Thinkin%26#39; ahead to next November/December.
We%26#39;re headed to Frankfurt (%26#39;cause that%26#39;s the cheapest flight we can get)
If we take 5 days to see the cooler parts of Germany, where would you guys recommend? Should we stay in Frankfurt and take day trips or go city-to-city and then end back up in Frankfurt to fly home?
All responses are gratefully appreciated.
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I like the area east and south of Frankfurt known as Franken or Franconia. Towns include Würzburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber,Regensburg and Nürnberg. Selecting 2-4 of these, I would overnight in the various locations. Trips among these towns are in Bavarian and can be done on the dicounted Bayern-Ticket. Trips from Frankfurt to any of them cross state borders and are more expensive.
The Rhein and Mosel Valleys are handiest to Frankfurt. Nov-Dec might not be their high season, I believe that a person could get a lot out of 5 days in the region at that time of year.
If you decided after looking at the options that you want to see the Alps or the Black Forest instead, you might find the savings on your plane ticket eaten up in train fares. You might be better to fly into Stuttgart for the Black Forest and Heidelberg. In the same way, Munich might be overall cheaper if you wanted to see the mountains and the royal castles near Füssen.
Germany is a very diverse country. I could not try to canvas the whole thing in a few days. Pick some area that stirs your imagination and focus on it. A good guide might give a overview of possibilities. the Eyewitness Guide is good for pictures and the Michelin Green Guide lays things out best for a first visit with maps of principal sights.
Regards, Gary
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I agree with Trikist, pick one area and focus on it. Most any place in Germany and within 100 km of there will have more excellent things to see and do than you can do in a month.
Seeing I live in Stuttgart, I%26#39;ll put in a plug for it. Stuttgart (www.stuttgart-tourist.de) has Europe%26#39;s largest Christmas market which is also one of the oldest and most beautiful. There is also the Christmas circus. Nearby accessible by local transportation are two smaller themed Christmas markets that each attract over a million visitors a year, Ludwigsburg Baroque Christmas Market and Esslingen Medieval Christmas Market. Click on my name and there should be more information and links given on these Christmas Markets.
Stuttgart has Europe%26#39;s second largest mineral waters after Budapest, and there are three large public baths where you can enjoy the waters, including the Leuze one where you can swim in bubbly carbonated water. The Mercedes Benz museum is excellent and enjoyed by all, containing the world%26#39;s first car and motorcycle, (after all, Stuttgart is where the automobile was invented), Mercedes through the years, racing cars, and cars driven or used by famous people, like the Popemobile. Unfortunately, the new Porsche museum is projected to open in 2008, but they now have on display a small number of their cars which would appeal to Porsche enthusiasts and racing fans. Wilhelma, Europe%26#39;s largest combined zoo-botanical gardens is set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace. The Staatsgallerie is excellent for art. Architecturally, Stuttart has some nice sights such as the first modern TV tower in the world (almost 51 years old) which has viewing platforms and the houses of Weissenhof-Siedlung where 16 architects from 5 European countries built houses in 1927. Any town at the end of the six S-bahn lines makes a pleasant place to visit for a few hours such as Weil der Stadt (the astronomer Keppler%26#39;s hometown) or Marbach (the poet Schiller%26#39;s hometown).
In the center of Stuttgart are the old and new palaces, the Stiftskirche, and the Markthalle with the sights and smells of gourmet foods, fruits and vegetables from around the world. There are a number of other good interesting museums including the Museum am Loewentor which is excellent with local dinosaur skeletons, ice age mammals, and a nice amber collection. Stuttgart also has excellent opera and ballet, and there are numerous musical performances.
Within 100 km (60 miles) of Stuttgart are: the Northern part of the Black Forest; my favorite low mountain range the Schwaebische Alb with its caves and castles; the Swabian-Franconian Forest; two fairy tale-like castles- Lichtenstein and Hohenzollern (Hechingen); two nice old college towns- Heidelberg and Tuebingen (which I prefer); three nice medieval monasteries- world heritage Maulbronn, Bebenhausen, and walled Comburg; the largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace in Germany at Ludwigsburg with visitable rooms of the kings, queens and dukes, four museums including an excellent one on clothing from the 1700%26#39;s to present and a ceramics one, extensive gardens (including a fairy tale portion), a porcellan manufacturer and sales, and two smaller associated palaces set in a deer park; the walled medieval cities of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Noerdlingen, and Dinkelsbuehl; Hohenneuffen, the largest castle ruins of many on the Schwaebische Alb; Germany%26#39;s oldest state stables at Marbach (Gomadingen); the idyllic Grosse Lauter Valley with one of the highest concentrations of castles in Germany; Ulm with the cathedral having the highest church spire in the world; The Maerklin Museum in Goeppingen where model trains were invented; the vineyards and castles along the Neckar River between Stuttgart and Heidelberg; and numerous towns with excellent old town centers such as Besigheim, Lauffen, Schwaebisch Hall, Schwaebisch Gmuend, and Bad Urach. This is only a small selection of nice excellent places to visit close to Stuttgart.
I%26#39;m sure you would enjoy this region of Germany. There are direct flights between Atlanta and Stuttgart on Delta. If using the Frankfurt airport, it takes a little over an hour by train from there and there are frequent (I believe hourly) trains. In Stuttgart, a nice central hotel in which to stay is the City Hotel on Uhlandsstrasse which is a 5-10 minute walk from the Schlossplatz (center of Stuttgart) or a few minute U-bahn ride.
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To get to Stuttgart from Frankfurt, how about meandering off the beaten path through the Odenwald area (especially the medieval town of Michelstadt). Thanks to other TA reviews, which I am grateful, I skipped Frankfurt and went straight to Michelstadt for one night. Nice, cozy, cheaper little town with character as opposed to big megapolis like Frankfurt. The Christmasmarket there is nice too, but gets super packed on weekends. And almost nobody there speaks English, squashing the age-old myth about Germans speaking English...but they%26#39;re super nice %26amp; friendly.
I imagine that the Odenwald would be quite beautiful when the autumn colors peak. November is probably too late for that.
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