Flying from the US, open jaw into Frankfort, out of Munich. Primary objective is a few days at Oktoberfest. First trip for me to Germany, wife has been before. I've listed the overnight locations below. Any thoughts? What to do with the "unknown" day between Fussen and Salzburg? We will rent a car in Frankfort, drop it off when we get to Munich. I'm a big castle fan, and would love to see as many as possible.

Day 1 - leave US
Day 2 - Rothenburg (land Frankfort 11am. Rent car, drive to Rothenburg. Night watchman, etc)
Day 3- Fussen (stops at Dinklsbuehl, others?)
Day 4 - Fussen (hit all the local castles this day)
Day 5 - unknown (Likely somewhere in the Bavarian Alps)
Day 6 - Salzburg (staying outside in Fuschl)
Day 7 - Salzburg (Mozart Concert, salt mine, sound of music tour?)
Day 8 - Munich (Dachau)
Day 9 - Munich (Oktoberfest)
Day 10 - Munich (Oktoberfest)
Day 11 - fly home

I know this is a bit rushed, but all the time we had. We plan on going back another time for the Rhine, etc.

Oops, realized I had an extra R in Bavarian. Too much sampling of German beer, in preparation for the trip!

Omce you haave seen Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein near Fussen you should plan to head to wiesekirch, Oberammergau,Schlos Linderhof. Then on to Ludwigs copy of Versaille at Herren Chiemsee on the road from Munich to Salzburg.

Bertschesgaden is also a good stop, a beautiful village, a great boat ride on Koenigsee, salt mine tour, Higtler's Eagle's Nest and you are about 15 miles outside of Salzburg.

Since you're starting in Frankfurt, why not drive over to the Mosel region for a day? If you're a "castle" typ of guy, you should really enjoy what you see there. Spend a night in that area and your Day 5 unknown is taken care of.

Fuessen and other so-called castles in that area are more like palaces than actual castles. Not very old but very nice.

Berchestgaden is definitely a nice stop and as stated, only a very short drive to Salzburg. I planned to make a simple 1-night stop there and ended-up staying 3 nights because it was so beautiful. Not really a 3-day stop necessarily but well worth the visit.

Mark

Use your spare day to rest up and finish seeing the other sites in the area. Sit and have a beer.

Basically, you have put together a nice itinerary.

You may ish to follow the advise of includng the Mosel. Perhap stay in Beilstein the first night, then continue to Trier (probably by-passing the city for lack of time), and drive that day on the Autobahns A-1 and A-8 -A-6 to the Exit 7 on the A-6 and from there along the Weinstrasse (Route 39) (wine route) to Neustadtto Speyer. Stay there. On day 3 take the road to Heidelberg, then along the Neckar River on the Burgstrasse (B37) (castle route) to Bad Friedrichshall. From there headon an unnumbered but scenic route to the A-5, and on to Wuerzburg, which has one of the grandest castles. Stay in or outside of Wuerzburg and on the next day head on to Rotenburg.

If you don't want to take the Mosel detour, get on the A-3 at the Frankfurt airport and head east as far exit 57, from there head south toward Miltenberg, another town off the US tourist track with a nice castle overlooking this medieval town and the Main River.

From there you can either go to Wuerzburg via the road that follow the Main river to Wertheim, and then take the well-marked dog leg to the A-3 and Wuerzburg. Or you can skip Wuerzburg and drive from Wertheim (the offizial starting point of the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Highway)to Rothenburg. From Wertheim to about Bad Mergentheim the road is good but not particularly scenic.

After Rothenburg, follow your original plan to Fuessen. In Fuessen, as suggest in another posting, leave yourself enough time to visit the Wieskirche, about 50m north of F.

From Fuessen, drive to Salzburg. There are several ways to go, and I'll be glad to help you with some. Your major decision would have to be, do you want to go the Alpine route (Garmisch - Mittenwald - Innsbruck - Lofer - Berchtesgaden) or do youn want to stop en route to visit King Ludwig II's palace on the Herrenchiemsee Island, outside of Prien.

I probablywcold cut one day from Munich. Dachau is only a short train ride from downtown and won't take more than half a day in total. And one night at the Oktoberfest, in my opinion, is plenty of beer, oompha music, and drunks. And you still have the whole day for sightseeing. The action auf der Wisn't really doesn start before 6 or 7pm.

You don't need a car in Munich, in fact it's a nuisance. And if you can time it, try to be in Munich on the opening day of the Oktoberfest. The Festzug (parade) is really the greatest fun of the whole affair. But again, that's one man's opinion.

We attended Octoberfest two years ago on the opening day. The parade was fun but be prepared. You want to get to the tent of your choice early - they open at 9:00am (some require reservations) and the parade didn't get to our tent until aournd 12:15. WHile on the train I wondered why so many people were carry milk crates fullof beer. Well you don;t get to buy beer until the first tap...after the parade. The bands were fun, the crowds were great. We shared a table with two students from Canada, five Swiss friends, and us (two Americans), I loved Neuchwenstein. But to be honest Berchestegarden was the best. ALso in Munich there is so much to see you could visit many times and to soak up the history.

We stayed at Oktoberfest one long afternoon but didn't go on any rides. I agree with AisleSeat Oberammergau is worth a visit. Small village with beautifully homes painted with murals. We also enjoyed Bamberg - anywhere along the Romantic Road is fun.

SOunds like a great time!