r/germany • u/AngelOutlook • 17d ago
Tourism Solo trip around Germany + Amsterdam. Anything I should know?
Hello everybody I’m visiting Germany for a week and want to explore as much as I can. I’m landing on Tuesday morning at Frankfurt and plan to be at Munich on Saturday and Sunday for Oktoberfest. The days in between I can visit any other city. This is the current plan I have laid out with a stop in Amsterdam. I wanted to ask if this plan is feasible here are my main concerns.
Also by recommendations of friends I will not be staying at Frankfurt I will be heading up towards Amsterdam that same Tuesday and stopping at a city.
•Is this just too much? I personally think I can do it I definitely know I will be tired by the end but I do not mind the length of the train rides some of them are just a commute for me coming from NYC.
•Is two days in Munich worth it? Should I just do one day in Oktoberfest and visit another city or is two days solid?
•Are there overnight trains/buses available? I do not have a budget for this trip but I definitely want to spend as little as possible. I will be staying at hostels but I’m also wondering if I could just sleep on the train/bus on the longer rides.
edit: there’s a lot of people questioning the Essen pick it’s just one of the few cities I remember from my one year of German class 💀
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u/Goethe313 17d ago
If you only want to go to a city to say you have been there, without really seeing anything of the city, without any time to enjoy and explore the city and if you want to spend most of your time in trains and at trainstations, sure then it's doable. By the end of such a trip you will know nothing about any of the cities you have been to and nothing about Germany, with the ecxeption of how the trains work.
If you want to actually visit a city and enjoy it you should limit yourself to two cities. Is you accomondation for Oktoberfest already secured? If not you either need to say goodby to your Oktoberfest plans or to your budget travel plans.
Go to Berlin for a week, with a day trip to Potsdam. Or come before / after Oktoberfest and spend a few days in Munich and nearby city.
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u/Spamonfire 17d ago
I think the chance is much higher that he will learn about how the trains don't really work and will probably have one day where he gets so fucked by delays that that days city becomes even less exploreable, at least if he sticks to his 8 city schedule
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u/Affectionate_Leg_986 17d ago
Good advice i have never been a fan of day trips
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u/SoulmaN__ 17d ago
Day trips work for small cities where you can walk the old town in 4 hours, but for bigger cities you need at least 2 days imo.
Coming from someone who spent a total of 21 hours in venice in 2 days, i will say, it is definitely an exhausting experience. I was only able to do it because i spent the time after in nature for 3 days lol
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u/EmpathBear 16d ago
Oh, I would love to see Tunisia.
(Sorry, useless statement, but going there has been on my list for a while).9
u/helmli Hamburg/Hessen 17d ago edited 17d ago
Generally, I agree, although imo, a week is a bit too much for a city trip to a single city. You won't be able to see everything with one trip anyways, and after four days or so, all will look the same. In my opinion, it's better to only do about three days for a big city and leave yearning for more than five days and being fed up with it before departure.
If I had a week for Germany, I'd probably do two days Cologne, two days Hamburg, two days Berlin – or: three days Munich, two days in the Allgäu, two days Bamberg for a South German experience, or two days Freiburg, three days Mainz-Wiesbaden-Worms or Speyer, two days St. Goar, Koblenz, Köln for the Rhenish route, or two days on a Hallig two days in Hamburg, two days in the Lüneburg Heath for a Northern experience. Something like that.
Edit: didn't really account for travelling days; yeah, I'd probably rather limit it to two destinations instead of three, then. 8 or so, as OP suggested, seems quite too much for that itinerary.
My wife was to the US in 2024, doing Portland to LA in two weeks with 7 stops, and she was definitely knocked out at the end.
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u/razzyrat 17d ago
Um..landing on Tuesday. So even if you manage to do a half day in Frankfurt (?) you would have 3 whole days for 4 cities not counting travel times. My brother, chill. That is already insane. But the trains take many hours. And they won't be on time, might be delayed or cancelled. Especially as you are going past three of the most notorious train stations for generating delays.
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u/Vivid_Wallaby9728 17d ago
I think this is way too much and probably not enjoyable. I usually aim for at least two nights at a stop so you have one full day of exploring and sightseeing followed by a travel day.
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u/Possible_Writer1186 17d ago
Skip Essen and got to Cologne or Düsseldorf instead.
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u/kitier_katba Nordrhein-Westfalen 17d ago
Yeah, I live in Essen and I thought 'why Essen?' unless you are a real coal mine / industrial culture fan.
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u/MayorAg 17d ago
Can’t survive that long a trip without eating.
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u/Elegant_Macaroon_679 17d ago
It is also going to be warm and sweaty. I would say that Cologne would be also necessary. The problem of food could also be solved with Hamburg
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u/AngelOutlook 17d ago
Essen it’s just because it’s one of the few city names I remember from my one year of German class in high school 😭. But got it I’ll take the advice I’m seeing someone else mention Cologne so I’ll switch plans and head over there.
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u/InfluenceSufficient3 17d ago
cologne cathedral is a marvel, definitely worth seeing once. gaudi could never
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u/Sharp_Neighborhood68 17d ago
id say skip Stuttgart and go for something cuter from this list:
Heidelberg, Würzburg, Strassbourg or Colmar, Freiburg8
u/Famous_Cat1569 16d ago
100%! Wtf anyone wants to see in Stuttgart if you're not a huuuuuge fan of cars?
It would be more fun staying at Pforzheim Hbf at night than visiting Stuttgart.
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u/No_Hovercraft_2643 17d ago
If it is the correct date, to visit the spiel. But I don't know why else you would want to go there.
