Germany and Austria: Best Three-Week Trip by Car
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Rick's Favorite Itinerary
Day 1: Fly into Frankfurt, head to the Rhine, sleep in Bacharach
Day 2: Rhine Valley, sleep in Bacharach
Day 3: To Baden-Baden via the Mosel Valley, sleep in Baden-Baden
Day 4: Relax and soak in Baden-Baden
Day 5: Drive through the Black Forest, sleep in Staufen
Day 6: To the Tirol, sleep in Reutte
Day 7: Bavaria and castles, sleep in Reutte
Day 8: To Hallstatt via Innsbruck and Hall, sleep in Hallstatt
Day 9: Hallstatt and Salzkammergut Lake District, sleep in Hallstatt
Day 10: To Vienna via Schönbrunn Palace, sleep in Vienna
Day 11: Vienna
Day 12: To Salzburg via Melk and Mauthausen, sleep in Salzburg
Day 13: Salzburg
Day 14: To Munich, sleep in Munich
Day 15: Munich
Day 16: To Rothenburg via the Romantic Road, sleep in Rothenburg
Day 17: Rothenburg
Day 18: To Nürnberg, sleep in Nürnberg
Day 19: To Dresden, sleep in Dresden
Day 20: To Berlin, sleep in Berlin
Day 21: Berlin
Day 22: Fly home
Sightseeing Priorities
3 days: Munich, Salzburg
5 days, add: Rhine Valley, Rothenburg
7 days, add: Bavaria and Tirol
10 days, add: Berlin
14 days, add: Vienna, Hallstatt, Danube Valley
16 days, add: Baden-Baden, Black Forest
More time: Choose from among Würzburg, Mosel Valley, Trier, Frankfurt, Köln, Nürnberg, Dresden, Görlitz, and Innsbruck/Hall.
Note: This itinerary is designed to be done by car, but could be done by train with some modifications: Take the train from Baden-Baden to Rothenburg, spend the night, take the train to Munich, visit Bavaria and the castles (possibly as a day trip from Munich), see all of the Austrian sights (Salzburg, Hallstatt, Mauthausen, Melk) on the way to Vienna, and take a night train from Vienna to Berlin (skipping Dresden and Nürnberg).
Updated for 2008. For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' guidebooks or join us on one of our free-spirited Europe tours!