abbynicole27

Ok, so next big trip for hubby and me will be Germany/Austria, May 08.
We're looking at May 3-18, and here's the itinerary(s) that I'm considering - we'll have a German rail pass. These itineraries may seem packed to some, but both of us have travelled in Europe before and a lot of destinations at least one of us has been to before.

May 4 - arrive in Frankfurt
May 5 - travel to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
May 7 - travel to Salzburg
May 9 - travel to Munich
May 12 - travel to Konstanz
May 14 - travel to Stuttgart
May 15 - travel to Koblenz
May 17 - travel to Frankfurt
May 18 - departure from Frankfurt

May 4 - arrive in Frankfurt
May 5 - travel to Salzburg
May 7 - travel to Munich
May 10 - travel to Stuttgart
May 11 - travel to Konstanz
May 13 - travel to Basel/Freiburg
May 15 - travel to Koblenz
May 17 - travel to Frankfurt
May 18 - departure from Frankfurt

So, here are my questions:
Hubby's been to Rothenburg before - he enjoyed it, and I love the pictures I've seen of it, but I hate really crowded tourist spots - should I be worried about this in May?
If we don't do Rothenburg, we'd like to try out Basel/Freiburg - which one would be better to stay in?
Neither of us has been to Lake Constance - is Konstanz the best place to stay or is there another town on the lake that would be better?
As travellers, we enjoy nature (panoramic views, etc) and architecture.

Thanks!

Robespierre

You have from the 5th to the 17th to see the sights - 13 days - and you're planning to pack, check out, travel, check in, and unpack on seven of them? I wouldn't do it that way.

I'd probably base somewhere around (but not in) Frankfurt and do 2-3 day trips to nearby towns (<i>e.g.</i> Stuttgart, Koblenz), then move to Munich and do the same thing. You can get to Salzburg and back in three hours from there.

I encourage you to think about the implications of transplanting yourselves that many times, then think through your itinerary again.

abbynicole27

We'd rather experience the places outside the rush of daytime tourists - that's worth packing and checking in/out to us. But thank you for your input.

abbynicole27

ttt

Robespierre

&quot;We'd rather experience the places outside the rush of daytime tourists...&quot;

Would you mind explaining what you mean by this? No matter how much moving about you do, you'll be with daytime tourists in the daytime - won't you?

By the way - we maximize our sightseeing time by traveling to the next destination in the evening, when most attractions are shut down, rather than setting out for the next stop first thing in the morning the way most folks traditionally do. One can check out of the hotel in the morning, stash luggage at the train station, and use the whole day for seeing things rather than sitting on a train during prime hours.

Curious

So far I have seen 3 of your posts for pretty much the same topic. Just click on your name at the top of the page and all of your posts will show. No need to repeat, repeat, repeat.

Curious

abbynicole27

I know, I reposted the questions individually because I wasn't getting any responses on this thread.

Robespierre, I mean that we like to experience leisurely suppers and walks in the evening in the towns that we visit - we are not big city people. We don't pack heavily and don't mind moving a lot in order to do this. Also, I am a travel agent and like to experience lots of different kinds of accommodation on my trips.

Robespierre

You're a <i>travel agent</i> who seeks advice in an internet forum?

Say &quot;good-night,&quot; Gracie.

abbynicole27

Ok, travel agents have to know a lot about a LOT of destinations, and I have only been a travel agent for 6 months! Give me a break, we can't know everything. There's a huge difference between knowing how to find hotels and airfare to a aplace, and actually having been there yourself. The information on here is invaluable, EVEN to travel agents.

zwho

Hi, We are starting to put together a trip in June and were wondering about the placement of Salzburg. We are flying into Munich, but we have a condo 30 miles from Salzburg. I'm not good at map reading, and haven't studied them yet, but is Salzburg just something that is not close to anywhere else you want to see , so you're just going out of your way, so you can visit? Or is it closer to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Frankfurt then Munich is? Thanks in advance.

abbynicole27

Salzburg is pretty close to Munich - if I remember correctly it's a 2 1/2 hour train ride, definitely not more then 3 hours. We're basically doing a circle from Frankfurt, except Salzburg is a bit out of our way - we have to pop back up to Munich to continue the circle.

hausfrau

Hi abbynicole,
I agree that it is a busy itinerary, but if that's what you want to do, I understand. A couple of thoughts, since you aren't big city people (I'm not either)...