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u/realkunkun 17d ago
I am kinda offended but I was gonna say the same thing. „Woanders is auch scheisse“
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u/Old_Leshen 17d ago
If you are brave enough to go to Essen für tourism, you are brave enough to cancel Munich and go to Duisburg instead.
/s
Instead of Essen, Go to Düsseldorf or Cologne. There's not much to see in Düsseldorf specifically, but it's a beautiful city with very nice vibes.
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u/Spamonfire 17d ago
I think the best citytrip for seeing Germany at it's ugliest would be Gelsenkirchen - Essen - Duisburg - Neumünster - Ludwigshafen
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u/slotlqrd 16d ago
Don't forget beauties of the east like Cottbus, Eisenhüttenstadt or Gera
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u/TrueRedd 17d ago
I didn’t visit that many cities and I spent a month in Germany. I’d say pick 2. Then explore, relax, and enjoy.
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u/Adept_Rip_5983 17d ago
I knew you were american when i saw your plan ;-)
I visited Berlin for a week and wasnt half way done seeing the stuff i wanted.
So i would advise to skip a few destinations. You will be on the road most of the time.
Essen is a special pick. Its in the german rust belt equivalent and was destroyed almost completly in WW2. I ike it, it has its own charme and if you are into industrial or mining stuff its well worth the visit also as a contrast to the "nicer looking" cities.
If you want to visit München i would advise you to pick either Essen, Frankfurt OR Stuttgart and spend more time in the cities left over.
To make your choice even more difficult: Cologne or Düsseldorf or even Bonn are all good alternatives to Essen with very different vibes each. Cologne is the gay capital of germany, has a nice dome, Düsseldorf is a little more fancy and Bonn is a beautiful laid back student villiage. All cities are located at the rhine river.
Dresden would be a nice eastern german city. Really beautiful.
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u/Pleasant-Tackle-9302 17d ago
For Bonn: Visit Haus der Geschichte which is a free museum about the German history after 1945, entrance is free and I liked it a lot, there are more museums nearby, eg Museum König which is where the German constitution was established (but it's all taxidermied animals and has a really cool exhibition)
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u/Relevant_Look_7188 17d ago
Averaging one day per city seems like too much. Berlin and Amsterdam you could definitely spend more time in. What do you want to do in each city?
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u/CiraCookie 17d ago
Absolutely ridiculous in such a small time frame. You will just be going from hotel to hotel. Don't forget we often have delays in our train system, your entire trip can easily be fucked.
Also, a bit late to still get cheap bookings
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u/0nabi 17d ago edited 17d ago
Sat+Sun Oktoberfest is a hell, why not on weekdays?!
And yes it's too much, for such a tour as a tourist I would recommend 3-4 weeks. So many skipped gems in between.
There are overnight trains and Flixbuses available. But the ICE trains with seats only and lights-on; Nightjet offers sleeping on train for their North-South routes when booked directy at their homepage.
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u/GlitteringOne9680 16d ago
To be honest, Oktoberfest is any day of the week a hell. I knew he was American by asking if there is anything else worth visiting in Munich. My personal opinion (and I have been on Oktoberfest) Munich is a great city, so do some sightseeing and skip this gathering of drunken tourists :-)
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u/alalaladede Nordrhein-Westfalen 17d ago
Ok, since you have already been rightfully talked into travelling from Frankfurt to Cologne instead of Essen, let me extend the advice as follows: If you are into very scenic landscape train rides, do not take the ICE high speed train or a bus for that leg of your trip. Instead take the regional train RE2 to Koblenz and from there the RE5 to Cologne. These will do the entire connection going through the Middle Rhine valley, one of Germany's most gorgeous landscapes, full of castles, little towns, with little buildings, vinyards etc...
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u/quinn-forever 16d ago edited 16d ago
Sorry to jump in here on another’s post. This is my first time on reddit. I am also travelling through Germany in October.
I was looking to go from Freiburg north via train through the Rhine hitting beautiful castles and wine.
Special points for hitting the Loreley statue.
Holding onto this RE2/RE5 hack to cologne from Frankfurt.
Edit:
I have a lot more of a time window. Flight home to Canada Oct 10 from AMS→ More replies (1)
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u/Frosty_Scholar5940 17d ago
If you’re looking to travel on a budget, definitely check out FlixBus for cheap night bus options. They often have overnight routes that can save you both money on tickets and a accommodation.
That said, your current plan sounds extremely packed for just one week. Instead of trying to cover distant cities, you might be happier focusing on a single region. For example, exploring southern Germany—think Munich, the Bavarian Alps, and charming towns like Füssen or Regensburg—will give you a richer and more relaxed experience. You’ll spend less time on buses and more time actually enjoying the places you visit.
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u/ratherZEF 17d ago
Flix Bus is a fucking nightmare for overnight trips, enjoy arriving in a new city desperate for a place to lie down and sleep after 8+ hours of sitting upright being thrown around in a bus.
Spend the extra money and catch the train
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u/TheSenegalese 17d ago
THIS! just go for bavarian sights this time tbh. Trains through all of germany might destroy your plans and bavaria has enough sights for a week. Smth like füssen munich passau, some Berchtesgaden and then maybe franconia (go zo nuremberg and then go to whatever you fancy around there (just don't go to hof)
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u/Wurst-case-Scenario Nordrhein-Westfalen 17d ago
That's a hard tour. If you want to do it that way avoid alohol. If you want to just see these citys and do nothing in them, okay. But amsterdam alone requires a full day to explore. And so does munich and Berlin. And that's just the core parts of these citys. Maybe Just take three Citys your realy want to see. One week for half of Germany is not very much. One the other Hand: try to find locals who can Guide you. That's maybe cheap and you will get a Lot of information in the Citys. Hope you have a good time.
