karens

Hi all. I'm trying to finalize our itinerary for Germany next summer. For one piece, we are going from Berchtesgaden to Rothenburg and can go one of two ways:

1) North to the vicinity of Nurmburg, and then west to Rothenburg; or

2) Over to the Ulm area and then up to Rothenburg.

If we go to Ulm, we can also see the Baroque abbey of Zwiefalten, that looks amazing, but that would add about 1.75 total hours of driving time out of the way (to go from Ulm to Zwiefalten).

Along either route, I'm interested in learning about interesting stops along the way. Any ideas - or preferences for one of the above routes?

Aramis

A very interesting choice you have here. My final suggestion would be based on whether you intend to stop or stay along the way and how many times did you want to stop if it was only going to be a single trip. Since you mention the possibility of Zweifalten, I will presume it is a one day trip and you don't intend to stop somewhere for any overnights. But then again, it s about 4 hours or more to make the trip, so please clarify.

Route No. 1 affords you the opportunity to see, as a couple of highlights, Regensburg and Nurnberg, two fascinating cities. The number of fans that Regensburg has, compared to often it is visited in relation to other German cities is telling, I think. It is a little out of the way from the "better known" places, and you have to want to go here unless perhaps you encounter it as a train change on the way from Munich to Prague. Nurnberg probably needs no introduction. The gingerbread and the sausages can get me there on ay trip all by themselves.

Route No. 2 affords the opportunity to visit Ulm, as you note, as well as Augsburg. Personally, I find Augsburg a little more interesting than Ulm but I prefer Regensburg and Nurnberg to either of them.

So, on "city" considerations, my personal nod would go to Route No. 1 and you pick what you want to see on each route. It is also a little shorter. which might count if you plan to visit just one potential city on each route and have to get "in and out" as it were which takes a little more time in a city than it does in a town.

If you want to consider some smaller locales, then Route No. 2 might have the edge because it takes you either right past Nordlingen, Dinkelsbuehl, and Feuchtwangen, three fantastic towns. It would be possible to visit a couple of these if they were your only stops (no Ulm or Augsburg) or maybe add in one for a quick tour in addition to a city (probably not Nordlingen as it is east of the main highway route.

As usual, it will come down to what you want to see on the way; city, town, specific historical site, etc..

karens

Aramis - thanks so much for all this interesting information.

I would say we have almost one full day, with one overnight. Ideally, we would leave Berchtesgaden, and stop near Ramsau to hike the Wimbachklamm Gorge. (I can't find out how long to budget time-wise, for this - any ideas?)

Then we would continue on to perhaps Ulm, and overnight there. There is a dramatic looking library at an abbey near Ulm that was described as being as nice as the one at St. Gallen, so we coudl stop there on the way to spending the night in Ulm. The next morning, we could drive to Zweifalten, and continue to Rothenburg. Ideally, we will arrive at Rothenburg by 2pm to explore the area a bit before taking the Night Watchman tour.

Do you have a favorite between Nordlingen, Dinkelsbuehl, and Feuchtwangen?

treplow

To answer your last question first: Dinklesbuehl is by far the more interesting place of the three you mention. In fact, I prefer it over Rothenburg, because it is much less touristy.

Now, on your way to Ulm: I assume, you are coming from Berchtesgaden over the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Highway, B-305/306) to Siegsdorf) and the Autobahn A-8. Take the Munich by-pass A-99 to the exit for the Autobahn A-96 to Lindau.Take it west to the Memmingen exit, and take the 9km or so detour south to Ottobeuren. This town has one of the most impressive Baroque basilicas. Then take the A-7 north to one of the Ulm exits. Visit the city and get back onto the A-7 north. Take the Ellwangen exit and cut over to the highway leading to Dinkelsbuehl, Rothenburg.

Have you thought about adding a visit to the Herrenchiemsee Palace of King LudwigI, on the Herrenchiemsee island in the Chiemsee? It's right off the A-8. But the total visit (boat, walk to the palace, palace visit, boat ) would add about 3 hours to your trip.

karens

Hi treplow. We are doing Herrenchiemsee - and are looking forward to that. We will visit there on our way from Munich to Berchtesgaden and I budgeted a half day, so I'm glad that's reasonable. (We don't mind moving quickly on our travels, but not so quickly we feel rushed or feel we haven't really been able to see what we'd like).

Thanks so much for your route info - I would love to see Ottobeuren! I love the Baroque (which is why I'm pulled so strongly to Zweifalten).