vacation in Germany in October

[altai_rose]

Hi,

My boyfriend and I are going to Germany in October and would love to hear some travel tips from you all on where to go, what to do, what to eat, etc. We are spending 9 days and will be flying in and out from Frankfurt. We plan to spend some days driving south from Frankfurt down the Rhine and driving to Munich. We'll then likely take the train from Munich to Berlin (unless you recommend driving and seeing some small towns on the way). We will stay in Berlin and maybe, if there's time, take a short trip to Amsterdam, before taking the train back to Frankfurt.

Thoughts and advice?

 

[Hedwig]

Definitely take the train. Driving would take two times as long from Munich to Berlin.
Berlin is a very interesting and divers city. Munich is not so much my cup of tea. Very clean but also a bit old fashioned.
But depends really what you like. Museums, countryside, towns?

Heidelberg and Rothenburg op der Tauber are two usual tourist destinations of smaller but pretty cities.

I would add Marburg - small university city- as a sort of secret tip - the old town up the hills is wonderful.

Unless you really really love beer skip the Oktoberfest. Expensive, crowded and rough.

 

[Deleted member 1204]

That seems like a lot to do in 9 days, especially if you want to add on Amsterdam. Have you visited Germany before? (I hope you're not hoping to go to Oktoberfest, because that is mostly in September!) Most of what I'll put here are for first-timers. The weather in October can be all over the place- temperatures will be mostly in the 50s plus or minus, and you will need an umbrella. The sun comes up around 7:30 and goes down by about 6pm.

There isn't much to do or see in or around Frankfurt from a tourist perspective, so I wouldn't plan to spend much time there. Renting a car right at the airport is easy.

You say that you want to drive south down the Rhine from Frankfurt- that area isn't the most scenic part of the Rhine. You might consider taking a day trip on a Rhine River cruise in the other direction to see castles and cute waterfront towns- I recommend this one: https://www.k-d.com/en/. October is the end of the season and it will be colder and rainier, but it makes for a nice day and very typical of what people think of when they consider Germany. I usually drive to Bingen, not far from Frankfurt, then take the boat as far as Koblenz, then take the train back to Bingen.

Heading south from Frankfurt, you could visit Heidelberg Castle. How far south are you talking about? Black Forest? All the way south to Neuschwanstein Castle? If you do, there is a series of roads called the Alpine Highway that makes for a spectacular drive in some areas (https://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/en/home). It goes from Lake Constance beyond Munich toward Salzburg.

If you don't go that far south and instead go east, you could visit the walled city of Rothenburg (https://www.rothenburg-tourismus.de/en/), which is also really nice to visit for a day trip.

Munich is a great city with an excellent subway system. Most of what you would want to do and see are in the city center, with the exception maybe of Dachau, if you wanted to visit there. It's an easy trip by train and then bus, even for people who are not too familiar with public transportation. I would get rid of your rental car on arrival in Munich.

It is a long and boring drive from Munich to Berlin, at least 5-6 hours or so. It is an equally boring train ride to Berlin, but at least you could relax during the trip which is closer to 4-5 hours. You won't need a car in Berlin either, so I would lean toward making the trip by train.

I absolutely love Berlin. You'll get tons of suggestions about what to do and see. One thing that bums me out a little is that the difference between the former east and west Berlin is really being lost.

The train from Berlin to Frankfurt is also 4-5 hours. You can search trains and make reservations online here: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml. Just beware that the trains (at least the fast trains) are not cheap. They can sometime cost as much, if not more, than flying on some of the discount airlines. Look around as you finalize your plans.

The idea of adding a side trip to Amsterdam really doesn't make any sense to me. It's pretty far away and would really suck up a lot of your time that could be better spent elsewhere on this particular trip. You might want to save Amsterdam for another time.

 

[Vagabond]

You could spend nine days just in Berlin and have a great time!

One thing that I would strongly recommend that you do there is to kill two birds with one stone and make a reservation for a meal at Dachgarten-Restaurant on the roof of the Bundestag. After your meal, you can ascend the famous dome and enjoy the view over the entire city (with hand-held audio commentary). Since you're going to be there in the autumn, it probably makes sense to go for breakfast or lunch rather than dinner so that you can enjoy the daylight.

If you like classical music, you should attend a concert at the Berlin Philharmonic or perhaps a performance at the Staatsoper, Berlin Oper, or Komische Oper. You can buy tickets on line.

If you want to listen (or dance) to some other kind of music, it's most likely there, so look for it!

There are museums and monuments galore in Berlin (and nearby Potsdam). You should go see some of these, but also save time for walking around. You can find good suggestions for walks in some guidebooks such as the Rough Guide to Berlin and Time Out Berlin as well on line.

And, since you will be there for such a short time, take notes for what you would like to see and do on your next trip.

