Our family of 5 will be flying into Frankfurt and spending 3 days in the Rhine area, probably in St. Goar. We know we want to end up in Bavaria, with the last night in Rotenburg. (Flying back through Frankdfurt.)

That leaves us to plan the middle of the trip. My first thought was the Black Forest...but then when I look at the map, I see that it's a pretty long drive from Freiburg to Bavaria, with no direct route. We're open to skipping the Black Forest and going somewhere else, if there's great destination between St. Goar and Bavaria. Ideas?

Which towns/cities in Bavaria are you planning to visit?

I don't know yet. We'll probably go to Garmisch, see Ludwig's castles, and find a nice place to hike.

We were in those areas last summer, and loved it all so much we've booked again for this year.
We were in St. Goar for a week, using it as a base for exploring the Rhine and Mosel. Rheinfels Castle is definitely worth exploring. And we loved just walking around Bachrach.

We also spent a week in Munich, taking the Mike's Bike Tours trip through the city on one day, and the bus tour/hike to Neuschwanstein. This was worth it - it was a demanding 45-minute climb, but really enjoyable to take the natural route to the castle. Tickets for the castle tour are included.

In Munich, we loved Hirschgarten, the biggest beer garden in Europe, purportedly. There was even a small carnival, which kept our seven-year-old happy and us refreshed as the humidity mounted. We toured the zoo, the Residenz, Deutsches Museum, Schloss Nymphenburg and more. It's a great city for shopping, too! We were never at a loss for activities, or opportunities to just rest and watch the world go by.

This trip we're adding in the art galleries we missed, and heading to Chiemsee and the Alps.

In Rothenburg, we recommend staying at Hotel Gerberhaus. We had newly renovated accommodations that included two bedrooms, and a small kitchenette, all just mere steps from the medieval walls. We had to walk down the lane to the hotel for breakfast, but we considered it a special treat rather than a hassle. The hospitality was second to none, including graciously handling our laundry.
The Night Watchman's tour may seem hokey, but it's fun, and interesting too. But also try to walk the wall on your own - the views are wonderful.

Franken will meet your requirements and deserves more time than one night in Rothenburg.

Other nice places in Franken are Würzburg (city with UNESCO world heritage site, the Palace) and the quaint wine villages (like Iphofen, with a beautiful hotel, the Zehntkeller).

My suggestion: On the way to Bavaria, stop in the Würzburg/Iphofen area, on the way back on the Romantic Road.

I would suggest Tuebingen. It's a lovely university town. You could also do what we did and do a daytrip to Burg Hohenzollern with a stop in the nearby town of Hechingen.

http://www.tuebingen.de/en/1559.html

http://www.preussen.de/en/today/hohe...rn_castle.html

You can see photos in our Germany 2007 album on webshots:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/561038806XxDcvw

Not really in between Rhine and Bavaria, but I enjoyed my visit in Nurnberg and Wurzburg.

missypie, the good thing about Tuebingen that I failed to mention is it is literally midway between St. Goar and Garmisch -- around 3 hrs from St. Goar to Tuebingen and 3 hrs from Tuebingen to Garmisch.

So Papertraveller, you just made the long trip from St. Goar to Bavaria, without stopping anywhere else?

It is hard on me if I try to cover too much ground, too fast. I am not sure how long you have. If it is say 10 days, I would try to focus on a couple areas like the Rhine and the Alps.

My favorite part of Germany is the medieval cities of Franken already mentioned. Würzburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg and Nürnberg. Just outside this area is Regensburg another medieval city and Unesco world heritage site. I would be tempted to combine Franken and Regensburg with the Rhine as they are closer. BTW Franken is the northern part of Bavaria.

I also enjoyed the Black Forest as a destination. I am not sure how you would enjoy it just passing through. Tübingen would combine nicely with the Black Forest if you decided to skip southern Bavaria.

Regards, Gary

I'm not sure how long you have but I would plan a little time in Munich and then either daytrip or relocate to the area south of Munich in the alps where you can get to Fussen, Oberammergau, Bertschesgaden and Salzburg. There are lots of things to do and see in that area.

Y'all are fantastic! I love Germany and would like to visit everywhere you've suggested. But the medieval cities of Franken are sounding especially good to me. Maybe:

3 nights in St. Goar
1 night in Heidelberg or somewhere nearby
Take the fast route from Heidelberg to Garmisch
3 nights in Garmisch (or somewhere near by)
3 nights in Franken.
Would Rothenburg be the neatest place to stay? Okay as a base?

<<Not really in between Rhine and Bavaria, but I enjoyed my visit in Nurnberg and Wurzburg.>>

Nürnberg(Nuremberg) and Würzburg are both interesting cities to visit, and they are both just off the autobahn between Frankfurt and München (Munich). BTW they are both in the state of Bavaria, although Würzburg is, as others have pointed out, the principal city of the Franken region.

You don't say how long you want to take to get from St. Goar to Bavaria, but unless you want to travel only by autobahn, there are some nice routes through the Black Forest.

Head south to Baden-Baden and then follow the Black Forest High Road or some of the valley routes towards Füssen. From there you can begin your Bavarian itinerary starting with Ludwig's Castles.

Missypie,
I haven't found Garmish to have a lot of charm. It is a good place to go up to the Zugspitze but I would opt for either Mittenwald (10 miles from Garmish) or Oberammergau (15-20 miles). Either one would be as central as Garmish and a lot more charming.

Hi missypie,
From St. Goar, Marksburg Castle was excellent and Burg Eltz was fantastic!
I'd also opt for staying in Mittenwald instead of Garmisch. Mittenwald is probably the prettiest town in Bavaria (our opinion). You can easily do the Zugspitze in Garmisch from here or take a trip on the Karwendelbahn (cable car), which is in Mittenwald. Just as you enter Garmisch from Mittenwald, there is a very good sommerrodelbahn (luge ride) which was a lot of fun.

We stayed 2 nights in Rothenburg and while it is touristy, we really enjoyed Rothenburg. The Nightwatchman's tour was not only interesting, it was simply a good time.

Last Oct. we drove from Rothenburg to Ramsau (Berchtesgaden) non stop. No big deal. It was roughly 4 hours.

Our Oct. '07 trip report with a link to our photo's is at:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=35089110

Hope this helps.

Paul

"Would Rothenburg be the neatest place to stay? Okay as a base?"

Rothenburg is especially handy for a touring base if you are traveling by car. There is plenty parking. It is an easy drive to Würzburg and Nürnberg. Rothenburg also has good hotels and restaurants at reasonable prices. If you tour from there, you can avoid the tour bus rush during the day and still see a lovely town in th evening.

Regards, Gary

Thanks so much everyone!

Hi Missypie,
Sorry for the delay in replying ... we were in Germany for three and a half weeks, covering a great deal of territory. I just tried to offer up some of our favourites as they applied to your route. (But since you asked - we hit Velburg, PlayMobil Fun Park outside Nurnberg, Iserlohn, and Rudesheim as well. Gotta love the power of a nifty new Benz on the autobahn!)
Many of our 'finds' came courtesy of other Fodorites - the hotel in Rothenburg, the vacation apartment in St. Goar. But as with any vacation, the best parts will be what you discover on your own. Our favourite evening activity in St. Goar was the simplest - sitting down by the river watching the ferry ply the river on its crossing to St. Goarshausen and back. We left the BlackBerrys and emails and work worries at home, and just let the evenings take us away.

I have emailed the Hotel Gerberhaus to see if the apartment is available. It looks like a lovely place.