- There's nothing quite like Rothenburg. Sure there may be crowds, but if you spend a night there (I would probably make it a one-night stop) you can walk around after the crowds are gone. And May is better than, say, July or August.

- Look into Meersburg on the Bodensee rather than Konstanz.

- Stay in one of the smaller towns along the Rhine rather than Koblenz (e.g. Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar)

- I live in Stuttgart, so just out of curiosity, why do you want to go to Stuttgart? If it's for the Mercedes Museum, then I understand!

abbynicole27

lol, it's totally just for the museums (porsche and mercedes), that's why we're only there one night!

abbynicole27

Oh, and thank you for the recommendation of Meersburg - I have been doing a bit more research on the Lake Constance area and am thinking I might want to spend a bit longer there, so maybe I will do away with Basel/Freiburg and only spend on night in Rothenburg, as you've suggested.

3 nights in Munich should be plenty (we're generally not museum people - prefer to explore the countryside and small towns) and Salzburg is a short stop because I have been there before, and while I loved it, my husband is not overly interested so we won't be touring the city much - might go out to St. Gilgen from there, or Berchtesgaden.

DAX

Just adding my opinions:
I'd pick Stuttgart over Koblenz any day hausfrau. The town you live in maybe low key but it has a comfortable parklike setting, enough to do/see inside Stuttgart itself, plus you can access nearby Ludwigsburg, Burg Hohenzolern, Tuebingen. North of Stuttgart you may consider Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen, Schwaebisch Hall.

I would pick Freiburg over Basel even though I spent a summer in Basel and had a great time.

I agree Meersburg has more charm than Konstanz. We did however stay in Konstanz because we wanted to stay in the lake front Steigenberger hotel that used to be an abbey. The hotel itself is worth staying in Konstanz. We took the ferry to Meersburg which had wall to wall tourists so we were happy to stand in line for the ferry to get back to our peaceful hotel in Konstanz (full of college students).

I assume you enjoy real cities where people live rather than dressed up touristy towns. If you are a city person, then I would replace Koblenz with Duesseldorf or Koeln. In that corner of Germany, I also enjoy Trier (very comfortable to explore and doesn't feel like a town dressed up for tourism) and also Aachen to a lesser degree. Many people love Cochem, but that is another town that often has wall to wall tourists coming out of the rows of busses.

abbynicole27

Thank you for your thoughts DAX. We actually prefer small towns over cities, mostly.

Koblenz was chosen because my husband travelled through germany a few years ago (before we got married) and Koblenz/Trier were some of his favorite places, and I quite enjoyed the pictures. I think he enjoyed the area moreso than Koblenz itself though, so if you have any suggestions of other places to stay, they'd be welcome.

I don't want to go as far as Trier (for a base) because I'm trying to keep our train rides (with luggage) to under 2-3 hours where possible, but maybe we will day trip to Trier. We're trying to mix some new places neither of us have been to, with some favorites that one of us has been to (I travelled in Austria the same summer he travelled in Germany).

abbynicole27

Ok, so here's what I'm kind of settling on:

Please note we're not big city people, and hubby has been to Munich and I have been to Salzburg, so we're just going to do a few highlights in those cities.

