Germany

[intreker05]

Hey everyone,
I have a question for people that have traveled in Germany. This summer I'm spending six weeks in London for school but then my parents are going to come to London and the three of us are going to go to Germany for two weeks. We'll be in London for three more days, Brugge for two, and I basically have nine days in Germany. I think we'll spend three days in Munich. I really want to see Dachau and some other places but I wanted to ask your advice on where to go next. I'm not big into parties or big cities since many of them look really similar. So, does anyone have any neat suggestions of cities we can go to. Also, we have a car so train access isn't necessary, though I'm sure it's available all around Germany. Anyway, just let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks.

[madamtrashheap]

intreker05, do you mean you'll have 9 days on top of the 2 weeks you'll be in Germany with your parents? Or 9 days total in Germany?

Munich is a good base for visiting the Romantic Road castles (Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Lindau) and while you're in the area, and have a car, take a trip to Herrenchiemsee and see Ludwig's version of Versailles on the island. Dachau is about 30-45mins by car from the centre of the city (depends what side you're staying and traffic), but is easily accessible. There's also a monastery at Andechs ( www.andechs.de ) that may be interesting to you and your family.

Other places in Germany to consider are Berlin, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dresden, Trier and Titisee (both in the of the Black Forest), depending on how far north you plan to travel you could also look at Bremen, Hamburg and Lübeck. Also the Rhein Valley Mittelrhein section between Köln (Cologne) and (including Koblenz) Bingen is gorgeous and well worth a visit - either driving along the river or taking a cruise for a day or two.

I'm sure the others will have many suggestions for you, but if you can clarify the amount of time in total you plan to spend there that will allow for suggestions that won't have you backtracking.

[intreker05]

Yes, I apologize. I do realize I made that unclear. I have two weeks overall but 9 days in Germany and since we're spending 3 days in Munich I basically need advice on places to go for the next six days. So, if anyone could give maybe their top three favorite German cities. I'd like to stay on the eastern part of the country basically going from north to south instead of too far West since we do have to get back to Munich eventually. I also figure that Berlin will be as far north as we want to go. Thanks for the advice. I hope this makes everything a little more clear.

[herrbert]

Well you are rather in the south of Germany, so you might also want to include a piece of Austria in your trip. You could head west towards Füssen for the Castles (Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwanau), head south from there towards Imst (nice place!) or Innsbruck, and return via Salzburg to Munich. If you really like to do some hiking, I would head for the national park the Hohe Tauern, and go for a walk in one of the Valleys. (The Habachtal, between Krimml and Mittersill is my favourite 3-4 hours by car from Munich, and you can avoid the Autobahn tax in Austria.)

There are some smaller towns in the south, that are interesting. The Madam, already mentioned Rothenburg, which is not too far away.

I did enjoy a stop in Nördlingen for a couple of hours. Which is a walled town. I only spend a few hours there, but it might be worth a longer visit. You could easily combine it with

Not too far from Munich is a town called Landshut, which is a nice place to go and see.

If you like to see the Alps. (from Munich you can't), you should head south to Berchtesgaden. Maybe go hiking near Königsee.

P.S. Trier is in the Eiffelregion, close to Luxembourg. Worth a visit, but as you want to stick to the east, too far west.