9 nights :Deciding which cities to stay.

I should add that , if possible, we could stay longer in Munich as home base and take day trips out. would that be better than staying in Nuremberg?

You're thinking of the Nürburgring, which is in the Hunsrück mountain region of Rheinland-Pfalz, nowhere near the city of Nürnberg (Nuremberg) in northern Bavaria.

The Black Forest has name recognition, but it's just one of a few dozen mountain low ranges that run through central and southern Germany. On the way from Berlin to Nürnberg, depending on which route you take, you'll pass through the Erzgebirge, the Thüringerwald, the Oberpfalzerwald and/or Frankische Schweiz, each of which has it's own distinct cultural identity. You don't need to cut all the way across Germany to see the Black Forest, unless you're a Rick Steves completist.

If you're driving, Munich is not a great home base. It's one of the least car-friendly cities in Germany. Nürnberg's a little easier with a car, but the two cities are several hours apart. The sites you would see from either "home base" would not overlap. So, if you wanted to concentrate on the Franconia, or Oberpfalz regions of Bavaria, Nürnberg would work. Upper Bavaria (including the Alps), Lower Bavaria and the Allgäu would be easier to explore from Munich, but once again, a car doesn't work well in Munich.

Lol slaps head. I dontnknow what im thinking. Even Budapest and Prague are beginning to blur. ;) Im going through day trips from berlin and Munich and they seem to blur.
Would you simply stay and extra day or two in munich and berlin and day trip out OR add another city I may be overlooking before hitting Prague or Vienna (whichever is simpler)?
If it helps, we aren't that hiking/outdoorsy types due to my backnand knee problems.
Appreciate the advice. :)

I should add we will most likely travel by train or bus between cities/countries.

JE,

just something i did this past Sept.

Munich > Prague > Vienna > Budapest > Krakow.

All were done by trains. Most/all were in the 27 Euro price and 3~5 hours. The Budapest > Krakow was an over nighter. Of course more $$$. I fly solo, so your mileage and price may vary.

Only day trips were. Dachau from Munich, Kunta Hora from Prague and Auschwitz/Birkenau from Krakow.

what you may want to try is to open up google maps and print out the region you are interested in seeing/visiting. make several copies so you can make mistakes. That way it will be straight and you should see some sort of path to try or research.

happy trails.

Thank you Ray! You answered some questions about travel as well- happily, I might add! It looked like a 6-7 rail pass would hit us for $1k straining our budget!
It seems the correctly order is Berlin, Munich (with perhaps a night in a another small town), Prague, Kristy Crumlov, to Salzburg, then. Vienna onto Budapest.
Im happy to see rail is cost-effective. I assume the view from the trains can be beautiful?

Jason-Erik, the Black Forest area is very interesting historically and culturally, and has great wine & food, but I didn't consider it to be that scenic, compared to the German/Austrian Alps. So I wouldn't go that far out of the way. Just my opinion.