My family will be visiting Germany for two weeks - I'm trying to nail down accommodations and had initially planned on staying near Rothenberg-ob-der-Tauber for one week to visit Castle road and the wine region and then spend another week near Fussen and visit Bavaria including Salzburg and Lake Constance regions as long day trips. I'm wondering now if perhaps I should do 5 days in Rothenberg, 5 near Salzburg and 5 near let's say Konstanz. We'd then have less driving for day trips but more packing and unpacking. I have 2 little ones - does anyone have any advise on te best way to go?
I think that is a good plan. Personally, I would spend less time in/near Rothenberg, unless you have specific activities in mind besides the old walled towns on the Romantic Road. If you're going during the summer months, the mountain areas you've mentioned will be lovely AND lively.
It would be fun to find a stay on a farm or rural gasthaus, for the kids. I don't have anyplace specific in mind. Don't be afraid to consider hostels, which often accommodate families and can be quite nice in Alpine areas.
Kids will probably enjoy the lifts up the mountains, to views and hiking trails. One particularly nice accessible place is the Konigsee, which also has quiet electric boats to tour the lake. The large beer gardens will be comfortable for you with kids, as they will have space to run around and kid-friendly food like those big pretzels. Have fun! Linda
Posts: 934 | Location: Outlying area of Chicago | Registered: 15 September 2004
I have never been to Rothenberg (on the list) or stayed overnight on Lake Constance, but we have spent a lot of time in the area around Fussen and also around Salzburg, the first time when our daughter was about four. We've returned to both those areas several times over the years.
I think your idea of staying longer in fewer places is a good one, though I'd be careful about daytripping too far away. A drive of more than an hour and a half (maybe two hours) in either direction is a lot of driving, especially if you are covering some of the same territory.
We have always enjoyed the village of Oberammergau and its painted houses. Linderhof Castle is nearby, and you can get to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in an hour, traveling part of the way on the Romantic Road. There's a place to rent bikes in Oberammergau and some easy places to ride. Salzburg would be too far away for a day trip.
Salzburg itself is a good base or in the Salzkammergut (lake and mountain region outside Salzburg). We love the village of St. Gilgen on Lake Wolfgang. You could easily get to the Konigsee from the Salzburg area. Depending on the age of your kids, a trip to one of the saltmines is a wonderful experience.
On that first trip (which also included Munich), our daughter loved all the different forms of transportation. We rode on funiculars, mountain trains, cable cars, boats, horse carriages, trains, subways etc. There are two sommerrodelbahns near St. Gilgen also (a luge-type ride) that she really enjoyed. And you can ride the cable car or mountain train to the top of the mountain for amazing views and easy hiking.
We have very few musts on this trip - we went to Italy last year and while it was incredible, it was also a bit frantic trying to make sure we saw "everything" We picked Salzburg as one base as my daughter is obsessed with the sound of music. We also really want to see Neuschwanstein and Rothenberg. We're flying into Munich and figured we'd start at Salzbourg. We could hit the touristy Sound of Music stuff, but also perhaps do some hiking in the Berchtegarden. We'd hit the castles at Neuschwanstein while heading to Meersburg and spend a few days sailing and exploring - perhaps jump over into Switzerland. then we'd head to the area outside rothenberg (we're looking at staying at one of the castles 15 miles or so outside it and check out castle road and maybe venture as far as the wine region around Strasbourg if we were getting itchy in that area. If there is something huge we're missing, please let me know. But in general we want to be low key on this trip.
Debbie, there are so many wonderful things in this area, you are definitely going to miss something-- just like I've missed Rothenberg so far in all my trips.
If you want to be more low key, I would spend more time in fewer places and try to avoid using huge chunks of time to move to another place. I find it helpful to look at one of the map websites and check the driving time between locations to see what's really practical and decide how much of your time you want to spend in the car.
The Sound of Music tour is actually a lot of fun, especially for people who love the movie and the music.
And Munich is a wonderful city too. (For kids, there is a fabulous zoo and a great science and technology museum.)
The wine region near Rothenburg is excellent, we have stayed there several times. There are lovely little towns and villages there - Ipfhofen and Volkach are ones we particularly liked. And you are also within easy reach of Wuerzburg and Nuernberg.
If you want some variety, I would add the Bavarian Forest - lower altitude forested mountains - as a stop on your way to the South and then do your 3rd stop in the Berchtesgaden/Salzburg area. The forest is very relaxing with lots for children to do, especially seeing the forest animals - brown bears, lynx etc.
I;m not sure if you are still planning, but I thought I'd add a couple of ideas to the pot.
