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Koblenz
Rhine valley
Bacharach
Trier
Cologne
Berlin
Potsdam
Rothenburg
Nuremburg
Munich
Frankfurt
In the summer of 2009 I took a 2 week Vacation in Germany. For one of the first times I actually
planned out some of the trip in advance. I read through the travel guides and picked the places I
wanted to go and put them in a rough schedule. I actually followed the schedule fairly closely. I flew
into Frankfurt on the Main because the flights to that airport were considerably cheaper then Berlin or
Munich. However, since there were not a lot of things to see in Frankfurt I hit the ground running and
took a train right from Frankfurt airport to Koblenz.
I had wanted to get a room on the first few nights in Bacharach and then take the boat to Cologne.
Instead I spent the first few days in Koblenz and took a boat to Bacharach and back up to Koblenz. It
meant that I did not have time to get off the boat and check out one of the Rhine valley castles.
Something I regret.
From Koblenz I took the train to Trier and arrived right on the day of an annual Music festival. It
meant the town was full of people and street vendors. I was planning to join the festival but it rained
and dampened everyone's spirits. From Trier I went to Cologne for a day. The majority of the sites in
Cologne were grouped about the Train Station and Cathedral.
From Cologne I took an ICE train across Germany to Berlin. I stayed south of Savignyplatz near the
Uhlandstrasse U-Bahn stop. Getting around Berlin for 4 days meant learning the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and
Tram system and after a day I had it down. There was not as much history on display in Berlin as I had
hoped and I could have probably done the town in 2 days rather then 4. I spent the last day in nearby
Potsdam. The sites in Potsdam were so spread apart I took a tour bus to see everything but it meant I
did not enter any of the palaces.
From Berlin I took the train to Rothenburg on the Tauber. A nice, small, walled medieval town that
managed to skip the worst of the 30 years war and World War II. I walked around the walls on the
first day and took a day trip to Nuremburg on the second day. In Nuremburg I walked out to the
Zeppelin Landing fields where the rallies occurred in the 1930's. Then I wandered about the old town
and fortress. Unfortunately, it started to rain later in the day.
From Rothenburg I finished up my trip with 3 days in Munich. Munich was not really worth 3 days but
it was the end of the trip and I was tired out so I slowed down the pace. I did think about going to
Neuschwanstein or Salzburg for the day but it was raining on and off every day and I did not want to
travel 4 hours and arrive in pouring rain. So instead I limited my travel to nearby Nymphenburg Palace.
I decided not to get a hotel for the last night. My flight left at 7:25 AM in the morning and check in was
4:00 AM so I did not see any point in getting a Hotel for the night and not sleeping. Instead I took the
train from Munich to Frankfurt, wandered around Frankfurt for 5-6 hours and then spent the evening
at the airport. Thankfully Frankfurt airport had comfortable chairs and restaurants open late.
For accommodation I booked hotel rooms through Expedia the day before arriving in each town. If I
were to do it over I would have just arrived in the towns and gone to the TI to get a room. The
vacancies were very high with the number of tourists very low. When I was in Rothenburg, Expedia
put me in a Hotel just outside the city walls and at the TI I saw a list of 65 Hotels inside the walls with
vacancies.
planned out some of the trip in advance. I read through the travel guides and picked the places I
wanted to go and put them in a rough schedule. I actually followed the schedule fairly closely. I flew
into Frankfurt on the Main because the flights to that airport were considerably cheaper then Berlin or
Munich. However, since there were not a lot of things to see in Frankfurt I hit the ground running and
took a train right from Frankfurt airport to Koblenz.
I had wanted to get a room on the first few nights in Bacharach and then take the boat to Cologne.
Instead I spent the first few days in Koblenz and took a boat to Bacharach and back up to Koblenz. It
meant that I did not have time to get off the boat and check out one of the Rhine valley castles.
Something I regret.
From Koblenz I took the train to Trier and arrived right on the day of an annual Music festival. It
meant the town was full of people and street vendors. I was planning to join the festival but it rained
and dampened everyone's spirits. From Trier I went to Cologne for a day. The majority of the sites in
Cologne were grouped about the Train Station and Cathedral.
From Cologne I took an ICE train across Germany to Berlin. I stayed south of Savignyplatz near the
Uhlandstrasse U-Bahn stop. Getting around Berlin for 4 days meant learning the U-Bahn, S-Bahn and
Tram system and after a day I had it down. There was not as much history on display in Berlin as I had
hoped and I could have probably done the town in 2 days rather then 4. I spent the last day in nearby
Potsdam. The sites in Potsdam were so spread apart I took a tour bus to see everything but it meant I
did not enter any of the palaces.
From Berlin I took the train to Rothenburg on the Tauber. A nice, small, walled medieval town that
managed to skip the worst of the 30 years war and World War II. I walked around the walls on the
first day and took a day trip to Nuremburg on the second day. In Nuremburg I walked out to the
Zeppelin Landing fields where the rallies occurred in the 1930's. Then I wandered about the old town
and fortress. Unfortunately, it started to rain later in the day.
From Rothenburg I finished up my trip with 3 days in Munich. Munich was not really worth 3 days but
it was the end of the trip and I was tired out so I slowed down the pace. I did think about going to
Neuschwanstein or Salzburg for the day but it was raining on and off every day and I did not want to
travel 4 hours and arrive in pouring rain. So instead I limited my travel to nearby Nymphenburg Palace.
I decided not to get a hotel for the last night. My flight left at 7:25 AM in the morning and check in was
4:00 AM so I did not see any point in getting a Hotel for the night and not sleeping. Instead I took the
train from Munich to Frankfurt, wandered around Frankfurt for 5-6 hours and then spent the evening
at the airport. Thankfully Frankfurt airport had comfortable chairs and restaurants open late.
For accommodation I booked hotel rooms through Expedia the day before arriving in each town. If I
were to do it over I would have just arrived in the towns and gone to the TI to get a room. The
vacancies were very high with the number of tourists very low. When I was in Rothenburg, Expedia
put me in a Hotel just outside the city walls and at the TI I saw a list of 65 Hotels inside the walls with
vacancies.
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