I'm sooooo excited! I am planning to travel to Europe in late November with a friend of mine and her mother. They are originally from Germany and we will be flying into Frankfurt and then taking the rail to Stuttgart. Since Stuttgart fairly close to the borders of France, Switzerland and Austria, we are planning a few day trips into each of these countries.

Stuttgart is reputed to have the biggest Christmas-market in Europe and I can't wait to see it!

Anyway, any suggestions from you Europeans on what should be included on our "must see and do" list?



Dawn

Depends on how much time you've got. Heidelberg is a lovely old German city, we were in Strasbourg France for two years so could make on a day trip comfortably. (I confess my children liked it because of the American fast food and Reese's Peanut butter cups availability).

Strasbourg rightfully holds the name of the Venice type city of France. Bruges is the Belgian equivalent and by far the most beautiful city there though I'll make Flemmie get peeved as I place Ghent at a close second.
In France Paris is a must...what can you say? Though it's hard to see it, even a glimpse, in less than four days.

Austria, never made it to Vienna, had a campingplatz disaster in Austria, but I know Graz, Salzburg and Innsbruch. Lovely cites.

Tübingen is fairly close to Stuttgart and well worth visting: it's a traditional, 'romantic', old German university city. I agree with bruyere that Strasbourg is well worth a visit, though I think it will probably involve spending a night away from Suttgart. Another place woth visiting is Konstanz - but again it's likely to involve an overnight stay ... I hope to make some further suggestions.

Thanks, all. I've been scouring maps and tra vel guides. I want to get in as much as I possibly can during my visit.

I was also going to suggest the Bodensee to you. I found it really beautiful.

Btw, another possibilty is Munich (München) ...

There are also some interesting and charming small towns very close to Stuttgart, such as Esslingen - once a Free City of the Holy Roman Empire. From what I remember it has plenty of 'olde worlde' charm.

Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber are typically "romantic German towns". Especially Rothenburg.
In Stuttgart you are near to the Black Forest and there the Kinzig Valley is nice.
Baden Baden is a spa.
Wuerzburg and Bamberg are important art towns.
In my opinion the scenic routes in Germany are more interesting than the cities ( though I like Cologne - which also has a popular Xmas-market).
Burgenstrasse ( Castles' Route) from Nuremberg to Heidelberg is definitely worth seeing. So is the "Romantische Strasse". From Wuerzburg to Fuessen.
A lot depends on the weather. A White Christmas in Germany
would fit in with the general "image" tourists expect of the country.
My general principle when travelling is : "Less is more". Or
as the French say "Qui trop embrasse mal étreint". ( Please, Briar, can you translate?)
But everyone to their own taste.
As to Bruges and Ghent..Bruges is overcrowded for the rest of the year. No feelings of jealousy about Bruyere putting Bruges first. We in Flanders have surrendered Bruges to the tourist industry and kept Ghent to ourselves.

Forgot to mention the wine-routes of Alsatia and of Burgundy.
Some villages are really nice: Riquewihr; Ribeauvillé. Colmar has great works of art. Basle on the Rhine is near too.
In Burgundy there is Dijon and Beaune.
And then there is still Nancy with its splendid Stanislas Square. Reims' Cathedral is absolute top-class. You should try the champagne at Epernay.
Germany: Trier and the whole Mosel-villages route.
Austria: the motorway from Salzburg to Vienna is very fast (it 's a toll-road). Vienna has so much to offer. Though I would never swap it for Prague, not by a long chalk..

I actually don't know that one Flemmie! I think you mean that it's best to see fewer things and well than more and get overloaded! I agree.
I would visit both Ghent and Bruges but Ghent is more of a proper city...Bruges is like a fairytale!
I finally visited Reims this last summer, very nice.
You do have some nice storks in Riquewihr.

If you reach out for too much, you cannot hold it well.
If you load too much hay on your fork , you lose it.
Non multa, sed multum.


Had a look at railway connections.
Stuttgart-Ulm- Augsburg- Muenchen - Salzburg would already be a nice trip, and includes Austria.
Stuttgart -Ulm- Friedrichshafen - Lindau takes you to Bodensee.
(Lake of Konstanz)
Stuttgart-Karlsruhe- Strassebourg takes you to France. From Strassebourg you can reach Nancy.
Munich and Salzburg will take more than just 2 hours each.
Well it all depends on what sort of things you want to see, do.
Pinacothek at Munich is more than worthwhile; attending an opera performance at Salzburg could be great.
The Cathedral of Strassbourg and the little streets around it.
Guess you better try out some of the Alsatian food too.
There is a train connection that allows you to see at least three of the major "stops" on the Romantic Route: Nordlingen; Dinkelsbuehl and Rothenburg. Rothenburg is definitely a fairy tale town. It's traffic-free. Good art by Tilman Riemenschneider.
My advice would be: make clear choices and spend enough time on each of them rather than to race from one place to another. There probably are special multi-day-tickets and reductions for youngsters. Eurorail or something.