Tourist advice needed about Germany and Switzerland

[Hyde]

Hello

I am going to attend CeBIT 2016 at Hanover, Germany for business reasons but that is a boring city so my cousin and friends made a plan to book flights for Switzerland instead. I have already booked the flight for Basel, Switzerland from where we plan to head towards Zurich for over a day or 6-8 hours depending on how we enjoy. Everything else is shabby but the only thing confirmed is that we are attending CeBIT exhibition in Hannover that is about 700 kilometres away from that region of Basel/Zurich.

We initially thought to book everything one way and back from the last destination but now it seems like we will be hiring a car in Switzerland and may need to come back to return the car otherwise it might be too expensive

What do you suggest we should see in these 3 days starting from Basel with a must visit trip to Hannover. There will be 2 drivers (myself and other cousin) and long driving is not a problem for me so please don't worry about us getting tired with 1600km of distance in 3 days on top of visiting every place

Ps: I know Frankfurt can be visited for a day or Stuttgart on way towards Hannover, Zurich, Bern and Strasbourg are also near. Even Cologne isn't too far from one place along the route

So confused, please help.

Thanks

 

[VCheng]

The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Museums in Stuttgart are two good recommendations:

Mercedes-Benz Museum Online-Ticketing

The Porsche Museum

Hello

I am going to attend CeBIT 2016 at Hanover, Germany for business reasons but that is a boring city so my cousin and friends made a plan to book flights for Switzerland instead. I have already booked the flight for Basel, Switzerland from where we plan to head towards Zurich for over a day or 6-8 hours depending on how we enjoy. Everything else is shabby but the only thing confirmed is that we are attending CeBIT exhibition in Hannover that is about 700 kilometres away from that region of Basel/Zurich.

We initially thought to book everything one way and back from the last destination but now it seems like we will be hiring a car in Switzerland and may need to come back to return the car otherwise it might be too expensive

What do you suggest we should see in these 3 days starting from Basel with a must visit trip to Hannover. There will be 2 drivers (myself and other cousin) and long driving is not a problem for me so please don't worry about us getting tired with 1600km of distance in 3 days on top of visiting every place

Ps: I know Frankfurt can be visited for a day or Stuttgart on way towards Hannover, Zurich, Bern and Strasbourg are also near. Even Cologne isn't too far from one place along the route

So confused, please help.

Thanks

 

[Hyde]

The Mercedes-Benz and Porsche Museums in Stuttgart are two good recommendations:

Mercedes-Benz Museum Online-Ticketing

The Porsche Museum

Have you been there?

I would probably go to one of those two places if it is any good.. May be Mercedes Benz museum

The only thing I know is we are going to Hannover from Basel and need to spend 3 days somewhere in that route

 

[VCheng]

Have you been there?

I would probably go to one of those two places if it is any good.. May be Mercedes Benz museum

The only thing I know is we are going to Hannover from Basel and need to spend 3 days somewhere in that route

I have been to both. The MB Museum is definitely worth a visit. Allow yourself at least half a day if you want to see all the exhibits. The Porsche Museum is much smaller.

Besides these two, there are many other choices in that area, depending on your interests.

 

[Hyde]

I have been to both. The MB Museum is definitely worth a visit. Allow yourself at least half a day if you want to see all the exhibits. The Porsche Museum is much smaller.

Besides these two, there are many other choices in that area, depending on your interests.

If I have to choose between Frankfurt or Stuttgart

Which one would you recommend for 1 day visit?

 

[Random Jan-e-mann]

Brother Aeither most of us here in this forum can't go muree...app b kiya humien jalaney k liye post kertey ho...

 

[VCheng]

If I have to choose between Frankfurt or Stuttgart

Which one would you recommend for 1 day visit?

Frankfurt is a much larger city with much to do and see. It all depends on your interests. The nightlife and river cruises are two good options there.

 

[Hyde]

Brother Aeither most of us here in this forum can't go muree...app b kiya humien jalaney k liye post kertey ho...

Most active members of PDF are overseas Pakistanis... Itne bhi bholay nai aap

Frankfurt is a much larger city with much to do and see. It all depends on your interests. The nightlife and river cruises are two good options there.

This is going to be difficult tour for me as I have not been able to find many places of interest in that particular region. I think it is blessed with natural beauty but nothing such as world famous to keep my friends and cousins happy.

