AboutRangutan Expertise All about Munich (München) and the state of Bavaria (Bayern), related cities and towns, culture, history, travel highlights and assistance, also up-to-date information and about future events like Oktoberfest 2007, exhibitions, fairs or concerts...
Any question generally about Germany or Europe too.
Question We will fly into Geneva at the beginning of September, explore Switzerland for about a week, and then explore the Black Forest region by car. Do you have sight seeing recommendations in this specific area? Also, do we have time to also visit Stuggart and/or Munich and then fly home? We only have about a total 14-16 days for the whole trip, with about a week only in Germany. Thanks.
Answer Hi Joe
You will find that distances are much smaller between cities than in the USA and the highways ("Autobahn") very developed and fast. It is the old culture that is interesting in Europe, a lot of cities were founded more than a thousand years ago. The Alps and the lakes are most beautiful around September. It is difficult to recommend sights witht knowing how old you are, what your interests are and what your budget is but here are two round routes I recommend:
- Geneva
- Basel (lunch stop)
- Rhine Valley near Freiburg (2-3 nights on a wine farm/guesthouse and the Black Forest as a day trip)
- Stuttgart (lunch stop)
- Munich (2 nights)
- Fussen (Neuschwanstein Castle)
- Lindau/Bodensee (night)
- Saint Gallen/Constanz (lunch)
- Geneva
- Geneva
- via Sion to Lake Como (lunch)
- Genova (2 nights with a day trip to Monaco/Cannes/Nice)
- Geneva
Or combine the two? Zurich is interesting, could be done as a day-trip from Geneva first to test the car.
Tip: plot your planned route on a map to avoid unnecessary backtracking and to optimise stops. Find out the distances between cities to optimise accommodation. If you are not fussy, there is no need for hotel reservations. Try guest-houses too, "Gasthaus" or "Zimmer frei" in Germany.
