

I love Cochem, a wine town par excellence in the Mosel Valley, which to me at least is much much more romantic than the Rhine Gorge - the Mosel's steep slopes make it really a gorge as well - the serpentine-like Mosel twisting in loops with southward-facing slopes clad with vineyards yielding the Mosel's famed white wines, produced in one of Europe's northernmost wine-growing areas - the steep slopes made of dark slate provide shelter from extreme cold for the vines.

Anyway Cochem is the fairy-tale town of your dreams - a lovely castle popping out of vineyards in the middle of town, local wineries to tour and a zillion comfortable family-run guesthouses equipped with down comforters and supplying hearty breakfasts.

You do not need a car either for Cochem or the Rhine as trains run along each river (only to Cochem on the Mosel but buses go from there and there are also boat services)

One place close to Cochem is fabled Burg Eltz, one of Germany's most famous castles - you can take a train to Moselkern and then hike up a few miles thru the forest or take a taxi or mini-bus from the station. You could also rent bikes to pedal along the Mosel on special bike paths (one of Europe's primo and most favorite cycling venues) to Moselkern.

jasuvij

wow the description made me go there right now.My husband would definitely love the winerary .We also want to see if we can add a day trip to paris if possible.What you think?
can we take a train early morning into paris and leave from there next morning?
or may be take a overnight train to paris so that we save some time and then take a early morning train back next day?

Palenque

From Cochem you would take a train about an hour to Luxembourg then catch TGVs over the new high-speed TGV-Est line into Paris - probably taking about three hours or a bit more each way.

There are no overnight trains passing thru Cochem but if you want to taka a train to Frankfurt or Mannheim then you may get an overnight train to Paris - not sure if that train has been removed since the opening of the new high-speed TGV-Est train line makes day time travel so speedy.