I am the one organising this trip and changing entire structure of holiday trip as I had to go to Hannover and we had initially planned to spend time in Switzerland and Prague/Vienna but I made them go towards Hannover due to this exhibition and now I am stuck with hardly any popular attraction or entertaining stuff to do. This Mercedes Benz museum is at least one place I am thinking to some couple of hours

 

[Desertfalcon]

If I have to choose between Frankfurt or Stuttgart

Which one would you recommend for 1 day visit?

Depends on how much you like a big city vs. a really big city. Frankfurt is really big so maybe Stuttgart would be better, especially if you are driving your own car.

 

[VCheng]

This is going to be difficult tour for me as I have not been able to find many places of interest in that particular region. I think it is blessed with natural beauty but nothing such as world famous to keep my friends and cousins happy.

I am the one organising this trip and changing entire structure of holiday trip as I had to go to Hannover and we had initially planned to spend time in Switzerland and Prague/Vienna but I made them go towards Hannover due to this exhibition and now I am stuck with hardly any popular attraction or entertaining stuff to do. This Mercedes Benz museum is at least one place I am thinking to some couple of hours

Sir, Germany is a fascinating place to visit, with lots to just about everywhere. Please tell your interests and a rough itinerary and I can make a few suggestions that you might like.

 

[Hyde]

Depends on how much you like a big city vs. a really big city. Frankfurt is really big so maybe Stuttgart would be better, especially if you are driving your own car.

what i am thinking to do is take the car from Basel airport and go to Stuttgart. It should be there around 12PM.. I think it will be easier to find parking in Stuttgart and then I can go to their city centre and Mercedes Benz museum for couple of hours.

Leave Stuttgart around 8Pm and go to Frankfurt where we can sleep and roam around Frankfurt city centre on the following day before heading towards Hannover later that night?

This way I would be able to cover both cities for couple of hours but I am not sure if I would be able to find safe parking in Frankfurt, not so far from the city centre.

But then my friends says that we should either go to Frankfurt or Stuttgart for deeper exploration of one city

Sir, Germany is a fascinating place to visit, with lots to just about everywhere. Please tell your interests and a rough itinerary and I can make a few suggestions that you might like.

Well it is not about me... I actually like historical places, museums and local cuisine, natural beauty and quite places

But my friends I am accompanied with prefers city life, hustle and bustle and literally clone of crowd such as in London. I once went to Oslo with same friends and I loved it, they all got bored as they thought it's too quite for their taste

So I want to make sure they have at least something to say that they have seen in Germany. We also went to Berlin 4 years ago and everybody loved it

 

[Desertfalcon]

what i am thinking to do is take the car from Basel airport and go to Stuttgart. It should be there around 12PM.. I think it will be easier to find parking in Stuttgart and then I can go to their city centre and Mercedes Benz museum for couple of hours.

Leave Stuttgart around 8Pm and go to Frankfurt where we can sleep and roam around Frankfurt city centre on the following day before heading towards Hannover later that night?

This way I would be able to cover both cities for couple of hours but I am not sure if I would be able to find safe parking in Frankfurt, not so far from the city centre.

But then my friends says that we should either go to Frankfurt or Stuttgart for deeper exploration of one city

I agree with your friends. For such a limited amount of time, I would pick one city. I think if you go to Stuttgart, the sights of the city center and auto museum sounds great. If Frankfurt, lots to see, and I would start in it's city center of course. I don't know what you mean by "safe", for everywhere in Germany is pretty safe, including the center of Frankfurt, but you just don’t want to leave valuables in your car if you must park on a street. The bigger problem is finding parking. Car parks will be expensive and you may still have to take public transport to see what you want and you definitely don't want to park illegally as the fines or towing, would be very expensive.

 

[VCheng]

what i am thinking to do is take the car from Basel airport and go to Stuttgart. It should be there around 12PM.. I think it will be easier to find parking in Stuttgart and then I can go to their city centre and Mercedes Benz museum for couple of hours.

Leave Stuttgart around 8Pm and go to Frankfurt where we can sleep and roam around Frankfurt city centre on the following day before heading towards Hannover later that night?

