Should I add the Rhine to this Germany itinerary?
 

We are traveling to Germany for the 2nd time in March. We are Hubby, Daughter, Uncle and myself. This will be Daughter's first trip, she's 16. Arriving March 10, departing March 19 and flying into and out of Frankfurt.

We can either spend 4 nights in Kallmunz (family visit with daytrips to Nuremberg and Regensburg) and 4 nights in the Alps - probably Berchtesgaden or Garmisch, and then travel to near FRA the night before morning flight

or...

We can cut one night off of the Alps and spend two nights/one full day somewhere exploring the Rhine where we could still get to the airport the morning of our flight.

We will have a car for the whole trip - Uncle is 77 so toting luggage on a train probably won't work.

Also, if we decided to put the Rhine into the intinerary, is there a town where we could base that's picturesque and still get to the airport in less than 30 or 40 minutes?

I returned from a trip to Germany last week - I would not trade a day in the alps for Rhine region.

I was actually a little disappointed in the Rhine. The vinyards and castles were lovely, we enjoyed the wine but place was packed! It seemed like the only people in the region arrived on the tour bus and were over 65.

The alps were fantastic. I would have enjoyed more time in that region.

Disclaimer - I love the outdoors and hiking and really hate crowds. I also love wine - but living in California, I get to enjoy wine country on a regular basis.

Thanks for your reply EmptyNest. Love that name, I'm almost there!!

I would really like to visit the Rhine someday, but I'm thinking that March might not be the best time to explore that region.

We spent 4 nights in Garmisch on the last trip, but our Daughter was not with us. I'd really like to show her that area. What were your favorite towns in the Alps?

Thanks again,
H

Although I liked the Rhine area, I would not try to do that at the same time as Bavaria. Nurnburg and Regensburg are short trips from Kallmunz. A day trip to Bayreuth is another option or a stop in Munich on the way to Berchtesgaden. What do you plan on doing in the Alps? The Ludwig Castles? Hiking? Fussen is one of my favorite towns, but we drove there on the spur of the moment, during the summer and no rooms were available. We stayed a short distance from the Zugspitze in Austria in a small village by the name of Reute.Fantastic mountain views. The Rhineland has a whole different feel to it. I would save it for another trip and travel through the western part of the country. Stop in the usual towns, Boppard,Rudesheim, Bacharach and St. Goar along the river and include Heidelburg on the way to or from Frankfurt. You could also venture north and include the Mosel Valley area, depending on length of your trip.

Phieaglefan
I checked the time/mileage with Michelin for Kallmunz to Berchtesgaden to Frankfurt and found it will take 8 hours of driving and 900 KM.
With the limited time you have available you may wish to reduce the time you plan to spend in Kallmunz.
I would skip the Rhine for this trip as you don't have enough time and you may encounter bad weather in March. I took this same trip in April 2005 and spent several days driving in rainstorms.
We drove a total of 1400 miles in 3 weeks.
I agree with the other posters that southern Bavaria will be far more entertaining especially with a 16 year old who will want to see Linderhof and Neuschwanstein castles.
You may wish to plan a detailed itinerary on Michelin or Mappy to determine exactly how many miles you must drive and how long it will take.

I concur that adding the Rhine to this trip is a stretch-and may negatively impact the time in the Alps. Given the timeframe, my guess you will be at the end of the winter era, and that the springs flow will not be arriving in the local Alpine Rivers, and the colors may be muted due to sky conditions, nonetheless, this area has more visual impact in gray skies than Rhine would.