Long ago, before we had children, i.e. 2002, we went on a road trip through Germany. This was before we lived in Germany. At some point we realized that our kids had not seen all the nice places that we had seen although they had lived in Germany for 9 years. So this Easter (2019) we took off to repeat our trip. This time it was a bit shorter and we didn"t hit as many places, but of those we did see we saw them in more detail.
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| Armed with a Lonely Planet and plenty of maps making our way through Germany in 2002 |
And although I would love for you to visit the Lonely planets top ranking place for 2019 I do understand that you might find it a bit scary to visit Sri Lanka. (To me Sri Lanka is home and it's never been bad enough that I would not go home.) So do come and visit second in line, Germany. Buy yourself a lonely planet and head out on a road trip to remember.
No. of days: 9
Starting point:
Dusseldorf or Frankfurt or anywhere in the west of Germany
Budget: Approx. 1,500 EUR
This includes hotels, food, petrol and admissions. Add on extra for getting there and away and for getting around. We spent as little as possible. Lunch consisted of self-made sandwiches and some dinners were instant noodles made in our hotel room (I took a kettle with me). If you can't self cater, but want to cut down costs, pick up a belegtes Brötchen, kind of like a mini sub, from a local bakery. They are delicious. For dinner go to a local Turkish fast food eatery. If you are a meat eater there are an abundance of options. If not, there are almost always falafel sandwiches. Some places also make pizza and pasta. We rarely visited cafe's for a tea or coffee break. This really cuts down the costs. Snacks and munchies we bought from discount supermarkets.
Here is the route we took on
google maps. Marked are points of interest, parking lots and our hotels.
Day 1:
We drove southwards to Loreley. A lovely spot on the river Rhein that is famous for the myth of the
Loreley who sings on the rocks to distract sailors and bring them to their deaths. Also the valley, which you will drive along, is a
UNESCO world heritage site.
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| The Rhein as seen from Loreley look out point; Loreley statue; Burg Maus |
We rode the Sommerrodelbahn "
Loreley Bob" here. You basically sit in a little cart and are pulled up to the top of the hill and then are let go to sail back down the hill at high speeds. It's a very German thing that I've always wanted to do but never got around to doing. Worth every penny!
There are plenty of places for a picnic lunch plus a restaurant.
Driving further South along the Rhein we landed in Heidelberg and walked along the
Philosophers Way, which is a good way to stretch your legs after a day in the car, and to get wonderful views of the Rhein and Heidelberg Castle. Head down the "
Schlangenweg" (winding path) to the old Heidelberg bridge and walk back along the river.
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| Heidelberg Castle in the setting sun from the banks of the river Neckar |
Day 2:
We spent the day in Heidelberg. Getting early to the castle to beat the crowds is a good idea! You can't buy tickets for the castle or the tour on line. Tickets for the castle grounds include the large beer barrel and the pharmacy museum. Both well worth the price, which also includes a ride up (and down if you want!) the hill on the Funicular train (which is really anticlimactic). Buy general tickets at the foot of the hill at the
Funicular station "Kornmarkt". If you want to go on a tour of the castle (photography not allowed inside the buildings) tickets can be bought at the visitors center on the castle grounds. These two tickets are handled separately. You can enter the castle grounds for free if you are on a tight budget and just want to look around.
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| A gate to nowhere in particular other than a fantastic view point |
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| Most of the castle is in ruin. It's kept this way to preserve the romanticism |
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| The view from the above mentioned view point |
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| One of the buildings in the inner courtyard. Accessible only with a ticket. |
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| Inside the pharmacy museum. I'd love to have a kitchen like this! |
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| View of the town from the castle |
As for timing we got to the castle just before 10. Booked our tour, viewed the inner courtyard and pharmacy museum, took the tour, had a picnic lunch, went to see the beer barrel and further ogled at the ruins, walked through the gardens and headed down to the town at 3 pm.
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| The castle from below |
The old town of Heidelberg has a lovely atmosphere! We walked past the Kornmarkt to the main square (Avoid the ice cream parlor on the main church square. The ice cream was not great and the portions were tiny) and then down to the
old bridge, were we saw the famous
Heidelberg Bridge Monkey. You don't need to cross the bridge to see the monkey. He's actually not even on the bridge. Before you go under the bridge tower look for him on the left hand side on the parapet. The bridge tower was covered in scaffolding so I don't have any photos.
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| Kornmarkt |
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| A quaint street heading towards the main square. If you like your streets a bit quieter just try some parallel streets. The tourists drop off very quickly |
Day 3:
Drive down to Freiburg. We checked into our hotel first (
B&b Frieburg Nord). Plenty of free parking however, the buses past there don't run on Sundays and holidays. We ended up having to drive into town. Here is a
walking tour around the town. It takes 2.5 hours and takes you past all the interesting sites. If you have more time you could visit more of the museums, but don't miss the Augustiner Museum. It's small but well laid out and you can see the original stained glass, gargoyles and statues from the cathedral up close. A fantastic exhibit.