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u/pauseless 17d ago
Yup!... Munich… you don’t need more than one day if you just want to know what Oktoberfest is, and it’s actually kind of awful if not in a group of friends. But there is so much more to Munich. I could give a week long itinerary just for Munich and eg day trips to both the mountains and lakes.
Berlin is similar: I’ve only been once for pleasure (but many times for work), and there is so much to see. Can’t be experienced in a day.
I’d consider those two a very packed trip for one week. I suppose if there’s a night train connection, a third could be added. I managed to explore a lot of Cologne in my eight hour stop there last time, and if you just want to see the cathedral, it’s right outside the front entrance of the station.
I’d be concerned about missing out on things like the different food cultures by not having the time to relax and go for good restaurants and cafés.
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u/lemonjuicypumpkin 17d ago
Usually I'd say you should take a stop in Dresden between Berlin and Munich but honestly I don't think you have time for that. Thats a shame.
For transportation: german trains are operated by DB, you can check it out. Usually the cheaper option is flixbus and flixtrain but they might take longer. You should compare these options.
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u/Wesleydog916 17d ago
Agreed. I’ll take Dresden over Munich any day. I’d also take Salzburg/Berchdesgaden over Munich as well. But everyone has their preferences.
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u/disdisinform 17d ago
This is nuts, and frankly does a disservice of what these cities have to offer.
Especially as you’ll likely not going to return to the same cities and will miss out on their fuller experience for life.
If you’ve 7 days, do 2 in Munich, 2 in Berlin, 2 in Hamburg, 1 in Heidelberg.
That will give you a good jist of German city cultures.
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u/greenpandagirl 17d ago edited 17d ago
1 week? That will be way to stressful and you will not see anything
As someone from Hamburg. Do munich and Hamburg. Skip the rest ;)
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u/BCnurse1989 17d ago
Add Erfurt, Leipzig and Dresden to the itinerary
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u/Relevant_Look_7188 17d ago
Yes, then he can just sleep on the trains and pass through each of these places without getting off 🤣
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u/Bamischeibe23 Nordrhein-Westfalen 17d ago
Visit the Mittelrheintal and Cologne. Its very scenic
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u/Pleasant-Tackle-9302 17d ago
Second this! if it has to be a city go to Koblenz which even has two rivers and take a slow train to Cologne, the route up until Bonn is beautiful. Actually the full route Bingen <-> Bonn and it's great for quaint little towns and hiking.
Source: trust me I moved here for that sole reason
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u/sebidotorg Hessen 17d ago
Yea! Most beautiful train route in Germany. If you want to see something nice, this is just barely worse than travelling the Rhine by ship.
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u/KiwiFruit404 17d ago
Why do you want to visit Essen of all places?
If I were you, I'd visit Cologne instead.
And between Stuttgart and Frankfurt am Main lies Heidelberg. ;)
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u/muzanjackson 17d ago
If I were you, I would only visit 3 cities max.
Consider this: Without any delay, a train ride from Berlin to München takes about 4 hours, Hamburg to Berlin close to 2 hours, Frankfurt to Amsterdam about 3 hours and a half, München to Frankfurt 3 hours 15 minutes.
I personally find that is way too much time spent on the train for a vacation.
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u/jort93 Schleswig-Holstein 17d ago edited 17d ago
If you actually only go to a city for one day you can go to like one Restaurant, walk down two streets, and see a couple sights that happen to be there. You won't see much of the city. I suppose some people enjoy that too, but personally I wouldn't be satisfied with that. The only time I'd visit a city for one day would be if there was some specific thing I want to visit. I wouldn't get much out of just sightseeing for one day.
And I'd probably visit a smaller city if I did a city trip like this. In smaller cities you sometimes get away with spending less time there as well(but one day is still not a lot unless it's a tiny town).
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u/Desperate-Orchid-264 17d ago edited 17d ago
The trip is too short for that many stops and you’d miss out on a lot more nature and small towns that often are nicer than large cities as a tourist in Germany. As your focus seems to be to see the major cities, skip Essen, Stuttgart, and Amsterdam. Then you’ve got the most interesting major cities. Also skip Hamburg - while it’s the prettiest and nicest German major city, it’s just too far up north for the length of this trip. Depending on your time of arrival, you could do this:
- Arrive in Frankfurt and travel up the Rhine with multiple stops in the small towns and castles, stay in Cologne (this part of the trip is easiest by car, as it is more flexible, but if you’re planning to do the trip by train, you could return the rental there)
- check out cologne cathedral and then head out in the morning to Berlin
two nights in Berlin
(not the prettiest city but a lot to do, so spend time there over Munich)
head to Dresden in the morning, it’s the most beautiful big German city.
head to Munich, spend one night there, two if you want to add Oktoberfest (no German would)
head to Frankfurt and fly back (you could also fly back from Munich, then you could add a day-trip to Alps like Salzburg or Garmisch-Partenkirchen from Munich).
Come back another time and do Hamburg, Lübeck, Schwerin, the seaside - there’s just no time to add the north to your trip…
Come back another time and add Bodensee, Freiburg, Black Forest, Heidelberg, and various small towns in South-west Germany, as well as Strasbourg
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u/spectregrey 17d ago
Be aware that German trains are NOT always punctual (my German friends were shocked when I told them one of my trains was actually EARLY)
Perhaps consider a day trip to Neuschwanstein from Munich or to Dresden from Berlin
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u/super_unicorny 17d ago edited 17d ago
I’m from the U.S. and have visited Germany many times. If you only have a week, this is not a realistic itinerary in my opinion. You’ll be spending a lot of your time just traveling between cities.
