Posted on 10/26/2014 6:42:22 AM PDT by Oshkalaboomboom
I am staying in Aschaffenburg, Germany on business with a car and a 3-day weekend coming up. I am looking for suggestions on interesting things to do within a 60-90 minute driving range in any direction.
Last time we had enough time off we planned on Heidelberg one day then Strausborg, France the next. Both were 2.5-3 hour drives. We were so burnt out after Heidelberg that we never made the trip to France the next day. So this time I'm trying to keep it a bit closer.
I know Aschaffenburg had a large military presence for many years so a lot of veterans may have some good suggestions on where to go. I am going to Frankfurt in a little while because that is close enough to go for just a short visit and come right back. I've been all through Aschaffenburg so now I am looking to expand my horizons a bit.
tripadvisor. http://www.tripadvisor.com/
I always enjoyed just walking around the local communities and business districts. Try local restaurants and shops vs. the “tourist trap” places and establishments.
If you’re close enough to go to Frankfurt, change that to Wiesbaden. It’s more of a visiting town that Frankfurt IMO. I was stationed at Lindsey Air Station there in the early 70s. They even have a nice casino by the park down town (or did).
It’s a nice town. They wouldn’t have picked it (Lindsey) to be the HQ USAFE if it wasn’t. LAS was an old German calvary outpost; at the time I was there the barracks still had the rifle racks built into the hall walls, and the stables had been converted over to maintenance sheds for the mobile comm group stationed there, too.
Plus very nice buildings for the USAFE mucky muck headquarters. I have a sister-in-law that still lives in Wiesbaden.
Ping
Wurzburg.
I don’t know about you but one thing on *my* bucket list is to someday rent a BMW or Audi and do 120 on the Autobahn.
1. Felsenmeer, interesting bolder rock formation about 30 min south of Frankfurt (they make you pay a Euro or two on parking), it’s worth hiking up to see this whole hillside, maybe three hour walk.
2. Mainz, Gutenberg Museum, center of town, takes about 2.5 hours. You can expand out from the museum, walk the city square, see the cathedral, and feel extremely safe.
3. Eltville. Kloster Eberbach abbey, old monistery. Worth three hours of walking around. Excellent wine.
4. Rudesheim. Along Rhine River, has the old part of town, but has the cable car which takes you to the Germania statue on the hill (worth two hours), very scenic (don’t go on a rainy day, total waste).
5. Frankfurt (Rothaus area is worth visiting, along with two walking bridges over river, and the art museum). Any area of Frankfurt is safe except train station area after dark.
6. Hessenland. Near Neu-Anspach, about 30 min north of Frankfurt, in heavily rural area (use GPS). The park is noted on signs as you near. They took up 100-200-300 year old houses, and placed them in a ‘fake city’ there. Half of site is free, and half costs 8 Euro. Worth five hours walking around. Lunch is decent, plenty of parking. Another spot not to go on a rainy day. Fair amount of walking involved in this episode.
7. Wiesbaden. Spa park, area around the Casino, city shopping square, Neoberg hillside on north end of town which is old Roman site and has a big view of the city (use the train car to go to the top and sip some beer while there). All within walking distance of parking at one central location. Worth an entire day.
All are in safe areas, with no crime or worries. Cold weather would dictate caution in future weeks.
I looked for small castles and ruins on maps, packed some food in a rucksack, parked somewhat nearby and hiked the areas. Found some places that weren’t much more than a pile of bricks but also came across some pretty amazing but rarely visited structures.
As far as night life, I lived near Heidelberg and DJ’d and played guitar so I was introduced to some pretty cool private “after-hours” clubs. The best bet is find friends among the locals.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a bit touristy but very beautiful old town at the start of the Romantic Route through Bavaria.
Wurzburg is interesting as are the many small villages around it. Bamberg very nice, I only spent a few hours there but wanted to see more.
It’s fall. Best eating season in Germany. Ask around town which restaurant prepares the best “Wild” pronounced Villd (usually means venison but often these places will have other hunting season specialties too - I recommend the Reh Rucken - rack of venison) Spend what it costs to order that platter and enjoy the taste of heaven. Venison, spaetzle, caramelized brussel sprouts, roasted peaches, nuts, those purple berries...
You could start out with a short visit to my sister-in-law’s house, they have a great little party room downstairs. Failing that, the Fulda area is very nice this time of year, especially the Wasserkuppe, and only about 1.5 hours away.
You could arrange the route through Bad Orb, one of the few little towns that didn’t get too blown up during the war. Last time I was there was a building that dated back to about the time the US was founded, and it housed a dress shop. The old wall around the town is still mostly intact, beautiful place.
The Wasserkuppe is a mountain top that has been used for launching sail planes for many years. On a nice day you can sit and watch them t/o and land, walk through the grounds and eat ice cream (I recommend the BOM BOM), visit the candy shop where my sister went nuts and bought almost $200 worth of candy when she came to visit, and ride the all weather luge.
From there you could visit the Monastery at Ober Wildflecken for a mug of the best beer you ever had and grab a bite to eat. It sits on top of the mountain and there are some great views.
From there you could take the back way to A’burg, through Hammelburg, and just enjoy a beautiful drive with plenty of opportunities to stop and stretch and look around.
This little circuit would make a very nice three day tour, plenty of places to find a room. As an added bonus, if you have the spare cash, you could send me a plane ticket and I would be deliriously happy to come over and act as your guide. I would, of course, expect to buy my own beer.
Here’s another vote with Gaffer’s on going to Wiesbaden. I, too, was stationed there with the US Army for 3 years. Check out the spa and casino. Also, downtown is fairly upscale for shopping. Plenty of dining possibilities. A personal favorite was a Czech restaurant that served the original Budweiser beer. I can’t remember the name but everything is online today so I’m sure you can find it if you look.
The Mercedez-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
And then the Porsche museum, also in Stuttgart.
If you are just driving around with an occasional “get out and walk” stop, there’s a lot of history in Marburg, Koblenz, Koln (Cologne) — all up in that area. Well, it’s Germany, so there’s going to be a lot of history in most any direction you go...
I’m not sure where your interests peak and I was more into touring castles. A-Berg has a nice one right on the river, if you haven’t toured it already. There’s also a really cool moated castle in Mesplebrun (spelling??) fairly close, just outside of A-Berg to the south. I *really* enjoyed the smaller to medium sized towns the most and there’s a ton that are well within driving range of a day or so from A-Berg. Pack light and stay at a Gasthaus along the way so you aren’t pressured into making it back to A-Berg every evening.
You could drive a circle from A-Berg to Marburg to Cologne (stop over-night), then next day to Koblenz and back to A-Berg, stopping along the way at whatever caught your eye. That’s going to be about 8 hours of driving over two days with time to stop and check stuff out along the way. Nice castles in each town and the area is just steeped in history.
If you are really into castles, Neuschwanstein is probably going to be at the top of your list for Germany, but it’s a bit of a drive from the Frankfurt area (probably 4 hours +/-). It would be an enjoyable drive (for me anyway), but it puts you way down on the Austrian border and spends more of your time just driving.
Best of luck to you! I hope the weather is beautiful and you have a great time, whatever you decide!
It has a lot of old world charm, too. It wasn’t bombed out like Frankfurt during WWII....not to far from the Rhein and a lot of good places.
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