Train from Amsterdam to Munich - Take a pit stop?
 

I've been a long time lurker and want to start by saying the information here is fantastic, you folks are great!

Now to my question. This upcoming September my now fiance (then wife :) ) will be Traveling to Europe on our Honeymoon. We'll be there for 13 days and have decided on visiting Amsterdam, Munich, and Prague as our three main stops. Our plan is to fly into Amsterdam and stay 3 full days, then spend 7 days in Germany going through Munich (traveling by train), and then spend 3 days in Prague.

As this is the Germany sub-forum, my question revolves around our travel through Germany. Specifically, should we make stops and spend a night or two in different cities on our way to Munich? Or will 7 days in and around Munich (we're planning on renting a car to take day trips) be good?

We're looking to take in the culture, eat great food, drink good beer, and see the sights (Castles? Awesome!). We aren't too interested in Museums or Art.

What would you recommend? Stop on our way from Amsterdam to Munich or head straight to Munich?

Thanks for your help!

Definitively take your time. I personally think that Munich is overrated. If you'd like to see some different sights on the way, think about spending a day in Cologne, and another day to visit the castles in the Rhine valley (much more authentic than, e.g., Neuschwanstein, which I'd avoid if I was you). On the way to Prague, Regensburg or Nuernberg would be another two interesting cities to visit (both cities have medieval city centers, different beer culture than the Bavarian one,...).

Welcome to FT!!

I know the Northern part of your itinerary better that the Southern, so I'll give some advise where I can.

From Amsterdam it's very easy to get off the train at Cologne, which we find a lovely city, and with the train station very central you can be at a hotel and ready to explore the city in a matter of minutes.

From Cologne you could look at taking a Rhine cruise (lovely scenery with CASTLES) to either Wiesbaden of Mainz, and then catch an onward train from there. The only wrinkle is that although the KB line sells a day ticket which allows stops between Cologne and Mainz I can't make the schedule work without stopping overnight along the way - not a bad option except it eats up another of your nights.

If you don't want to do the cruise, it's still easy enough to get back on the train to continue your journey from Cologne.

If you want to go right to Munchen, you can get direct train from Cologne that takes only 4.5 hours, making Cologne-Munchen very doable as a day trip. Or, you can take a side trip from Frankfurt and do a night in Heidelberg which is a very attractive city, and only an hour from Frankfurt by train.

Another option if you want to work in a little of France would be to rent a car in Frankfurt - I'd suggest the airport for easy access - and take a side trip to Alsace for a couple days. Amazing country and the food is to die for.

I'm just now working on Munchen myself for an upcoming trip and one thing I just learned is that Salzburg is actually the last stop within the Bayern Ticket zone, meaning you don't need to deal with a whole separate ticket (if I'm understanding correctly.)

I agree with those that say there is more to Germany than Munich, but I'd point out you can do an overnight train with a sleeper car. She Who Must Be Obeyed and I did this the other direction (Munich to Amsterdam) a few years back. Went to sleep in Munich, woke up in Amsterdam.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, it sounds like stopping is the recommended option and Cologne is definitely a place to hit. The majority of our nights will be spent using hotel points and there are also properties in Frankfurt, so I'll look to see if we can spend a day/night there as well.

TheMadBrewer - A sleeper car is an option we were initially considering. We'd spend the majority of the day in Amsterdam, hop on the car, sleep, and wake up at our destination.

I'd skip Frankfurt and spend the night in Heidelberg.

It isn't you. It isn't possible to take a cruise from Cologne to Mainz in a day as the current slows you down to much going upstream. You can only do it downstream (Mainz to Cologne). As the best of the cruise is from Koblenz to Mainz, you could take a train to Koblenz and then switch to the cruise.


I agree with others who feel that Frankfurt, otherwise known as Bankfurt is not worth stopping in, so your idea of either using it as a transfer point to go to Heidelberg or using the airport to rent a car to go to Alsace is a good one. That said, Alsace is worth a week on its own!

I like the plan to take a train to Koblenz and then the cruise onward to Mainz. The train takes more or less an hour. How far is the train station from the cuise dock? From Mainz, you can then catch a train to Frankfurt and onward from there with no difficulty. I'd need to check to be sure, but I think the train that goes straight on to Munich makes a stop at FRA, so it would likely be easier to transfer there is you plan to skip Frankfurt.

Alsace is actually quite a detour from Frankfurt and if the OP wants to see Amsterdam, Munich and Prague not worth the hassle IMHO. Cologne is a very good suggestion as it is directly on the way from Amsterdam to Frankfurt and on to Munich and worth a stop. You will be right in the middle of the town as mentioned before and can easily explore the city and see the cathedral. Cologne - Frankfurt is just a bit more than an hour and you can then catch a train to Heidelberg which takes you another 50 minutes. From Heidelberg to Munich it is another ~3 hours and you have to connect in Stuttgart which is quite a pain these days as there is construction work going on there.

I'm from the German Southwest and now travel this route as a tourist. I'd definitely recommend Ams to Colgone (overnight stay there). Then "slow" train to Mainz (see castles from train scenic route along the Rhine, this route is not used by high speed trains) overnight in HD. Then on to MUC for a few days with day trips to Lake Starnberg and Garmisch via train. Then to Prague. Do NOT rent a car -- save the money. Everything is easily reachable by train. Buy your tickets in advance from the US on the internet if you can figure out and stick to a schedule. Or buy a German Railpass for a week. Enjoy!