Munich: Baden Baden Vineyards Romantic Road etc
 

My sister and I are planning a last minute 1-week trip to Munich Germany and the surrounding areas, departing this wednesday!

We are ambitious travelers in our mid-30s and enjoy history, local culture, enjoy eating local food with the locals, but we are from Manhattan so we also enjoy top quality refined food. we are open to staying in homesteads (or even convents or quaint family inns) when in more rural settings.

We arrive in Munich, spending Fri and Sat at Oktoberfest and then are interested in spending time (3 days: Sund, Mon, Tues) outside of munich to experience a less 'disney-esque' Germany (our flight leaves on Wed a.m.). We are ambitious travelers and have no problem packing in a lot of sightseeing and traveling - sunup to sundown!

I have read some great things about Baden Baden, Romantic Road, Rothenburg, Salzburg, Black Forest, Dinkelsbuhl, buehler hoehe, Cochem, Fussen, the castles, the vineyards, the neckar river etc. and are trying to figure out what we will have time for, whether renting a car or train will be best, where we should stay, eat, sightsee, visit, experience or if there are other 'must see' areas outside of munich!

Any thoughts we would be extremely greatful!

Baden Baden and the Black Forest are not part of Munich's surrounding area. My suggestion is to stick to Bavaria and perhaps Salzburg.

I assume the castles you have noted in your list are those built by Ludwig II of Bavaria-- Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein. The last is definitely "Disneyesque"--in fact, the model for Cinderella's castle. It and Linderhof are in the Alps south of Munich. this is a beautiful area with lots more to see. Herrenchiemsee, modeled on Versailles is more to the east on a lake. All are interesting and visited by lots of tourists.

Dinkelsbuhl is NW of Munich on the Romantic Road.

Cochem is in the Mosel valley (an area with lots of vineyards) and even farther north and west--I'd definitely save it and the Black Forest and Baden Baden for another trip. The Neckar is also farther than I would plan to go in the time you have

My best advice is to go to a good bookstore, read about Bavaria and pick a few places near Munich. I think the Bavarian Alps are spectacular and would probably go there as a change from Manhattan, but there are many other wonderful places to see.

With only one week you should stay in Bavaria. However, there is much to see:

- Quaint old towns: Along the Romantic Road, including Rothenburg o.d.T., and, less touristy, Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, Feuchtwangen.

- Quaint old towns AND vineyards AND not touristy: Franken with lots of picturesque towns and excellent wines. The center of wine-making is Iphofen. (Iphofen has an excellent restaurant with gourmet cuisine which is affordable, the Zehntkeller).

- History & culture: Würzburg. The Palace is spectacular.

- Other old towns: Bamberg, Regensburg.

- Castles have been mentioned: Linderhof, Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee.

Look on a map (e.g. www.viamichelin.de) and drive a loop around München.

Viamichelin will also help to identify restaurants and attractions.

For hotel search, I recommend www.hrs.de

BTW, if you have enough of rustic greasy dishes in München, eat at the Lenbach. Food is good and ambiance is spectacular. When the Octoberfest tents close a party will start in the Lenbach. www.lenbach.de

Hi S,

You might find the Bavaria/Salzburg art of my trip report helpful.

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35014078

((I))

Thanks everyone for your helpful info! We were thinking of going to Lenbach, so it's nice to know it's a good place to go. If we rent a car and drive up the romantic road and to Neuschwanstein is it easy to stop along the way at the small towns, for food and accomodations? How long is the romantic road? Can we do it in one full day, to experience the general sense of this region?

We are interested in experiencing some of the vineyards of the region, by boat, by car or by train. We'd love to make it to the Neckar river region but sadly don't think we'll have time. Does anyone have any alternative vineyard experiences are that are 3 or 4 hours from munich? Also, is it possible to stay on the vineyard homesteads or at B&Bs in the area?

Also, we love culture but aren't fans of super touristy places that can often be 'over-rated' as places to visit. We are considering driving to Salzberg, but is it 'over-rated? - is it a scenic drive from Munich with places to stop along the way? or are we better off skipping Salzberg and focusing more on other areas?

The Romantic Road stretches from Füssen where you could visit Neuschwanstein to Würzburg. It is 360 km long. Lots of the road itself isn't terribly scenic. You can skip parts of it by using the autobahn
You would want to stop to visit some of the towns along the way. Rothenburg is the most famous. One day would not be enough to do it all
http://www.romanticroad.com/

I'd recommend the Main valley vineyards around Würzburg if you are planning to do the Romantic Road as well. Traveller1959 has suggested visiting Iphofen in this area

Salzburg gets a lot of tourists. I don't think it is particularly over rated but it is in a different direction from the other destinations you are considering so I would not plan on going there, too