My brother and I are going to Germany in August, starting in Frankfurt and ending in Frankfurt 10 days later. What should we make a point in seeing?

[Bricealan]

From Frankfurt, to Cologne via the Rhine river and then to Berlin -Potsdam via Rail and making a sweep Dresden/Nuremberg/Munich/Neuschwanstein/Black Forest/Heidelberg

Anyone living in Germany... what should we make a point in seeing? We would like to see and tour the BMW plant there for one thing and I have tried to work in the part also.

For a trip like this, we want to make the very most of it, and I hope someone on GAG who lives there can be my GO TO GUY or GIRL for some direction of what we SHOULD see while in Germany.

[andreasderjuengere]

I grew up there being told I'm German.

I suggest to NOT visit the stereotypical sites.

Here's a selection of alternatives:

- Near Dresden there is the ''Bastei'' (ancient rock formations) and ''Festung Koenigstein'' (a well preserved medieval fortress).

- Bergen-Belsen - a memorial site (and exhibition) of a former concentration camp during Nazi craze

- ''Herman the Cheruscian'' memorial and Teutoburg Forest (that's where my people kicked out the Roman invaders back then.

- One of the islands at the North Sea coast (Borkum, Baltrum, etc.)

- Luebeck - a Hanseatic town with a well kept original architecture and ''museum ships'' in its centre

- Autobahn - by all means enjoy a legal car ride (or motorbike) at +200 km/h

- as you travel in August: consider to visit Wacken Open Air Festival

And keep in mind: Germany is NOT ''Lederhosen'', thin Bavarian beer, or mountain tribes populating and ritualizing/stereotyping the coastlines.

Enjoy :)

[Bricealan]

@andreasderjuengere Thanks for the tips, glad me have enough time to plan what to see.

[andreasderjuengere]

Thanks, mate. And ''Gute Reise'' :)

[KostasKouvalis]

Honestly, Berlin and Potsdam are overrated. Dresden is interesting, but a bit out of the way.

I would personally skip those and spend a few days in Alsace instead. You cab go there first from Frankfurt, then head towards Munich visiting the other places, then loop back to Frankfurt. I would even try to squeeze in a day in the Bavarian Alps.

[Bricealan]

@KostasKouvalis I am going to copy your information into my Itinerary, and if my printer were online I would print it out... Passing this along to my brother in Atlanta... for his info.
Thanks a ton.

[Bricealan]

@KostasKouvalis Heard much about Alsace-Lorraine in history classes in High School, and that sounds very interesting. Thanks for that too.

[SueShe]

I don't live in Germany but have been there numerous times before. 10 days for everything you had planned is definitely too short.

Depends what your interests are but I would say do not travel North to South and East to West because you will not be able to visit everything.

Neuschwanstein alone will take you a full day because the queues to enter are very long and the wait even longer.

Taking a boat on the Rhine river from Strasbourg in France to Cologne is very nice and you get to see the "Romantic Rhine". But that alone would take you at least 2 days.

[Bricealan]

@sueshe We know that 10 days is away too short to spend much time and there is a lot to see, I/we just hoped to make the MOST of it and see what you might think would be the high points of where we will be...
Thanks and appreciate any thing you can add for us to see.

[DryGermanGuy]

If you want to cram in all those different states into ten days you will be traveling a lot. Are you getting a rental car or do you want to do everything with public transportation?
What I can recommend is to read the Wikipedia page of every city you want to visit and go from there. Every larger city also has a tourist information office to give maps etc in the English language.

[Bricealan]

@DryGermanGuy Thanks, man, I was counting on you replying. We are going via GLOBUS, and they are a good tour company, but we will have a few "free days" in BERLIN -( and we both want to see as much of Berlin as we can) and 2 Days in Neuschwanstein. Problem being the tour is a very short tour without much time in each place, but we want to make the most of it?
Thanks for your input.

[Bricealan]

@DryGermanGuy P. S. I have done some searches on line, for various cities and will continue to look on line at the various spots... Thanks again

[KostasKouvalis]

I didn't realize you were going with a tour. You should have mentioned that in your original post, because that doesn't leave a whole lot of room for flexibility.
I'm personally not a fan of group tours, because I can't stand having to be at the mercy of someone else.

Oh. Is the tour just transport between each city? Like they just take you there, then you're free to do whatever you want, or do they take you to some places?

"Problem being the tour is a very short tour without much time in each place"

They usually are. I'm curious why you decided to book a tour

[DryGermanGuy]

General hints for Germany:
- Cash is king, carry 500€ in 10, 20 and 50 bills.
- Get a small zipper pouch etc for coins
- Check your cell phone roaming costs (some American recently got a 10.000$ roaming bill)
- Don't film/photograph strangers (privacy rules)
- Don't insult or flip people off etc (it's punishable)
- Most cans/bottles have a deposit, so don't throw them away, use the deposit return machines
- Don't be American-loud in museums, churches and public transportation
- Use German bakeries to get buns, croissants, etc (it's a good snack and you get rid of coins)
- Carry your backpack in front in tourists hotspots and also keep phone/wallet in inner pockets
- Better stay away from red light district bars and clubs, they like to con tourists

[Bricealan]

@KostasKouvalis We are going with GLOBUS... and have traveled with them before. We will have free time in Berlin, overnight in Dresden and Nuremberg and Munich and two days in Neuschwanstein.

We booked with Globus because they do give you time to go and look at other places, while in eachcity. I traveled with Globus before and had much free time to explore, BUT you are correct, in that 'Tours' are REALLY TOO SHORT... I should have included that information in my POST.
I know that is probably not the best way to travel, in order to see a great deal, but my brother is not in good health and may not be able to travel like I am used to doing. I appreciate your input and suggestions.

Bruce

[KostasKouvalis]

To the contrary, if you just want to knock out a bunch of places in a short time, tours are logistically easier.
And the keyword here is "short time". My main issue with tours though is they tend to rush you through and only show you the highlights instead of giving you a more in debt experience. And often you end up with some douchebag who gets their ass kissed by the guide and ruins your entire tour.

The only time I really book a tour, is if I'm in a dangerous country or if it's logistically easier. For instance there was one town I visited on my own on a day trip from Rome, and I acknowledge that I probably would've seen more of the vicinity if I took a tour, but then I'd have to compromise on some things in town. I like going to small islands the most, because they're much easier to explore.
Also, some of those tours are ridiculously expensive. And a lot of them are literally just a round trip ride.
If money wasn't an issue, I would hire a private driver to drive me EVERYWHERE.

[DryGermanGuy]

Do you have a final itinerary, showing the cities on the tour where you have time off to explore on your own?

[Astarlessnightsky]

Cologne: The Dom is definetely the number 1 tourist attraction. Maybe get a roundtrip with a guide.

Chocolate museum is also interesting.

Kölsch brewery tour.

Guided Biketour in a small group can be fun, depending on the weather.

It depends what you want to see, Köln has lots of museums, you like art or about the roman empire past, or street art, or the WWII...

[Iron_Man]

Go on a big tour guide make plans now organize it for the date and times

[Bricealan]

@Iron_Man We are going with GLOBUS... and it will be a guided tour and with some days on our own in various cities... We have some time, and between now and departure, if you can add things you believe would be of interest, would appreciate that?

[Iron_Man]

I’ve never been to Germany, but Sue just answered your question

[Jennz6]

Munich and the Bavarian Alps