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Planning on a trip to Germany. But I don't know what city I should stay in. I know I want to go to the southern half. Not going to leave until late fall or winter. Will stay around 10 nights or so. I'm 23 and will be heading there with my gf.
Obvious choices are Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt am Main. But would like to hear if other lesser known cities would be good like Wiesbaden, Erfurt, Mannheim, Augsburg, Ulm ...
We're a rather laid back couple, and enjoy a nice quiet bar rather than a busy and noisy club scene. Very interested in the architecture and natural beauty of Germany.
Preferably a city with a good rail hub, as we want to take a couple day trips to other southern cities and maybe up to Leipzig and Dresden. We're looking for a good home base with about 5-6 days worth of stuff to do in that city alone.
A good choice as a "home base" for traveling around the southern part of Germany is Nuremberg. Good high speed rail connections in many directions, and it's a historical city with a beautiful central city. Since you might be going there in late fall or early winter, the Christmas market in the city center is fabulous.
I second Nuremberg. If you're willing to stay in Austria, Salzburg is a beautiful city as well with good connections. I have very fond memories of my time there.
Reutte is a wonderful place right across the border from Germany in Austria. The city is in Alpine Valley and is really nothing, the main attraction are two castles on a rock face which just up in the middle of the valley, surrounded by the mountains. The first one is a medieval one called Ehrenberg, then further up, on top of the "mini mountain" is a fortress called Schlosskopf. Both are in ruins but there are plans on rebuilding them. Interesting tid bit is that no one realized they were up there until the 1970's when they cut down all the trees that were covering them.
Here is a website about them(in German). They've got nice pictures of the place as well(since I'm too lazy to upload mine)
Since you're only in Germany for 10 days or so, you shouldn't stay in one place and waste 5-6 days there since there is SO much to see. I assume you're flying into Frankfurt Am Main(like most people). Depending on what time the flight arrives in Germany, I'd jump on a train and head off to Rothenburg Ob der Tauber. The old city is intact and was never destroyed in WW2. It's still got the medieval walls to walk on,etc. I've done this before and that first day is all you really need. You'll have to go to Munich, Nurnberg, Bamberg, Die Zugspitze(highest point in Germany). Reutte is right across the border like I said from Germany in the Garmisch area(Zugspitze). I'd also hit up Salzburg, possibly Innsbruck and if you've got time Vienna.
Here are the days and required time to see the main sites with leisure
Rothenburg ob der Tauber- one day
Munich- 1-2 days
Garmisch/Zugspitze-1 day(more if you want to ski/snowboard)
Reutte-1 day
Salzburg-1 day
Nurnberg-1 day
Bamberg - 1 day
Frankfurt - 1 day before the flight home- not much to see in the city.
Like I said before this would be the whirlwind visit, in any of these places you can see much more and obviously stay longer. I'd also hit up Erfurt, its nice for E. German standards. I'd also personally avoid Dresden unless you had a longer trip. Its a sad mess of communist buildings, new buildings, along with new "old buildings" which have been rebuilt. Virtually everything around the city square is brand new including the famous Frauenkirche. It's worth seeing the sites(the churches, Zwinger,etc) however in a time crunch there are better things to see, especially since you want to stay in the south.
Planning on a trip to Germany. But I don't know what city I should stay in. I know I want to go to the southern half. Not going to leave until late fall or winter. Will stay around 10 nights or so. I'm 23 and will be heading there with my gf.
Obvious choices are Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt am Main. But would like to hear if other lesser known cities would be good like Wiesbaden, Erfurt, Mannheim, Augsburg, Ulm ...
We're a rather laid back couple, and enjoy a nice quiet bar rather than a busy and noisy club scene. Very interested in the architecture and natural beauty of Germany.
Preferably a city with a good rail hub, as we want to take a couple day trips to other southern cities and maybe up to Leipzig and Dresden. We're looking for a good home base with about 5-6 days worth of stuff to do in that city alone.
Thanks!
Every city in Southern Germany is good, but avoid the East Germany.
Every city in Southern Germany is good, but avoid the East Germany.
That's terrible advice.
Eastern Germany is filled with wonderful cities. I agree that some of the communist-era architecture is a bit drab, but Dresden, Leipzig, Weimar and other cities have a lot to offer. And then there's Berlin - a must on any German itinerary in my opinion.
But the OP was asking about Southern Germany, so that's why I brought up Salzburg if he was willing to stay in Austria.
Planning on a trip to Germany. But I don't know what city I should stay in. I know I want to go to the southern half. Not going to leave until late fall or winter. Will stay around 10 nights or so. I'm 23 and will be heading there with my gf.
Obvious choices are Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt am Main. But would like to hear if other lesser known cities would be good like Wiesbaden, Erfurt, Mannheim, Augsburg, Ulm ...
We're a rather laid back couple, and enjoy a nice quiet bar rather than a busy and noisy club scene. Very interested in the architecture and natural beauty of Germany.
Preferably a city with a good rail hub, as we want to take a couple day trips to other southern cities and maybe up to Leipzig and Dresden. We're looking for a good home base with about 5-6 days worth of stuff to do in that city alone.
Thanks!
OH please listen to me. I just came back from germany last month. I was there from march to april. My parents are from germany, but I was born and raised in USA. Now I flew into stuttgart, and my family lives in Ulm & Augsburg. Trust me, Ulm is for you, its like a mix of the hustle & bustle of a big city, yet you're in the best architectural and nature scene. It has excellent bus transit, and 3 euros is for the full day. There is also a train. I HAVE youtube videos, I made several of my trip to Ulm, Bosnia & Germany. You can see, that I'm offering legit advice. Augsburg is really nice. But trust me Ulm is the best city I've been to in my opinion and I recommend anyone to go. If you are interested in seeing my youtube videos just send me a message on here. I love Ulm, its now my favorite city, and several years from now when their economy gets better I will be moving to ulm. Also, so many people there speak ENGLISH. every cafe, store, shop, restaurant, etc., I went to, I was speaking english.
Please look into Ulm, you wont regret it. The tallest church in the world is there, so many more things to list. Just let me know, email me on here and I will explain more details.
Take care, and enjoy germany.
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