JAGIRL

Hi Fodorites, <BR>I've been trying to find this info on this site but can't seem to find anything even similar to this.<BR>My husband and I will be in Paris in July and are thinking of training it to Stuttgart (He's dying to see the Porsche Museum-despite all the negative comments!We've already been to the BMW Museum) then driving to Bonn and Cologne and then on to Dusseldorf. We'll then train it to Amsterdam. <BR>Can this be done in a week? We haven't planned how many days to spend in which city as yet. What's the best route to take from Stuttgart to Dusseldorf and which cities are the best to overnight in? <BR>Thanks for all the help.

mj

jagirl,<BR><BR>viamichelin.com can give you directions for your drives. I know it's ~200 miles between Stuttgart and Bonn so you could do the drive in ~4 hours, traffic permitting. If you want the overnight though, Strasbourg (out of the way somewhat) or Heidelberg are enjoyable. <BR><BR>Can you do it in a week? Sure, you can but you want to do 5 cities in a week so dragging your feet is not really an option, especially when it'll take anywhere from 6-12 hours for the train ride from Paris to STR.<BR>hth,<BR> <BR><BR>

Kascha912

Hi JAGIRL, <BR><BR>I´m writing from Cologne myself and I´d say yes, your itinerary can well be done. <BR>If I got you right you´ll have a car to drive from Stuttgart to Duesseldorf . Correct?<BR><BR>From Stuttgart to the first other town you mentioned, Bonn, it´ll probably be something like a 4 hour drive. Mi was absolutely right about that. It´ll take you about half an hour to an hour to get from Bonn to Cologne and also an hour from Cologne to Duesseldorf. <BR><BR>While I´m not so sure about Stuttgart (not the most beautiful place, there´s a castle in the middle of the city and a good art museum; you may want to try the local cuisine and the wine) I also advise you to stop by Heidelberg (a good hour of driving from Stuttgart A8 to Stuttgart, from there take A3). Now this is beautiful (and I´m not only saying this because I was born and raised there). And on the way there you could even drive by another automobile museum! (about 15 minutes detour taking A6 from Walldorf)<BR><BR>So I guess you come into Stuttgart one day and will already leave the next to drive to Heidelberg. (If you tell me something about you´re interest and your age I´ll probably be able to give you some better fitting ideas about what to see and do.) Yes, go see the castle, the Old Bridge and the Altstadt. They offer great walking tours there. Walk alongside the Neckar-river or take a boat tour to the other castles in the area. Do stay overnight!<BR><BR>I´m not sure why Bonn is on your schedule. Well, it used to be the capital and it´s a pretty town with beautiful residential areas and some good museums. My sister lives there that´s why I´m come there quite often. <BR><BR>In Cologne you sure want to see the Dom which is directly next to the main station. Also the Altstadt. You may want to take a walking tour there. And it´s a good place to do a boat trip on the Rhine. If one of you is a chocoholic go to the chocolate museum. <BR><BR>Duesseldorf is kind of a posh place: Lots of upscale shopping but also a pretty Altstadt with great bars (and the Rhein runing alongside). If the weather is fine everybody will be standing outside with a glas of beer and chat and people watch. So you better stay overnight so that you don´t miss the fun in the evenings. <BR><BR>If there´s anything else I can help you with just let me know!<BR>Kascha<BR>

Kascha912

Me again, <BR>I put a mistake in the driving directions from Stuttgart to Heidelberg: of course you take the A8 from Stuttgart to Karlsruhe and from there A5 to Heidelberg. Sorry about that! <BR><BR>I also took a look at train connections from Paris to Stuttgart and the quickest one (6 hours 17 minutes) means changing trains in Strasburg. That is the other beautiful town Mi had mentioned so you may want to think about making your stopover there longer. <BR>Shortest train ride I saw for Duesseldorf to Amsterdam was 2 hours 17 minutes, from Cologne it would be 2 hours 38 minutes. So you can still thinking about the order in which you visit the cities.<BR>Kascha<BR>

JAGIRL

Thanks guys, this is really helpful. <BR>Yes we plan to rent a car in Stuttgart and return it in Dusseldorf.<BR>Question Kascha: Is it better to drive to Karlsruhe and from there to Heidelberg, or is there a route straight from Stuttgart to Heidelberg without going through Karlsruhe? <BR>We definitely plan to overnight in Heidelberg and Dusseldorf after a night in Stuttgart.

mj

Jagirl,<BR>Unless Kascha answers differently, I believe he/she means you get off A8 near Karlsruhe and get on A5 (north) to Heidelberg.

Kascha912

Yes, JAGIRL, <BR>Mi is right again: You only change highways outside of Karlsruhe. <BR>Sorry for expressing it so awkwardly. <BR>Kascha

alise

Kascha--<BR><BR>Where is the chocolate museum???<BR><BR>Are you familiar with the Gestapo museum in Cologne?<BR><BR>My husband and I will be in Cologne June 6th for the afternoon/evening.<BR><BR>Definitely wanted to see the dom--especially at night! <BR><BR>I plan to stop by Heidelburg on the way from Munich to Mainz--is that an OK plan? Just want to walk around for a few hours.<BR><BR>

Kascha912

Hi Alise, <BR><BR>the chocolate museum in Cologne has a www site: http://www.schokoladenmuseum.de/englisch/index.html<BR>It�s on the south side of the Altstadt right on the bank of the river Rhein. Address is: Rheinauhafen 1A. Opening hours are Tuesday-Friday 10 am - 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11-7. Costs 5 Euro or reduced 3,50. <BR><BR>About your second question: Actually I was not aware that there�s a museum about the horrors of the Gestapo in Cologne - but I looked it up: <BR>NS-Dokumentationszentrum<BR>EL-DE-Haus; Appellhofplatz 23-25 (pretty close to the main station50667 K�ln <BR>It�s open Tuesday-Friday 10 am - 4 pm, <BR>Saturday, Sunday 11-4. Entrance fee is 3,60 Euro. <BR>I don�t know what you expect it to be. There probably are better places in Germany to learn about the time of the Nazi-regime. - But I guess, I�ll try to go there myself at some time. <BR><BR>Stopping by Heidelberg sounds fine. If you�re going by train it�ll take you a good 3 hours to Heidlberg and only something like an hour to Mainz. By car it�ll take definitely longer than 3 hours from Munich...<BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!<BR>Kascha

CharlieB

JAGIRL - Via Michelin suggests taking A81 north from Stuttgart toward Heilbronn and connecting to the A6 (bypassing Heilbronn) and taking A6 west to A5 and then North a few Ks to Heidelberg. 1hr. 15 minutes, but probably a more scenic route. About 10ks north of Heilbronn is the small walled town of Bad Wimpfen. I think an absolute must see - certainly an ideal spot to stop and have lunch and spend an hour exploring the the old town. Enjoy your trip!