May 4 - arrive in Frankfurt
May 5 - travel to Rothenburg, see town
May 6 - travel to Salzburg, see city
May 7 - stay in Salzburg; day trip into Salzkammergut
May 8 - stay in Salzburg; day trip to Berchtesgaden
May 9 - travel to Munich, see city
May 10 - stay in Munich; day trip to Dachau
May 11 - stay in Munich; day trip to Fussen
OR
May 11 - travel to Fussen, see castles (I only want to see the view from outside - going inside is not important) and spend the night in Fussen
May 12 - travel to Lindau OR Meersburg
May 13 - day trip to Konstanz/Mainau
May 14 - travel to Stuttgart - see Porsche/Mercedes museums
May 15 - travel to Koblenz
May 16 - cruise down to Moselkern, hike to see the Burg Eltz, cruise back to Koblenz
May 17 - travel to Frankfurt
May 18 - fly home

Any thoughts? Especially on whether to stay in Fussen or do it as a day trip? It just seems silly to me to go halfway to Lake Constance and then right back to Munich, but I don't know...

Also, still deciding whether to stay in Lindau (close to train) or take the bus into Meersburg to stay.

DAX

I've visited Fuessen twice as daytrips combined with the Neuschwanstein, but never stayed overnight. I don't see any compelling reason to stay in Fuessen, it's a small town with wall to wall tourists. You'll save money doing a day trip by using one day Bayernkarte. I personally prefer staying in Munich than in Fuessen, lots more to see &amp; do.

If you don't have to see Neuschwanstein(&amp; Fuessen), you can alternatively visit Mittenwald &amp; Innsbruck in one train ride.

Konstanz IMO is not worth the ferry trip so I would skip it if you are not overnighting there. I prefer Meersburg over Lindau in terms of charm and lay out(hillier), they are both equally touristy. Staying in Lindau seems to make more sense for the train's practical purposes, however there is one famous picturesque hotel in Meersburg, plus it is more central if you want to visit Mainau. Just to check you expectation, Lake Constance is nothing like Lake Como/Maggiore or Lake Lucerne in terms of scenic beauty.

abbynicole27

Haven't done Como or Lucerne, but from the pictures I am expecting Lake Constance to be somewhat similar to the Salzkammergut in Austria?

We're getting a Germany rail pass, so not concerned about the cost of rail, but looking at maps, it seems so much more direct to drive (versus train) from Munich/Fussen to Lindau/Meersburg, that I'm thinking maybe a one day car rental would be worthwhile - we'd see more and save some time. Tentative thought is, rent the car on May 11, drive to Fussen and see the castles, continue to Lindau and spend the night there, and then drop the car in Friedrichshafen the next day and take the bus to Meersburg for 2 nights. What do you think?

bettyk

I would go directly to Rothenburg after arriving in Frankfurt. It's not that far and would give you some time to recover from jetlag. If you spend 2 nights, you could do a day trip to Dinkelsbuehl the next day if you'd like or spend it visiting the Criminal Museum, the lovely city park or just wandering the narrow side streets. There are also alot of interesting shops in Rothenburg.

I'd suggest staying in St. Gilgen on Wolfgangsee in the Salzkammergut and do day trips to Salzburg and Berchtesgaden (altho Berchtesgaden deserves more than just a day trip in my opinion) instead of the other way around. We stayed at the wonderful Hotel Schernthaner for 76E.

http://www.hotel-schernthaner.at/sei...sh/index_e.htm

Lindau IS a beautiful little town but I absolutely loved Meersburg and the historic Gasthof Zum Baeren. I would also suggest Mainau Island over Konstanz. Mainau has to be seen to be believed -- it is truly unique.

http://www.baeren-meersburg.de/

http://www.mainau.de/

IMO, I wouldn't bother with going to Fussen on this trip. I think that day could be better spent in either St. Gilgen or Berchtesgaden. In Berchtesgaden, we stayed at the Hotel Wittelsbach which I can highly recommend also.

http://www.hotel-wittelsbach.com/hotel_engl.htm

Finally, instead of Koblenz, I would look at Beilstein. It's a wonderful little town with castle ruins on a pretty part of the river. You are still just a short drive from Burg Eltz, which brings up another point. I'd suggest a rental car for the Mosel area since it would allow you to stop in some of the lovely little towns and castles along the way. One of the bst hotels in Beilstein is the highly recommended Haus Lipmann.

Over the last few years, we've been to many of the places you plan to visit. If you want to see our photos, you can go to www.webshots.com and do a search for dkubiak.