sharonkay

I will be traveling to Frankfurt for business next Monday (1/7/08) - short notice, I know. I will be working in Mannheim through Wednesday (1/9/08) and will then have Thurs through Monday free on my own. Any suggestions on places to go, places to stay, and transportation options would be welcome. I am contemplating taking the train from Mannheim to Wurzberg and staying there for 2 nights so that I can do a day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Then I thought of taking the train to Nuremburg, staying a few days and finally taking the train back to Frankfurt for flight home. Anyone have any thoughts on this itinerary?

Russ

Würzburg is a good base for seeing both Rothenburg and Nuremberg; with an early start on Thursday, you could see Rothenburg on that day, then Nuremberg the next. A Bayern-Ticket single (daypass) would cover your train travel from Würzburg to both cities, though a regular ticket to R'burg might be cheaper.

If you have 3 more nights, well, you have a lot more time. You could stay another night in W'burg and daytrip to Bamberg - lovely place. You might also take another detour before Frankfurt - head west and then north along the Rhine to Koblenz, a good base for seeing Marksburg Castle in Braubach( www.marksburg.de ) or for a daytrip to Cologne. The trip from Koblenz to FRA isn't long - it or Mainz (about 20 min to FRA by S-Bahn) might be a good place to spend your final night.

Gary_Mc

Würzburg is my favorite city in Germany. For typical tourist sights my wife likes the Archbishop's Residence best, I like the Marienberg Festung (Fortress) across the river with its two museums. Try the local wine. The Hotel Sankt Josef is a homey sort of place with good meals.

Rothenburg can be very pleasant when not packed with tourists, as it should not be this time of year. There are many nice hotels and restaurants in the old walled city. We liked the Gasthof Goldener Greifen right off the town square for both the atmosphere and the food. Walking the streets and walls of the old town was the main attraction for us.

Nürnberg (Nuremburg) is also a nice stop. We liked the gothic churches and the Kaiserberg (castle). We stayed at the Ibis Marientor near the train station, a basic businessman's hotel with a good breakfast.

These are all nice places with some similarities (medieval cities) and some differences. Würzburg is a college/church town, Rothenburg is a good tourist stop and Nürnberg is business town. I think you have a good plan in mind. I should admit that this area, Franken, is my favorite in Germany.

Regards, Gary

bilboburgler

Wurzburg is good and/but the local wine is Franken wine which is not really as great as the Rheingau so for me try to get a trip (by train say) up the Moselle or along the Rhein

hhildebrandt

First, Mannheim is also worth a stay, even if I agree, that its beauty isnīt obvious at the first glance.

You may have a walk from the Schloss to Breite Strasse, from there to the Wasserturm and on the Ring to Kurpfalzbrücke and back to Breite Strasse. Breite Strasse is the main shopping area there. You can also use the streetcar (Strassenbahn) for sightseeing in the city.
The museums are worth a visit:
Kunsthalle - www.kunsthalle-mannheim.com and Landesmuseum für Technik und Arbeit - www.landesmuseum-mannheim.de

You can go to Heidelberg - either with the OEG streetcar, a bit slower, or faster by train fom Mannheim Hbf. (Hauptbahnhof or main station; also, this is the place where you find international press and magazines).

In January, tourists are not that plenty, enjoy the view and panorame from the castle down Neckar valley. If you are even more courious, you might continue your way on River Neckar to Sinsheim for the automotion museum there - http://www.technik-museum.de/uk/

You can go - by train - to Worms or Speyer - for the cathedrals there.

Frankfurt also is very interesting. Its syline might be boring for a New Yorker, but for a German it is quite a thing. See Römer guildhause in the center and Paulskirche, cradle of German democracy. On the Museumsufer on the other side of River Mein, they hava a quite nice ensemble of museums - http://www.frankfurt.de/sixcms/detai...01.c.125161.en

Well, this might do to introduce you Mannheim as a princess instead of a cendrillon. And if you donīt like Mannheim, just take the team and go to Ludwigshafen nearby.

hhildebrandt

If you dontīt like Mannheim, you donīt take a team (they have a good ice hockey team there, btw), but a tram, tramway or streetcar, see, to go to Ludwigshafen (opposite to Mannheim at the other side of river Rhine). You will be happy to be back again in Mannheim.

DAX

Besides Heidelberg, Stuttgart & the colorful Schwaebisch Hall also make great day trips from Mannheim.

We also enjoy exploring the hilly town of Marburg north of Frankfurt.

sharonkay

Thanks so much for all of the great advice. I am going to start looking in more detail at all of your suggestions. Does anyone think that traveling by train even though I don't speak any German is a good plan? I did it in Italy and was always able to find someone to help me understand how to get around. Is Germany the same way?

Gary_Mc

Using the trains was great. German ticket agents were multi-lingual in our experience.

Learn to use the ticket machines which have an English menu. We liked the ticket machines as they gave information as well as tickets. We would usually get a list of possible departures the day before we traveled. Learn to use this website for practice:

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

A number of people in Germany can speak English and they generally are very helpful, polite folks.

Regards, Gary