Please help finalise my itinerary - 50 days Germany and France

Just came back from Lyon. Depending on what you wish to see I think 3 days is enough. Use the extra day for Avignor or wherever else in that region. My dad has mobility issues .I just found out that you can get handicapped assistance for the trains similar to that at airport. We also borrow wheelchair at museum. His issue is he can't walk distances. In Lyon we did the hoping hop off bus ...it was a great introduction and used the Metro to get tothe funicular to the Basilica. Look for the elevators. We also used uber a lot.
Enjoy

For Provence without a car, I would love advice about whether Avignon or Aix-en-Provence is a better base (or another town?)

Avignon is better for transportation but I suspect Aix would be a a nicer town to stay in.

I spent 5 nights in Avignon in October. As far as transportation, Avignon is a good hub. I took day trips to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Marseille. Arles, Nimes, and Orange are also easily reached from Avignon, but I had previously visited all three so did not travel there on this trip. I thought Avignon was fine, but I think there are many places in France with a lot more charm.

I definitely recommend downloading the SNCF app. It was very convenient and I bought a number of train tickets on the fly via the app.

In Avignon, I stayed in this flat. The host was very responsive and the flat met my needs. My review is dated Oct 2023.
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/13576112

Tubingen is a nice city. A couple of good day trips nearby. I’d look at Bebenhausen Monastery. Easier to get to than Burg Hohenzollern which I’d recommend if you were staying longer

There is nothing wrong with your itinerary. Avignon will make a better base than Aix-en-Provence to visit Arles, Orange and Nimes.

Tip for Berlin: book hotel rooms early because around end date of your stay the first people / companies for Berlin Marathon are arriving. Hotel prices are already high.

Tips around limited mobility / accessibility in Berlin.

If you travel with Deutsche Bahn trains you can ask their mobility service at stations for help without extra costs (PDF flyer).

Have a safe and good journey.

"Nuremberg: 5 - including day trips to Wurzburg or Bamberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Ulm (or Tubingen?): 2 - treating this as a transfer destination between Germany and France and not planning to do very much."

I would not recommend all that backtracking by using Nuremberg as a base to do those cities. However, Bamburg might work since it is not real far from Nuremberg. Consider doing Wurzburg spending the night there, then heading down the Romantic Road to Rothenburg.

Regarding Ulm or Tubingen, I suggest Augsburg as superior to either of those cities.

"Avignon or Aix-en-Provence: 7 - wanting to find a base town that allows easy day trips to Arles, Orange, Nimes
Carcassone: 2"

We have been to Carcassone, Arles, Orange and Nimes, I would strongly recommend doing Carcassone with a hotel stay. It is way to far from places like Arles for a day trip. Also, if you go to Carcassone, why not do Toulouse?

All of your proposed cities are significantly out of the way from Amsterdam. You only wish to see Delft. What a waste of travel time.
Consider skipping this part of your trip.

Fly into Berlin and out of Paris.

All of your proposed cities are significantly out of the way from Amsterdam. You only wish to see Delft.
What a waste of travel time.
Consider skipping this part of your trip.
Fly into Berlin and out of Paris.

Our flights are set. We got a good deal on business class flights on an open jaw ticket. Changing our return flight to Paris was going to add around AUD $1000- to our airfare. As I have spinal issues we need to fly business class so I can lie down. It takes around 26-30 hours to get to Europe from Australia so we look out for airfare deals. This means we sometimes need to buy flights before we have really planned where we're going. And buy flights that have high change fees.

We are very happy to see Delft as it has been overlooked on previous trips.

I would strongly recommend doing Carcassone with a hotel stay. It is way to far from places like Arles for a day trip. Also, if you go to Carcassone, why not do Toulouse?

I think you misread my planned itinerary. I'm looking at spending two nights in Carcassone. Toulouse had been included on an earlier itinerary plan but then my husband wanted to add Weimar in Germany so Toulouse got cut.

For Germany, I am hoping I have chosen cities/locations that will give us medieval/roman sites.

