Neo

Hi.

I'll be traveling for business purposes to Frankfurt and Nurnberg in a couple of
weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some sightseeing for 2 to 4 days, if everything
goes smoothly.

It's going to be the first time I go to Germany and I'd like to sample a little of
its best. I intend to start with the wonderful food, of course :^), but I enjoy a lot
visiting picturesque and historic places. Frankfurt itself, big metropolis, doesn't
entice me.

I'll have a rental to move around and I was thinking of making an effort to visit
Neuschwanstein down South. Other cities I'd be interested in visiting would be
Rothenburg and Salzburg, in Austria, or a swiss city close to the border.

I'd appreciate very much if you'd be able to give me some suggestions about routes
and what to do and must sees in these cities and if there's something in between
that I can't miss. Or, perhaps, that there are other cities I should consider
instead of these.

Unfortunately, German is not among the languages I can speak, even though I can take
my chances with a couple of dozen of German words, if much. Is it OK to go around
speaking just English?

Thanks a lot,

--
__________________________________________________ ____
Evandro Menezes ICQ:7957253 Austin, TX http://geocities.com/evandro

Lwindreich

You shouldn't have any grave problems with the language, as English is widely spoken
almost everywhere.If you have time,get a good guidebook of Germany and some maps. The
Romantic Road is one of the most enchanting routes in Bavaria and can be reached from
Frankfurt via Wurzburg. You can travel on it for a full day, stopping at interesting
medieval towns, until you reach the castle towns in southern Bavaria near the
Austrain border (Neueschwanstein, etc.) As distances are short, you can take in a lot
of scenery in 4 days. Enjoy!

Keith Anderson

On Sat, 29 Jun 2002 22:59:32 GMT, Neo <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Hi.
    >
    >I'll be traveling for business purposes to Frankfurt and Nurnberg in a couple of
    >weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some sightseeing for 2 to 4 days, if everything
    >goes smoothly.

Would these be consecutive days? And where would your "free time" commence - in
Frankfurt or Nürnberg?
    >
    >It's going to be the first time I go to Germany and I'd like to sample a little of
    >its best. I intend to start with the wonderful food, of course :^) but I enjoy a lot
    >visiting picturesque and historic places. Frankfurt itself, big metropolis, doesn't
    >entice me.
    >
    >I'll have a rental to move around and I was thinking of making an effort to visit
    >Neuschwanstein down South. Other cities I'd be interested in visiting would be
    >Rothenburg and Salzburg, in Austria, or a swiss city close to the border.

If your 4 days are consecutive, you can do all of this, but (as above) whether you
start in Frankfurt or Nürnberg has a bearing.
    >
    >I'd appreciate very much if you'd be able to give me some suggestions about routes
    >and what to do and must sees in these cities and if there's something in between
    >that I can't miss. Or, perhaps, that there are other cities I should consider
    >instead of these.

One route you could take is a tourist route - the Romantic Road - which links
Würzburg with Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen (mediaeval walled cities) and
which continues right down to Füssen near the border with Austria where you'll find
Neuschwanstein.

From there you could make your way to Salzburg via Innsbruck - very scenic - but then
you'd have to give Switzerland a miss..
    >
    >Unfortunately, German is not among the languages I can speak, even though I can take
    >my chances with a couple of dozen of German words, if much. Is it OK to go around
    >speaking just English?

As always, just taking the time to learn a few polite words in German is an
enormous help, even if all you manage is please, thank you, and I don't speak
German/do you speak English please? People everywhere tend to be much more helpful
if you make an effort.

Neil Tupper

"Neo" <[email protected]> wrote

    > Unfortunately, German is not among the languages I can speak, even though I can
    > take my chances with a couple of dozen of German words, if much. Is it OK to go
    > around speaking just English?
    >

If you get stuck, talk to a teenager or young adult, They all seem to speak English.

Neil

Wendy Waring

Get a Michelin map, all the scenic roads are coloured green. Nobody seems to have
suggested the small roads towards Zell am See in Austria (I prefer them to the
Romantische Strasse north, it's extremely picturesque, you can also visit
Bergtesgaden and take a boat ride on a lake surrounded by mountain cliffs. Hiking is
wonderful anywhere in the region.

