Hi again everyone,
First off, thanks to all who have given me any input on my trip questions. All of it is truely appreciated! So, I am going to throw my itinerary out there, and I would appreciate input/suggestions on this as well! Thank you in advance!
We will be in S. Germany from August 4th-August 13th. Here is what we have planned:
4th-Fly in to Frankfurt Hahn via RyanAir, take bus to Frankfurt Main and take the ICE train to Munich. That evening, we plan on doing dinner and just getting a feel for the city.
5th-Mike%26#39;s Bike Tour at 1130am (can someone clarify to me if we have to reserve this or just show up?), followed by seeing the English Gardens as well as the Royal Palace. any spare time we have will be spent wondering about!
6th-Daytrip to Neuschwanstein castle (we are thinking around 9am, return around 6pm)
7th-Half day trip to Dachau, followed by the Nymphenberg Palace and the Deutshes Museum.
8th-AM train to Stuttgart, check in to our hotel, go to the Mercedes-Benz Museum for the afternoon (anyone know how long that takes?)
9th-Hohenzollern Castle (not sure how long this will take), maybe followed by a walk in the vineyards of Stuttgart and wine tasting (suggestions please on this, as we haven%26#39;t been able to find much info on tours offered daily)
10th-Wilhelma (not sure what else this day...suggestions?)
11th- Train to Heidelberg, check in to hotel, and then go see the Heidelberg castle, wonder around the area
12th-Cruise the river (suggestions please for which cruise to take)
13th-travel back to Frankfurt and go home :(
If you have read this far, I truely appreciate it and I will welcome any and all suggestions. Also, if someone could advise me as to which rail pass to buy. I know we want to do a 4-5 day rail pass, but we aren%26#39;t sure if we should go for the 7 day or just supplement with lander passes for Bavaria (for Dauchau and Neuschwanstein).
Many thanks!
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%26gt; 4th-Fly in to Frankfurt Hahn via RyanAir, take bus to Frankfurt Main and take the ICE train to Munich.
Memmingen (Rynair: Munich West) or Salzburg would be much closer to Munich.
%26gt; 9th-Hohenzollern Castle
There is one (!) daily bus up to the castle.
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
From: Stuttgart
To: Burg Hohenzollern, Hechingen
You can use the Baden-Württemberg Ticket for this trip. EUR 28,00 for 2-5 persons. On the way back you can make a stopover in
Metzingen - the factory outlet capital of Germany
www.metzingen.de/ceasy/modules/cms/main.php5…
and/or in Esslingen, one of the biggest towns not destroyed in WWII
…esslingen.de/servlet/…index.html
There are even vineyards inside the town fortification. And beyond of course.
…esslingen.de/servlet/…index.html
%26gt; 10th-Wilhelma (not sure what else this day...suggestions?)
I would combine Wilhemla and Mercedes-Benz Museum on this day as both are in (Stuttgart-)Bad Cannstatt.
Maybe the 8th just to explore the city centre of Stuttgart.
%26gt; 12th-Cruise the river (suggestions please for which cruise to take)
Cruise to Neckarsteinach, visit Burg Schadeck and the Hinterburg. Return by S-Bahn to Heidelberg.
www.burgenstrasse.de/showpage.php…
%26gt; 13th-travel back to Frankfurt and go home :(
Frankfurt International Airport (FRA)?
Can be reached directly by train with a change in Mannheim.
(Frankfurt-)Hahn Airport (HHN)?
Direct shuttle buses from Heidelberg.
The question is if a rail pass makes sense at all.
Expensive are only the trips Frankfurt - Munich and Munich - Stuttgart. But here you can try to get discounted specials if you book in advance.
Stuttgart - Heidelberg is a trip you can do on a Baden-Württemberg Ticket.
In Heidelberg you could buy VRN Ticket 24 PLUS, a mini group 24 hours ticket. EUR 14,50 for 4-5 VRN zones. This would cover the S-Bahn back from Neckarsteinach to Heidelberg and on the next day the S-Bahn or a regional train from Heidelberg to Mannheim. Thus you would only need a ticket from Mannheim to Frankfurt Airport (EUR 22,50 half an hour by ICE trains). The VRN ticket covers also the trams and buses in Heidelberg.
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Wow, Thanks for the awesome reply!
%26gt;Memmingen (Rynair: Munich West) or Salzburg would be much closer to Munich.
Boy, I wish I had known this! I have already bought our plane tickets though, unfortunatley...what a bummer!
%26gt;There is one (!) daily bus up to the castle.
THANK YOU for letting me know about this. I am very glad to know this!
%26gt;You can use the Baden-Württemberg Ticket for this trip. EUR 28,00 for 2-5 persons. On the way back you can make a stopover in
Metzingen - the factory outlet capital of Germany
I definitely will consider this, as MarcoPolka had suggested it to me prior, and I wasn sure if we would have time, but I think we would since we can make a stopover.
