Driving Tour of Germany: Suggestions?

[dlai]

My wife and I will be doing a driving tour of Germany. We've never been to Germany before so we don't really know what to expect. I've already rented a car via Auto Europe, requesting a Golf TDI. I have a free upgrade so we're hoping we get lucky and end up with an Audi A3 TDI Hatchback. We're flying into Frankfurt and plan to drive the following route, staying each night at the end destination:

Frankfurt to Rothenburg
Rothenburg to Munich
Munich to Salzburg
Salzburg to Fussen
Fussen to Triberg
Triberg to Strasbourg
Strasbourg to Heidelberg
Heidelberg to Frankfurt

So far, we are planning to stop by Wurzburg, the BMW museum, and Neuschwanstein. My wife plans to do some shopping along with our sightseeing. We'll be staying at several Pensions and B&Bs along the way. I did try to get tickets to the BMW factory tour but they are sold out during the period of our visit. Does anyone know how to get tickets if they're sold out?

Does anyone have any suggestions on what we should be seeing and doing during our drive? Any ideas or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks and I hope to post pics when I get back.

Dan

 

[madajb]

Spend some time at Heidelberg Castle, it's quite interesting and in good shape.

In Salzburg, if you like tourist kitsch, take one of the Sound of Music tours. Totally lame, but in a good way.
Also, there used to be a pretzel vendor in Salzburg right near the giant chessboard. Get yourself a giant pretzel and watch the old guys play chess.
There's a cable car up Untersberg that gives you amazing views on a clear day. Keep in mind that the wind kicks up, so take a jacket even if you're not sure you'll need it.

It's slightly off your stated course, but I'd plan to swing over to Sinsheim and visit the Auto and Technik Museum.

In Munich, make sure you're in the square at 11 a.m. for the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.

If your wife wants to shop, Rothenburg ob der Taube has shopping. Lots of shopping. A crapload. It's also got a mile long(or so) city wall you can walk around.

I've never been, but I've wanted to go to the Schwarzwälder Freilichtmuseum Vogtsbauernhof north of Triberg.

-ajb

 

[rodejetta]

Ah, you have a major problem: not nearly enough time! In Füssen you have to see the castle of course, but going across into Austria is also very beautiful, if you go direction Tirol. In that area near Füssen somewhere is the Wiesenkirche (not sure on exact spelling), a baroque little church in the middle of nowhere with beautiful paintings inside. Near Rothenburg is a rebuilt Roman army camp site, or wait, maybe that was in Rottenburg near Frankfurt. Make sure you drive the Schwarzwalder Hochstraße, great scenery. There are also wines there besides the clocks. Then take the route directly along the Rhine (not the Autobahn) and try not to taste too much wine. Beautiful very old villages and castles (Marksburg is a nice one) and there is the Lorelei. Try to take Hundsrück Hohenstraße, and go depending on time left to Zell, or better Trier (with 2000 year history!) and the drive to Koblenz along the Mosel river, again trying not to taste too much! There then is the volcanic area near Maria Laach near Koblenz.
This is off the top of my head, barely thinking about it, so you see my first remark is true.... Have a great trip!

 

[FowVay]

As mentioned above.. spend some time in these lovely cities. Don't just hop from place to place but spend at least two nights in each place and get out on the streets and enjoy the culture. If you're staying with people at their guest houses then you will certainly have some good conversation. I once stayed at the old farmer Braun residence in Edesheim (wine country). We were obligated to eat dinner with them. Old man Braun didn't speak english but his son was fluent. After dinner we went out to his garage where he had two WW2 era BMW motorcycles completely restored and a open-top Mercedes in perfect running order. We didn't get them out to ride but they gave us plenty to discuss for the evening as we drank wine and walked the property.

Spend some time learning the road signs. Know what a detour sign looks like, know that they DO NOT have 'right turn on red after stop' unless indicated by a sign, and when you go into Austria and France don't forget that their Autobahn does have a speed limit. Austria requires a toll sticker for your windshield that you can buy at a gas station and France is notorious for their motorway fees. Just be aware and if you have any questions just stop at the gas stations near the country borders and ask. People are always happy to help and seem to love practicing their english.

