Hello all. Looking for preliminary help for an October trip to Germany. I'm thinking somewhere in the 10-12 night range. The only must do on the list is Berlin, which the husband wants to see. We like wine tasting, driving country roads, he likes WWII stuff, I like getting massages/spas, etc. Both enjoy mountains, forests, waterfalls, etc.

My question is how to best link up the Rhine/Mosel area and the Black Forest, and then somehow end up in Berlin.

I was thinking we could fly into Frankfurt, drive south, and at some point end up where we could take a budget flight or train to Berlin.

How does this sound:
2 nights in Rhine/Mosel area
2 nights Baden Baden
2 nights Black Forest (town?)
Then do we head east along Alps, or perhaps up to Rotenburg? Or try to get to Nurnberg for the history aspect?

It is hard to figure out how long to spend each place, and everything sounds wonderful in the guidebooks. We can either drive or take the train, or a combination.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Suggest starting with the Rhine/Mosel. You need 3 nights there if you'll be seeing places in the area, visiting castles (Burg Eltz, Marksburg), driving to wineries, especially if this includes your first night (jet lag, etc.)

If you'll be there at the beginning of the month, see the WW II site called Panzerwerk Katzenkopf (open only on Sun. afternoons, closes 1st week in October.) Drive over to Irrel, just north of Trier on the Mosel.

www.westwallmuseum-irrel.de/

Also in the area... excellent WW II museum at site of the old "Bridge at Remagen" in Remagen, north of Koblenz:

www.bruecke-remagen.de


Baden-Baden - 2-3 nights is okay. Suggest you take a drive through the Black Forest from Baden-Baden on one day rather than schedule an overnight stay.

You could leave your car there and take the train to Rothenburg and Berlin, where a car is a liability - or drive to R'burg and to the outskirts of Berlin (Potsdam?), drop the car, and train in from there.

The Alps?? Quite a detour for a short trip. You'll need to cut some days from Berlin. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me in October when the German Alps are pretty barren.

Have a great trip.

Thanks for the links. I knew of the Rameden museum, but not the Westwall Museum.

I wonder how long a day would driving from Baden Baden along Black Forest High Road to Freiburg and back take?

I am thinking that perhaps I should just choose 2 regions, plus Berlin in order to make this a relaxing trip. So the question perhaps becomes...Rhine/Mosel and Black Forest? Black Forest and Franconia? Rhine/Mosel and Franconia? Or, even perhaps Black Forest/Alsace? I do see this as a starter trip, and assume that I will be back. I think having the car and then dropping it off and train/plane to Berlin is a good idea.

I don't want to be a spoiler, but we were pretty disappointed in the Black Forest High Road. We did this last year in May from Gengenbach (which we absolutely loved by the way). Maybe we were expecting too much, but many of the trees had been cut down close to the road and it just wasn't that spectacular. The only stop we made was at Mummelsee, which was pretty. We had lunch in Baden Baden and then returned to Gengenbach.

Opinions are good! Perhaps we'll go only as far south as Baden Baden, then head east from there.