gabrieltraian

Hohenzollern and Orange - two different royal families.
The Schwerin Castle, Oranienburg and Oranienbaum are of House of Orange heritage. The "Orange" palaces in Schwerin and Sans Souci are up north, whereas I'll be more towards south when I visit Germany this summer.
House of Orange ruled Germany and the Netherlands (and the Netherlands still today - wonder why the Dutch national teams wear orange colour?).
Sigmaringen and Hechingen are Hohenzollern.
By the way! Kings from the Hohenzollern family ruled Romania for nearly 100 years, until the end of WWII. They have a very beautiful castle at Sinaia, in the mountains, about 100km north from Bucharest. The last king (Hohenzollern) that ruled Romania until 1947 still lives somewhere in Switzerland and he has claimed back the castle recently, because it was taken by the former
communist regime.

Indeed, those castles are far more interesting than Ludwig's, but then again... one looks for something else there.

RufusTFirefly

Interest is a matter of personal taste. I find German history from around 1848 through WWI fascinating. So Ludwig's castles, his story, and the history of Bavaria and the other German States of the period (not to mention the social sea change taking place as the old monarchies began to crumble) are of great interest to me.

logos999

Understood! House of "Orange", would be "Oranien" in German.

Larryincolorado

As for your question about your itinerary. When you mentioned Oberwesel, I assumed you mean staying there and using it as a base to explore the Rhein.

I spent several days on the middle Rhein two years ago. I took the K-D cruise from St. Goar to Bacharach (wrong direction), and then I visited Bacharach, Oberwesel, St. Goar, Bad Salzig, Boppard (where I stayed), Koblenz, and Braubach. I think you could do all of those places in two days, and they are all easily accessible by train.

In St. Goar I toured the ruins of Rheinfels, and in Braubach I toured Marksburg. Both castles are on the top of hills. When the K-D boats are running there are trolleys from the towns to the castles. They will be running when you are there. I was early at Marksburg, so I had to climb the footpath to the castle. I think it took about 20 minutes - no big deal, and I am 60.

In my opinion, Rheinfels and Marksburg are the only two Rhein castles worth seeing. They are in origional condition. All the others were destroyed and rebuilt, some as hotels, some as private residences that are not even open to the public.

There are plenty of economical and accessible hotels in St. Goar and Bacharach. I would stay there.

Oberwesel is interesting with its partially intact wall and some fachwerk houses, and it would be worthwhile to spend a few hours there, but the train station is at the far end of town, and it would be a considerable walk with luggage to a hotel. Unless the hotel owner offers to come pick you up, don't stay there.

As for the hotel owner's opinion that a car is needed, I find that my friends in Germany who own cars are completely unaware of how much you can do with trains. I saw everything I wanted to see by train. Maybe he just says that because his hotel is not so adventageously situated.

Russ

I think Larry may be thinking about a different castle than Rheinfels, which was indeed destroyed and remains in ruins, but Marksburg is still intact, as he says; still, both are worth visiting.

I'd agree that you probably don't need a car for getting around the Rhine unless you are staying at one of the clifftop accommodations (like Auf Schoenburg Castle in Oberwesel) or in one of the "suburbs" tucked away in an adjacent gorge. Given the rest of your itinerary, I would opt for the train.

gypsy2_25

This information is so great! Thanks.

Let me tell you my main reason for heading to the Rhein area, and maybe you give me even more ideas.... I basically would like to taste good red wine. I know 85% of the wines in Germany are white, and I've read that the red wines are found in the Rhein region. I would be perfectly accepting to try any other region if it had what I'm looking for. I went to Italy last year, and my only regret was not having wine sent home, I didn't want to make that mistake again.

hhildebrandt

German wine growing regions:
http://www.wein.de/1453.0.html

For the red wine, Württemberg is a favorite region, also Baden.

For traveling, I would prefer Baden region with Freiburg as a place to stay and hub for day trips to the area around it and Alsace in reach.
http://www.freiburg.de/6/0/6/index.php

grsing

gypsy: also make sure to try some of the whites; they're not like a stereotypical white in the US, and are often quite dry, not the sugary mess that is all too common (ask for "trocken", if you want dry, as opposed to "halbtrocken", literally half-dry, or semi-sweet, or "suss&quot.

traveller1959

In the Rhine area, you will hardly find a red wine. The typical grape is Riesling which produces light elegant white wines with citrus aromas. You can get it both dry and sweet (you drink sweet wine together with dessert).
A red wine area is the Ahr, which is a tributary to the Rhine. The Ahr valley is very beautiful with a hiking trail through the wineyards ("Rotweinwanderweg&quot. The Ahr region produces the best German red wines, however, you must select the winemakers: Meyer-Näkel and Adeneuer are the best.

StLgrrl

Bookmarking...

simpsonc510

We stayed at a winery hotel in the Rudesheim/Geisenheim area. If you have a car, it is easy to get there. The name of the place is Magdelenenhof. We had room #4, which had a balcony overlooking vineyards, and the Rhine in the distance at the bottom of the hill. The price was 75 euro per night. The wine at this place isn't all that good though....

edcblue

We have done that same trip in two occasions. Definitely, rent a car. This is my recommendation: There is a Hertz in the Munich train station (second floor) with garage in hotel across the street. From there to Fussen is less than two hpurs in the Autobahn (south direction). Ten days is more than enough for the route and you could return from Frankfurt.

Larryincolorado

When I was looking for cars for Gypsy's 13 day trip, I check Hertz. They were one of the worst. I just checked back. Their smallest economy cars, a VW Fox, for the 10 days that you recommend, from Frankfurt Hbf to Munich Hbf, with CDW, was about $800.

Remember, this trip can be done by train for about $250

gypsy2_25

At this point, I think I'm going to 1) cut down my itinerary... after reading the posts and re-evaluating, I do think it would be too much to fit. As a result, 2) we'll use the train. I'm actually thinking of cutting out the rhein area at this point altogether, so I can get to Munich and base myself a little earlier. Then day trip from there....

Globerunner09

We've always traveled by car in Germany. That way, we can go wherever we want to, take back roads, and see the countryside more easily. Plus, we don't have to carry our suitcases everywhere.

Larryincolorado

"We've always traveled by car"

I think that explains why you don't understand what an adavantage it is to go by train.

Robespierre

Hear! Hear!

Americans in general seem to have a visceral disdain for public transportation, and naturally assume that the shortest distance between two points is the San Diego Freeway.

Russ

For me, the train is almost always the best way to go, but it depends greatly on the several other factors whether it's right for you. Factors like the area you'll be in. If you're touring the Eifel, or moving east-west in upper Bavaria, the train is a stupid idea. It also depends on how much stuff you take - I travel extremely lightly, hence my preference - and on how physically able you are.

Larryincolorado

Robespierre,

beautifully put.

RufusTFirefly

Can't all just be friends?

But seriously folks, after 40 years of travel I've found that, for us at any rate, there is no one best way.

It depends on so many factors--where we're going, how much time we have, our budget, who's with us (if anyone), schedule limitations (have to be in a certain place at a certain time for some reason), time of year--just to list a few.

As often as not we find that a mix of public transportation and car rental gives us the best overall experience.