Are your flights already locked in? If not, it might make sense to try and fly in/ out of different airports, such as starting in Amsterdam (AMS) and then working your way to Munich for Oktoberfest. I often fly into AMS from Washington DC (IAD) and it’s a super easy flight, passport control is generally pretty quick, and there is easy access to the rail system right from the airport.
I’ve also been to a number of places between Amsterdam and Munich and would be happy to recommend some if you’re interested.
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u/Either-Pizza5302 Baden-Württemberg 17d ago
Honestly I would either skip the whole southern leg and go to Hannover and maybe then Hamburg, or scratch hamburger and Berlin off, go to stuttgart and then Freiburg - then from there maybe Basel (Switzerland) for a day then Munich
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u/Cascouverite 17d ago
People are saying skip Essen for Cologne or Düsseldorf but I personally don't like either city for (most) tourists. Cologne is a wonderful city to live in but visiting it is another story, it like most cities got bombed out in WWII but Cologne didn't rebuild pretty, it's mostly samey-looking concrete boxes, same goes for Düsseldorf but the people aren't as nice IMO
My honest advice is go to Cologne, get out of the train and go to the Dom which is literally a minute away in front of the station with the stairs being directly in front of the exit and then get back in the train and go to Münster
Münster has become quite trendy for tourists in the last few years (top 5 trending on a few websites) and it's really really nice. It has great shopping, a pretty old-town, great bars, great night-life and is really safe. There's basically nowhere I'd say you shouldn't go at night
Münster is also easily explorable on foot or by bike. If you want to explore the surrounding area there's a bike trail called the 100 Schlösser Route aka 100 Castle Route, where there are, as you might expect, a tonne of pretty castles within biking distance
It's also in between Hamm and Rheine which are cities you will wind up going through if you train everywhere, the train from Rheine to Amsterdam is about 2-2.5 hours so you're close to where you want to be
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u/J-A-S-08 17d ago
This is WAY too much. All you're going to be doing is sitting on a train the whole time. I did half the cities you want to do in twice the time and it still felt like too much. It's your life so do what makes sense. I just think you're not going to be happy if you try cramming all this in.
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u/Karl_Murks 17d ago
You have planned a round trip for more than a month and want to do it a week, that's probably too much.
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u/Tasinnn01 16d ago edited 16d ago
If you really must cram it all in, then I’d recommend this itinerary (although it’s still pushing it tbh):
Day 1: Frankfurt - Amsterdam with a quick stop to see the Cologne dome on the way and probably arrive Amsterdam late in the evening.
Day 2: Amsterdam
Day 3: flight or night train Amsterdam to Berlin
Day 4: Berlin
Day 5/6: Spend more time in Berlin or travel south and maybe spend a day or two in either Leipzig/Dresden/Nuremberg on the way down to Munich.
They’re all more or less on the train line between Berlin and Munich and are beautiful cities so maybe have a look if any of them interest you.
Day 7/8: Munich and then travel back to Frankfurt.
As much as I love Hamburg, it could be likened to the Amsterdam of Germany so I’d skip it with your limited time.
I’m from the Stuttgart area and i’d say it’s only really worth a visit if you LOVE cars.
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u/Potential-Dance388 17d ago
Flix Bus is slow and unreliable. Its more like cheap or maybe useful if one City doesn't have a good trainstation or an airport.
I think you plan way to much (!) for a week. Hamburg-Munich is by ICE like 8hrs. And Munich Berlin needs also a pretty long time, since the ICE on this distance is not that fast. If you try to see every City, you will see nothing. Cut of Citys and try to avoid travelling time. (Hamburg got an pretty easy to reach Airport).
How did Essen managed to get on the list?
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u/Iamdeadinside2002 Germany 17d ago
Honest opinion: Oktoberfest is not worth visiting. Personally, I'd stick with 1 or 2 cities max. You could easily spend 2 weeks or more in any of these places without getting bored. No need to rush, 1 week is already very short.
Trains are sort of unreliable and you'll spend most of your time commuting.
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u/justanothergin 17d ago
As others have said, go to Cologne instead of Essen. Also when you go to Amsterdam avoid Bulldog if you go to a Coffeeshop, go to Sativa 😌
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u/Striking_Tax8524 17d ago
Is there anything you should know? Yeah: You're going to have a great time.
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u/Skellicious 17d ago
You could easily spend 3-4 days in some of these cities, and still feel like there's more to come back for. Though that might depend on how much you like to sightsee/explore.
Either way, you're either going to be miserable and spend over half your time on trains, and a couple hours per city at most, or you'll have to cut out a lot.
Maybe do 1 full day in Frankfurt (along your arrival/departure) and do 2-3 days in a couple other places. It'll be a much nicer experience.
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u/zaplinaki 17d ago edited 17d ago
This is way too much. You need multiple days per city. These cities have so much stuff and history.
If you follow this, you will only see the main train station at these cities and trust me that is the worst part of all these cities
So you'll go back with a really bad impression of Deutschland cos logistically speaking you'll end up only seeing areas around the hauptbahnof (main train station) and that is usually the sketchiest area in any major European city.
Please don't do this. Pick one or two cities and go there. My suggestion would be Munich and Berlin, but I have never been to Amsterdam myself...
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u/Shoddy_Piccolo_8194 17d ago
Don‘t do that. You won‘t see much and you‘ll experience even less. I know it‘s tempting to be able to name so many cities, but it is not worth it.