 

[PrincessLeppard]

I just spent five days in Berlin alone doing all the weird shit that I've always wanted to do but no one else did. I drove a Trabi on the Trabi Safari. I went to the DDR museum (interesting but small and crowded: don't go unless you are really into East German stuff); I went to the zoo (highly recommend: PANDAS, also it's not so big that you get exhausted wandering around) and I went Hohenschönhausen prison (Stasi prison), which again, is super interesting if you are into East German history, maybe not so much otherwise. Maybe save it for a later trip, though there is a free exhibition there right now about the history of the Stasi, if you are interested. But as @mikey says, it's becoming harder and harder to tell the East from the West, which is both good and bad. Oh, make time to walk the entirety of the East Side Gallery. My hotel was right next to it, and also by the Ostbahnhof, which is super convenient. Here is a link to my review, if you are interested: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUse...ER_Hotel_Berlin_East_Side_Gallery-Berlin.html

OH, and the Soviet War Memorial at Treptower Park is very moving and beautiful. But I'm a Cold War junkie (in case that wasn't already obvious), but if it's a nice day, grab a coffee and a croissant and wander over to it.

I also saw Def Leppard in concert. You never know who will be in town, so check the schedule if you like music.

I'm also on team train.

Munich is interesting to walk around in for a day, and then a visit to Dachau is always worth your time.

 

[alexikeguchi]

I just got back from Munich last night after about a weeklong stay entirely within Bavaria. My primary reason for going was the Bayreuth Festival, so everything had to fit around that. I second those above who recommend figuring out your greatest interest (nature? history? contemporary culture?) before you go since you will not be able to do everything in that time. I love Medieval history and Gothic cathedrals, so I visited Bamberg, Nuremberg, and Regensburg which were all nearby and feasible day trips; Cologne will have to wait. Germany has excellent transportation both between and within cities and towns, so a car shouldn't be necessary unless there is something really off the beaten path that you have identified; in fact, many of the city centers such as Munich are largely or completely pedestrian/bike only. Finally, if you decide to concentrate on one region, you can probably get an unlimited Deutsche Bahn day ticket which includes local trams and subways for what I thought was a very reasonable cost of ~25 Euros for up to two adults or a family of up to six traveling together.

 

[KCC]

A long time ago (25-30 years), I stumbled into the English Garten in Munich and was surprised that it had clothing optional spaces. There were people throwing frisbees and riding bicycles (ouch) naked.

 

[gk_891]

Mark Wiens, a well known food vlogger, went to Munich not that long ago. His video on Munich is here:

Amazing Munich Food Tour - German CRISPY PORK LEG and Attractions in Munich, Germany!

Discover amazing food and drink in Munich, Germany!►Subscribe - http://bit.ly/MarkWiensSubscribe►T-shirts - https://migrationology.com/store/Munich is a beau...

www.youtube.com

 

[Winnipeg]

Definitely take the train from Munich to Berlin! Berlin is a great city, I agree with posters you may be trying to do too much in such a short time. In Berlin, it is very interesting to take a day and follow the old Berlin wall locations.

I believe you can catch the train at the airport too and go directly to Munich that way. In Munich there is a lot of history you can easily access. I bought a small tour book which was very helpful.

You could take a train trip to Salzburg which is also beautiful! I think it is 4 hours by train?

Germany is great!! You should have a wonderful time.

 

[RoseRed]

Heidelberg is beautiful. Definitely worth spending a day there, to check out the Old Town and the Castle ruins. The Old student prison is also a cool little stop.

For Berlin, if you're interested in some of the more touristy stuff, I'd check out the Berlin Welcome Pass. My friend and I got the 48 hour one for ~70-80 euros with a transport pass and we both thought it was worth it (they have a 72 hour one as well). It includes a ton of museums and attractions for free (including a hop on hop off bus tour and a boat tour), as well as many more with discounts (+stores and restaurants). We did 3 days in Berlin. You could absolutely stay longer, but I did feel like that was enough time to see a lot of the things I wanted to.

The East Side Gallery was cool, and I really liked the Wall Museum there. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it was really interesting. The Jewish Museum was also great. The main exhibition was closed when I went a couple weeks ago (might be open again by October), but there was still a lot to see. There was a lot of other great stuff, but those two were my favourites.

 

[Winnipeg]

Agree re Heidelberg!

Agree that one could easily spend more than 3 days in Berlin. Great city. I liked Munich too though although was there outside of tourist season. There is a lot of history. The 'Augensteiner' is neat (I may have the name not quite right).

 

[Marta24]

That seems like a lot to do in 9 days, especially if you want to add on Amsterdam. Have you visited Germany before? (I hope you're not hoping to go to Oktoberfest, because that is mostly in September!) Most of what I'll put here are for first-timers. The weather in October can be all over the place- temperatures will be mostly in the 50s plus or minus, and you will need an umbrella. The sun comes up around 7:30 and goes down by about 6pm.