If you're going to Strasbourg then I recommend driving through the German wine country and stopping at my friends house in Edesheim and buying a couple of bottles of wine. These folks will talk your ear off and if you have time to spare they'll take you on a tour of their winery. It's very small but impressive. I got to ride their grape picker machine once and that was fun. They also have a furnished apartment you can rent nightly (they call apartments "Flats" due to their British english instruction) and if you're nice they'll let you use their bicycles to ride the town. Edesheim is between Landau i.d. Pflaz and Edenkoben on the A65 autobahn. There's also a amusement park for the kids if you have time to drive to it. It's called Holiday Park and is like a small Disney World but does have one of the world's fastest rollercoasters if you're into that stuff. It's a drive outside of Edesheim but it's fun and good break from the travels. If you're interested in their place you can see their web page at www.weingut-rehm.de . Their last name is Rehm and you can e-mail them.

Again, since you're coming back from Strasbourg enroute to Heidelberg you'll drive right past the Hochenheim race track that we always read so much about. There's a museum there and a drag race museum too. The track is off of the A6 so you'll have to do some detouring. If you can, swing the price get a Navi in your car and before you leave the rental car place get them to help you set it for English (unless you're fluent in Deutsch). I was cruising down to Garmisch once and my navi told me to take the next parallel carriageway. It repeated the command two more times before I realize what it was telling me to do. It was telling me to drive along the feeder road for 50km's before I got on the A9 from the A99. I missed my exit and was heading north instead of south. It was no problem though and I just love driving Germany no matter where I'm going. Ausfahrt isn't a town and they never tell you if you're going north or south,, they just tell you the name of the next town on the route. Even with Navi it's a great idea to get a map of the area you're going to be in.

Sorry for the long post. I got going and forgot this was a internet forum..

Güt fahrt (and that's not a naughty phrase) ;o)

 

[VW Derf]

As mentioned above take your time in these places. I never give myself enough time to really enjoy the different towns and villages. I'm more familiar with the southern Germany and Austria so my tips are targeted towards there.

Things to check out/consider:

• Großglockner High Alpine Road (48 kilometers of panoramic road with 36 hairpin bends, ascending to 2,504 meters )
  
• If spending time in Salzburng, the Salzburg Travel card can be a great deal
• Salzkammergut (Salzburg Lake District) & Hallstatt
• Deutsche Alpenstrasse
• Zugspitze (Tallest mountain in Germany)
  

Good luck and viel spaß

 

[GassinGerhard]

http://www.andechs.de/index.asp?lng=en

http://www.augustinerkeller.de/

http://www.rent-racecar.de/gb/

http://www.viamichelin.com/viamichelin/int/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

I had a bunch of explanations, pictures, and ideas but log-in probs screwed everything up and I lost my patience.

I've got lots of friends and family there. Can't wait for my next trip.

 

[dlai]

Gary! Where you been, buddy? Long time no see, no talk! Peter, Norman, and the rest of us were wondering how you're doing! Thanks for the links, I'll check them out. What have you been up to? Still have the car?

 

[dlai]

Everyone, thanks for the suggestions, it's very much appreciated. I do have my own gps with maps of Europe so I should be set.

Fred: Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely check those out and thanks for the tip on the travel card.

FowVay: Thanks for the long post, I really appreciate it. Lots of info. I think I will try and check out Hochenheim. I was thinking that there would not be much going on there since it's not race season, but I understand there's a museum there.

rodejetta: You're right, there is not enough time. I'm going to try and folow some of your suggestions, including Marksburg.

madajb: I put the Auto and Technik Musuem on the agenda and I have a strong feeling the wife will do some serious shopping in Rothenburg. The Rathaus-Glockenspiel in Munich we were going to do anyways.

I'm still working on fine tuning our trip so keep the suggestions coming if you have them, it's all very much appreciated!

 

[HeAvYfUeL]

I have been to the BMW museum but I would not want to see it again or recommended to anybody. A waste of time. Maybe try to visit autostadt at the VW Wolfsburg plant. http://www.autostadt.de/portal/site/www/template.PAGE/
Now that looks interesting.

 

[nortones2]

Could try the Deutches Museum in Munich on the MuseumInsel if you have a few hours - lots of mechanical interest, not surprising for a technology museum! Cars etc plus Heinkels, and V2 rocket - full size. http://www.deutsches-museum.de/

 

[Hansi]

I've rented through this site, lot's of helpful information as well, www.gemut.com

 

[ubercam]

I am partial to Berlin myself, way way too much to see in one trip though. It seems you're sticking to the south though, which is cool. Spent some time in Munich as well but I like Berlin better.