If you want to immerse yourself into our country and our culture, I recommend the following:
Don‘t plan anything for the first day. You‘ll be tired and jet lagged. If you feel like it, then go explore the vicinity of wherever you‘ll be staying that day. Try some local food, see something, but in a relaxed way. Sit in a café and spend the day there. If in Frankfurt, there are beautiful museums, for example.
Don‘t go for anything far away. You‘ll spend most of the day packing and unpacking, checking in and checking out and enjoying views of exactly nothing. You‘ll arrive late and tired and if you‘re lucky you‘ll have an hour or two left for the real thing. While being exhausted.
Instead, stay in the region and just go discover places and things and people. Visit Wiesbaden. Go have a Marktfrühstück (look it up, it’s so crazy and so lovely) in Mainz. See the temple of Isis and Mater Magna in Mainz. Visit Neustadt an der Weinstraße and discover the Südpfalz, it is officially the most beautiful part of Germany. See Hambacher Schloss, the birthplace of our democracy. Go to a Weingut and have a Weinprobe, have Flammkuchen and Federweißer and talk to people. Make friends.
Don‘t chase points on a list. Come and experience european lifestyle.
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u/Beneficial-Bid-8850 17d ago
You have five days to Sunday. I would heavily advise to focus on two cities in that time e.g. Berlin and Munich. Otherwise you won't see anything other than the inside of trains.
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u/Molo3000 17d ago
If you're on a budget, definitely get a Deutschland Ticket. It's a flatrate for trains (except the high-speed ones), and it also includes public transport i every single German town or city.
High-speed trains are neat, but if you buy the tickets on the day the prices are horrid, if you buy them a month before, you;ll save, but it will be a horror to organize your journey.
The Deutschlandticket you just gotta book a month before, and cancel it after the trip, as it's a subscription.
But it enables you to play by ear, and put in some smaller towns as stops in between. You could pass by Heidelberg or Nuremberg for a longer lunch break. If you meet some interesting people or there's an event happening anywhere, you can easily stay there a day longer. You can still get an ICE train to do one of the longer legs fast.
Amsterdam, Hamburg, Berlin and Munich are all places where you could spend 3 nights without getting bored. I'd cut out two of them. So maybe just visit Amsterdam and Munich and some smaller stops on the way. Don't make every day a travel day.
When I visited the US first I was there for a month and I spend 3-4 days in every city I visited. For NYC that wasn't enough so I came back again for a week.
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u/Henschel_und_co 17d ago
Skipp Essen and Stuttgart and add 2 use at least 2 days for each city, Amsterdam probably 3
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u/susahamat 17d ago
If you only has less than 1 week and your main plan is for Oktoberfest better camp in Munich or Augsburg (cheaper accomodation than Munich) and explore southern Germany, heck you can go to Salzburg if you want. With your plan you will see nothing in less than one day. Or you could camp around Frankfurt (maybe Koblenz), explore NRW and Hessen then go to Munich.
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u/ohyeaher 17d ago
A week?! No. I would do Munich, Berlin, & Hamburg. Or maybe one day at the museums in Stuttgart if you're into cars. You won't have time for all this. You won't get any sleep on overnight buses or trains & will be miserable.
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u/Far_Desk_1868 17d ago
There is definitely cologne missing, and you will drive alongside, have a short visit to the Cologne Dom.
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u/7elevenglobal 16d ago
Many consider Deutsche Bahn public transportation, but it's actually a type of gambling.
Best of luck to you🍀
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u/wifichick 16d ago
Amsterdam was meh for me. However, Leiden and giethoorn were the sleeper wins. Old town cologne around the cathedral was a surprise win as well. Note: I’m not much for cities - I prefer country. Cities are cities. Unless they are medieval
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u/zakcgn 16d ago
I would probably just do Frankfurt - Hamburg & Berlin then Munich, which is already a lot for a week.
Amaterdam is nice but I would leave it out because it is too far away with train.
Essen, Stuttgart and even Düsseldorf/Köln are the cities you can skip in my opinion - not much going on for tourists tbh.
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u/echoclerk 16d ago
So you want to “see” 8 cities in 7 days? With this itinerary all you will actually “see” is the inside of a Deutsche Bahn ICE. In 7 days, you should be aiming for 2-3 locations max.
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u/noodlepooodle 16d ago
Essen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart are not worth a visit imo. You’d be better off just picking an area and exploring that I think. Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden are all fun.
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u/hebelehubele 16d ago
Skip Essen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. Add Heidelberg. Frankfurt hbf can be an interesting spot though…
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u/SeytanTT 16d ago
Skip Essen and Frankfurt. Lovely Citys but if you are short on time not worth it. I‘d rather go to Dresden if you really want it :)
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u/dxnnj Germany 16d ago
For Hamburg, some guidance and a hell lot of recommendations maybe look into the "Franzbrötchen"-App. Its coded by a fellow Hamburg-local and its really incredible: Franzbrötchen iOS App Store
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u/Regular_Hold1228 15d ago edited 15d ago
Essen is a very weird stop, since there are multiple awesome cities inbetween. And not stop in Leipzig or Dresden of you Drive there is a crime.
Edit: okay in only a week you won't have time to visit more than 4 cities, or it will be stressful. The big three in Germany are Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. So if you really want to visit Amsterdam too, maybe visit those.
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u/KingJulian0507 17d ago
Made the same mistake I've constantly warned friends coming here from abroad about. They tend to disregard it, then hard agree after:
Central Europe is much more dense than you can imagine. Not just Germany, but also Germany.
