German Itinerary

Here is an itinerary with notes that I used some years ago for eighteen (18) days in Germany (Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Munich, Neuschwanstein Nuremberg, Bamberg, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen), traveling by train.

I try to have a plan when traveling that is open to spontaneity too.  That way, I’m not spending my travel time looking through guide books. 

If you are looking to compile an itinerary for your ONE trip to Germany and not keen on compiling your own tour, this itinerary could work with a few more days to stop in Köln and take a river boat ride on the Rhine.  That would bring it to a three-week vacation.  And consider a day in Hanauer too!

Day One – Arrive FRANKFURT

Get Tageskarte, all day transport ticket from airport, FRANKFURT AM MAIN

*Kaiserdom (cathedral) opens at 8am

10:30am (English) “Frankfurt on Foot” walking tour

Historisches Museum (city history) 10am-6pm –MUSEUMSUFER

Museum for Moderne Kunst (modern art) open to 6pm

The English Theater

Lodging:  Frankfurt Hostel

Day Two FRANKFURT

Frankfurt scene

Get Tageskarte all day transport

Senckenberg *Natural History Museum open 9 to 5pm on Fri., on Sat, ‘til 6pm

Then >Food Market for lunch

Then these three art museums are in the same location:

• *Stadel Museum (art museum) open 10 to 6pm
• Libieghaus (art museum) open 10 to 6pm
• Museum Giersch (art) is closeby 11am-5pm

Lodging:  Frankfurt Hostel  (includes breakfast)

Day Three  Take Train to HEIDELBERG

Get Heidelberg Card at tourist office

Solarschif (50 min boat cruise) every 90 min, 10am-6pm

Walk about

Lodging:  Lotte The Backpacker (dorm),

Heidelberg scene

Day Four  – Take Train to Mannheim connect to BADEN BADEN

Mt. Merkur, hike down (or hike up & cable car down), go to Friedrichsbad bathhouse for 2-3 hours

Take train to Karlsruhe to connect to train to Muench

Lodging:  Hotel Cocoon

Day Five – MUNICH

Two hour CITY WALK + *ENGLISH GARTEN http://www.munichwalktours.de/en/the-city-walk/

try weisswurst (veal sausage) for lunch

Stadtmuseum (city museum) 10-6

*Alte Pinakothek Museum (ancient art) open to 8pm on Tuesdays

Lodging:  Hotel Cocoon

Day Six – MUNICH

DAY TOUR:  Schloss Neuschwanstein (by BUS)

overnight in Munich  Lodging:  Hotel Cocoon

Day Seven  – MUNICH

Palaontogiste Museum

Neue Pinakothek Museum

Museum Brandhorst (modern art)

3pm Third Reich 2.5 hr walking tour http://www.lonelyplanet.com/germany/munich/activities/guided-tours/hitler-third-reich-munich-walking-tour

*Pinakothek der Moderne, opens 10am-8pm

Lodging:  Hotel Cocoon

Day Eight –At Haubtbanoff in Munich, take AM train to NUREMBURG

Germanisches Natle Museum 10-6, Walking tour 1:30-3:30 and then *Kaiserburg (imperial castle, open 9-6) There is a museum here too (Kaiserburg Museum)

1:30 pm Old Town two-hour walking tour at Haupmarkt Tourist Office

LODGING:  Five Reasons Hostel

Day Nine, NUREMBERG

Café Celona by the river for breakfast

Nurnberg Reflections

Documentation Centre Nazi Party Rally Grounds, open 24/7 with museum open  10-5, do 10am-12, Audio Tour

from Hauptbahnhoff, take Tram line 9: stop Doku-Zentrum

Bus line 36, 55, 65: stop Doku-Zentrum

Suburban Railway S2:stop Dutzendteich Bahnhof

Afternoon trip by 9am train to BAMBERG, (45-60 min duration) Need to book RT TRAIN, then take 901, 202 or 931 Bus to ZOB (ctrl bus station) and from there, take Bus 901 to DomPlatz

>Dom, >Historisches Museum, >Kloster St. Michael

Saturday walking tour in English

Return to Nuremberg, see Alter Botanischer Garten (near train station)