I'd choose two, maybe three areas and stick to that. All of the ones you've mentioned have plenty to do. I don't have kids, so I can't really speak for that... I'm also very partial to Munich.
I enjoyed Rothenburg and that area, including Dinkelsbuhl and the Romantic Road up above Mainz... The castles on the river are really lovely. Maybe a boat trip to see some of that? I think kids could enjoy some of those towns and castles... Wuerzburg and Nueremburg are less exciting, IMO.
The Ludwig II castles are, perhaps, more spectacular for kids, though... they are not medieval ruined fortresses, but like mini fantasy palaces. However, doing all in a day and a half or so (Linderhof, then Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau) could be tedious for children. Why not take a ferry onto the Chiemsee? Or go for some nature walks? I like kaydee's idea of trying out all the forms of transportation out there! I'm not a fan of horse-drawn carriages, but funiculars and the like are cool!
Down near Salzburg and Berchtesgaden you can also do a salt mine tour. (There are many to choose from). I think kids would really enjoy that. I never did the Sound of Music stuff, but I bet I would have found it fun, even if a bit hokey...
I think I would forget Switzerland on this trip... It's gorgeous... but you need time to get around. Time to get there, and time to get around once in there. They don't have German autobahns!!! The roads are slower and they do ticket heavily! Also, there is a border crossing that is not too time-consuming, but is there. You don't have that in the Schenegan states (so Austria to Germany and the reverse are like crossing state boundaries).
I'd save Switzerland for another trip--maybe when the kids are older and love to hike.
"Many a trip continues long after movement in time and space has ceased." (John Steinbeck)
Posts: 391 | Location: Back in Seattle! | Registered: 07 February 2004
Actually, Switzerland joined the Schengen zone in December last year, so there's no longer any passport control at the border. However, the Schengen agreement allows for free passage of people, but not goods/services: since Switzerland is not part of the European Union, there is still customs control to make sure you're not bringing in illegal amounts of food & drink.
Jonathan
Posts: 3395 | Location: Stroud, UK | Registered: 18 November 2001
Hi Debbie... I just posted this on another thread... but think it applies here as well...
We based in Fussen while in Bavaria in June 2007... great location in the heart of the beautiful Bavarian Alps... from Fussen it is very easy to visit three of King Ludwig's Castles (Neuscwhanstein, Hohenschwangau & Linderhofthese ...IMO, these are not to be missed), Oberammergau, Garmish, Innsbruck, Wieskirche-Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour (a UNESCO World Heritage Site.), and not too far from Munich or Salzburg. The whole area is absolutely breathtaking!
After spending 4 days in Fussen... we traveled the Romantic Road to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and spent 2 nights there... loved it! We took the twilight tour offered in the center square every night by the "Night Watchman" ... definitely do this! Lots of Kathe Wohlfahrt Christmas Shops...and we spent a lot of time buying Christmas Pyramids to ship home. As much as I loved this town, I do not think there is tons to do or see here.
I must say, other than farmland, we did not think there was much to see on the Romantic Road between Fussen and Rothenburg ob der Tauber...lots more down near Fussen.
While in Fussen we stayed at Suzanne's B & B ...the link will give you reviews... this B&B offers the perfect location for walking to town for dinner and for visiting the surrounding area...it offers large, clean rooms and a very nice breakfast...but as many of the reviews indicate, Suzanne is a "no nonsense" type of personality... not warm and fuzzy... that being said, she was very helpful and runs a very nice B&B.
We loved our visit to Bavaria... and hope to return one day very soon.
I am sure you will totally enjoy your trip to this part of Germany!
Karen
Posts: 360 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: 26 January 2005
Thanks so much for all the ideas and comments - we head out next week. We settled on Salzburg for 5 days - Fussen for 5 days and Rotheberg-ob-der Tauber for 5 days - hope to do lots of outdoors stuff and a few castles.
Just wanted to say that we just got back from our trip - we had a fabulous time. We really loved Salzburg and wished we could have stayed there longer. Fussen was also great, we ended up shortening the time there to squeeze in Alsace (I know, I know it was probably too much) we did really like Eguisheim and the other little villages though, and the food was wonderful! We ended with 5 days near Rothenburg which as Karen had mentioned, doesn't have a lot to do there. In some ways though, that was good, because we were a bit burned out on the touristy things - so ended the vacation very relaxed.
Welcome back, Debbie! It seems you had a great trip. When things settle down, would you consider writing for our members some reviews of the places where you stayed, maybe a trip report?
I hope you do and here is how to go about it. Thank you!
