Need help with planning itinerary

Hi Everyone. I have some freq. flyer miles that expire next year and about the only time I can use them is Feb 22 - March 2, 2006 to and from Frankfurt.

I%26#39;ve spent a good deal of time in Frankfurt %26amp; Cologne but my husband has never been to Germany. We%26#39;d like to do a bit of touring around (by train) and would like to be in Cologne for the Rosenmontag parade. Other than needing to be at the Frankfurt airport on March 1, we%26#39;re pretty flexible.

Any suggestions for a nice itinerary?

Thanks in advance,

Kathy (a/k/a Tia)

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You can go direct to Cologne by train from Frankfurt airport, check www.bahn.de for details. Coming back from Cologne to Frankfurt you could either go by boat on the Rhine (beautiful!)until Rüdesheim, from there by train or car back to Frankfurt. Check

http://www.tal-der-loreley.de/

www.ruedesheim.de

In case you want to stay one night next to Rüdesheim I recommend Schloss Rheinartshausen, a ***** hotel at very ecomomical prices.

http://www.schloss-hotel.de/en/home/index.htm

Don´t miss Heidelberg which is just 1h south of Frankfurt.

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As to a boat trip on the Rhine, as boats travel fairly slowly, taking the boat downstream (toward Cologne) will be much faster than upstream (toward Frankfurt). You really limit the ease of visiting a lot of places by traveling by train instead of car. Train travel is wonderful for visiting larger cities and their nearby areas with their excellent public transportation. However, for interesting more remote locations you can waste a lot of time making infrequent train and bus connections, and if you miss an hourly bus or train by less than a minute, its an additional wasted hour, and standing outside waiting in winter may not be pleasant.

Living in Stuttgart, I suggest visiting it. There is plenty to see and do in the area and you could easily have a good time spending your entire vacation there. Two things unique to Stuttgart are the Porsche museum and the excellent Mercedes Benz museum, and Stuttgart culture and food (third most Michelin starred restaurants in Germany after much larger Berlin and Hamburg)are good. The nearby (accessible by S-bahn) largest German baroque perfectly preserved palace at Ludwigsburg- Swabian Versailles (the ceramic museum there within the palace is also interestng and good, and they still manufacture porcellan there, and to customers specifications if that interests you) and the old town center of Esslingen are wonderful. If traveling by car, the fairy tale-like castles at Hohenzollern (Hechingen) and Lichtenstein are excellent (short distance south of Stuttgart in the wonderful cliff scenery of the Schwaebische Alb), almost as nice as Neuschwanstein (all built at a similar time in the mid-1800%26#39;s when royalty payed more attention to esthetics), as are the excellently preserved monasteries at Maulbronn and Bebenhausen. However, I don%26#39;t know how easy it is to access these places by public transportation as we just drive our car on these short trips.

Schwaebisch Gmuend is good for the fun Guggenmusic festival (largest in Germany) in February, but might not fit into your travel schedule. Guggen bands from Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein perform their unique music in their colorful costumes. The Allemanic carnival (Narrensprung)in Rottweil should also not be missed if possible.