LODGING:  Five Reasons Hostel

Day Ten  Take AM Train (two trains) to DRESDEN

Get Bus/train day pass

12 noon departure for 2 hour walking tour of Old Town, Note Frauen Kirche

ZWINGER MIT SEMPERBAU

*Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister – Zwinger

Lodging:  Hostel Mondpalast

9pm two hour Night Walk from ALbertplatz in Neustadt

Day Eleven – A Monday in DRESDEN

Two hour Slaughterhouse Five tour from Theaterplatz

*Residenzschloss  (*Grunes Gewolbe)

• Neues Grunes Gewolbe
• *Historisches Grunes Gewolbe
• Rüstkammer (Armoury) of Riesensaal (Hall of the Giants)
• Option:  Türckische Cammer (Turkish Chamber)

*Militarhistorisches Museum Dresden in Neustadt area.

Lodging:  Hostel Mondpalast

Day Twelve – Take AM Train to  BERLIN

Europaplatz tourist office (out front of train station to right and then left) and get a 3-day Schau-Lust Museum pass & a 3-DAY Berlin Welcome Card

ORIGINAL BERLIN WALKS 3.5-4 tour

Deutches Historisches Museum

DDR Museum

If time, See inside Berlin Dom

Lodging:  Arte Luise Kunsthotel

Day Thirteen – BERLIN

8am timed entry to *Reichstag/OBSERVATORY TOO

Reichstag Dome

Go to Charlottenberg neighborhood (TAXI to Schloss Charlottenerg) and walk  to museums along Spandauer Damm

Sammlung Scharf-Gersetnberg (surrealist art museum)

Museum Berggruen – (having focus on Picasso, Klee, Matisse, Giacometti)

Go to Kreuzberg neighborhood in West Berlin (Ubahn Carlottenberg>Ostbahnhof)

@4pm -7pm  Food and Art Tour – VOUCHER

Chamaleon Variete (variety Show)

Lodging:  Arte Luise Kunsthotel (includes breakfast)

Day Fourteen – BERLIN

Bus 100 (Alexander Platz to zoo & back)

*Pergamonmuseum (antiquities)

*Neues Museum, (art)

*Gemaldergalerie (2km of galleries)

Berlin Philharmonie 8pm show

Lodging:  Arte Luise Kunsthotel (includes breakfast)

Day Fifteen, Take train to HAMBURG

At Rathaus (town hall) Free English 2-hour tours

Deichgraf (restaurant) get Aal-suppe (eel soup spiced with dried fruit, ham & veg)

One hour Port and Elbe River Cruise

Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg

Lodging:  Instant Sleep Backpacker Hostel

Day Sixteen – HAMBURG

*Kunsthalle (big art museum)

AM Train to Lübeck (World Heritage Site)

• Holstentor (city gate); Option: with Holstentor museum 11-5
• One hour boat city tour leave every half hour 10-6 Quandt-Linie, just south of Holstenbrucke bridge
• *Europaisches Hansemuseum, E14.50, open to 6pm
• Get Marzipan for trip back to Hamburg

Eve Train to Hamburg

Lodging:  Instant Sleep Backpacker Hostel

Day Seventeen–AM fish market,

Train to BREMEN

Check out two museums; Print self-guided tour

Bremen Town Musicians

Lodging:  GastHaus Hotel

Day Eighteen  – BREMEN

Train to Frankfurt AM MAIN Airport

FLIGHT HOME  (Back at home is when I see more clearly that I have been far away.)

“Learning German is what eternity was made for.” —Mark Twain

“Ein jeder kehr’ vor seiner Tür, und rein ist jedes Stadtquartier.”  (“If everyone sweeps in front of their own door, every part of town will be clean.”)–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich stärker.” (“What does not kill me makes me stronger.”) –Friedrich Nietzsche

TATTOO—Journeys on My Mind by Tina Marie L. Lamb is available at Amazon and BarnesandNoble and iBooks and Audible.

Buy it. Read it. Let me know what you think. –TMLL