My husband and I are currently planning a trip to Paris and a city in Germany , we are trying to determine between Munich or Frankfurt. We would like to travel between the German city and Paris via train. We would fly from the US to the german city take the train to Paris for a week, return to the german city for another week and fly home. Please help with suggestions on which city...

Munich - no contest.

definetly, Munich!

I third the vote for Munich!

<i>We would fly from the US to the german city take the train to Paris for a week, return to the german city for another week and fly home. </i>

You should look into flying open-jaw: either
Fly into Paris and out of Germany or vice versa.

That will save you time backtracking, and most likely $ on train tickets.

Without a doubt-Munich!

Oh goodness - I would like to talk to the person who would recommend Frankfurt over Munich!

Munich, by all means.

I hope that the suggestion for an open jaws would work.

I am not sure that I would spend a whole week in either Munich or Frankfurt. Either would work as an embarkation point to visit many nice places.

Munich as access to the Alps, the Royal Castles of Bavarian, Regensburg, etc.

Frankfurt is close to either the Rhine and Mosel valleys, or Franconia (W&uuml;rzburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg, etc.). Franconia is just about my favorite area in Germany and we have visited it the last three years. This year we hope to return to Rhine/Mosel after a long absence.

If you want to visit an area as opposed to a single city, it very much depends on your tastes as whether Frankfurt or Munich would work best.

Regards, Gary

Also vote for Munich, and don't forget to take little side trips to Neuschwanstein Castle and for more sober but reflection-stirring trip to Dachau.

I love taking the train between Munich and Paris -- particularly the overnight train, since it leaves and arrives at convenient hours.

Munich is so much more visit-worthy, IMO, that your question is really an odd one. How'd you come up with these two alternatives?

OKAY, you probably have to fly into one or the other. But you don't necessarily have to visit either.

FRA-Paris is 4 hours from Paris with certain connections. MUC-Paris is 7-8 hours. The advantage of FRA in this regard seems pretty clear. Look into the &quot;Europa Spezial&quot; price of 39 Euros for this route at www.bahn.de (also available from MUC, by the way.)

On your way back to FRA, you could see some very worthwhile cities and towns. Trier and the Mosel River lie just across the French border. Rhine river villages like Bacharach and the nearby medieval castles are also an option. The aforementioned Franconia (W&uuml;rzburg. Rothenburg, Nuremberg, Bamberg) is a wonderful region not far beyond FRA. Heidelberg is popular with many visitors, though not my favorite. Stuttgart could be interesting as well. I'd look into these geographically more reasonable destinations before deciding for sure on Munich.

Granted, scenery wise, Munich is lovely and also has a lot of choices to pick from for day trips. Heidelberg, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg, Darmstadt, Giessen, B&uuml;dingen, etc. Frankfurt, though, has much to offer too, though perhaps not as well known or apparent. Its location to many great day trips is a factor in choosing, the cost of the flight from the states is a factor, and actually, there is a lot to see in the city itself. I know everyone just writes Frankfurt off as a city with nothing to offer, but this is so incorrect. We not only have great museums and art galleries, but also historical sites of interest too. We do have one of the most meaningful Holocaust memorials in Germany, the Holocaust Memorial Wall with over 11,000 names on it, though it doesn't get a lot of press. Why, I don't know. There is the cathedral where the Emperors were elected and crowned, the R&ouml;merplatz, the Pauls church, Germany's equivalent to Independence Hall, Goethes birthplace, Anne Franks birthplace, one of the most beautiful Opera houses in Europe, the Klein Markt Halle, and we have a lot great festivals too. The Museum Ufer Fest at the end of Aug. draws over 3 million people for its 3 day run each year. Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth.

oh, and just as an aside. How many of Munich voters over Frankfurt have actually spent any time in Frankfurt and toured the city and seen its &quot;worthy&quot; sites? Or are you just going on hearsay?

OK, I haven't voted yet, but I'd also pick Munich over Frankfurt. [And yes, I've spent considerable time IN both cities]. My vote is specific to the question of which city.

Having said that, if you're spending a week and take into account the surrounding areas and possible day trips, the comments above about both cities are valid and worth considering. The areas offer very different options - Rhine/Mosel versus Alps/castles, etc. With those possibilities, I could easily see spending a week in either place.

I had a very pleasant tour of Frankfurt with a group of locals and visitors. We toured the city and ate dinner on a converted mine sweeper. It was a great time.

Having said that. I would pick Munich over Frankfurt everytime.

Thank you for all the responses. We normally spend 2 weeks in Paris each year but wanted to venture out to Germany - We will probably fly into Munich and stay a week - taking day trips to surrounding areas and then take the train to Paris and fly out of Paris. Although our flight will take us back through a german city as we live in NC and perfer to fly Lufthansa from the states. The overnight train sounds like the trip for us. Last year we took the train from Amsterdam to Paris and just loved it.

I'll add my vote for Munich. It has a lot to offer and then you can add in the side trips to the Ludwig Castles and Salzburg that are really special. Flying open jaw really makes a lot of sense for you, no matter where the planes go in route.