Neo wrote:

    >Hi.
    >
    >I'll be traveling for business purposes to Frankfurt and Nurnberg in a couple of
    >weeks. Hopefully, I'll be able to do some sightseeing for 2 to 4 days, if everything
    >goes smoothly.
    >
    >It's going to be the first time I go to Germany and I'd like to sample a little of
    >its best. I intend to start with the wonderful food, of course :^), but I enjoy a
    >lot visiting picturesque and historic places. Frankfurt itself, big metropolis,
    >doesn't entice me.
    >
    >I'll have a rental to move around and I was thinking of making an effort to visit
    >Neuschwanstein down South. Other cities I'd be interested in visiting would be
    >Rothenburg and Salzburg, in Austria, or a swiss city close to the border.
    >
    >I'd appreciate very much if you'd be able to give me some suggestions about routes
    >and what to do and must sees in these cities and if there's something in between
    >that I can't miss. Or, perhaps, that there are other cities I should consider
    >instead of these.
    >
    >Unfortunately, German is not among the languages I can speak, even though I can take
    >my chances with a couple of dozen of German words, if much. Is it OK to go around
    >speaking just English?
    >
    >Thanks a lot,

Neo

Keith Anderson wrote:
    >
    > Would these be consecutive days? And where would your "free time" commence - in
    > Frankfurt or Nürnberg?

Not consecutive and in both towns...

    > If your 4 days are consecutive, you can do all of this, but (as above) whether you
    > start in Frankfurt or Nürnberg has a bearing.

Would it really? It's just a couple of hours, or less. I wouldn't mind hitting the
road at 5 AM. It's a golden opportunity to visit Germany and I don't want to miss it.

    > One route you could take is a tourist route - the Romantic Road

This sounds like a nice idea.

    > From there you could make your way to Salzburg via Innsbruck - very scenic - but
    > then you'd have to give Switzerland a miss..

I know that the map is not the territory, but it seems that there aren't many
bordering cities on the Swiss side, perhaps because of the Alps. Am I reading the
maps right?

Starting in Innsbruck is a nice idea. Is it worth stopping at Innsbruck?

    > As always, just taking the time to learn a few polite words in German is an
    > enormous help, even if all you manage is please, thank you, and I don't speak
    > German/do you speak English please? People everywhere tend to be much more helpful
    > if you make an effort.

I'll be training with my wife.

Thanks a bunch!

--
__________________________________________________ _______
Evandro Menezes ICQ:7957253 Austin, TX http://geocities.com/evandro

Keith Anderson

On Sat, 29 Jun 2002 23:50:23 GMT, Neo <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Keith Anderson wrote:
    >>

    >Not consecutive and in both towns...

When you have free time in Frankfurt, and bearing in mind you have a car, you could
do a really nice circular route - Frankfurt - Wiesbaden
- then along the River Rhine to Rüdesheim and along the most spectacular part of the
Rhine Gorge to Koblenz. From there you could head along the valley of the River
Lahn to Limburg, and through the Taunus hills back to Frankfurt. There'd be time to
stop off on the way.
    >
    > One route you could take is a tourist route - the Romantic Road
    >
    >This sounds like a nice idea.
    >
    >> From there you could make your way to Salzburg via Innsbruck - very scenic - but
    >> then you'd have to give Switzerland a miss..
    >
    >I know that the map is not the territory, but it seems that there aren't many
    >bordering cities on the Swiss side, perhaps because of the Alps. Am I reading the
    >maps right?

Sorry, Swiss cities near the German-Swiss or Austrian-Swiss border?

If you head south towards Füssen and Innsbruck, you could make a right in Innsbruck
and head through Austria's Vorarlberg province into Switzerland and that's be nice
and scenic too, but you'd miss out on Salzburg as you'd be heading away from it.

    >Starting in Innsbruck is a nice idea. Is it worth stopping at Innsbruck?
    >
Pleasant enough - but I think Salzburg is more interesting as a city.

    >> As always, just taking the time to learn a few polite words in German is an
    >> enormous help, even if all you manage is please, thank you, and I don't speak
    >> German/do you speak English please? People everywhere tend to be much more helpful
    >> if you make an effort.
    >
    >I'll be training with my wife.

