I know these cities are very different, but I need to choose between the two. I am 8 full days to spend in Germany, flying in and out of Munich. I've rented a car the entire time and am deciding between the two itneraries below. I really want to see Cologne, but it's a little of the way. Salzburg would be an easier spot to visit. I need a vote. Thanks.
I know these cities are very different, but I need to choose between the two. I am 8 full days to spend in Germany, flying in and out of Munich. I've rented a car the entire time and am deciding between the two itneraries below. I really want to see Cologne, but it's a little of the way. Salzburg would be an easier spot to visit. I need a vote. Thanks.
Besides the fact that your spelling is off on those names, the second itinerary makes much more sense. It will save you time and you will enjoy the trip more because it will be more relaxed.
You can probably skip Baden-Baden unless you are into gambling and top luxe spas. Würzburg (with Umlaut U) and Heidelberg can be done in one day. I mean HD is pretty and all, my family is from there so I know it well, but it's not that fantastic. Würzburg has a wonderful Baroque castle. Definitely worth seeing. RodT is a prime tourist destination. Why not? So is Fuessen and the Starnberg Lake area is indeed beautiful.
However, if you really want to do a gorgeous trip and see plenty of sights and landscape like from a photo album you should skip all of these. Just go to the East from Munich to Salzburg. Then go to the West from Munich to the Lake of Constance going through the Allgäu region. That right there is one of the most gorgeous and interesting parts of Germany. Plenty of breathtaking Baroque monuments along the so-called Barockstrasse. Lush, rolling hills, lakes, sub-alpine scenario and the third biggest lake in Europe to boot. Munich and Salzburg will be your city highlights and the lake of Constance with the Swiss and Austrian Alps in the background will be your scenery highlight. Doable in 8 days. 3 for Munich, 2 for Salzburg and 2-3 for the Lake region. Munich to Lindau (directly on the lake, actually it's a peninsula) is two hours by car over the Autobahn. Beware, this is a stretch where people do go 120 mph. But even at 70-80 mph it's only two hours.
Check out the Birnau church (Unesco World Heritage Site) and Weingarten Basilika (at least as impressive as Cologne cathedral but with a better organ). The medieval Meersburg and the century old huts on posts in the lake at Unteruhldingen are easily done on a single day. The public spa in Meersburg is also gorgeous. Perhaps spend an evening in Bregenz at the floating opera stage that features in the latest Bond movie.
Now that's a real trip worth taking with all the castles and palaces anyone could want. The other things each have a single highlight that you just cross off the check list but it is not a homogeneous experience altogether.
Seriously, you should reconsider your route if you haven't already done the route I suggested.
In my opinion you try to squeeze to many cities in one itinerary. Skip one or two cities and you will have a more enjoyable and relaxed trip. I would skip Baden-Baden and Stuttgart.
I would also skip Baden-Baden (unless you like gambling, as indicated by tfar) and also Stutgart (unless you like car museums) as suggested by caspritz78. Instead I suggest a day or two in Munich at the end of the trip (drop the car early) and not spend so much time on the autobahn. You can take an easy day trip from the city out to the Andecks Brewery on the train. There are good connections to the airport from the city.
Cologne is a bit out of the way of your trip and therefore it would cost too much time to travel there - as you have noted already in your post.
And I also share the opinions of skipping at least two cities. You will spent the most time of the day on the motorway instead of driving.
My voting would be Munich - Füssen - Salzburg - Munich and skipping everything north of Munich and maybe add Garmisch-Partenkirchen with the Zugspitze (highest mountain in Germany).
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From a german point of view:
Skip Stuttgart and Baden-Baden !
So, version 1 would be ok with Salzburg at the end before returning to Munich.
If you think the way down from Cologne to Salzburg eats up too much time (and makes too much stress) you might drop the car at Cologne and fly CGN-SZG on TUIfly. They have reasonable one-way fares if you book a bit in advance ! (the amount of gasoline you save will probably compensate the airfare ... )
... and Salzburg - Munich is a no brainer by train !!! (there´s even a direct coach/bus service from Salzburg City to Munich airport ! - if you intend to go back to Munich only to catch your flight it´s very convenient)
I know these cities are very different, but I need to choose between the two. I am 8 full days to spend in Germany, flying in and out of Munich. I've rented a car the entire time and am deciding between the two itneraries below. I really want to see Cologne, but it's a little of the way. Salzburg would be an easier spot to visit. I need a vote. Thanks.