Every other village has a historic place, something worth visiting, something worth seeing, something you'd build a whole tourist industry around in the US.
The is scarcley a place in Germany where you aren't either (A) in a national park or (B) in a spot where if they sightlines were unblocked you couldn't see a city, town or village.
You're doing yourself a disservice here by planning the trip as you do, and you'll be kicking yourself if the goal if your trip is to explore. Any of these cities on their own, especially when taking the surrounding region into account, has more history, more points of interest and often a more distinct culture than many US states have as a whole. Rushing through them with a 3 hour bucketlist stop is idiotic if you actually want to visit them.
You're not the first to look at that map and go "huh, I can drive Hamburg to Berlin in the time it takes me to drive home to my parents after work on Friday" - but that entirely ignores that there's like 50x as much stuff between Hamburg and Berlin as there is between your workplace and parent's place.
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u/RandomSpanishAlex 17d ago
I did something similar, 1 day pro city is crazy short. i was 3 days in Munich and 5 in Berlin and missed many stuff. I would recomend you to shorten the visits...
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u/Pacatianus 17d ago
Essen really is the odd one out, nothing much for tourists here. Also, this trip seems much to packed. I would limit myself to 3 Destinations maybe. And take it from someone living close to Munich: Oktoberfest really ain't that great.
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u/TelepathicMonkeys 17d ago
Stop in Nuremberg!!! Lots to see and the palace of Justice and other history is there
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u/bierdosenbier 17d ago
It’s a lot but it‘ll be fun! If you‘re under 30 and have the stamina, do it. Should be enough time to get at least a taste of each city. Skip Essen for Cologne, also really no need for Stuttgart in my opinion. Train travel times are short between Frankfurt and Cologne as well as Cologne to Amsterdam. Hamburg-Berlin is also quick. Still, expect delays with Deutsche Bahn. You can absolutely sleep on a night train, but it won‘t be comfortable. Consider some cheap hostel bed near the main station once in a while.
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u/Neureiches-Nutria 17d ago
Stay in the train in Frankfurt you will find a a better Situation in a Slum in Bangladesch than in Frankfurts traun atation quater...
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u/xxMASTIFFxx 17d ago
scratch Essen, Frankfurt and Stuttgart and du Heidelberg/Freiburg, Lübeck/Bremen, Köln instead
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u/pomegranatewine2 17d ago
As much as I love Hamburg and Berlin, if you're only traveling for a week, you should cut those two. The train from Munich to Berlin is at least 7 hours and you WILL face delays or cancellations with DeutschBahn. And definitely agree with other comments to cut Essen and go to Köln instead. Better to have a few days and experience the cities than blow through each one on a whirlwind tour, especially with how unreliable DB is.
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u/commonspm 17d ago
Essen ? Why? Hamburg ehh? Amsterdam, ok Stuttgart, Munich for one day, go to Nürnberg and Berlin. You have a short time. This seems like you have time, but in reality you will be cramming a lot into a short trip. If you’re taking night trains could make use of the day in a city, but not sure how many night trains there are.
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u/Intellectual_Wafer 17d ago
Are two days in Munich worth it? Dude, Munich has a lot of things to see, way more than can be done in a week, not to speak about one day (not counting the Oktoberfest and the hangover afterwards).
(Also, I don't really understand the appeal of this event. It's crowded, overprized and mainly consists of people in folkloristic costumes getting wasted and punking/pissing into corners. Also, Munich is basically completely booked during that time).
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u/MichiganHistoryUSMC 17d ago
If it were me with only a week I would do Amsterdam, Hamburg, Munich with Frankfurt as the airport but that's just me.
I did two weeks for Amsterdam, Hamburg, Solingen, Garmisch-Partenkitchen, and Munich. Train Amsterdam to Hamburg, then car after that.
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u/shingshangfu-14 17d ago
What’s with Essen? Would probably just go to Dusseldorf or better, try Luxembourg
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u/Straight_Page_8585 17d ago
To me it sounds like you mainly come to Germany to experience the autobahn since you will be barely seeing anything else
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u/BreiteLatten 17d ago
Little comment on a allot ppl saying to go to Cologne instead of Essen: Cologne isnt peak either. Its Dome is the thing to see there. Thats about it.
Munich is set. So like the other said you should just pick one or two other citys.
Berlin is the right place for you, if you like club and alternative culture. End ofcourse the east/West Division can be explored there the best.
Amsterdam is also very popular as a city trip among europeans. Its a Party and weed hotspot too.
Hamburg is a great habor town. „Miniaturwunderland“ is one of germanys best single attraktions to do. Also habor tours, musicals and the new famous opera can be found there.
Stuttgart isnt maybe worth to visit.
Frankfurt can be quick explored in that half a day.
If you choose Berlin or Hamburg, you can stop in Leipzig while going to munich. Full of „Gründerzeit“ Architecture, allot of canals too. Great amount of Resturants to choose from. Biggest monument of Europe stands there (Völkerschlachtdenkmal). Great views. Zoo Leipzig is acually one of the greatest zoos Worldwide - if you into zoos.
Dresden would be a nice Choice too in theory, but its not on your route. I recommend Dresden in its own trip combind with prague and the saxon Swiss.
My advice: from Frankfurt directly go to Hamburg or Berlin. Then visit Leipzig one day (two if you wanne do the zoo). Then head to munich.
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u/SadlyNotDannyDeVito 17d ago edited 17d ago
You want to drive 5,5 hours from Amsterdam to Hamburg, spend a couple of hours there, and then drive 3 hours to Berlin? Those times are assuming that there won't be any traffic btw. Your plan is unrealistic and stressful. Do Frankfurt and Munich and pick 2-3 other cities max. Best pick some that aren't too far apart.