There isn't much to do or see in or around Frankfurt from a tourist perspective, so I wouldn't plan to spend much time there. Renting a car right at the airport is easy.

You say that you want to drive south down the Rhine from Frankfurt- that area isn't the most scenic part of the Rhine. You might consider taking a day trip on a Rhine River cruise in the other direction to see castles and cute waterfront towns- I recommend this one: https://www.k-d.com/en/. October is the end of the season and it will be colder and rainier, but it makes for a nice day and very typical of what people think of when they consider Germany. I usually drive to Bingen, not far from Frankfurt, then take the boat as far as Koblenz, then take the train back to Bingen.

Heading south from Frankfurt, you could visit Heidelberg Castle. How far south are you talking about? Black Forest? All the way south to Neuschwanstein Castle? If you do, there is a series of roads called the Alpine Highway that makes for a spectacular drive in some areas (https://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/en/home). It goes from Lake Constance beyond Munich toward Salzburg.

If you don't go that far south and instead go east, you could visit the walled city of Rothenburg (https://www.rothenburg-tourismus.de/en/), which is also really nice to visit for a day trip.

Munich is a great city with an excellent subway system. Most of what you would want to do and see are in the city center, with the exception maybe of Dachau, if you wanted to visit there. It's an easy trip by train and then bus, even for people who are not too familiar with public transportation. I would get rid of your rental car on arrival in Munich.

It is a long and boring drive from Munich to Berlin, at least 5-6 hours or so. It is an equally boring train ride to Berlin, but at least you could relax during the trip which is closer to 4-5 hours. You won't need a car in Berlin either, so I would lean toward making the trip by train.

I absolutely love Berlin. You'll get tons of suggestions about what to do and see. One thing that bums me out a little is that the difference between the former east and west Berlin is really being lost.

The train from Berlin to Frankfurt is also 4-5 hours. You can search trains and make reservations online here: https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml. Just beware that the trains (at least the fast trains) are not cheap. They can sometime cost as much, if not more, than flying on some of the discount airlines. Look around as you finalize your plans.

The idea of adding a side trip to Amsterdam really doesn't make any sense to me. It's pretty far away and would really suck up a lot of your time that could be better spent elsewhere on this particular trip. You might want to save Amsterdam for another time.

Ahem. Now, I feel like I have to defend my city

I have to admit that Frankfurt doesn`t give the best impression when you get out of the central station, but it does offer interesting places to visit. I would at least suggest to have a walk through the city centre. Römer, Frankfurt Old Town and Domturm would be my suggestion. If you have nice weather, you could add a walk at the Mainufer.

As it was already mentioned cities like Heidelberg and Marburg should be on the list of cities to visit. In and around Marburg there are beautiful castles to see. Further, I would also suggest the Rheingau with cities like Rüdesheim and Eltville.

 

[Winnipeg]

I have been to Frankfurt too - what about Goethe's house? There is a nice park there too. We took the train one day from Frankfurt to Heidelburg..............

 

[Ladida]

If you are taking a train from Munich to Berlin, Regensburg is a really great city to visit. Most of the tourists there are retired people, but if you like old architecture, you will love it.
Nuremberg is a good option, if you are into WW2 history, otherwise would recommend to omit it.

Berlin is super diverse, everyone will find there something to love. Don't forget about Postdam, it is worthy of the short ride out of the city.

Most of all have a great time there

 

[altai_rose]

Thanks for your advice! I'll look into your suggestions.

Yeah, I know Amsterdam is really out of teh way, but my boyfriend wanted to go...

Our greatest interest in culture, seeing the old castles and cities, and out-of-the-way interesting local places. Food is #2.

 

[ballettmaus]

Here is a list of the castles in Berlin and Brandenburg/Potsdam https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-gardens/palaces-and-gardens-overview/

 

[altai_rose]

Thanks!

I've come up with a rough itinerary and would love to hear your thoughts, especially if you think it's too packed. I'm not sure about Trier--I love Roman history and ruins, but it's out of the way.

Day 1 - Arrive in Frankfurt around 11am, drive to Bingen. Explore Bingen
Day 2: River cruise or drive from Bingen to Koblenz, stopping at Bacharach, St. Goar/Rheinfels, Braubach/Marksburg, and Koblenz.
Day 3: Drive from Bingen or Koblenz to Trier, then to Heidelberg.
Day 4: Drive from Heidelberg to Rothenburg op der Tauber, to Dinkelsbuhl, to Schwangau
Day 5: Neuschwanstein, then drive to Munich
Day 6: Munich. Take evening train to Berlin
Days 7-9: Berlin