PJK

Last fall I had a trip planned for Germany (with help of many of your suggestions) but had to cancel. Here is what I know I want to keep from my old itinerary: Romantic Road area between Frankfurt and Munich, Salzburg, probably Garmisch, and then Fussen area to see castles. From there, should I go ahead with old plans and go to Bodense and out of Zurich, or should I stay in Germany and make a loop back up to Frankfurt through some of the areas on the west side of Germany? Any thoughts? We have been to Zurich, then toward Italy. First time to Germany. We love scenery, wandering around old towns. Will only do the major museums. We have a total of 10 days exclusive of travel to and from. Thanks for any suggestions. PJK

traveldawg

I would go around the Bodensee area and fly out of Zurich. The area has plenty of small like towns to see. You can even go to Vaduz and tell people you have been to Lichenstein. Take the ferry across the lake to get to Zurich. Beautiful area in the summer.

ekellyga

Since you have been to Zurich and seen different parts of the Alps, I would choose to pick some areas such as Wurzburg, Nurnburg....or our favorite, the Rhine and Mosel (my favorite)

AisleSeat

If you are traveling by rental car the drop fee from one country to another can be steep. Well overy $100. You may want to check it before you commit to a plan.

PJK

Thanks all. I need to do more reading about the Rhine and Mosel. Any favorite cities there? I love gardens, and I hear there are some great ones around Lake Constance. Tough decision. Good point about the car issue. We will probably drive some and take the train other times, so I can work that out. PJK

TuckH

Since Salzburg is on your agenda, please devote a good chunk of time to the nearby (and beautiful) Berchtesgaden area. In fact, I'd focus on that. No need to go out your way to Zurich, IMO.

pja1

Hi,
I agree with spending time in Berchtesgaden area also. Actually, you can stay in the Berchtesgaden area (we stayed in Ramsau) and visit Salzburg from there. With a car, it's about half an hour drive. Just a suggestion, Garmisch is ok, but Mittenwald (20 min. south) is Gorgeous!

Paul

amor

Hi PJK, Just returned from Germany with a similar itinerary. We only had one night in Meersburg on the Bodensee, and really wish we had scheduled more time. If you like gardens you can take a ferry from Meersburg (or from several other towns along the Bodensee) out to the island Mainau, which is the flower island. We were told the gardens on the island are wonderful. We unfortunately didn't have enough time for it, but hope to get back.

wrenwood

We thought Meersburg was charming, would go back there. The Gardens at Mainau are wonderful especially if you appreciate trees. They have some wonderful Sequoias.

We loved the Mosel area ~ don't miss Burg Eltz

The cruise on the Rhine, Heidelburg and Rothenburg (fanatastic old walled city) were also highlights.

Garmisch and Oberammergau were wonderful, don't miss King Ludwig's castles, Linderhof is near Garmisch and Oberammergau. When are you going? Oberammergau had a great birthday celebration for him the end of August, torches on the mountain and drums and a parade through the city that night.
Goosebumps!

Have a great time, we love Germany!

Wrenwood

PJK

I'm getting such useful suggestions off this thread, I want to top it one more time to see what other helpful info some of you might have. We are going to leave around Sept 26 and stay about 10 days. I'll take the recommendation to stay longer around Berchtesgaden and visit Salzburg from there. I will also make a point to include Mittenwald. Assuming I go through the Mosel area, what are your favorite towns there? Thanks so much for all the advice. PJK

ira

Hi PJ,

>I want to keep from my old itinerary: Romantic Road area between Frankfurt and Munich, Salzburg, probably Garmisch, and then Fussen area to see castles....We have a total of 10 days exclusive of travel to and from.<

May I suggest that you fly into Frankfurt and out of Munich?

3 nights on the RR,
3 nights in Salzburg and the Salzkammergut
1 night in Fuessen and vicinity
2 nights in Munich

Enjoy your visit.

PJK

The reason I am planning to go in and out of Frankfurt is that my miles are on American, and flying out of Munich requires a connection in London. I would rather train or drive back to Frankfurt, seeing sights along the way, and then be able to get a direct flight back to the states. I do hate to "waste" ff miles on a round trip instead of an open jaw. I have thought of going into Frankfurt and out of Vienna, but that too requires an intermediary flight with no-so-great connections. (I had planned before to come home via Zurich since I can get a direct flight back to the states with good connections.) Unfortunately, we are still working folks, and we fly from a small market, so minimizing connections is a major consideration. I have thought about spending a couple of days in London since we haven't been there in a while, but airport time alone will eat up a day I could be using to leisurely see more of Germany. That's my logic, but I am open to arguments against it. Thanks again, PJK

TuckH

I think that between Rothenburg, etc, Garmisch, Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, you will have easily used up your ten days.

Therefore, I don't think you should try to include the Mosel this trip.

ekellyga

On the Mosel, we enjoyed Cochem. Very many other smaller towns that are enjoyable as well.
EK

Vttraveler

I think in terms of travel time the Bodensee/Zurich plan makes more sense than doubling back to Frankfurt.
If you do decide to go back to Frankfurt I would not try to go west for the return trip but would head north from the Munich area to see other places in Bavaria like Regensburg or Bamberg or Eichstatt and the Altmuhltal.
I am assuming you are planning to visit Wurzburg as part of the Romantic road portion of the trip. If you aren't including it i

Vttraveler

oops-hit send too soon by mistake. I was saying if you aren't including Wurzburg on your itinerary, I would urge you to reconsider. It is well worth a stop.

PJK

Yes, Wurzburg is on the list. Today I am leaning toward Bodense and then out of Zurich. Seems like it is a couple of hours closer than making a loop back to Frankfurt. To get to the Mosel area, looks like I will have to go farther north and west than I had first anticipated. Assuming I go ahead with doing the lake area of Bodense, should I go to Zurich via Appenzell or go across the lake at Constance and head toward Zurich? I can't find much in my books about the area between Constance (Konstanz) and Zurich except for Appenzell. I would would like to work my way from the east end of the lake to the west, so going to Zurich via Appenzell would mean backtracking. I will probably try to turn the car in on the German side, so maybe we will catch a train and head straight for Zurich once we finish the lake area. I am still open for suggestions. I think I will probably not book tickets until Sunday afternoon. PJK

DAX

If you're going to Bodensee, I would think you'd go to Meersburg and return the car in Konstanz. You "cross the border" at the train station where the town becomes Kreuzlingen on the swiss side. I'm probably the exception on this board, I don't find Bodensee anything special at all even though I've been there twice. The surrounding land is rather flat & boring. I prefer Meersburg over Lindau but even then it was just OK. There isn't much between Konstanz and Zurich, except Stein am Rhein to see the more dramatic part of the Rhine, Schaffhausen where Einstein used to live and work at the patent office, a somewhat well known small collection of paintings in Winterthur.

I would pick a last day overnight in Heidelberg before flying out of Frankfurt. Maybe because I was underimpressed by the Bodensee. If you drive you can stop at Schwaebish Hall, Bad Wimpfen, Mosbach and drive along the Necjar river to Heidelberg where you can return the car. Frankfurt airport is less than an hour by direct train from Heidelberg.

ekellyga

I agree with that last posting. We enjoyed the Bodensee and Meersburg, but there are many other places I would put up higher on my list of "places to see".

The Heidelburg thing sounds good

PJK

Thanks for the input. PJK