Please Help - Germany trip advice
 

Hi,

My family's first time to Europe. I have the most of the trip done but now I am stuck and need some real help and advice! We are doing train travel, no car. Thanks!

1. From Interlaken, Switzerland, we want to go to Fussen to see the castle. I was going to take a late train on Sunday July 16th to Fussen and then see the castle in the morning on Monday. Does that sound like a good plan? Recommendations on hotels, B&B's ?

2. From there, I am lost! After seeing the castle on Monday July 17th, we were going to leave and go??? somewhere?? Our plane flys out of Frankfort on Thursday July 20th. I was planning to see Rothburg but I heard that they are having a big celebration this summer and it will be really crowded. Also we would like to see the Rheine area but with so few days left, I can't figure out which Rhine town would be best to see.

Basically, we have Tuesday and Wednesday left. Any advice??

Thanks for your help!
Sandra

I would spend at least one day on the Rhine - the best part is between Rudesheim in the south and Boppard in the north. There are numerous small towns on either side of the river that are reachable by train. St. Goar or Bacharach are nice. You can take a half day Rhine Cruise and get a good view of the best castles.

You could also do 1 day in Heidelberg on the way to the Rhine if you don't mind a different hotel each night. Another option is Wurzburg. If it were me, and I had never been to Germany, I would try to see Heidelberg and the Rhine area. Good luck!

I agree with Bob. July would be a nice time to visit the Rhine valley and explore the small towns - there are a lot of castles in that area. Bacharach's youth hostel is an castle that offers a great view.

The Royal Castles are beautiful and I would not discourage anyone from visiting them. But, they are out of the way by train.

From Interlaken to Fuessen looks about 7 hours. Then from Fuessen to Heidelberg looks to be another 5 hours. You lose a whole day on the train.

From Interlaken straight to Heidelberg is just 5 hours by comparison.

There is a castle at Heidelberg and several on the Rhine. As much as I like Neuschwanstein, I would skip it in this case.

See DB train site if you wish to test out some possible connections.

http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

Regards, Gary

I agree with Gary on skipping Fuesen. If you do the Rhein trip, (and perhaps Heidelberg) you will see an can visit several "genuine" castles rather than Ludwig's 19the century dream of what a castle should be. I'm not knocking the Fuessen castles as tourist sites, but in the order of priorities of what to do with your short time, Fuessen would rank lowe with me.

PS: While in Interlaken, take the short train ride to Thun. It has a wonderful "genuine" castle overlooking the city which you can visit.

If you have the time, take the train back to Spiez and there pick up a boat to take you the last stretch back to Interlaken. (You could take the boat all the way from Thun, but that is probably more "boat" than you want to experience.)

In Fuessen, Altstadt Hotel zum Hechten took remarkably good care of us during our stay. They will hold you luggage while taking the Castle trips.

I'd reccommend the Mosel for that last day. Burg Eltz is a "can't miss". You'll quickly forgeet about the Fuessen castles after Burg Eltz.

Mark

Is your family more of a museum family or a outdoors family? That may determine if you would substitute Fussen for Rhine castles. We love the castles on the Rhine, Rhinefelds was the most fun for us with kids. Be prepared to get dirty, and bring a flashlight if you can. I like them better than Neuschwanstein, but I like it too.
I don't know where the train stops, but it runs right along the river. There are many cute, small towns as others have said. The river itself is fairly industrial.
Heidelburg is also very nice. Relatively big and crowded with plenty of shopping and the castle. No need to get dirty, but no museum either.
What kinds of activities does your family like?
-katie

Thanks for the great advice! BUT I decided to make a last minute change and go to ROME! I know it's crazy but I found a hotel within my budget. Thanks!
Sandy