2 weeks - Munich to Frankfurt in June - Help please

I'd use day 14 for Wurzburg -- maybe pop into Rothenberg on the way. North of W'burg on the way to F'furt, close to Aschaffenburg, is the village of Messpellbrum (sp?)with a fairy tale castle complete with moat that has been in the same family for several hundred years. It isn't on the autobahn -- on the old road between W'burg and A'burg. Google it and see what you think. But if pressed for time definitely go to W'burg

"I am trying to keep Fussen to cover one Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday as that is when my son does not have classes and wants to join us to tour Neuschwanstein Castle with us."

"Am I adding too many things for such a short time?"

The only specific thing you have mentioned is N'stein, which involves a 30-minute tour. You will really need to think about your other options for this area before dedicating that many days to Füssen.

(N'stein, btw, isn't a real castle - it was finished near the start of the 20th century as a residential palace, not a place to hide from invading hordes as medieval folks once did. The fake castle exterior disguises this fact to some degree, however. Some say it's a tourist trap.)

http://www.dw.com/en/is-neuschwanstein-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/a-17887035

And before going with the destinations that you've assembled from the RS book for the rest of your trip, my suggestion is that you get specific about those things you want to do and where would be best. "We would like to explore the castles, hike, explore German towns, bike, eat..." The food is everywhere but hiking and biking locations should be researched a little. I am no expert at all but I do know you can hike near Füssen. It puzzles me a little that you are zooming through the Black Forest in a one-day drive - there is LOTS of hiking there.

One REALLY good place for small towns, real castles, hiking AND biking is the Rhine/Mosel River valley region. If you are flying out of FRA, you are very close to this area. 2-3 days would be in order:

Rhine River

• Rheinstein Castle (near Trechtingshausen) and trail from Bingen to Rheinstein

• Marksburg Castle in the old-world town of Braubach

• Bike paths along the Rhine

• Hiking the Rhine Castle Trail (Rheinburgenweg)

Mosel River

• Burg Eltz

• Hiking to Burg Eltz

• Cochem

• Cochem's main square

• Biking from Mosel town to Mosel town

• Mosel River bike route

"Would teens enjoy Baden-Baden?"

Who knows what teens like - they're all so different. B-B is mostly a destination for casino- and spa-fans, with a history of well-heeled, a mostly geriatric clientele. It's not a place I recommend if you want to see the Black Forest. Freiburg isn't really Black Forest either but it's a nice city. You might want to spend some time reconsidering the Black Forest by perusing some of Bavaria Ben's trip reports that included the BF. These may give you some ideas:

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/germany2012.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/germanybyrailandbus2011.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/tenthstammtischanniversary2009.html

Gutach is a particularly nice place to visit. So is Gengenbach.

thank you all so much for the responses so far! I have based my itinerary off of the guide in the book plus another website. So input on other areas in place of Baden-Baden or Freiburg is the entire reason I posted for help. I don't feel it is the "right fit" for what we want to do but needed an itinerary to start from.

The reason I had 3 days for Fussen is that I know one entire day will be spent touring the castles at Neuschwanstein. My husband and I have visited Fussen and the castle about 5 years ago and felt we did not have enough time in the area. I figure 3 days would give one to the castle, one to biking and one to just exploring the town and possible hiking trails.

I am going to now look in to the Rhine/Mosel River valley region, Rothenberg, Wurzburg , Konstanz, Lindau or Meersburg, Mainau, Reichenau Islands, Michelstadt and Erbach as you each have suggested. My problem is that I just am not familiar with any of the areas or towns other than Munich, Fussen and Heidelberg. We toured each city very briefly when my husband had business in Wiesbaden 5 years ago. I am going to start by researching each of these cities you have each suggested and make a few other itineraries. I know what I have listed above is not the "right" fit for us but it was a start since I know we will begin in Munich, goto Neuschwanstein and end in Darmstadt anf Heidelberg.

I really appreciate your expertise and look forward to hearing any other suggestions. :)

As much as I like the BF ( i've spent 2 weeks there in the past 3 years ), I would skip it and go up the Romantic Road and then head to the Rhine

After spending more time talking over what everyone would like to do, I have determined I may mix up the itinerary - remove one day from Fussen and add some days in Austria or Switzerland instead of the Black Forest area. It seems everyone feels seeing the Neuschwanstein and Heidelberg castles will be enough castles visits and they prefer the idea of exploring the beautiful views and areas around the Alps. So now I switch gears and dive into research on the Austria and Switzerland areas that would allow enough time to get us back up to Heidelberg and Darmstadt to see where my son is living. 15 days is just not enough! ;)

Thank you all for your help and suggestions. I posted this in the very first step of my planning and I am so glad I did - the honest feedback helped me realize I was not on the right track for this trip to fit the interests of all of us going. I was using the itinerary in the book as a crutch and put too much into that suggestion.

Now I would appreciate any advice on a Germany/Austria/Germany plan or Germany/Switzerland/Germany plan if you have done anything similar. Are day trips a better plan?