%26gt;I would combine Wilhemla and Mercedes-Benz Museum on this day as both are in (Stuttgart-)Bad Cannstatt.
Excellent idea. I think our first day in Stuttgart would be much more relaxing if we knew we could just mosey around.
%26gt;(Frankfurt-)Hahn Airport (HHN)?
Direct shuttle buses from Heidelberg.
HHN, indeed...unfortunatley! But our flight was such a steal that I really cannot complain!
Thank you also for making me rethink the Rail Pass...you probably just saved me a lot of money!
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%26quot;8th-AM train to Stuttgart, check in to our hotel, go to the Mercedes-Benz Museum for the afternoon (anyone know how long that takes?)%26quot;
A visit can take from 3 hours to all day, you won%26#39;t run out of interesting things to see. The cars there represent the over 120 year history of the automobile and this firm, and include Mercedes through the years, automotive inprovements, record setting and race cars, and cars used by famous people such as the Popemobile and Ringo Starr and Lady Diana. The building itself is architecturally interesting, and as you spiral down between floors there is an interesting timeline on the walls of events since the invention of the automobile which you can relate to. They also show interesting movies such as the one on forced labor in World War II. In the basement is an F-1 racer you can sit in to have your picture taken (it%26#39;s amazing how tight this coffin on wheels is, I doubt if many people could get into it if the back side wasn%26#39;t cut away), and also all current models of Mercedes and Maybachs besides the extensive gift store. With pre-arrangement, you can also take a tour of the engine factory nextdoor. The best way to get there is taking the bus from outside the Bad Cannstatt train station.
%26quot;9th-Hohenzollern Castle (not sure how long this will take), maybe followed by a walk in the vineyards of Stuttgart and wine tasting (suggestions please on this, as we haven%26#39;t been able to find much info on tours offered daily)%26quot;
Hohenzollern Castle is best done by automobile as by public transportation there is one arrival time and one departure time something like 6 hours later, way too long to be there. If you take the train, consider taking a taxi to and/or from the train station in Hechingen. For walking through the vineyards ( www.stutgarter-weinwanderweg.de ) you can get several pamphlets showing the routes and wineries, Weinstube%26#39;s and Besenwirtschaft%26#39;s along the way (probably only in German, but it really is just a map so it should be understandable). I recommend going to Obertuerkheim and then following the scenic route through the vineyards to Uhlbach, a pleasant village now part of Stuttgart, with its Wine Museum. You can take a bus back to Obertuerkheim from there if desired. If Tuebingen is on the train route, consider spending several hours there, it%26#39;s the most pleasant town we%26#39;ve discovered in Germany, and the Forelle an excellent restaurant.
%26quot;10th-Wilhelma (not sure what else this day...suggestions?)%26quot;
You should be able to see all of Wilhelma in less than a half day. They open at 8:15AM, however the aquarium and a few other exhibits don%26#39;t open until 9AM. Esslingen with its well preserved medieval center would be a good choice for the rest of the day. Make sure to get a free booklet on it from the Stuttgart tourist office, if for nothing else but the map. Kessler there is Germany%26#39;s oldest Sekt (sparkling champagne) cellar, and you can have a tour by pre-arrangement. There are also vineyards in Esslingen. If you are there at a meal time, try the Wildmaultaschen at Gambrinus, it is excellent.
Make sure to visit the Leuze Mineral Bath where you can swim in bubbly carbonated water. The mineral baths open early and close late, so you can do this when other places are closed. Also, purchase the Stuttgart map for 0.50€ from the tourist office, it has a several hour walking tour of central Stuttgart on it that describes the sights and their architecture. Also, they have a wealth of other free information on Stuttgart and the surrounding area.
For transportation, a Baden-Wuerttemberg group day ticket (28€ from a machine) will get you to and from Hechingen and Tuebingen and anywhere else in Baden-Wuerttemberg and includes all public transportation in Stuttgart. However, no travel before 9AM on a weekday, and you cannot use IC, EC or ICE trains. You can also use this ticket to Heidelberg. For using the B-W ticket, when you are at www.bahn.de change it to English near the top of the page and select only local transportation. However, if time is more important to you, also check the differences in time and cost using a regular train ticket.
For Stuttgart itself, a VVS group day ticket ( www.vvs.de ) will be cheapest, a 2 zone for Stuttgart itself (Mercedes Benz Museum, Wilhelma), or a 3-zone if including Esslingen. Your hotel also has special offers on public transportation not available to the general public.
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Thank you, again, MarcoPolka, for the fantastic info. I am taking all of your advice in to account. We may choose to skip the castle and spend some more time around Stuttgart itself instead. I am really not keen on renting a car!
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