Saturday, April 21, 2012

Driving from Rottenburg od der Tauber to Fussen

HI everyone





My friends and I are planning a trip to the Munich area in Sept 07. One of my friends is very unsure about driving in Germany and wants to take the train everywhere. What do you experts think? Pros and Cons?





Thank you for your help





Sharon




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I%26#39;ve always driven in Germany, and so my prejudice favors the car over the train, particularly from Rotenburg to Fussen, which takes you along the so-called %26quot;Romatic Road,%26quot; through several charming old towns. The drive from Fussen to Munich is also lovely.



The road quality and signage in Germany is first rate. Some folks stress about the high speeds on the autobahns, for which Germany is famous, but for many of the rest of us, (a) it%26#39;s fun, and (b) most of the time, the highway speeds aren%26#39;t much different than you%26#39;ve seen on dear old I-5 near Paradise, CA, when the CHP isn%26#39;t looking. If those speeds bother you, then by all means, take the train.



The usual tip I give: don%26#39;t go cheap-o on the rental car, because driving in Germany (and Italy, the other European speed-burner country) is a whole lot less stressful when you%26#39;ve got the horsepower to keep up with the locals. You don%26#39;t need a Benz or Beamer, either - - plenty of Opel, VW and Ford models are reasonably priced and have plenty of power for the job.




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Have your friend go to Brians Complete Guide to Getting Around Germany%26quot; http://home.att.net/~texhwyman/verkehr.htm . It is a great site to describe every aspect of driving in Germany, parking, taking the local S-Bahn and U-Bahn, signage, speeds, driving customs etc. Very well laid out and easy to navigate.



The A-7 runs from Rothenburg to (almost) Fussen. It is usually fairly open and an easy drive--- except--A couple of things. You may wish to come back here around August and see if anyone can tell you if the A7 between Fussen and Nesselwang ( about 18k north of Fussen) is finished. If not, you will be directed to detour onto the 310 through Nesselwang. Channeling all that tourist traffic into a small town with narrow streets can be a horror. Traffic frequently proceeds at a walking pace. If you have a good map, there is an easy back road from Fussen to Enzenstetten to A7 that is usually better.



Also, you may hit a traffic jam at the intersection of the A7 and A8 near Ulm. Just be patient and you will get through. Again, a good map can show you sideroads to bypass the autobahn if it seems really bad-- and seeing the German countryside at a slower pace is worth it.



As the other poster mentioned-- don%26#39;t cheap out on the rental car. You don%26#39;t need a Benz to do the autobahn, but get something bigger than an Opel Corsa, unless you like doing 95 MPH behind a screaming sewing machine.



Don%26#39;t know your parties age or size, but while you are in Rothenburg, I can recommend dinner at the Klosterstubel to everyone. Erica runs it (and the hotel there) and both are quite good. And do not miss the 8PM nightwatchman tour with George.




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For travel between major cities, travel by train would be recommended but driving would be a much more practical way to get from Rothenburg to Füssen. The website for the Romantic Road is http://www.romantischestrasse.de/?lang=uk




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If your plan is to take in some smaller towns along the Romanticstrasse, then a car would be easier. Some places, like Dinkelsbühl can only be reached by a combination of train and bus travel. Plus train travel to/from both Füssen and Rothenburg can be cumbersome with multiple transfers.





I lived in German for 6 years and found autobahn travel to be mostly boring (lack of scenery) and sometimes irritating. Some drivers are unforgiving if you do not know the road and which lane to be in. If you make a mistake they have to run into you. After all, how are you going to learn if they do not run into you. :%26lt;}





With time enough, traveling by car in German on secondary roads can give you the flavor of the countryside.





Train travel is to my tastes. I feel that you are more immersed in the culture that you are visiting. Scenery is better than the autobahn imo. But, as I mentioned above it takes some transfers between Füssen and Rothenburg.





Have fun with whatever choice you make.





Regards, Gary




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Thank you everyone. I will go over all of this with my friend though I have a feeling we will end up on the trains. I am sure we will have a blast on either one but the train may be better for her nerves.





Sharon




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Sharann



When you rent acar MAKE SURE it has GPS it make it very easy to get around a map helps with spelling of city names and germany has several towns with the same nameor close to the same name. My wife ahd spent 18 days in Oct thereand did alot of driving it was alot of fun.Thank God for the GPS.



Have a great time. poplew




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DB timetable



http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en



From: Rothenburg ob der Tauber



To: Fuessen





Not the most straight route by train. But OK.



Use the most direct route served by local trains, not the detours (connections with (faster) IC or ICE trains). If you stick to local trains you can use the Bavaria Ticket. This is a day ticket covering all local trains in Bavaria. Plus nearly all other local public transport (e.g. the buses in Rothenburg or the bus from Füssen to Hohenschwangau (Neuschwanstein Castle). On weekdays however only valid past 9am.



Bavaria Ticket Single (q person) EUR 18,00



Bavaria Ticket (2-5 persons) EUR 25,00





Train is more relaxing. Esp. for the one who don%26#39;t has to drive the car. You also see more from Germany, as the autobahns have many noice protection walls.





With a car you%26#39;re more flexible. On your timing. But also where to stay.





In bigger cities (Munich, Nuremberg) stick to local public transport. Parking is not that easy to find there. If you insist on free parking this will become also difficult in places like Rothenburg or Hohenschwangau.




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Sharann



Ialso had no trouble parking in Rothenburg, Numemburg orany place in Germany Every town we went to had Park Platz some free some paid . the trouble was finding out how to pay to get out .the most I paid was 8 euros and that was for about 6 Hr. and that was in the middle of Numemburg. Don%26#39;t sweat the small stuff just go have FUN.



Have a great TIME poplew




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oops misspelled Nuremburg



poplew




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Thanks again everyone. This is going to help so much. I can%26#39;t wait to go!





Happy New Year!





Sharann

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