Germany and Switzerland Travel + Tips

Thinking of traveling to Germany & Switzerland? Here are my adventures in the Mid to Southern part of Germany, & Basel, Switzerland. (I took this trip in May 2009 and didn't know how to take photos, so apologies in advance!) This trip was for a Chemistry college credit and we paired up with the textiles class so our stops catered to learning. Check out Part II of my trip to Paris, France HERE.

Tips Ahead of Time:

Learn some German. We were told that if you're from the US, to say the state you're from instead. People weren't rude to us, though there was a non German guy who wouldn't sell us food.

Rothenburg, Germany

We stayed at a hotel in Rothenburg. This city is so quaint and perfect. Lots of souvenirs, food, history, etc.

Visit the famous yellow house, the Rothenburg House.

Climb the tower in the middle of the city for amazing city views.

The tower is kind of difficult to climb, so keep that in mind. There's a wall around the city that you can climb and walk around, though the stairs are difficult. We went down a back alley and found a wine shop that let us taste test, it was a pretty great find. Explore this city as much as you can, it's so cool and has so many neat shops.

From Rothenburg we went to Koln.

Koln, Germany

The picture below is the chocolate museum in Koln (pronounced Cologne). We ended up walking through a street festival afterwards which was pretty cool.

There's a gorgeous gothic Cathedral, the Koln Cathedral.

No 4711 is the 1st cologne ever made. Koln is a big shopping area. The textile students were super excited to shop here. They have little vials of the perfume you can buy, I still have mine on a shelf.

From Koln we went to Wurzburg.

Wurzburg, Germany

Wurzburg Castle. At the castle you'll have great views of the city. I would highly encourage you to check out the WWII museum at the Rathause. They have a model of pre and post WWII, it's incredible and sad.

From Wurzburg we went to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg, Germany

This is the Schloss (castle) in Heidelberg. This castle also gives great views of the city. I absolutely loved exploring all of the castles, most have museums inside and gift shops. There's a pharmacy museum inside this one which was pretty cool, and also giant barrels of wine. This castle was seriously the best!

Church of the Holy Spirit.

Super cool architecture. Old town square. Great city views. From Heidelberg we took the scenic route down the Rhine River to Freiberg.

Freiberg, Germany

This is the Black Forest in Freiberg that is in so many fairy tales. There's a lookout in this forest that gives views of the city. There's sections of a wall that wraps the city here as well. There is a red building that is the Merchant's Hall. Lots of famous places in this city.

There are tons of cool looking Gothic Cathedrals, here's Freiburg Munster.

Basel, Switzerland

From Freiberg we took a train to Basel, Switzerland. It was a super cheap ticket. I was bummed that they did not stamp my passport :(

Basel holds the famous Tinguely Fountain.

And you can view the Rhine River and City Hall (Rathaus).

Lots of Swiss Army goods. I of course went to the zoo, and checked out the remains of the walls and towers around the city. Some students went to a museum. Lots of lovely and quaint buildings.

The Take-Aways:

Germany is full of history and culture. I absolutely loved this entire trip and I would go back in a heartbeat. For food, Doner Kebab was my favorite. If you haven't tried it, add it to the list! We tried the German beer as well. Do as many German things as you can to soak up the culture, it truly is an amazing country. Also, the weather was perfect when we went. We carried a light rain jacket for when it sprinkled, but otherwise we didn't see much rain.

Let me know if you have any questions!