Go down the Rhine to Boppard

https://www.tripsavvy.com/what...pard-germany-4141718

and Oberwesel

https://www.tripadvisor.com/At...land_Palatinate.html

And finally Rudesheim

https://www.tripadvisor.com/At..._am_Rhein_Hesse.html

Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum in Rüdesheim is fascinating! Also a very nice gondola up the mountain. https://www.flickr.com/photos/...153/with/5288206401/

Reading this thread with interest. The year after next, my wife and I are planning an extended trip to Europe and southern Germany (in particular) is an area we want to see. A trip to Stuttgart is certainly in the offing and we may even do the Porsche tour of Germany, parts of Switzerland, and N Italy.

OK flashguy you stole literally every place I was going to recommend. Cologne, Aachen, Strasbourg and now Rudesheim.

Well done sir!

Staying in small towns and smaller cities is far cheaper than the big cities. I recommend a rental car, and a drive through the Rhein/Moselle wine districts, as well as through Bavaria. Don’t forget the most touristy spot in the world, Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria.
I’v stayed at peoples’ homes in villages and rural areas of Bavaria—it’s picture post card perfect.
Also mentioned was Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Note that there are plenty of hiking and biking trails around these towns such as Rothenburg.
If you get to Rothenburg go to the Italian Eis-Cafe in the town square and order a Gute-Nacht-Kuss for me.
Sweet memories.
I proposed to my wife in the old castle in Heidelberg, 50 years ago on July 23.

Great suggestions thus far. I'll add one more that would be close for you.

If an 850+ year old castle interests you, go see Burg Eltz.

https://burg-eltz.de/en/

quote:

Originally posted by furlough:
OK flashguy you stole literally every place I was going to recommend. Cologne, Aachen, Strasbourg and now Rudesheim.

Well done sir!

I didn't "steal" Rüdesheim--I was responding to Wreckless's post just ahead of mine....

There are a lot of castles along the Neckar River: Hirschhorn, Swingenberg and Horneck (Gundelsheim), Guttenberg, Hornberg. Sometimes there are demonstrations of trained raptors at the Burg Guttenberg: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157637430388336/. It is possible to arrange an overnight stay at Burg Hornberg (basic, but adequate https://www.flickr.com/photos/...m-72157637430719235/ ).

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Takr the train to Munich (Munchen) and a local

That train ride one-way is going to be around 4.5 to 5 hours with a regular train and maybe 2.5 hours on the ICE, just so the OP understands if he's planning on day trips.

OP: Frankfurt itself is a good place to explore and I would also say check out Stuttgart (Porsche museum, etc), the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nuremberg.

You MUST also get a Doner Kebab while there! Turkish immigrants answer to the Greek Gyro, but WAY better!




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab#Germany

Aw man. What I would give to get to the Markt Platz in Darmstadt. Used to hit a place that was owned by a Greek family. Thin sliced leg of lamb, not that processed loaf stuff. A side of fried goat cheese as well. I'm drooling thinking of it.

I was stationed in Darmstadt for almost 5 years between 1985 and 1990. I don't remember the name of that restaurant but I'm sure I've eaten there. I ate at a bunch of different restaurants and the "Homeslice" roach coach until it was banned from the kasserne for security reasons but only remember Chaccos(sp) a steak house and Gino's right outside the north gate of Cambrai. Hell I even ate at the Smuggler's Cove. Many people don't even remember Smug's served food.

Where and when were you stationed in Darmstadt?

quote:

Originally posted by Rotndad:

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Takr the train to Munich (Munchen) and a local

That train ride one-way is going to be around 4.5 to 5 hours with a regular train and maybe 2.5 hours on the ICE, just so the OP understands if he's planning on day trips.

OP: Frankfurt itself is a good place to explore and I would also say check out Stuttgart (Porsche museum, etc), the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Nuremberg.

You MUST also get a Doner Kebab while there! Turkish immigrants answer to the Greek Gyro, but WAY better!




https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doner_kebab#Germany

Aw man. What I would give to get to the Markt Platz in Darmstadt. Used to hit a place that was owned by a Greek family. Thin sliced leg of lamb, not that processed loaf stuff. A side of fried goat cheese as well. I'm drooling thinking of it.

I was stationed in Darmstadt for almost 5 years between 1985 and 1990. I don't remember the name of that restaurant but I'm sure I've eaten there. I ate at a bunch of different restaurants and the "Homeslice" roach coach until it was banned from the kasserne for security reasons but only remember Chaccos(sp) a steak house and Gino's right outside the north gate of Cambrai. Hell I even ate at the Smuggler's Cove. Many people don't even remember Smug's served food.

Where and when were you stationed in Darmstadt?

Kelley barracks 596th maint. 92-95. Hated that unit, first and last time working with female soldiers Also spent time in Schwienfurt 88-90. I don't think I ever ate at smug's Ha. I did work at the Rainbow club for a while as a bartender and bouncer, more poon thrown at me than I knew what to do with

Heidelberg castle. Heidelberg is fun too. Don’t bother going anywhere near Kaiserslautern, it’s too Americanized and you’re not there for that.
Trier is cool too. Lots of buildings that were built by the Romans and other cool things. Frankfurt is a rats maze. I lived in Germany for 3 years and got completely lost every time I went to Frankfurt. I second the MWR tours, those will be your best bet. Also don’t fuck with Turkish people, they literally will cut you

A day cruise on the Rhine is a fun way to spend the day as well....

https://www.european-traveler....y-trip-cruise-lines/

quote:

Originally posted by limblessbiff:
Heidelberg castle. Heidelberg is fun too. Don’t bother going anywhere near Kaiserslautern, it’s too Americanized and you’re not there for that.
Trier is cool too. Lots of buildings that were built by the Romans and other cool things. Frankfurt is a rats maze. I lived in Germany for 3 years and got completely lost every time I went to Frankfurt. I second the MWR tours, those will be your best bet. Also don’t fuck with Turkish people, they literally will cut you

Yes and while in Heidelburg, do the Philosopher's Walk. We enjoyed Munich as well, and Idar Oberstein for the jewelry, Ulm has the Krieghoff Factory, the Roman Gates, Neuschwanstein (the Disney castle), and the list goes on and on

Another vote for Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Also, in Wurzburg the Marienberg Fortress is worth a visit.

