8 Days in Germany. Suggestions?

I may go to Nuremberg instead on the way to Berlin... we are going in a few weeks and added a short Nuremberg stay to our itinerary to see the Nazi Documentation Center and Christmas market (we are there two nights). Do yo have 8 nights? or 7? If 8 I would do 3 in Munich, 2 in Nuremberg, 3 in Berlin.... assuming you are flying into Munich and out of Berlin?

Kim

I believe you'll want more time in Berlin, especially if your interests include World War II and Cold War history; there are just so many related sites in Berlin. And if you also want to see the Museuminseln museums (mainly art and ethnography), well... I had six days for Berlin--didn't even get to Potsdam--and that wasn't enough time.

We spent three days in Bamberg at the end of our trip for a little RR and it turned out to be our favorite spot. It really is as beautiful as the pictures show. http://en.bamberg.info/

A couple passing thoughts.

Munich and Berlin were bombed into rubble in WWII. You will get a very limited view of German history there.

For us, short visits to big cities are frustrating. It is almost impossible to get a feeling for them in a couple days.

You've chosen to fly into MUC and you don't have time for Berlin, really. A shame IMO if you're flying out of Berlin unless you turn over half of your 8 days to Berlin. If you can fly out of MUC then skip Berlin. See Munich, Salzburg if you wish, and some of old-world Germany (Bamberg is an excellent suggestion. Nearby, Nuremberg and Würzburg are excellent destinations as well. Both have sites of historical interest.)

"I'm a huge history buff..." In that case you pretty much know what Dachau was all about. You may wish to skip it on such a short visit - the chances that you'll unearth startling historical information there are slim when compared with the chances that you'll have an extra-large knot in your stomach for that entire day.

"Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles" aren't really castles. H'schwangau is an early 19th century palace; N'stein is a late-19th-century palatial residence with a faux castle exterior. Suggest you see the IMO more interersting Nymphenburg Palace in Munich (where Ludwig II was born) to satisfy your interest in that period (and prior) and thus save yourself the 5-hour round trip train + bus journey. N'burg has a satellite palaces, a carriage museum, and a porcelain museum as well. You could spend 2-3 hours there perhaps; N'stein's guided tour is a mere 30 minutes - not much for such a long journey.

To see some alpine splendor, take a day trip or half-day trip by bus to Berchtesgaden and the Königssee while in Salzburg: http://images.fotocommunity.de/bilder/bayern/bayerische-alpen/jennerblick-zu-watzmann-und-koenigssee-1a243f3e-5ae1-42a3-b7a8-d2366c66aa75.jpg

We enjoyed everywhere you suggest (except we chose not to go into the castles--just see from the outside). We went to Dachau and still had about 1/2 day to see more of Munich. Although I loved Salzburg, I would echo more time in Berlin. We did not go to many museums there, but just walking around filled time. The Reichstag dome is a must as is the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (but that doesn't take much time, even if stopping to reflect). We did a food tour in The Mitte which was a highlight of our trip; even as a history buff you could appreciate it. Check it out: http://www.berlinfoodtour.de/tours/berlin-mitte-food-tour/
Enjoy your trip!

Hi,

Aside from the historical suggestions given above, lots of historical "stuff" can be seen in Greater Berlin on WW II and German history, depending on your level of interest. But "huge history buff" tells a lot. With the days you have in Berlin you can devote all of it tracking down sites pertaining to WW 2, especially if one of the days is a Sunday.

On Sunday the German History Museum (DHM) shows documentary films on an aspect of the war. One Sunday as you walk up on Unter den Linden to Museum Island, turn left, you'll run into something like a "farmers market" Go all the way, since towards the very end is a large display table upon table , where used books are sold. The books are almost exclusively on war history or WW2, practically 98% in German, originals, the remainder are in English, the original language of the work, or English translations from German or French....just depends what your luck is.

I would suggest to a "huge history buff" going out to Berlin-Karlshorst (S-3) to the war museum, ca 20-25 walk from the S-Bahn station Karlshorst, there is a bus also going right there. It's been redone, modernized, saw it this June, the last time there was in 1999, the focus now is exclusively on the Eastern Front, from the Nazi-Soviet Pact to the fall of Berlin...well worth your time but I thought it could have been more critical in the historical approach.

Take a day trip to Frankfurt an der Oder, get to the Oder River bridges , (die Oder-Bruch) , ca 40 mins walk., and just imagine in 1945. Another site is Seelow, where the battle for Berlin began, the Russians launching a frontal attack. You can get to Seelow from Frankfurt an der Oder by S-Bahn. The Battlefield Memorial Museum is there, mostly in Russian and German, some in English. (Gedenkstätte und Museum Seelower Höhen).

I strongly recommend taking Third Reich Walking Tour in Munich. It is a complex tour with a guide telling the story of birth and rise of nazism. Plenty of important and interesting, yet infamous places shown.

I agree with Daniel - while in Munich take one of Munich Walks tours - we also loved the "Hitler's Munich - Third Reich" tour!

Dachau is also a very important site to visit. Very sobering.

Having been to both Dachau near Munich and Sachsenhausen near Berlin, my recommendation is to visit Sachsenhausen instead of Dachau. I found the exhibits to be better done and there are many original buildings due to the fact that the Soviets used this KZ after the war for many years.

Just because a city was badly bombed does not mean that it is difficult to find anything pertaining to German history. If you go on a high quality walking tour covering WWII or the Cold War, etc. you will then visit important sites, and learn what happened and where. I am a history buff, so I go on walking tours in every city I visit. In Berlin, I use Insider Tours and have been on 5 of their tours. For 14 euro for a 4 hour tour, it is hard to beat the price. In Munich try Radius Tours.

You will find out that you will want more days in Berlin as there is so much to see there even without going to museums.

Hi,

In Berlin (and Vienna too) you can see another military relic of the war, the anti-aircraft (ack ack) gun towers, Flaktürme, near the Berlin Gesundbrunnen train station, the station for going northwest in eastern Germany.

Within walking distance from Berlin Hbf, there is also one of the oldest Prussian-German military cemeteries in Berlin, the Invalidenfriedhof, which has a section on WW2 but also features German commanders in WW1. The Russians have military cemeteries in Berlin Treptow and Pankow, both in eastern Berlin. The largest Jewish cemetery in Germany is located also in Pankow, it's huge.