cdmosaic

Hi all,

I will be in Germany this summer for approx. 10 days (depends on final airfare costs – still looking for a decent price from SFO) and I could use some feedback on the suggested itinerary.

I and 3 other friends are traveling together, meeting in Koln on July 3rd, staying for two nights while I do some genealogy research in nearby Wuppertal. Then renting a car and driving to Cochem for two nights. Going to Burg Eltz, Boppard, Beilstein and/or Zell. Then driving to Baden Baden for one night and from there going on to two nights in Rothenburg. Perhaps seeing also Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl. From there we drive down to Hohenschwangua for two nights and visit the castles, possibly the luge and also Mittenwald. Then it is on to Munich and home.

I know this is an ambitious schedule. We want to make the most out of our time, but do not want to hotel hop every night. We are interested in the castles, museums, wine tasting, beer drinking (I plan to drink and eat my way through Germany!) the scenery, interesting charming old towns (we have 2 amateur photographers in the group), etc. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Are we doing too much or perhaps not going to the best places?

Thanks,

cdmosaic

hausfrau

It is a full itinerary, but doable, with one exception: skip Baden-Baden. It doesn't make sense given your route and interests. Going from the Mosel to Rothenburg is much more doable. You can spend one full day in Rothenburg and see most everything. If you really like castles I would also suggest staying at Burg Colmberg, a castle-hotel a few miles outside of Rothenburg.

This would give you another day on the Romantic Road to visit Noerdlingen and Dinkelsbuehl. Since the Romantic Road is linear in nature, this might be the one place to hotel hop (we did Wuerzburg to Schwangau in 4 nights). You could spend a night in Landsberg am Lech (we liked Hotel Goggl), which is a beautiful town on the Lech River.

Cochem is a good base for the northern Mosel. In addition to the towns you mentioned, I also recommend Bernkastel-Keus. There is a lovely market square on the east side of the river.

I think you'll get a nice taste of southwest Germany with this itinerary - have fun!

Russ

"...Cochem for two nights. Going to Burg Eltz, Boppard, Beilstein and/or Zell. Then driving to Baden Baden for one night and from there going on to two nights in Rothenburg. Perhaps seeing also Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl. From there we drive down to Hohenschwangua for two nights and visit the castles, possibly the luge and also Mittenwald. Then it is on to Munich and home."

Agree with Hausfrau about Baden-Baden. But I'd add the day to the Mosel instead. Your first day is likely to be shot anyway - on day 1, you'll probably be arriving in Cochem well into the afternoon, and you will have been underway from SFO for 10-15 hours already and will likely be jet lagged.

On the Mosel, Beilstein won't require much time - it's microscopic. Agree with Hausfrau that you need to see Bernkastel there. I'm surprised that you wouldn't be interested in Trier as well. Castles: Burg Eltz is the best, but tour the Reichsburg in Cochem as well (terrific views there, see the falconry show as well.) If you go over to the Rhine, Marksburg in Braubach is very good too.

Boppard may be less interesting for you based on your stated interests. Try Bacharach and St.Goar instead.

You are trodding a well-worn path on the Romantic Road. Prepare for lots of tourists and road traffic. Stop in Weikersheim on the way to Rothenburg - cool palace there. I'd suggest seeing Dinkelsbuehl and Noerdlingen on the way south after leaving Rothenburg.

Beer: with a car, you might want to do the Beer Road breweries, not far from Rothenburg:

www.bierstrasse.de/english/index.html

Have a good trip.

cdmosaic

Our friends seem to have their hearts set on Baden Baden, we would rather not go there. What would you think of this as a compromise? Drive thru Heidelberg and stay in Speyer - then they take the car and go to Baden Baden for a spa and we sightsee around Heidelberg. They pick us up in afternoon and we drive to Rothenburg. Is this just too much driving or not giving us enough time?

DAX

Why not just stay in Heidelberg? There are plenty of good hotels there and a lot more to do than the Speyer cathedral, that way you can go back to your hotel at your convenience rather than being dropped off in Heidelberg. Assuming you're all in your twenties, I'm not sure why your friends want to go to Baden Baden. I like Baden Baden just as much as Heidelberg though it has a very different appeal. Baden Baden is leafy green,relaxing and very gentrified with plenty of senior citizens on canes staying in the nice resort hotels. Heidelberg of course has the large castle ruin/complex and the row of student bars.

cdmosaic

Actually we are all in our 40's but no canes just yet! They want to check out the mineral baths. I had read that dtaying in Speyer was less crowded that Heidelberg, but it sounds like you don't recommend that. thanks

hausfrau

I'd say stay in Heidelberg too. Despite the crowds it is a beautiful town. If your friends want to do the baths in Baden-Baden, let them do it. It's not my thing, but I know a lot of people enjoy it.

basingstoke2

I agree with Russ about substituting St. Goar or Bacharach instead of Boppard. St. Goar has some good castle ruins too with an integral hotel. Great views from up there.

DAX

I also enjoy St Goar and wished we could have stayed at that nice hotel at the St Goar fortress. We probably would have, had we brought our suitcases with us.

matman167

There is the best way to explain what you can do. since your spending your time in Koln. stay along the Rhine for the majority of your trip. Along the Rhine you can spend your whole trip looking at Castles and every historical part of Germany. Go on the Rhine as far down as Mainz. The Rhine Regions i think are the most prettiest in germany. I recommend Coming back to Germany another time and seeing Munich and Berlin etc.

Edda

We stayed four days in Beilstein at the wonderful hotel Haus Lippman last year. From there you can tour Cochem, Burg Eltz, Bernkastel-Kues and Trier. Coming from Cologne, I would stay the first few nights in St. Goar or Bacharach. Heidelberg is a nice town, but too touristy and overpriced.

explorefamily

On a return trip from Moldova, we had a layover in Frankfurt - took the train to Heidelberg. I would HIGHLY recommend. It is crowded, yes, but it is an amazing city and has alot of charm, character, churches, cafes with outside eating, great lawn for picnicing or laying to rest in front of the castle, shopping... just amazing. We walked everywhere since we took the train in.

J_Correa

For our trip last summer - my first trip to Europe - about 2 weeks into the planning process, I decided that this was just going to have to be the first of many trips to Europe because there was just too damned much I wanted to see - LOL. So we focused on southern Germany for a couple weeks and had a great time. Now I am thinking about where to go on our next trip.

christicbo

Read my article about three must-see castles on the rhine river in germany at http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ine_river.html .

travlnexpat

MY husband and 2 four yearolds were in st. goar and bacharach last weekend. Both beautiful. We stayed at the Rheinsfels castle hotel (schloss hotel) we had a room with a balcony over looking the rhein river- perfect for an evening bottle of local wine, beautiful views, great restaraunt, all the amenities. Amazingly friendly and helpful staff. Can't say enough. Worth the splurge if you go this rout. Ours was a junior suit and ran about 220 euro. Otherwise Bacharach looked like an interesting place to stay as well. Both towns are quite small, so most lodging in twon will be well located. Goodluck.