Thoughts on itinerary

We plan on visiting Germany as part of our trip in October. We will be traveling from London October 8 and back again October 14. So we%26#39;ll have five full days in Germany. The towns we are most interested in seeing are Heidelberg, Stuttgart and Munich.

For five days, are those 3 cities too much to pack in? I%26#39;m also hoping for some transportation advice - I%26#39;ve heard parking is really tough - is train best for this kind of trip? How about traveling from London to Germany - any affordable suggestions?

Thanks so much!

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First, as to flights from London. I am flying next week from Stuttgart to London Stansted for 1 euro each way, but after the additional charges it is still only 64 euros total on Germanwings. Their advertised rates are usually 19 euros each way, but can vary widely. Their flights leave London at about 8AM and 8PM and the flights from Stuttgart about 7AM and 7PM. Usng the early flight to Stuttgart and the late flight back from there, you could gain another two days of sightseeing. October 8 is the last day of the Canstatter Wasen Volksfest (Germany%26#39;s second largest %26quot;Oktoberfest%26quot;-Munich%26#39;s larger Oktoberfest will be over for a week before you arrive), so I suggest that you fly into Stuttgart as early as you can that day.

If you are just visiting the cities themselves and not the surrounding metropolitan area or countryside your five days should barely be enough. I could give you an interesting itinerary for the area within 100 km (60 miles) of Stuttgart that would take 2-4 weeks in itself, and I%26#39;m sure the same could be done with the other two cities. If visiting only the cities and their metropolitan areas (excellent public transportation), train travel will do nicely. If you want to mainly visit picturesque castles and monasteries and mountain scenery, driving may be better, but then you could have driving and parking problems in the cities. Heidelberg is only fifty miles from Stuttgart and Munich 120 miles in the opposite direction so distances aren%26#39;t large.

For sights to see, click on my name to see what I%26#39;ve recently written about Stuttgart and the area nearby.

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Marcopolko - thank you so much for the great advice. I will definitely look through your posts for other ideas.

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Fully agree to MarcoPolko. There%26#39;s no cheaper way to travel from Great Britain to Germany than flying. I think if I were you, I would rent a car, because you are very short of time and overall car transport might be fastest. You might fly in to Stuttgart, Frankfurt/Rhein-Main or even Frankfurt/Hahn (not very near Frankfurt even though the name suggests differently). If Frankfurt-Hahn was your destination, I would think about a quick stop in the Rhine valley (very picturesque and worth a visit) as you will be passing by anyway.

For your itinerary you would have to limit yourself to the cities. I would suggest spending one day in Heidelberg and two in each of the other cities, as they are quite a bit bigger.

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Actually I disagree with the car idea. For seeing the countryside it might be better indeed to rent the car, but on a fairly short tour from Frankfurt via Heidelberg and Stuttgart to Munich it is easier and faster to use the train. It%26#39;s less than a hour from Frankfurt to Heidelberg and from Heidelberg to Stuttgart, and about two hours from Stuttgart to Munich.