Hi, we%26#39;re going to be visiting family in Mannheim after a stay in Berchtesgaden the first week of September and are trying to figure out the best route. We%26#39;re trying to decide whether to follow along the alps and maybe stay a night in Meersburg on Lake Constance or travel northwest and perhaps overnight in Augsburg or Wolfach. If anyone out there has traveled around southern Germany and can offer some advice it would be most appreciated. We understand it%26#39;s about a 7 hour drive from Berchtesgaden to Mannheim and would to break it up. Thanks in advance.
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Have you been to Rothenburg? If not, suggest you travel by car Bertchtesgaden - Alpenstrasse (B-305) to Schneizlreut - Inzell (B-306) - Siegsdorf, Autobahn A-8 west to Munich by-pass (A-99), to Autobahn A-9 (Muenchen - Nuernberg), north to Allersberg exit. Head west to Roth - Windsbach - Autobahn A-6. Head west to Autobahn A-7. North to Rothenburg exit. Can be done easily in about 6-7 hours.
After Rothenburg, head south back on A-7 to A-6. head west to Neckartsulm Exit. Take the B-37 (aka Burgenstrasse=castle route) along the Neckar River to Heidelberg. Heidelberg to Mannheim about 20km. You can do the Rothenurg - Mannheim stretch in an afternoon, which will give the previous evening and all morning in Rothenburg and still leave you some time to explore Heidelberg a bit.
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I personally would drive along the north side of the Alps and see Neuschwanstein Castle and then contnue on to see Lindau and Meersburg. I prefer Meersburg to Lindau because Lindau is a small flat island and Meersburg has some steep hillsides with an old castle. The next day on the way to Mannheim you could visit the Schwaebische Alb or the Black Forest, or just drive through them. Of course, on this route you will not be driving much on the Autobahn which between Munich and Mannheim is pretty booring except for the descent of the Schwaebische Alb east of Stuttgart.
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Thanks to both of you for the nice replies and advice. I didn%26#39;t mention that this is not our first trip to Germany. Plus we%26#39;re staying for 2 nights in Rothenburg before arriving in Berchtesgaden. We visited Neuchwanstein Castle and Garmisch Partenkirschen on a previous trip. I guess my concern was the roads following along the alps. We%26#39;ve always taken the train and this time decided to drive. I dont want to necessarily drive on the autobahn all the time because we want to see beautiful scenery but we did not want to drive on curvy mountainous roads up and down. I%26#39;ve heard Meersburg is really pretty. Is it worth it for a 1 night stay to break up the driving or would we be rushing it?
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You could follow the German Alpine road to Lindau and from there along Lake Constance to Meersburg.
http://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/
At least in parts. The German Alping road is approx. 450 km long. Lindau to Meersburg is 45 km.
From Meersburg head west until you hit the B 500 (Black Forest High Road). Follow this road till Baden-Baden (where it ends). From there via autobahn to Mannheim.
To travel via Meersburg is however not a break of a 7 hours trip. With country roads you can%26#39;t really make much more than 60 km in one hour. Thus it%26#39;s rather a 7+5 hours trip.
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Thanks %26quot;Abalada%26quot;. I guess that%26#39;s the information I was looking for. It sounds like traveling along the alps will make the trip much longer than if we headed in a northwest direction past Munich. It%26#39;s probably a beautiful drive but I wasn%26#39;t looking for longer than a 7 hour drive total from Berchtesgaden to Mannheim.
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I didn%26#39;t find driving along the north side of the Alps partcularly slow, unless you get stuck behind a truck and can%26#39;t pass. However, if you want to visit Lindau and Meersburg without driving on the back roads, take the A8 to Munich and then the A96 to Lindau. Landsberg west of Munich would make a nice lunch stop with its old town area. This route is almost all autobahn and a small portion of excellent highway. At the other end of the Bodensee take the A98 a short distance to the A81 north toward Stuttgart. Take an exit for Rottweil and contnue north along Hwy 27 to just before Hechingen where you can turn off for Hohenzollern Castle, almost as picturesque as Neuschwanstein. Continue north on 27 to the nice old college town of Tuebingen and visit it. Then continue north to well preserved Bebenhausen Monastery, just north of Tuebingen. Then take the road to Boeblingen and your back on A81. In a short distance take the A8 to Karlsruhe and then north on the A5 where you soon will have the choice of two autobahn routes to Mannheim.
