Tentatively planning to fly to Germany sometime in either September or October. Can someone give me a proposed route (preferably not doing much zig-zagging and backtracking) but departing and returning into the same city. I can fly into any airport. Obviously want to go to the major cities (probably not Frankfurt) and quaint villages, and would like to see many of the castles, and prefer not to spend more than 3-4 hours getting from Point A to Point B in any one day. Also, as I prefer not to rent a car, is it possible to travel the Romantic Road by bus? Is there a day tour?<BR><BR>Although I want to go to Munich, it is not important to be there during Oktoberfest, as I'm trying to avoid the crowds and high prices.<BR><BR>I'll figure out the days in each location and hotels later. I've got some good travel books and brochures from the German Tourist Authority.

You'll need to decide where you'll be going before anyone can help you with a travel route. Better crack some of those resources and get back to us.<BR><BR>The Romantic Road bus is pretty unromantic and veery inflexible. The train will bring you to many destinations on the official route (W&uuml;rzburg, Rothenberg, N&ouml;rdlingen, Augsburg, F&uuml;ssen) and to many others near the RR if you don't wish to drive.

Yes, you can do the Romantic Road by bus. I won't give a route but consider staying in some of the larger cities and making day trips. For example, we went to Bertchsgaden from Munich. Tuebingen is a nice small town. Koblenz is a nice little city and has great wine. The Cathedral at Koln is nice. The sail up the Rhine is fun and you can see the Lorelei Rock as well as some of the historical areas. As you make your way north, Hamelin is a very interesting little town with a reinactment of the Pied Piper on Sunday afternoons. Berlin also is a great city with opportunities for day trips to Potsdam, Dresden, etc.

Sorry, if I wasn't clear, but the reason for going for a month is to cover as much of Germany as possible.

I spent two weeks in Berlin last summer and did a lengthy trip report that I would be happy to send you if it would help you plan your trip. I saw the most of the main sites in Berlin & Potsdam and some others.

In the past, Frankfurt has been the cheapest and most convenient airport to fly into. <BR><BR>I would suggest taking the train around Germany. It's convenient and a great way to travel.<BR><BR>I would get a hold of a book called "Daytrips Germany" by Earl Steinbicker. He gives several home base cities in the book and tells the daytrips that you can make from those cities. It helps to pick the bigger cities such as Munich as home base because they have more train options than the smaller cities.<BR><BR>The German railway website was very helpful when I was planning my trip. You can make queries about train trips and find out how long they will take.<BR><BR>http://www.bahn.de/pv/uebersicht/die_bahn_international_guests.shtml<BR><BR>www.bahn.de to search travel times between cities (press the gray bar on the left in the center "Travelservice (Timetable)" to get it in English<BR><BR>