If you want to take some nice panoramic photos in Munich, climb the old bell tower thing across from Marienplatz (you'll see it if your back is to the Glockenspiel). It costed 1 euro or something but was well worth it.

The oldest city in Germany is Trier and it's on the Mosel river near Luxembourg. It's nice for a day trip but I wouldn't spent much more time than that there... I'd know I used to live there haha. If you do go, check out the Amphitheatre, Roman baths (Kaiserthermen), other random ruins, oh and the Porta Nigra of course! The cathedral is interesting too, as well as the Roman basilica.

Also since documenta is not going on this summer, don't spend too much time in Kassel. The Hercules and Wasserspiele are cool, as well as the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe. I think most German just see Kassel on the signs when they're driving past on the A7. No one really ever stops. Although, VW has an enormous parts factory there (in very nearby Baunatal, you can't miss it), which I wanted to go see but didn't. Just make sure you're driving a VW or they won't let you park on their property lol.. as funny as that sounds I'm dead serious.

Wherever you end up, have fun! I wish I could go more often, but I'm stuck with going for only a few days once a year at Christmas time.

 

[GassinGerhard]

Gary! Where you been, buddy? Long time no see, no talk! Peter, Norman, and the rest of us were wondering how you're doing! Thanks for the links, I'll check them out. What have you been up to? Still have the car?

Yeah, I'm still here. But then again, I haven't been driving the Golf too much lately - maybe once a week. I used to have to buy new tires every six months. It's been over two years now since I've bought any tires and there's plenty of tread still left. It seems like I refuel about once a month. I've got a company van, a diesel 1 ton Ford van and my motorcycles have been keeping me busy as well.

I blew up the transmission last summer. It has a Quaife and a tall fifth gear so I didn't just wanna buy a new one. I replaced the clutch as well. Total cost was just over Five Grand. The car could still could use a little TLC. I'm in the process of replacing some small bits that are falling apart like interior parts, etc. It's got 162k on the odometer, still runs strong and gets better mileage than ever. I hope I never wreck it or have to sell it.

I'm not too happy about these new smog regs I've been reading about lately. My check engine light's been on forever.

Have fun in Germany and drive the rental car like you stole it. There are some really fun, twisty roads in the Taunus Mountains that aren't heavily trafficked - similar to Highway 9 on a weekday, but the pavement's better, the locals are courteous and haul ass. It's within twenty minutes of Frankfurt AM and Wiesbaden. I highly recommend driving up to the Großer Feldberg near Schmitten. If you go, watch out for motorcyclists.

http://www.billeaud.com/Feldberg_21_Sep_03.htm

 

[MayorDJQ]

Has no one mentioned beer yet?? Don't forget to sample the local favorites. Have lunch/dinner at the Hoffbrauhaus in Munich.

 

[ubercam]

I prefer Augustiner to Hofbräuhaus. The beer was much better there in my opinion. The food was also VERY good and reasonably priced. If you're going in the evening, try to make a reservation because it does get very busy. You will have no trouble making some new friends in there if you go. One of the people I went with has known the manager for like 20+ years and we got some free mugs from behind the bar to take home.

If you find yourself in Bamberg, try the Rauchbier (smoke beer), it's apparently very very good, and unique to that city. What they do produce is for local consumption and very little, if any, is exported, so drink it while you can.

If you like Weißbier (wheat beer), try Franziskaner. It's a bit harder to find in the North, but in the South it's everywhere. Some people prefer Schöfferhofer, Paulaner, or Erdinger, but it's all what you enjoy. They tend to be a bit sweeter and very yeasty. Also don't mind the 1-2" of head, that's how it's meant to be poured.

I really enjoyed Weißbier but my tastes evolved away from that and I prefer a nice hoppy Pils, such as Krombacher. I still enjoy the occasional Weißbier but I can't drink them all day like I used to.. they seem fill you up really fast and after a few the sweetness gets to you.

But yeah whatever you do, sample as many freakin kinds as you can handle! That's the best part about Germany... well aside from the no speed limit signs (plain white circle with a black outline and 5 diagonal black lines through the middle) Just don't mix the two!!!!!

 

[MayorDJQ]

If you drive on the Autobahn, be sure to practice Rechtsfahren.