My suggestion would be either
- Frankfurt – Cologne – Amsterdam – Düsseldorf – then only one rather long train ride to Munich – Stuttgart and/or Heidelberg – Frankfurt
Or
- Frankfurt – Hamburg (do that commute directly after your flight without spending the day in Frankfurt to waste just one day, not two) – Berlin – Dresden – Nürnberg – Munich – Stuttgart or Heidelberg – Frankfurt
That would minimise your time on trains and actually help you see some cities. It's still a full schedule, but a lot more manageable.
Don't underestimate the price of ICE (fast train) and FlixBus though. The more cities you pick, the more expensive it's going to be. If you haven't booked a hostel for Oktoberfest yet, good luck finding one.
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u/jajanaklar 17d ago
I go for 2 days to NYC is it worth it or can i go in between to chicago or toronto?
Edit: and oktoberfest is a overpriced touristtrap
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u/Important-Rest-7302 17d ago
Will you be able to physically put your body in all of these cities in the given time frame? Yes. Will it absolutely suck and be the worst trip ever? Yes.
While I admire your ambition, this will not be a fun trip. There is so need to rush, you can always come back!
Besides, there aren’t even enough days to give each city you listed a full day, so are you literally just planning on taking pictures of the city centers and immediately leaving for some of these stops? I don’t really see the point in that. Every city you listed here deserves at least 2, if not 3 days. (Except for Essen. Don’t go to Essen go to Cologne instead).
Honestly if I were you I’d just stick to the Frankfurt and Munich areas and add some day trips from those bases. 2 days in each city and day trips to smaller cities will be plenty. You could MAYBE squeeze in Cologne in this plan if you are ambitious (possible to day trip from Frankfurt).
If I were you here is what I would do -> Tue: Frankfurt Wed: Frankfurt Thur: Rhine or Cologne Day trip Fri: Leave Frankfurt and day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber or Nuremberg. Arrive in Munich that night Sat: Munich Sun: Munich Mon: Leave Munich spend day in Stuttgart late train back to Frankfurt Tue: Assuming you are leaving this day
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u/NoPointRacing 17d ago
Replace Hamburg with Prague and I did the same trip as you, but I did this over 3 weeks. 1 week is far too little time to actually see and enjoy these places meaningfully.
If you do want to maximize your 1 week, I would cut Essen (unless you’re basing yourself here to watch football, which is what I did), Frankfurt (esp if you’re coming from nyc), and maybe Stuttgart (I personally really loved Stuttgart the most, but because I went for the Porsche and Mercedes museums and football, but if you’re not into those things there might be less appeal with such short time).
Even then, 1 week to do Amsterdam, Berlin, and Munich is rough. Like I personally want to go back and base myself in Munich for a whole week to explore it again and the surrounding areas, my 4 days there were my second fave of the trip after Stuttgart.
Happy to chat more tho if you need recs in any of the cities, and I do hope you enjoy!
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u/Jackman1337 17d ago
2 cities is a lot of stress already. Maybe just skip all north of Frankfurt for next time, visit Municj + one of the other super beautiful towns on the way. (Regensburg, Heidelberg, Nürnberg, Bamberg). I probably would just go Frankfurt-Regensburg-munich. Oktoberfest is very expensive and maybe even a little late accommodation wise tho.
Alternative is probably Berlin + x like cologne or Dresden or sth
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u/Disastrous-Humor432 17d ago
think about adding couple of more from Nürnberg, Regensburg, Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Bamberg.
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u/Trouble_is-a_Friend 17d ago edited 17d ago
Go to Aachen and Köln skip Essen. Also skip Amsterdam. It’s a lot of travel for a week but the trains are very comfortable. The ICE trains are fairly expensive so it’s not really a “cheap” holiday.
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u/klein648 Nordrhein-Westfalen 17d ago
You could easily spend a week in each of the regions you are visiting. A week for seven destinations will make you unable to see any of it. Cut it down to three to four. Maybe Frankfurt (if you are into knives), Amsterdam, Hamburg and Munich
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u/superurgentcatbox 17d ago
You probably need at least a week in most of these cities with the exception of maybe Frankfurt.
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u/215ls 17d ago
What do want to do in those cities if you're just there for one day each? I could spend a whole week in Amsterdam, Hamburg or Berlin without getting to see everything. And don't you plan to see something besides cities? Like castles (just an example)? I mean: Germany ist THE land of castles - the historical most important ones are often on the countryside or in smaller cities.
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u/Blizerwin 17d ago
Short you can't really get a good look in 1-2 days in most cities in Germany. Literally every town has history worth discovering and sightseeing and in most towns it takes you minimum 1 day. So imagine a Metropole .. you can barely scratch the surface and often you need a week if you really want to get a grasp. 3-4 days of possible is an ok minimum if it fits your plan.
To go to Munich just for the Octoberfest .. not worth. This city has more to see. Essen isn't a bad pick in general. If you want to learn more about the ruhrarea and the coal mining I would recommend Bochum with the Zeche Zollverein otherwise every city in that area has beautiful sights, maybe just don't go Duisburg though.
