zigzaging across germany?
 

I want to spend two weeks touring Germany. I will be arriving from Amsterdam. Ideally I want to spend about 3 days in Prague on the way. I would like to mostly travel by rail- reading previous input it feels like I will spend all my time zig-zagging my way down Germany! German must-sees for me are Berlin, Cologne, Bavaria, Munich, 2-3 day Rhine cruise. I want to end up in Zurich. If someone can give me a tentative itinerary with lots of small villages along the way I would appreciate it.

I would save Berlin for later. All the others can be done in decent legs. Berlin is a long haul and not worth it if you don't have at least 3 or 4 days to spend there.

Two weeks will get used up quickly when you build your itenerary.

Hi J,

Now is the time to go to the library and get some guide books.

Also, use www.viamichelin.com for mapping your locations.

It looks as if Amsterdam, Berlin, Munich, Rhine Cruise, Cologne would be a reasonable route.

www.bahn.de will give you train schedules, routes and most prices.

From where are yo flying home?

((I))

If zigzagging around Germany then by all means consider the German Railpass - just a few trips at walk up fares can make it pay off. For lots on German trains i always recommend www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - two sites with loads of objective info along with pass prices, etc. the latter site lets you download their free European Planning & Rail Guide which is a good primer on European trains and has a chapter on German trains with rail maps, suggested itineraries like you seem to be looking for - but be sure to consider the Germany railpass which lets you just hop on any ole train in Germany practically anytime you want.

Thank you for you suggestions- the German rail pass sounds ideal. I think I may be best to leave Prague for another time. After Germany I want to make my way through Switzerland and then across to Lyon.

The German railpass is such a good deal for such wide-ranging travel - www.bahn.de has sample prices and a few trips can pay for the pass.

Though there are regional passes, with restrictions as to what trains you can take, and online discounts that peg you into a specific train and cannot be changed for flexible tickets to hop on any train any time the pass is a great deal - especially for someone zigzagging across the country. Passes are valid of course for the K-D Rhine boats - just hop on no need to queue for tickets, no reservations needed except in winter, etc. www.k-d.com i believe.

I think, geographically, and by RAIL it might be a little better to do it THIS way:

Start OUT in Berlin; rail to Cologne, then rail to Munich/Bavaria and then rail southward to Zurich.

No backtracking involved and you could easily do a "Rhine Cruise" from somewhere such as Koblenz to Mainz and rail onward from there to Munich.

JUST a suggestion from someone who has done this very itinerary..but I'll defer to the experts here since there are plenty of them.

I second Dukey's suggested itinerary as perhaps the most logical. You may want to fly from Amsterdamn to Prague and then go by rail Prague-Berlin and on - or take an overnight train from Frankfurt to Prague (coming in the day to Frankfurt from Amsterdam) and then start dukey's suggested trip

I'd consider the Germany-Benelux Pass esp if day tripping anywhere from Amsterdam as well.