All the roads in this route are excellent, you wll see the Bodensee, Lindau, Meersburg, the nice Hohenzollern Castle, the old college town of Tuebingen, and a nice monastery, plus have fairly good scenery on some of the autobahn.
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Thank you so much for the suggestions and information %26quot;marcopolko%26quot;! You%26#39;re awesome! Sounds like you travel a lot in Germany. Could I trouble you or anyone out there with one more question? I know there%26#39;s no way to guarantee travel time (because of slow traffic etc.) but we want to arrive in Mannheim late afternoon the day after leaving Berchtesgaden. By traveling your route and overnighting in Meersburg do you think it would %26quot;lengthen%26quot; the drive? I did some checking on www.viamichelin.com and they estimate an approximate 7 hour drive on their routes from Berchtesgaden to Mannheim (which I%26#39;m sure is largely autobahn). Thank you again for your help.
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I%26#39;ve lived in Stuttgart for 1.5 years, and visited frequently before that as my wife is German (I%26#39;m American, originally from close to you in Rockford. We try to visit areas around Stuttgart and near her mother%26#39;s house in Biberach south of Ulm). The distances involved are short and the speed on the autobahns high (although my times would be more for a maximum of 70-80 mph), so I actually think you could drive Berchtesgaden to Mannheim in about five hours. Then it is also possible to get in a traffic jam for over an hour, and possibly in more than one place. My wife thinks it could take as little as 3 hours from Meersburg to Mannheim, but I think 4 hours would be possibly more likely (that is if you don%26#39;t turn off on Hwy 27 to see the interesting sights. If you loved Neuschwanstein, you should also like Hohenzollern (Hechingen), and it should take 2-3 additional hours at most to visit.
If you finally decide to take the most direct Autobahn route, two places are posted along the autobahn (A8) that I think are excellent to visit. After descending the Schwaebische Alb there is a sign for the fossil museum in Holzmaden which contains an excellent display of the world famous local fossils. You can also dig for them yourself near there. The old town part of Esslingen is also sign posted, and it would also make a pleasant visit.
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That%26#39;s exactly the info I was looking for marcopolko. The 4 hours (plus extra for stopping) from Meersburg to Mannheim is do-able for everyone. Thank you so much. Can%26#39;t tell you how helpful you%26#39;ve been to us. So you%26#39;re originally from Rockford? What a small world!I%26#39;d love to hear how you met your wife and ended up in Germany.
I will get busy recording all this information on to a map. If you can think of any other tips you%26#39;d care to share, boy would I be grateful. By the way, have you and your wife ever stayed in Meersburg? Is there another town that you would recommend for an overnighter instead? Thank you again so much for the time you%26#39;ve taken to answer all my questions. You%26#39;re the best!
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We%26#39;ve never stayed in Meersburg as my wife%26#39;s mother only lives about 50 miles away. We rarely stay in hotels in most places in Germany because my wife has family and friends all over that we can stay with. The one exception is that we like to stay at Villa Jaegerhaus in Hohenschwangau with its magnificent views of Neuschwanstein in February, as the castle is gorgeous in the snow. Meersburg has a number of hotels on the lake. My wife also suggests Ueberlingen which is a little ways further west on the lake.
We met in Norway on the Hurtigruten coastal voyage while I was living and working in Saudi Arabia. We lived there together for four years while she took a leave of absence from teaching, and when I had to retire, we moved to Germany so she could continue her job. She teaches English, French and Arabic, and because of exchange programs with schools in France, England, and the US she has taken people from there to show them the best local sights near Stuttgart, and later, me. It%26#39;s been wonderful traveling with her, she%26#39;s had closed museums opened up so I could visit, and she%26#39;s arranged private tours when my aged mother couldn%26#39;t cope with the steps in some places.
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