Please review rough itinerary and suggest side trips and driving routes
 

My husband and I will be traveling with his sister the end of September, early October. We have friends in Darmstadt so we will stay with them a few days when we arrive, and then one night when we depart. My husband and I have been to some of these places before, his sister, never.

I have some things that I know we want to do, others, maybe if time allows. Always love suggestions for the best scenic routes to get from one place to another. We're pretty "slow" tourists so I don't want to overschedule, but like to know options and other's experiences

Leave IAD fly Frankfurt
Arrive Darmstadt stay Darmstadt 3 nights ~ upon arrival, do whatever friends have planned
* First full day ~ Rhine Cruise w/friends
* Second full Day, Mosel Valley and Burg Eltz w/friends

Drive Damstadt to Regensburg, stay 3 nights ~
*First full day to explore Regensburg
*Second full day maybe a train to Nuremberg or is there a short boat trip on the Danube, maybe through the Gorge?

Drive Regensburg to Garmisch Partenkirchen, stay 5 nights
*maybe stop at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich on the way?
*First full day market (we're staying at an apartment) and explore locally.
*Second full day Linderhof and Oberammergau and Ettal Monastery
*Third full day ~ Neuschwantein and Hohenschwangau
*Fourth full day Cable car and hike/walk on top

Drive Garmisch Partenkirchen to Heiligenblut, stay 1 night
* drive in or out on Grossglockner Alpine Road, also up to the Glacier

Drive Heiligenblut to Berchtesgaden stay 3 nights Ramsau
*First full day Konigsee and ????
*Second full day Rossfeldpanoramastrasse ~ are there easy hikes/walks up there?

Drive Berchtesgaden to Rothenburg stay 1 night
Nightwatchman's Tour & explore

Drive Rothenburg to Darmstadt, stay 1 night
Leave Frankfurt arrive IAD

I do have most of the accomodations booked, looking forward to seeing Germany, Bavaria, Austria again :)

First full day ~ Rhine Cruise w/friends>

Best bet is to board a K-D boat in Rudesheim and take it downstream to Koblenz (or Boppard) - taking the train back to your start - I advise going downstream because it is much shorter time-wise and IME of taking these boats several times it seems some folks get rather bored after an hour or so even in such stunning scenery.

Be sure to get up to Cochem, just upstream from Burg Eltz - this pciture-postcard town is smack at one of the very prettiest stretches of the Mosel - keep driving up to say Beilstein - some say this is the most gorgeous stretch of the Mosel Valley - then you can, rather than re-tracing your route, drive up and over the hills to go straight back to the Rhine and Darmstadt.

PalenQ ~ Am I putting the wrong Bielstein in Google Maps? I put in Darmstadt, Cochem, Bielstein, Darmstadt, came up with 5.5 hrs of driving time. Is Bielstein east of Cologne?

Last time went on the Rhine Cruise we did go that route ~ Rudesheim to Koblenz. We got out and had lunch and a walk at Rheinfels Castle, I anticipate we'll do that again, remarkable.

Since we're kind of rushed with our friends, and my husband and I have done this before with them (but looking forward to doing it again!) the train suggestion will be kept in mind, especially if our friends want to take us somewhere else that day. Thanks!

wrenwood,
Beilstein is 6.6 miles south of Cochem, directly on the river. If you are looking at a map of the river, you will go directly east from Cochem to where the river heads south. After the river heads south it will go west again. At the intersection where the river goes west is the location of Beilstein. We stayed in Beilstein and absolutely loved it.

Hi, I think you are wanting 'Beilstein' and not 'Bielstein'.

Lavandula

Got it! Google wants me to put in "Beilstein, de, Beilstein, Germany"

Looks like a great way back to Darmstadt!

Hi, I think you are wanting 'Beilstein' and not 'Bielstein'.>>

wrenwood - if you use one, be careful with your satnav. we entered our destination "Naumburg" into our "navi" when we were leaving Potsdam, and it was only because i knew that it was supposed to be a 2 rather than a 4 hour drive that I realised there was something wrong. turned out that there are two places called "Naumburg" in Germany. Naumburg Salle, south of Berlin, which is where we were going, and another one further west, which is where we weren't planning on going, anyway.

so spelling can really matter!

annhig...that is another reason to have a paper map in addition to GPS...at least you have a ballpark idea of where you are headed and the time allotted to get there.

Michelle - i ALWAYS have a map or 6 with me.

it was invaluable when, on that same trip, the navi couldn't cope with the roadworks around the airport and was trying to take us across a field on our way to Potsdam.

ok it took us twice as long as it should have done, but we did get there in the end.

Yep, husband with maps and GPS

Hi,

First, we are also planning on staying in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden either the first week or possibly the second of October! We've stayed here many times and love it.

I also recomend seeing Cochem near Burg Eltz. By the way, we thought Burg Eltz was incredible. The setting, the castle, everything about it.

Just some comments/suggestions:

*Third full day ~ Neuschwantein and Hohenschwangau

If interested, Tegelberg is just a few minutes drive from Neuschwanstein. Here you'll find a nice cable car trip and a Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride). The Wieskirche is well worth a visit while in the area. Fuessen, less than 10 minutes from Neuschwanstein is also worth a visit.

www.schwangau.de/tegelberg-cablecar-626.html

www.wieskirche.de

www.fuessen.de

Drive Garmisch Partenkirchen to Heiligenblut, stay 1 night
* drive in or out on Grossglockner Alpine Road, also up to the Glacier

I'd do the drive both directions. That's just me as I love driving roads like this. Be prepared, the glacier isn't all that. Loved our 1 night in Heiligenblut though. On the way to Ramsau/Berchtesgaden, you could stop for an hour or so in Zell am See.

Drive Heiligenblut to Berchtesgaden stay 3 nights Ramsau
*First full day Konigsee and ????

The Jennerbahn cable car is basically right next to the Konigsee. Salzburg is an easy 30 minute drive away. Salt Mine and Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride) near Hallein, Austria are about than 30 minutes away.

www.jennerbahn.de/de/koenigliches-bergerlebnis/

www.salzwelten.at/en/hallein/saltmine/

http://www.duerrnberg.at/index.php?o...d=83&Itemid=82

Paul