This way I would be able to cover both cities for couple of hours but I am not sure if I would be able to find safe parking in Frankfurt, not so far from the city centre.

But then my friends says that we should either go to Frankfurt or Stuttgart for deeper exploration of one city


Well it is not about me... I actually like historical places, museums and local cuisine, natural beauty and quite places

But my friends I am accompanied with prefers city life, hustle and bustle and literally clone of crowd such as in London. I once went to Oslo with same friends and I loved it, they all got bored as they thought it's too quite for their taste

So I want to make sure they have at least something to say that they have seen in Germany. We also went to Berlin 4 years ago and everybody loved it

That should be a workable plan, albeit ambitious.

I agree with your friends. For such a limited amount of time, I would pick one city. I think if you go to Stuttgart, the sights of the city center and auto museum sounds great. If Frankfurt, lots to see, and I would start in it's city center of course. I don't know what you mean by "safe", for everywhere in Germany is pretty safe, including the center of Frankfurt, but you just don’t want to leave valuables in your car if you must park on a street. The bigger problem is finding parking. Car parks will be expensive and you may still have to take public transport to see what you want and you definitely don't want to park illegally as the fines or towing, would be very expensive.

RMV Park-and-Ride is the solution.

 

[Hyde]

I agree with your friends. For such a limited amount of time, I would pick one city. I think if you go to Stuttgart, the sights of the city center and auto museum sounds great. If Frankfurt, lots to see, and I would start in it's city center of course. I don't know what you mean by "safe", for everywhere in Germany is pretty safe, including the center of Frankfurt, but you just don’t want to leave valuables in your car if you must park on a street. The bigger problem is finding parking. Car parks will be expensive and you may still have to take public transport to see what you want and you definitely don't want to park illegally as the fines or towing, would be very expensive.

I will ask them to forget Frankfurt for this time and visit Stuttgart if the majority wins we will only visit one of the two cities.

The only reason to roam around both cities is because when you are travelling from Basle to Hannover, you go past Frankfurt from the same route.. You don't have to drive extra as you will be crossing that city anyway. For Stuttgart we might have to drive for half n hour extra but it is worth the drive

That should be a workable plan, albeit ambitious.



RMV Park-and-Ride is the solution.

The most ambitious plan I have had in my life was to travel from London to Amsterdam, Brussels, Barcelona and Paris and then back to London within 3 and half days. We took 5200 pictures from one camera only and couple of hundreds from another... And we literally didn't spare anything popular starting from the boats and shopping malls of Amsterdam to Little Europe, Grand place in Brussels to every famous place in Barcelona including magic fountain at night, sagrada familia, beaches and Paris was already familiar for us so Eiffel Tower, Disneyland, louvre museum, champs elysees etc was the beginning to warm up for other less attractive places.

I think for these 3 days we will be able to cover parts of Stuttgart or Frankfurt and going to Hannover only for that exhibition and if we get extra time then back to Zurich or second city from Stuttgart/Frankfurt may be

I was there in Germany during the refugee crisis. Since I was on work permit so I decided to visit other European Countries. Trust me things has changed now. I have been there before and there was no as such checking while moving to other countries. Now a days they are checking everything. I had some hindus with me and after seeing their passports they were allowed to go but it is too difficult for muslims. It is a hard time for them.

I have also been there before.. Crossed borders between many countries such as Denmark-Sweden, Netherlands-Belgium, Swiss-French etc and never had to show my passport. But please don't worry, if they want to see it, they reserve the right to do so and I would happily present my passport for verification.

 

[Audio]

Don't go to Switzerland if you want to party, good chance you will end up in some balkanoid night club where Balkan music blares through the speakers and rakia flows in the hectolitres.
If "hustle and bustle" is criteria, drop traveling through Germany altogether, start in Amsterdam, go wild there for two days then drive to Hannover.

Or, start in Munich, skip shithole Basel altogether (or go to contemporary art museum to waste time looking at shitty "art"), go to let's say BMW museum, then off to MB museum in Stuttgart. Also, attractive night life options in Munich, well, at least much more attractive than Basel.

But if you do decide to go through Switzerland and in the Zurich direction, there's an awesome technological museum in Wintherthur, called Technorama. Zurich also dwarfs Basel in terms of other things to do and see.

Enjoy your stay, leave lots of €'s. Thanks!