Need help on France/Germany Christmas Itinerary
 

Can you tell me if this is too much in a short time? If so, where should we spend our time outside of Paris. (I've already been there but my husband hasn't, so we're trying to split up the trip a bit.)

Day 1 - Arrive Paris - fly to Strasbourg, France. Drive to Heidelberg, Germany.

Day 2 - Heidelberg.

Day 3 - Drive to Freiburg and spend the day there. In the evening, drive to Colmar, France.

Day 4 - Colmar

Day 5 - Drive to Strasbourg and spend the day there.

Day 6 - Christmas Day! Fly from Strasbourg to Paris.

Day 7 - 10: Paris

Day 11 - Fly home from Paris

Thanks for your help!

First, if you haven't already committed to airline tickets, I would try to fly open jaws into Frankfurt and out of Paris. There is an ICE leaving FRA every hour for Mannheim. The trip takes half an hour. From Mannheim it is a short trip of 15-20 minutes by S-bahn to Heidelberg. With trains that often, you don't need to have reservations, just buy your ticket at the long distance train station (Fernbahnhof) at the airport. I have been on ICEs between FRA and Mannheim a number of times, always without reservations. The one time that the train was packed, most seats were not reserved. Making a seat reservation (€3) should assure you of a seat.

Thanks for the suggestion. So if we fly to Frankfurt and then travel as you suggest to Heidelberg, does the rest sound reasonable or it is packing too much into the trip? If so, any suggestions on what to keep/delete?

I can only comment on the Strasboug and Paris part, as those are the only places I've been. I had one very full day in Strasbourg, and I thought that was adequate time. I could maybe have spent a couple more hours, but your day or 1 1/2 days should be fine. As for Paris, I say the more the better, but 4 or 5 days should be okay.

Thanks!

WE're thinking of taking the train instead of driving. If we do that we'll probably do Heidelberg & Mannheim (instead of Freiburg's Christmas market) and then just Strasbourg. Can anyone compare Strasbourg & Colmar's Christmas markets - we probably can only spend a day in one. Thanks!

Lynn,

I am glad you are considering abbreviating the Rhein/Alsace section of your trip. It does have you spending five nights in three places. Although the drives are short, checking in and out of hotels is time consuming and shortens your sightseeing time. Make a list of what you want to see in each town and prioritize it. You will probably find you have to give up one or more town to see what you want to in the others.

You might consider spending only one night in Heidelberg. When I was there, it took us only half a day to see the castle. Then take the train to Strasbourg and stay there for four nights, with side trips to Freibourg and Comar, if desired. Freiburg is about 1-1/2 hr by train from Strasbourg, and you can do it with a round trip for two across the river to Kehl (€13-14 total) and a €25 Baden-Württemburg ticket. Colmar is 1/2 hour by train from Strasbourg, and €10 per person, each way.

I would also compare taking the train to Paris instead of flying. Although the train wouldn't be faster, when you consider time to/from airports, check-in, security, and waiting time in the airport, plus flight time, the train wouldn't be slower either, and you would avoid some hassle. You probably can't order tickets until after 10/25, but the French Rail website shows fares two months from now at €29,- per person. That's a Prems fare that you can purchase online with a credit card and self print. If a Prems fare is available on 12/25, that would cost much less than flying. Even the regular fare would be less than flying.

Hi Lynn!
We will be in Freiburg and Strasbourg over Xmas, too. Frohe Weihnachten! Joyeux Noel!

Lynn, while I haven't been there over the Christmas season, another poster here at Fodor's said that the Christmas Market in Bad Wimpfen (about an hour from Heidelberg on the Neckar River) was their favorite. And, having been to Bad Wimpfen in May 2005, I can attest that the little town is just picture postcard beautiful. It's like a miniature Rothenburg. I can certainly imagine that it would be lovely at Christmas.

Check out their website: www.badwimpfen.de

Thank you all for the great info! I'd love to see Bad Wimpfen, but their Christmas market is limited to 2 weekends in December - and not the weekend just before Christmas. Is it worth going for a non-christmas market day?

Bad Wimpfen is so worth a visit anytime IMHO. Check out their website and these also:

http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/...ad_wimpfen.htm

http://www.michaeltaylor.ca/Culture/bad-w.html

If you have access to German Life Magazine, there was an article about BW in the Feb 05 issue.

Here are mostly pix we took of BW on our trip in 2005:

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/135...11574650zEFFwz

Most travelers would be amazed at BW. It's too bad not many take the time to visit there. I'm certainly glad we did and hope to go back someday.

If you decide to go to Bad Wimpfen, you have several rail options. There are frequent (about one per hour) direct train connections from Heidelberg. Most take less than an hour. The one way fare is €9,10 per person, each way.

If you are going overnight, your best bet is to buy point-point tickets (€18,20 one way for two). With p-p tickets, you can travel any time; there is a regional express leaving Heidelberg at 8:50, getting into Bad Wimpfen at 9:37.

On the other hand, if you plan to do it as a day trip, you can buy a Baden-Württemberg Ticket for €25 that will cover your entire round trip for 2 (actually up to 5 people). Only restriction with a Ba-Wü ticket is you can't leave before 9 AM on a weekday. There is a regional bahn train that leaves Heidelberg at 9:21, getting into Bad Wimpfen at 10:33. You can come back any time as long as you finish the trip by 3 AM the following morning.