If you are serious about those eras of history, I suggest altering your plans by using what calls to you from UNESCO's World Heritage sites in Germany, listed and mapped at the page below.

https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/de

The middle ages can often be experienced to some small degree by visiting SMALLER destinations that were not targeted by world wars. There is a multitude of German towns scattered around the country and filled with old half-timbered buildings.

https://queenslandandbeyond.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/GesamtkarteMitneuerRouteDetail2016.jpg

10 days ago we were in Besigheim, one of the half-timbered-house towns in the most southerly part (in red) of the above map. Such a charming old place. We took a 2.5-hr cruise down the Neckar River from Marbach to Besigheim,  had a nice hike and a walk through town, then boarded a train in Besigheim for our next destination.

I am not sure if Nuremberg and Ulm (Tubingen?) are the best options, but both seem to work well for trains.

It sounds like you might be unaware how extensive the German rail system is. I don't know what you mean by "work well" but if what you mean is "has a train station with regular service", then that applies to more than 5,400 towns and cities. You can go nearly everywhere by train, which is how I travel in Germany and is why tiny Besigheim (13,000 population) was one of my travel choices.

Nuremberg: 5 - including day trips to Wurzburg or Bamberg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Since Bamberg, Wurzburg, and Rothenburg are at three different compass points from Nuremberg, you might want to consider just Bamberg. Or consider an overnight in Wurzburg with a side trip to Rothenburg. Each of those two places can easily (with transit time) consume an entire day.

In Paris the Musée D'Orsay is, as you mentioned, is a "must see" just for the transformation of the building itself. The Rodin was not crowded at all while we were there and is excellent. The Pompidou Centre didn't really impress us at all, but that's just personal preference.

Nothing really wrong with your plans, just offering food for thought.

Hi there, Looks pretty great. I loved Delft, excellent choice, small and walkable. LMK if you want suggestions where to buy Delft pottery downtown, will try to dig it out, it's here on the Forum somewhere! Would highly recommend the Delft factory / workshop with an amazing blue and white exhibit if you're interested.

We also like wandering slowly around towns with nice architecture (medieval and Roman are favorites), - I'm wondering if you might enjoy Nimes & Arles on a day trip while you're in Lyon, it's 2.5 hours from Lyon to Nimes by train, frankly the Roman architecture looks amazing, along with the nearby Pont du Gard. Perhaps a small day tour?

I lived in Tübingen for 1.5 years as a university student, it's cute and walkable but I don't think it would be my top fav in the area, neither would Ulm, but some of the other posters had good alternatives.

Consider booking the big attractions like Musee de Orsay ahead of time, IMO always best to go first thing in the morning.

Good luck!

Can't help too much with many of your locations but I think Nuremberg for 5 nights, or even longer, is just fine. I'm not a big fan of frequent location changes. Bamberg, Rothenburg, Regensburg, Wurzburg, Iphofen, Bayreuth, Coburg can all be reached fairly quickly. Munich, if you've never been.

I much preferred Tubingen over Ulm, Trier or Augsburg (been quite a few years). Architecturally attractive in the old town, nice river front, Bebenhausen and botanical gardens up the hill. Hohenzollern Castle in about 40 minutes, other timber-framed towns close by.

Popped into Strasbourg a couple of days when I stayed in Alsace. Two or three nights is good. Not far across the border is Gengenbach, a lovely little town well worth a visit.

I can happily recommend the Living Hotel Berlin Mitte for accommodation in that city - I stayed there about a year and a half ago in a sort of three-person suite that came with its own kitchenette. Lovely place, helpful staff, and it literally couldn't be closer to an U-Bahn station (Märkisches Museum). I don't know if this kind of place is up your street and suits your needs but I would definitely stay there again if I were back in Berlin. Hope your trip goes well!

What an exciting trip! I love how well-balanced your itinerary is, with nice longer stays in some places (so important on long trips).

For transiting from Nuremberg to Strasbourg, I'd suggest either just spending one night in Ulm if you want to break up the train journey (and adding a 3rd night to Strasbourg) or just committing to a travel day so you can have 4 nights in Strasbourg, since you don't have a particular interest in Ulm itself. Strasbourg is a beautiful place that seems well-matched to your interests and a longer stay there could give you more time to explore either side of the border (it's a quick bus or train ride over to some lovely places in the Black Forest).

If you still have flexibility to add spare nights, I'd say add at least one night in Delft and make sure to explore the Hague. If you love galleries, Mauritshuis is unmissable.