I visit Rudesheim every year. We are blessed to have family in Mainz. We go to the Weinfests and love the Rhine villages. It is a great place to go. Even better when a local takes you around.

Cologne (Koln) to see the cathedral.

Frankfurt is a decent place to stay and there is plenty of sightseen opportunities for daytrips. Important places of the pre German history and like Speyer, Worms, Mainz are nice places if you like late roman history and sagas about dragons, gold treasures and lost virgin and Christianization of Germany. Heidelberg is in that region as well. Rüdesheim is OK but overcrowded and only worth while if you take a boat trip on the Mosel. Nearby Frankfurt are the two important technical museums of Speyer and Sinsheim. It takes about half a day to travel from Frankfurt to Füssen, where Neuschwanstein is. The region is beautiful but you really have to plan an overnight stay. Waiting time to get in is between 2 and 3 hours for a 30 minutes guided tour. Stuttgart is OK but does not offer a lot of famous sightseen places except for the Mercedes Museum. Munich is offering more for unexperienced tourists but it’s 3hrs as well to get there and a day is too short for a visit.

Germany is a country to travel and it’s save. Don’t let you bother too much by comments you hear on this board. . I lived and worked as an immigrant in that region and work with a lot of people who are considered the cultural foe. 200yds down the road is a muslim culture center and 80% of the crews I managed were immigrants form Turkey and there is no problem with these guys. The turmoil discussed here is on a political level and rarely seen in the streets. So if you are there take the opportunity and enjoy the diversity of authentic Turkish, Greek and Italian restaurant and try their food as well. In fact some of their dishes are also considered to be most popular fast food in Germany.

For more touristy things I recommend to check in with Tourist Information in Frankfurt. These guys are proficient with American tourists and know what they like. Have fun. Enjoy your trip. Willkommen in Deutschland.

quote:

Originally posted by Johnny 3eagles:
Cologne (Koln) to see the cathedral.

Have been there several times. FWIW, our church here in the Dallas area has a pipe organ built by the same firm that built both instruments in the Köln Cathedral (Orgelbau Klais Bonn). We like it a lot!

If taking the time to travel to see Neuschwanstein Castle, on the road to there from Munich can be seen the Pilgrimage Church of Die Wies--a gorgeous example of Rococo elegance.
https://www.timetravelturtle.c...grimage-church-wies/

flashguy

About an hour south of Frankfurt, on your way to Stuttgart, you'll drive by Technik Museum Sinsheim. Well worth a long stop.

If you're into watches, go visit the new Sinn HQ in Frankfurt. I was at the old one and will visit the new one when I'm there for work in August. I think there's a BMW bike factory or facility in Frankfurt too, which I will scope out before my visit.

I'm probably in the minority, but you couldn't pay me to go to Neuschwanstein again. I finally got dragged there by friends on about my 28th trip to Germany. Looks like it was built by Fisher Price or Lego, was never lived in or used as a real castle, has zero historical significance and that town Schwangau is overrun with phone zombies running all over the place in front of cars. If you're going that far south, keep on going and stop at Innsbruck. Though I will confess that the drive out to Füssen/Schwangau through the small villages was pretty cool.

Again in the minority here, but Munich used to be my favorite city in Germany and now it's about my least favorite. Driving there sucks, parking there sucks worse and the place has been overrun by Muslims. About three trips to Munich ago, I booked a hotel in what was a nice neighborhood many years ago. Never again. Might as well have been Turkey. The only German I heard was when checking into the hotel.

I am a fan of all things east German. Just driving to the former border region, there are a lot of museums on the former inner-German border, which really bring it home, if you never experienced that stuff when it was still in use. I got to visit the real E. Germany back in the day, so that stuff is pretty moving for me.

Dachau is pretty overrated too, though I understand it's the one camp/memorial that usually easiest to get to for most tourists. If you head east, check out Mittelbau-Dora in Nordhausen, where the prisoners worked in caves, building the V2 rockets. Lots to see there and very moving. Then you have some of the Stasi prisons that have become museums. Best one is in Bautzen, but that's almost on the Polish border, so a very long drive.

I went to college in Trier and didn't love the town, but I suppose it's nice to see, if you're just there for a day. Lots of cool bars and restaurants along the river and a pretty nice old town to walk around. If you're into WWII history, Malmedy is not too far from Trier, and Luxembourg is a short drive.

If you're into cars and go to Munich, you must go to BMW Welt. Stuttgart - obviously Porsche and MB. Need to set up factory tours well in advance, and all museums in Germany are closed on Mondays. I can't believe traffic near Stuttgart is ever such that renting a Porsche is any fun there. Man, that area has bad traffic. And also consider the Ruf shop in Pfaffenhausen after a stop in Ulm. When I went to Ruf, they took me out for a ride in a customer's car and that driver took it to 330 km/hr AND that was on a back country road, not a hwy. Geezus!

Thanks guys! I think I'm most excited about the Rhine cruises now. Hadn't even considered them before posting. I'll have plenty of pics to post once I'm back. Thanks again!