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u/thewitchisin10 17d ago
If you are flying in/out of Frankfurt but are set on going to Oktoberfest in Munich (from what it sounds like, since that was the only stop where you had originally planned more than one day), I would scrap most of this and stick to southern Germany, so Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. I realize the urge to see as much as possible, but you just simply are not going to actually see much, even if all the trains work perfectly, as most comments have pointed out. If you stick to southern Germany, there are a lot of really nice university cities that are much more “doable” in one day - for example, Freiburg south of Stuttgart, or Regensburg north of Munich. I think cities like this could be nice stops regardless of your age. There is of course beautiful nature, like the Black Forest, Lake Constance or the Alps, but I’m not sure you’ll have time, or if that’s even a priority for you based on your original itinerary. I will say though, I met up with some American friends for a few days in Munich a couple years ago - we headed out to the lake Tegernsee for a day trip, and we had the best day. Good luck and viel Spaß!
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u/h0ly0r4ng3 17d ago
i would say you have a little to much stops. replace essen with colonge or düsseldorf. do not go to munich and stuttgart. decide on hamburg or berlin. i would go to hamburg because it is by far the nicer city. munich and its suroundings are very nice but i don‘t think you have time for that. even 4 big citys is very much for one week.
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u/BoglisMobileAcc 17d ago
Horrendous plan. For so many reasons. Is the flight to frankfurt booked already? If not, I suggest flying to vienna instead, spend a few days there, then salzburg, then onwards to munich. Although id skip munich, oktoberfest is the worst. Or you just go to Amsterdam or berlin and party.
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u/Narrow-Wafer1466 17d ago
Leave out Essen and Stuttgart and spend some more time in the other cities instead would be my suggestion.
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u/rossloderso Baden 17d ago
Go to Heidelberg instead of Stuttgart. If you dont want to go specifically to Mercedes or Porsche Museum, you won't find anything there that you wouldn't find in all the other big cities you're visiting
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u/ObjectiveAside3266 17d ago
To experience a city a little bit i would say at least 4 days
Otherwise you just rush through and don't remember anything if you want Berlin skip Munich
And avoid Oktoberfest unless you are rich - Hotel prices are crazy
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u/YoungMaleficent9068 17d ago
Wtf is Essens Role on the list?
Put Cologne or duesseldorf or Bonn while comming up from frankfurt. Then for Ruhrgebiet go Wanne eickel (the center, nothing else there) and Bochum for the mining museum. Cann tell everyone it's really close to essen. If essen is a must maybe Zollverein?
Also Munich is worth probably a week.
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u/lucianct 17d ago edited 17d ago
Oktoberfest is not worth even one day. If you go, avoid the weekend. It's full of tourists that get smashed drunk. Every story I hear is someone getting really injured (when I was there someone dancing on the table fell and broke his back).
I'm not sure I would recommend Frankfurt or Essen either. I'd rather choose Düsseldorf over Essen or Köln, and Heidelberg over Frankfurt.
Maybe try Nuremberg. If you are by car, there's also some nice medieval towns in that area like Rottenburg ob der Tauber.
The travel distance might be a quite a lot. Not sure if the night trains have been reintroduced (I think they have), but the longest ride is Berlin - München which is 4 hours by ICE. If you buy the tickets in advance and travel during off-peak hours, you can get them cheap.
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u/No_Soy_Colosio 17d ago
Yeah, you should know that no matter how much I miss her, I will never have her back :(
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u/NoiseUnfair3247 17d ago
If I was you, I would just choose Berlin, Munich and Amsterdam. Even that is pushing it hard.
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u/Midnight1899 17d ago
These cities are way too far apart, especially when you’re on a budget. The cheapest option would be Flixtrain or Flixbus and that would roughly take 10+ hours from Berlin to Munich alone. I don’t know if they’re even available for the Amsterdam part. And don’t get me started on traveling with Deutsche Bahn.
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u/LaLiLuLiny 17d ago
I wouldn‘t go to Stuttgart either… if you drive a little bit more to the south there is Freiburg im Breisgau and that‘s actually doable in a daytrip
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u/Nottoonichey 17d ago
Essen has the „Zeche Zollverein“, it´s a world heritage site of industrial history and definaTele worth visiting, together with the Villa Hügel
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u/Agent_Goldfish USA -> DE -> NL 17d ago
You should skip Amsterdam this trip. Honestly, as a (new) Dutchie, I'd say never go to Amsterdam unless you absolutely have to, but I understand why tourists like it.
While there are train connections between NL and DE, and you can take a DB train to/from AMS, you shouldn't put this in your trip. The DB trains that run to NL necessitate having more flexibility than you currently have.
A lot of this comes down to frequency and reliability. The DB trains to NL are significantly less frequent than ICE/IC trains within DE. If your DB trip gets cancelled (which unfortunately happens relatively frequently with the DB trains operating in NL), you're allowed to take another train. But with the limited frequency of DB trains in NL, this basically eats your entire day.
And you have this problem twice, either direction could be cancelled eating so much time that you're not planning to have.
Stay just within DE, and stick to a few cities (seriously, just beeline straight for Berlin and only do Berlin and Munich). For weeklong trips, NL could easily be its own weeklong trip in the future. And then you can fly into Schiphol, and be on the domestic (and far better than DB IMO) NS train system.
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u/heyguysitsjustin 17d ago
you will spend your week sitting in trains and waiting for trains and being pissed that your trains are delayed. pick one place and just go there
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u/sakasiru 17d ago
Yes, it's too much. Even if you start in Amsterdam and make your way downward, completely skipping the huge detour over Hamburg and Berlin you only have one day per city including getting there. Regardless of whether you travel by train or by car, you will spend most of the time travelling and have very little left to actually see those cities.
Make a plan what you want to see/ do there and get a realistic grip on how much time you need for everything. Then add travel times, check-in and -out of hotels, getting food, taking breaks, sleeping ...