Don't let her make life too easy for you

Dave Smith

Neo wrote:

    > I'll have a rental to move around and I was thinking of making an effort to visit
    > Neuschwanstein down South. Other cities I'd be interested in visiting would be
    > Rothenburg and Salzburg, in Austria, or a swiss city close to the border.
    >
    > I'd appreciate very much if you'd be able to give me some suggestions about routes
    > and what to do and must sees in these cities and if there's something in between
    > that I can't miss. Or, perhaps, that there are other cities I should consider
    > instead of these.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is well worth the visit. We had a great time there. If you
are going to Neuschwanstein you might consider swinging over to
Garmische-Partenkirchen to spend some time. We stayed at two different hotels there,
the Gasthaus Fraudorfer and the Poste Hotel. The Fraudorfer was a little more rustic
but had good food and entertainment. The hospitality in G-P was the friendliest that
I have ever experienced while traveling.

    > Unfortunately, German is not among the languages I can speak, even though I can
    > take my chances with a couple of dozen of German words, if much. Is it OK to go
    > around speaking just English?

You should not have much trouble. I have yet to visit a hotel in Germany where the
staff at the front counter did not speak English, but sometimes had waitresses who
could not speak it. Best to take a long a good phrase boo so that you can at least
check out the words on the menu.

Neo

Keith Anderson wrote:
    >
    > When you have free time in Frankfurt, and bearing in mind you have a car, you could
    > do a really nice circular route - Frankfurt - Wiesbaden
    > - then along the River Rhine to Rüdesheim and along the most spectacular part of
    > the Rhine Gorge to Koblenz. From there you could head along the valley of the
    > River Lahn to Limburg, and through the Taunus hills back to Frankfurt. There'd be
    > time to stop off on the way.

This is so welcome! Thanks.

    > Sorry, Swiss cities near the German-Swiss or Austrian-Swiss border?

Near the border with Germany.

    > Pleasant enough - but I think Salzburg is more interesting as a city.

Cool.

    > Don't let her make life too easy for you

She won't be going, so hear jealousy is being pretty tough already. :^)

Much obliged,

--
__________________________________________________ ____
Evandro Menezes ICQ:7957253 Austin, TX http://geocities.com/evandro

Keith Anderson

On Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:16:50 GMT, Neo <[email protected]> wrote:

    >Keith Anderson wrote:
    >>
    >> When you have free time in Frankfurt, and bearing in mind you have a car, you
    >> could do a really nice circular route - Frankfurt - Wiesbaden
    >> - then along the River Rhine to Rüdesheim and along the most spectacular part of
    >> the Rhine Gorge to Koblenz. From there you could head along the valley of the
    >> River Lahn to Limburg, and through the Taunus hills back to Frankfurt. There'd
    >> be time to stop off on the way.
    >
    >This is so welcome! Thanks.

You may as well as if you're in Frankfurt - the Rhine Gorge is one of Germany's "must
sees". The Lahn is much less visited - but Limburg has a fine old cathedral and there
are castles perched along the hillsides of the winding, wooded Lahn Valley (it's
where the Orange-Nassau dynasty stem from - providing Royal families for the
Netherlands, Luxembourg and Britain - i.e. William III. One of the castles along the
Lahn still flies the Dutch flag).
    >
    >> Sorry, Swiss cities near the German-Swiss or Austrian-Swiss border?
    >
    >Near the border with Germany.

That would take you away from what I understand would be your prime destinations of
Rothenburg/Neuschwanstein/Salzburg. Switzerland's renowned for its Alpine scenery
rather than its cities, although there are some wonderful old towns. Schaffhausen
near the Rhine Falls is not too far from the German border - but you can't do it all
in 4 days (!) In any case, if you go down to Austria you'll have more than enough
glorious Alpine scenery to feast your eyes on. When you go again with your family,
take in Germany's Black Forest on your way to Switzerland.
    >
    >> Pleasant enough - but I think Salzburg is more interesting as a city.

Tip for Salzburg - the Café Tomaselli - real old-world coffee house - wood panelling,
leather armchairs, white-coated waiters... and some of the best coffee you'll taste
anywhere in the world, plus luscious pastries!

    >> Don't let her make life too easy for you
    >
    >She won't be going, so hear jealousy is being pretty tough already. :^)

Neo

Keith Anderson wrote:
    >
    > You may as well as if you're in Frankfurt - the Rhine Gorge is one of Germany's
    > "must sees". The Lahn is much less visited - but Limburg has a fine old cathedral
    > and there are castles perched along the hillsides of the winding, wooded Lahn
    > Valley (it's where the Orange-Nassau dynasty stem from - providing Royal families
    > for the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Britain - i.e. William III. One of the castles
    > along the Lahn still flies the Dutch flag).

