tcreath

We are planning our vacation for next spring. We're still in the planning stages, but I came up with a rough itinerary for part of the trip. We will be gone for approximately 10 nights. Here is what we came up with so far:

Day 1: Arrive Frankfurt a.m.
Drive Romantic Road to Rothenburg
Spend afternoon/evening in Rothenburg

Day 2: Drive to Munich via Neuschwanstein
Tour Neuschwanstein
Ditch car
Spend evening/night in Munich

Day 3: Explore Munich

Day 4: Train to Wengen (via Zurich)

Day 5: Wengen

Day 6: Wengen

Okay, now this is where we get lost. We would like to spend the other three nights somewhere else but we aren't sure where. We are in our mid-20's and love to explore charming small towns, historical sights, beautiful scenery, and good atmosphere. We aren't really art lovers. We've been to Florence, Rome and Vienna, and Munich for a half day.

Any advice/thoughts/suggestions on where to spend the last leg of our trip and what we can change to make the itinerary above better?

Thanks for reading!
Tracy

Day 4:

Ingo

I personally would probably spend two days at Lake Geneva (Montreux/Vevey) and then head for Frankfurt to fly back home.

On the other hand, I am just back from Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany), Colmar (France) and Basel (CH) and found this region to be wonderful. I am sure you would enjoy Freiburg (my trip report must be around here). Not so sure about Colmar, but maybe Strasbourg or a small town nearby.

These places would be right on the way to Frankfurt.

tcreath

I forgot to add that a few places we were considering were Venice, Italian lakes area, or possibly Paris, as we've never been to any of these. We are planning on flying open jaw.

Thanks!

Ingo

Okay, so delete my post

tcreath

Ingo,

Thank you for your reply! And please, no need to retract your post. My ideas were just that; ideas. We are completely open so I am looking for suggestions. I am not familiar with the area you are referring to but I am going to do a search for your report.

Thanks again!
Tracy

rex

A big recipe for exhaustion the first four days. I recommendbeing AT Neuschwanstein by 8 am to avoid 2 hour long lines. You're allowing so little time for Munich you'd be better off heading west from Neuschwanstein, and not even bother.

I'm not an expert on Switzerland; maybe you head back into Germany, or swing down south to Lake Como. What month will this be?

Have you done driving trips in Europe before? I suppose you will need/want to return the car to Germany to fly home, or else you will likely face a hefty drop charge.

Best wishes,

Rex

slbuz

Some rambling thoughts......I would stay one more night in Rothenburg...jet-lag can get you and there is alot to see and do. Christmas shops, the medievel torture museum, the Night Watchmans tour and just soaking in the place!

At the end, consider Paris! There are very cheap flights from Geneva (only 1 1/2 hours from Wengen) to Paris on EasyJet! You can get there in 50 minutes!

Have fun planning!

Ingo

I still think that Freiburg or Strasbourg would be a good idea. But considering that you will fly open jaw I am convinced that Lake Geneva/Montreux-Vevey would meet your interests. Small towns/villages, vineyards, beautiful scenery. And you could fly out Geneva.

Another idea, the Italian lakes, which you considered yourself. I absolutely love Lake Maggiore (especially the Swiss part with Locarno/Ascona), Lake Lugano and Lake Como (haven't been to Lake Orta yet and disliked Lake Garda for some reasons). You could fly out Milan, which is very close.

But this would again be Italian culture (like Florence and Rome), while Lake Geneva would give you the opportunity to get some French ambience.

Ingo

tcreath

Thank you for all the suggestions! A few questions and comments:

We were planning on picking up/dropping off the car in Germany to avoid the ridiculously high costs of picking up in one country/dropping off in another. We are planning on going late May/early June.

I was thinking myself that maybe we were trying to do too much during the Germany segment of the trip. If we were to choose between a town on the Romantic Road (Rothenburg, for example) or Munich for the first three nights, which would be the better option? We love small towns and villages, but we also like exploring cities. I have heard that Munich has great atmosphere...and beer!

Montreux is somewhere we were considering as well, especially since I am interested in riding the Chocolate train. Since we haven't been to France, maybe this would be a good option as it will give us some French flavor.

DAX

Just FYI the dropoff charge for a different country or city with Hertz is only 50 euro. It's worth it if you have open jaw tickets considering time and gas ($7 per gallon).

Sounds like you're leaning towards the italian lakes & Venice. You can drop the car in Venice. For me, the italian lakes are far more memorable than Lake Geneva.

DAX

Oops I misread your entries about leaning toward the italian lakes. I would still recommend it over Lake Geneva because the small towns in the italian lake regions are more quaint.

I've been to Munich several times and can't recommend it to you simply because it's a BIG CITY. You don't have to go to Munich to find a good beergarden.

kbob

I would suggest 2 days in Munich as there is much to see and do. In fact during my younger years I sat with a dear girlfriend in the Marienplatz of Munich and rated dogs rather than the guy owners walking them. Seriously, it is a great city and the metro system is great to get around town.
From Munich travel to Friedrichshafen which is on Lake Constance (the Bodensee) and the small city of Lindau also on Lake Constonce or Meersburg and Uberlingen.All of these are great small towns and have great atmoshere. You can also take the Lake ferry from Meersburg or Friedrichshafen over to Konstanz,Switzerland.
Another idea is to go to Stein Am Rhein and then take the train to Schaffhausen,Switzerland and then take the Rhein cruise back to Stein am Rhein. It is a lovely day trip. Stein am Rhein is a great village once the tourist leave in the afternoon. There is a great restaurant in the castle above the town. and the town is veery quaint at night with fun bars and restaurants. It is a super place to try "raclette" a wonderful simple swiss meal without going to Switzerland.
There is much to see without going tothe lake district of Italy or to Paris.
Whatever you decide have a great time.

bhuty2003

you said "We are in our mid-20's and love to explore charming small towns, historical sights, beautiful scenery, and good atmosphere."

Ok so munich might be tempting but like already stated you might also find it over rated, espcially if you plan to explore it in a veyr little time.

I veyr much like the freiburg idea and just taking time all around that area. Also we stayed at oberamergau (Sp?) we didn't plan it but its seemed like such a nice small place and we found it rather delightful. Its not too far from the castle but rex is right you'll want to get there early.


personally, and this isn't evryone's idea of a good holiday, but given what you said about yourself. why not just plan the first half and then see how the wind blows??????? i reckon that if you take a relaxed attitude to it that you will find to your delight many wonderful ways to spend the time instead of focusing on being a tourist and bringing back all the "look where i went" pins. Its about the experiences you have, not where you go that you'll remember and treasure. there wil always be another time for tourist trophies.

suze

Can't comment on Germany but here's a few things I've done, all great, that are along the lines of what you're thinking of:

Geneva to Venice by day train. Venice to Paris by overnight/sleeper train. Flying in & out of Geneva (easy as can be with the train station attached to the airport). Spending time in Montreux and Vevey... lovely lovely towns. And of course Venice is one-of-a-kind and could easily be a wonderful last 3 days of your trip.

Having tossed out all that, since you only have 10 days (IMO) I would limit it to 2-3 places max. because I hate to spend my entire vacation checking in & out of hotels, and in cars, taxis, busses, trains, airports, etc.