Look out for the "
Bächle" that are all over the old town.
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| Inside the Freiburger Münster |
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| Historisches Kaufhaus on the square |
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| Gargoyles and statues in the Augustiner Museum |
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| Germany's first inn |
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| Schwabentor |
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| The Gewerbe Canal |
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| Martinstor (McDonalds Tor) |
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| Old Synagogue Square - the pool is a memorial to the synagogue that once stood here |
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| One of the town halls - Rathaus |
Day 4:
takes us into the Black Forest. No longer a dark forest as you might expect thanks to the many years of logging that kept the winter industries running.
A good place to stop is at Höllsteig 74, 79874 Breitnau. There are a variety of shops which showcase German products including cuckoo clocks, watches, blown glass (workshop on site) and some more modern products. There is a huge price range so there is something for everyone. They have good toilets and a cafeteria style restaurant. There is also a hotel at this location. If you are like us, and not into shopping and eating, take a hike passing underneath the Ravana Viaduct and along the Ravana Gorge. Take a moment to photograph the
St Oswald chapel and visit the customs house (keys for both places can be picked up at the
Hofgut Sternen). Finish up ogling at the crafts people blowing glass.
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| Along the Ravana Gorge |
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| St Oswalds Chapel |
Continue on to Triberg (very touristy) where you can visit
Germany's highest waterfall. It would have been a wonderful atmosphere if not for all the annoying people trying to take their perfect Instagram photos. Block out the photographing maniacs and enjoy the falls and the nature.
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| Part of the waterfall |
We next went to see the
worlds largest cuckoo clock. It was also anti climatic, but it's so close to the town that it's not worth missing! A bit annoying that they charge 50 cents for the toilets and that they didn't have a nice cafe. The shop was really well stocked and I didn't get the feeling that I was in a tourist trap.
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| The world's largest cuckoo clock! |
We drove on to our next place of rest Tuttlingen. Now there may not be much in Tuttlingen, but there is a fantastic hotel called
Charlys Place. They have fantastically priced rooms that sleep 4 people. In very comfortable bunk beds, not your hostel type bunks but proper bunks. Plus wonderful hang out areas one which included a billiards table, board games and a kicker (fußball) table for free! Try
Diyar Kebap for a quick and delicious meal. The best falafel sandwhich I've had in Germany yet!
Day 5:
Although we thought that it might be worth spending the day in Tuttlingen we voted to travel to Konstanz instead. Other options were to go hiking, visit a spa, or go and visit the famous Tittisee. This and many more day trip options can be found on my
google map.
We first drove to Reichenau island and walked around half of the island. At the campsite on the far end of the island you can rent bikes and bike around, or rent a row boat and row around, but we were too cheap and just walked. Stop off first at the tourist information to get the lay of the land. Then drop into the fantastic churches and take in the scenery. Drop into the little bakery behind the tourist information (Inselbäckerei Peter) to pick up some cheap goodies for lunch.
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| St. Maria and St. Markus - just north of the tourist information center |
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| There are pretty fields everywhere! |
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| Yachthafen Herrenbrücke - North of the St. Maria and St Markus church |
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| St. Peter and Paul - north-west corner |
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| St. Peter and Paul - interior |
After spending half a day there we drove of to Konstanz proper. I personally didn't see much because I was not feeling well. But here are some pictures of the things that the rest of the bunch saw.
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| Interior of the church in Constance. Absolutely beautiful. Too many pictures to post! |
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| The alps across lake Constance |
Day 6:
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| Neuschwanstein from a different perspective |
This was the big day. We went to visit Neuschwanstein! I seriously advise you to book your tour well in advance and find a place close to the castle to spend the night at. Tuttlingen is about 3 hours drive away and since our friends had to leave at 12 noon we booked one of the earlier tours. Booking here is a bit old fashioned. You have to go to their website and then send them a request for which tour you want. They will then hold your ticket which you have to pick up at the ticket counter one and a half hours before the tour starts. If you book a combination ticket they will schedule Neuschwanstein first and Hohenschwangau second. We requested that they give us tours the other way around and they did this without any problem. Although there are certain disadvantages to doing it "backwards" (the tours are set up assuming the other way around although they are independent and you don't need to have done one to get the other), the advantages outweigh them by far.