Whoa, my chart is getting full of pins! :^)

    > That would take you away from what I understand would be your prime destinations of
    > Rothenburg/Neuschwanstein/Salzburg.

I take from this that, unless I had more days, there isn't much more on the
swiss side worth making a detour, except, as you said, Swiss beautiful alpine
scenery, right?

    > Tip for Salzburg - the Café Tomaselli - real old-world coffee house - wood
    > panelling, leather armchairs, white-coated waiters... and some of the best coffee
    > you'll taste anywhere in the world, plus luscious pastries!

Hmmm, sounds like the perfect place for a wandering tourist to grab a bite!

Thanks a lot,

--
__________________________________________________ ____
Evandro Menezes ICQ:7957253 Austin, TX http://geocities.com/evandro

Eric Holeman

In article <[email protected]>, Neo <postmaster> wrote:

    >> That would take you away from what I understand would be your prime destinations
    >> of Rothenburg/Neuschwanstein/Salzburg.

    >I take from this that, unless I had more days, there isn't much more on the
    >swiss side worth making a detour, except, as you said, Swiss beautiful alpine
    >scenery, right?

I haven't actually been to Switzerland, but I assure you that between Fuessen,
Salzburg and Berchtesgaden, you'll have plenty of alpine scenery. Much of the
destinations suggested here are included in Rick Steves' Germany guide, which should
also help you figure out how much time to allot in and in between places. Be
forewarned that although the autobahns are fun to drive (the faster your car, the
more fun they are), after a while, they feel a lot like being on the freeway back
home. Try to make sure your itinerary doesn't include too much driving, especially if
you plan to drop in to the wineries!

--

Eric Holeman eholatenteractcom Chicago Illinois USA

Hassaotik

Hi,

as I've been living in frankfurt for 8 years, I'd like to give you some advices.

If I where you I would neither go to Neuschwnstein nor Rothenburg, as they are !Tourist-Traps!. No Germna would ever think of going there and teses places have got nithing to do with real Germany.
As you stay in southern germany Würzburg ,Heidelberg and Munich are far more interesting! The first two are really beautiful, old cities and you can vistit castles etc. there. In Munich and Heidelberg most of the younger folks speak English, because they are students.
If you are interessted in rural areas vist theOdenwald!!
About 40 km away from Frankfurt you'll dive into a different world.

In neuschwanstein etc. people will only be nice because they want your money, behind your back they laugh about how silly forigners are!
In normal towns people will be quite friendly and love to give advices.

If you need further info about germany feel free to mail me: [email protected] .

PS:

Thank You= Danke (not Danke Schön, thats much to formal)
bye=Tschüss
I'm lost= ich habe mich verlaufen

Erilar

In article <[email protected]>, Hassaotik
<[email protected]> wrote:

    > In neuschwanstein etc. people will only be nice because they want your money,
    > behind your back they laugh about how silly forigners are! In normal towns people
    > will be quite friendly and love to give advices.

Neuschwanstein is the worst example of what the average American thinks is a "castle"
in all of Germany. Sorry, folly-lovers, but it's true. If you look at it as a royal
folly, it's pretty the first time inside and still looks pretty in the background on
repeat visits to the area. (Hohenschwangau at least has some history.) If you're into
pretty palaces, Linderhof is less pretentious and wears better.

If you want to see a CASTLE, look elsewhere. There ARE some in other places. Many
other places. Germany has a plethora.

--
Mary Loomer Oliver(aka erilar)

Erilar's Cave Annex: http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~erilarlo

S. Huempfner

Hallo, I had been to Neuschwanstein with our relatives from the US. We suggested to
go to Linderhof or Herrenchiemsee, but they insisted on going there.

Hassaotik schrieb:
> As you stay in southern germany Würzburg ,Heidelberg and Munich are far more
> interesting!

We had also been to Wuerzburg, Bamberg and Munich. I think they liked Bamberg at
least as much as Wuerzburg. Some more ideas are: Salzburg (ok, it's Austria),
Koenigssee (lots of tourists!) and Wieskirche.

Some of them are on the UN wourld heritage list: Wieskirche, Bamberg, Salzburg and I
gess it's a good idea to select these!

But you should decide on your own: Have a look at the internet, consider the rate of
tourist and go there!

Bye

The official Website: http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/ It's in German, but you can
translate it using http://reversonet.lycos.de/Translatorurl.asp .