november_moon

In Munich, head to the Englischer Garten for running. It is just north of the old town center and has miles of paths - I believe most of which are hard-pack pea gravel and very well maintained. It is also quite scenic with a creek, a lake, plenty of trees, nice meadows, and so on.

On your drive to Rothenburg, I believe your route will take you past the town of Dinklesbuhl. That is a neat little town and would make a nice stop.

joannyc

Hotels that I've stayed at:

Fuessen: They upgraded me to a wonderful suite with 2 bathrooms and a sauna off the larger bathroom (with the wooden table and all!)

www.luitpoldpark-hotel.de/index.shtml?en_hotel

Rothenburg od T: Had a lovely room with a 4-poster bed and a huge, huge bathroom!

www.romantikhotels.com/Rothenburg


Rudesheim am Rhein: Smallest hotel room I have ever seen!!! But very clean. (And I was traveling solo so room size didn't matter). Not positive but I think it may have been
Rudesheimer Hof.

Otzi

According to Google Earth, the drive from Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Rüdesheim is 2:28.

I love your itinerary. It makes me want to go right now.

The Zugspitz is beautiful, but the ride up to the top is very expensive, like 50 Euros each. If the weather is really clear the view might be worth it, but I'm a budge traveler myself. It's in the same general area where the Ehrenberg ruins stand. Maybe your hike to the ruins in the morning, then Neuschwanstein castle followed by a run or two on the Rodelbahn. That's a lot of walking. Just the hike up to Neuschwanstein wears me out. Dare the kids to run up to the castle while you and the wife take your time and enjoy a beer at the Inn halfway up.

There is a nice Rodelbahn (summer luge) at Tegelberg, fairly close to the Royal Castles. Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfRv3zujXiQ

Woyzeck

It sounds like your kids might enjoy a trip to the Olympic stadium in Munich, where the 1972 Olympics were held. The BMW museum is right there too, and I bet your sons would get a kick out of that.

bigtyke

In the 'olden days', open jaw flights were much more expensive than round trips. There were even authors that described various tricks to get around the extra charges. Those are a thing of the past. Even if it is more expensive to fly from one city than another, the extra cost to get back to the original destination is frequently more than flying from the other city.

Otzi

I turned on public TV today and I think I saw the Rick Steves epsiode that inspired Away's initial post. It was one of the few episodes I hadn't seen before. I now see why you were so interested in the ruins of Ehrenberg. Like Rick's guide mentioned, the ruins on the high hill have only recently been re-discovered. I had wondered why you were so intent on visiting since I had passed by there quite a few times and never thought much about stopping to look. Four different eras and styles of fortifications truly would be unique. I'll have to see if I can schedule a stop at Ehrenberg on some future visit.

And Rick's approach to the Zugspitze was not the same boring cogwheel train ascent that I recently rode. I had forgotten about the harrowing cable car ride up from the Austrian side. We did that years ago and I remember the car swaying way more than I was comfortable with. Should be fun.

pja1

Hi,

We did a similar itinerary in reverse Oct, '07.

We have a trip report at:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ith-photos.cfm

The Tegelberg cable car and luge ride, called the Sommerrodelbahn, (you can do one or the other, or both) are just a mile or so from Neuschwanstein castle.

We did the Zugspitze from the Austrian side. It's maybe 45 min. from Fuessen. The price is quite a bit cheaper than from Garmisch. 34.50 Euro for adults, 27.50 under 18.

www.zugspitzbahn.at

As for day 8, how about the Wieskirche and/or Ludwig's Linderhof. Both are amazing.

www.wieskirche.de

http://www.schlosslinderhof.de/engli...ce/history.htm

If you're looking for a great place to stay in the Berchtesgaden area, we love, and have stayed 3 times, at the Pension Mayringerlehen in Ramsau. It's 10 min. drive from Berchtesgaden. It's our favorite place to stay anywhere.

www.mayringerlehen.de

The Nightwatchman Tour in Rothenburg was the one of highlights of our stay there. The other was seeing Tilman Riemanschneiders 500 year old wood carved masterpiece of an alter in St. Jacobs church. It's up a few stairs in the back of the church.

www.nightwatchman.de

We drove from Cochem (Mosel) to Rothenburg in under 4 hours, so 2.5 to 3 hours from, say Bacharach, is about right. If you can, see marksburg castle on the Rhine. Not only is it the only hill castle on the Rhine that was never destroyed, it's simply fantastic.

www.marksburg.de/english/frame.htm

We have photo's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Oh,
We did the drive from Frankfurt airport to Bacharach in about 90 minutes.

Hope this helps.

Paul

zozozo

Berchtesgaden are you planing on driving 5km more and going to Konigssee? They have electrical boats and ride to church is special.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Königssee

On day 4 you are traveling west from Munich to Ammersee Andechs? and then east through Munich again and on to Berchtesgaden?


Another way to do this day 4 just go east to Berchtesgaden but on way you could make stop at Prien am chiemsee take boat to Herrenchiemsee.
http://www.herren-chiemsee.de/englis...lace/index.htm

Day you travel west from Berchtesgaden to Fussen stop at Ammersee. If you are visiting both castles on same day there is two hour wait between 2 castle tours. They will not schedule tours closer to each other. We tried. Info:

www.hohenschwangau.de/ticketcenter0.0.html

another option from Ammersee if you are going to Andechs can eat at their beer hall lunch then go to Linderhof castle open 9-6,
there are more things for teenagers to do here and walks than castles in Hohenschwangau, you could drive to Oberammergau close to Linderhof maybe 10 minutes or Garmisch Partenkirchen 27 min away and very close to Zugspitze. Both have lovely painted scenes on shops and homes more in Partenkirchen on one street than Garmisch spread out. next morning with Elbsee cable car Zugspitze, after just continue east to Fussen. I've been to Mittenwald also and I like other towns better for first visit.

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/engl...lace/index.htm
www.linderhof.de under park shows palace and buildings map
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linderhof_Palace
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zugspitze

Do you want to stay in Fussen or where castles are Hohenschwangau? If answer is Hohenschwangau link above lists hotels and there is small lake Alpsee to walk or in your case run around, is flat from what i remember, no traffic and boathouse rents row boats.

If you do tour this way you are not going back and forth on same road from fussen. Also it leaves some extra time and you could go to Ottobeuren Abbey which takes 45 min each way mostly on A7. It is a beautiful church and if you are taking romantic road to rothenburg ob der tauber can be done while staying Fussen. But if you are taking A7 to Rothenburg ob der Tauber it adds only 20 min driving time so you could visit that day.

www.abtei-ottobeuren.de and use translator or
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottobeuren_Abbey

the only things on your tour I haven't done is luge and Ehrenberg Ruins. Trip looks good to me. If it was me I might
change Dachau and spend day in Munich there are 2 castles inside city. Nymphenburg has walks and paths and several palaces in complex and a cafe in Palmenhaus.
Also is Residenz but not as extensive grounds.

http://www.schloss-nymphenburg.de/en...lace/index.htm
www.palmenhaus.de/html/index.html
http://www.residenz-muenchen.de/engl...denc/index.htm