Last October I drove Munich --> Rothenburg odT --> Cologne --> Frankfurt airport over a long weekend. Entirely enjoyable trip. The trip to Rothenburg is easy from Munich, I did the A8 to the A7 but from the airport you would most likely take A9 - A6 -A7. Those roads are fine. Rothenburg is a must see for sure! I parked my car on the street in front of the hotel but I was there in the off-season, not sure what it will be like in summer; crazy most likely...
The drive to Cologne is a mixed bag. The highway into Frankfurt pretty much sucks. Old road, heavily traveled. But the A3 from Frankfurt to Cologne is a total blast: wide, smooth, made for speed. Try to be on it during the off hours for maximum benefit. Of course the benefit to going to Cologne, other than to see the city is that you get to drive back down the Rhine river valley which is awesome and worth the diversion.
I think that since others have suggested that you not do Baden-Baden or Stuttgart (I cannot comment as I haven't driven to either) that would give you plenty of time to head back down and either do Lake Constance and the Allgau or even continue on to Salzburg.
I would say that even doing both is entirely doable. Salzburg to Munich airport is easily done the morning of your flight. If you don't mind a bit of driving then the itinerary is not excessive in my view. Also, the car is the way to go to Salzburg, the views along the way are great!
As much as we like Cologne, i agree with the other posters & recommend you skip it on this trip. Even by ICE it takes about 4 hours from Munich to Cologne & 2 hours from Munich to Saltzburg.
The second itinnery has a lot prettier scenery & is less industrial looking than the area around Cologne.
Searching this forum for travel destinations in Southern Germany will give you quite some hints. Here is the answer (with some links), I gave some time ago in a different thread:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrooge McDuck
Two weeks are rather short for the huge amount to be seen as "must see" in Europe. I strongly recommend to stay as much as possible in one (larger) area to focus on. This gives you some extra time since it reduces the travel times and gives you extra time for sight-seeing.
Bavaria, Austria & Switzerland have way too many things to do in 2 years. My recommendation - and I grew up east of Munich - are (some are less known but at least as attractive as the others):
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYGVA
Cologne is a bit out of the way of your trip and therefore it would cost too much time to travel there - as you have noted already in your post.
And I also share the opinions of skipping at least two cities. You will spent the most time of the day on the motorway instead of driving.
My voting would be Munich - Füssen - Salzburg - Munich and skipping everything north of Munich and maybe add Garmisch-Partenkirchen with the Zugspitze (highest mountain in Germany).
This would be my suggestion too. If you drive from Fuessen to Salzburg go via
the Zugspitze (and Innsbruck), it is a fabulous drive and easy in about half a
day (depending how you long you stop of course).
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in case your travel is not yet over (?) - if you really want to see Cologne (which i would support) you could also decide to make a trip by train there which is probably faster than with a car and much more relaxing.
E.g. from Stuttgart to Cologne (in case you hit stuttgart during your trip) it takes you around 2 hours in the high speed train. Maybe the trip back you chose a slower (and cheapter) train through the rhine village, this route is in my opinion one of the most beautyful train routes of germany.
If you want to have more support on that, fee free to send me a private message!
regards
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyingsaucer
This would be my suggestion too. If you drive from Fuessen to Salzburg go via
the Zugspitze (and Innsbruck), it is a fabulous drive and easy in about half a
day (depending how you long you stop of course).
Yes, I agree. And skip the austrian Autobahn, use the "normal" roud from Innsbruck to Wörgl through the inn valey. I could also suggest you a very nice restaurant in the Ziller valey along the route. Or - if you have time left, try to get up on a mointain onto more than 2.000 meters, either by car (which is possible in the ziller valley) or by a aireal cable car which is a great experience and the view and the feeling is faboulous.
Then from Woergl leave the inn valley for the direct route to salzburg through the beautyful landscape
Last edited by chrissxb; Jul 4, 09 at 3:12 am.
Reason: merged two consecutive posts - use multiquote instead :)