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| From the inner courtyard |
When we got to the ticket counter at around 8 am it was full and the lines were long (although they moved pretty quickly) and this is just to pick up the reserved tickets. On the sales person's advice we walked up to Neuschwanstein. There were other people on the road but it was quite quiet. My daughter, who hates crowds, complained that it was way to crowded! However, we were able to get plenty of pictures without other people being in them :)
I had read that the tour of Neuschwanstein was horrible and it lived up to its expectation. The guide refused to answer any questions until the very end and then when asked at the end could not give any useful answers. But the inside of the castle was well worth seeing and the tour is the only way to get in AND it's not horribly expensive.
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| View from the balcony at Neuschwanstein |
When we came out of the castle the place was packed. I don't know where the people materialized from but within an hour or so everything had become busy. It was not much fun navigating around people to go and see the Marienbrücke. In fact we just put our feet on it, peeked at the castle and then fled. There were way too many people on the tiny bridge all trying to take their perfect Instagram pictures.
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| Looking down from the Marienbrücke |
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| The castle as seen from the Marienbrücke |
My daughter was in shock until we got down the hill. Just way too many people for her. It also totally spoiled the atmosphere. One should definitely get up there early.
Hohenschwangau was not as busy owing to the fact that it is not as famous. But my the tour was excellent. The tour guide was a riot (although my husband knew all the answers to his questions since they were the same ones asked 17 years ago!) and we had enormous fun. We took the English tour and because some of the kids didn't understand English he even translated things that children would find interesting into German. Lovely castle with wonderful history.
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| View from a window in Hohenschwangau. Notice the alps in the background. |
Keep in mind that everything around here is over priced although not exorbitant. We had a picnic out of the back of our car in the parking lot!
We drove on to Augsburg from here. Although Augsburg is beautiful, I suggest that you go to Munich instead. We've been to Munich and my sister-in-law lives in Augsburg so we went to visit her (free board and lodging!).
In Munich spend the afternoon at the English Garden and visiting the Chinese Tower. Watch out for the river surfers at Eisbachwelle (southern tip of the park).
Day 7:
Take in the old town and visit some of the museums. The Glockenspiel on the Mareienplatz is a must see. It goes off at 11 am and noon. We saw it from up the tower of St. Peters! If you have time visit Nymphenburg Palace (Schloss Nymphenburg). We really enjoyed our visit here. There is a large garden, the palace is not too large, the palm house is cool. We did it in half a day with little kids. Leave in the late afternoon for Weimar (4 hour drive).
Day 8:
There is so much to see in Weimar because it's the home to Goethe, Schiller and Bauhaus. Buy a
Weimar card to make your life easy ;). Our morning was filled with visiting Goethe's house and museum. We heard that it was very popular and one could only get timed tickets so we went there first. We were early enough that we could get in straight away. Almost all the places in Weimar have timed tickets and audio guides so if you want to see a particular place you have to get there early and book your tour. It's a bit of a pain in the you know what, but that is life. The visit was well worth it. After having lunch on the square outside Goethe's house we moseyed on off to the Park on the Ilm and visited the Römisches Haus and Goethes Gartenhaus. Then we headed to Schiller's house. It's much smaller and less tasteful than Goethe's house (and at times the audio is a bit boring) but an extremely interesting contrast given that they lived at the same time. And that was all that we had time for on one day. Don't forget that the town is very cute and just walking from one place to another there are plenty of other buildings, fountains, churches and squares to see.
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| Inside Goethe's house |
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| Plaster of paris... Goethe had lots of these! |
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| Goethe's garden house. His first home. |
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| Goethe's garden house |
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| Schiller's kitchen |
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| Schiller's house |
Day 9:
We got up early to get in the line for the newly opened Bauhaus Museum. Bauhaus celebrates their 100th anniversary this year. There were no tickets on-line and the only option was to stand in line and get a timed ticket. We were able to get in after a one hour wait. I'm thinking that this line will get shorter as time goes on. The museum had not been open for more than a month when we went.
We were disappointed by the museum. We left still not knowing what exactly Bauhaus was. The audio tour was the only way to get any information. For that you HAD to have a cell phone. We were four and the kids had left theirs in the car so we had to share. It was a disaster. And what do you do if you don't have a phone? Just wander around?? Also the only reason we knew there was an app to download is because we was asked one of the security guys how we could get information about the exhibits! He had to help us figure it all out. There was way too much information in the audio tour and it was not clear which exhibit they were talking about. You'll not need more than 2 hours for this museum.
Across the road there are a couple of museums that are included in your Weimar Card. If you still have any energy you can pop in to see them or go for a walk in the park behind the Bauhaus Museum.
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| Staircase - A highlight for me in the Bauhaus Museum! |
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| Across the road from the Bauhaus Museum |
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| One of the other museums that I had no energy to see!! |
Here our road trip came to an end and we headed home. However, if you are here from abroad tag on a few days in Berlin at the end and fly back home from there. It's a 3-4 hour drive from Weimar.
