# Moving to Germany, looking for advice on travel



## |||||||||| (Feb 6, 2014)

I am USAF moving to Ramstein, GE in June for 3 years on PCS orders. Our goal is to see as much of Europe in those three years as we can. After all, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Not many people can say they can, have or ever will get the chance to move to Europe for three years. 

That being said, we are looking for advice on the top must see trips we can make. We want to ideally do the following:

1. Take a weekend trip atleast every few weeks
2. Take a long weekend trip every 3 or 4 day weekend
3. Take 3 weeks of vacation every year dedicated to traveling (could be split up anyway, or all at once)

So I will ask that you keep your suggestions in three categories:

1. Places within a few hours drive of Ramstein (to satisfy the weekend trips)
2. Places within 5-7 hours drive of Ramstein (to satisfy the long weekend trips)
3. Places which would require a train or flight to reasonably get to (to satisfy the 3 weeks of vacation a year)

Thanks. We would really like to make the most out of the next three years and are mainly interested in culture/history. If it is old, historic, taught about in school, famous, etc, we will want to go I am sure.


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## Langham (Nov 7, 2012)

I can recommend a few places in the former East Germany, which are old, historic and certainly worth a visit: Quedlinberg, Schwerin, Wismar, Stralsund, Ruegen and Greifswald. Also Luebeck. These are all quite small places, retaining a certain character. Then obviously there are the bigger places such as Dresden, Berlin and Munich, Baden-Baden, Leipzig etc. I don't imagine you would need to fly anywhere within Germany as the roads are very good and very fast. German trains are good however, and may be a better option for visiting the big cities. I should mention that much of the eastern half of Germany has rather dull, flat countryside.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

I would suggest long weekends by train to Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Krakow and Vienna.


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## Odradek (Sep 1, 2011)

The best beer in all of Germany are the Alt beers, brewed in the area around Dusseldorf.


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## Droog (Aug 29, 2006)

My four years in the old FRG were among the best of my Army career. One year in Augsburg and three in (then) West Berlin. I've since been back to the east side.

Concur with Prague. I've been there twice, once as part of the 200th anniversary of the battle of Austerlitz and, more recently, with my wife. Relatively inexpensive.
Berlin - very cosmopolitan. Also a lot of history, culture, and shopping. Visit Martin Luther's Wittenburg Cathedral on the way (it's not real big, though).
Check out the Rhine castles between Wiesbaden and Koblenz. Good 3 to 4-day trip to do both banks. Also (white) wine galore. Highest density of castles in the world due to those medieval Rhine robber barons.
Neuschwanstein - Touristy, but still should be done.
Rothenberg - oldest/best preserved medieval town.
Hohenzollernschloss - Castle in Hechingen near Ulm of the Prussian kings (they had possessions all over Germany). Visit Ulm Cathedral nearby while there.
Munich - for Oktoberfest, _aber doch. _Visit Bad Tolz while out that way (a storybook Bavarian village. On a somber note, Dachau is right near there. German alps vicinity Munich (Hitler's Eagle's Nest).
Take a Rhine cruise or Donau (Danube) cruise
Go on a volksmarch with the locals
Leipzig - Colossal monument if you're into battlefields. I could go on and on about the battlefields since visiting them is something I did a lot.
Go to and stay in local Gasthauses. In Bavaria, each town will have its own brewery.
My wife and I also launched in Switzerland for a long weekend. Then there's France.

Congrats on the new assignment.

Droog


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

Chouan said:


> I would suggest long weekends by train to Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, Krakow and Vienna.


All these, but don't under any circumstances miss Paris. What a great city Paris is.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

Yes, Paris of course, a given I'd thought. Brussels, Antwerp, Bruges and Amsterdam would all also be within long weekend by train distance, as would Strasbourg Dijon and Besancon, all worth a visit, especially if you have a spare liver.


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## Shaver (May 2, 2012)

Rome. :thumbs-up:


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