9 nights in March

I hope you have looked up your train times and prices on www.bahn.de

Zurich is too far for a day trip from Munich. It is 4 hours by train, and not worth the trip. If you want to go to Switzerland, pick somewhere with mountains (Luzern, Interlaken, ...), but all those are even further from Munich.
Instead I would suggest the Royal castles near Füssen (Neuschwanstein etc.), or a day trip to Salzburg (1½ hours from Munich), or Innsbruck 2¾ hours.

We are researching times of trains and trying to decide which tickets/plans to go with. One of my main concerns is getting to Berlin on an overnight train and if it would be smart to do so. I will check out the link you shared. I mistyped and meant Salzburg not Zurich as a day trip and the N. castle is indeed Neuschwanstein. Also would we be better of spending 3 nights in Munich and 3 in Berlin, or keeping it as is? Thank you.

This is continental northern Europe in mid-March: hopefully you've probably already factored in the probable weather as it will likely affect your outdoor plans. Berlin's latitude is the same as somewhere between Calgary and Edmonton, Canada.
I've noticed that March is a time when Germans seem to travel to southern Europe locations.

Watch out for "sleeper trains" that don't allow a good night sleep, because of such things as 1) route to short to allow enough sleep or 2) transfers to another train in the middle of the night.

We realize that the weather might be less than desirable but that's okay. This is our available time to travel.

I'm not sure what you mean by March is a time when Germans seem to travel to southern Europe locations". Does that mean they will be passing through and trains booked or other?

Thanks for the tips on trains - I'll be sure to check carefully.

No, it just means it looks like Germans are looking for better weather to do outdoor things, that time of year. They won't be staying in Germany but will be going far south. You should have Germany to yourself, sort of.

No worries, lots of museums and other indoor things to do in Germany.

If it was me, I would spend the 4 days in Berlin rather than in Munich. If you are arriving in Frankfurt, you could also do a day trip to Büdingen on your last day in Frankfurt or your first day, rather than the out of the way trip to Rothenburg. This is an authentic, medieval walled city that has never been bombed or burned down unlike Rothenburg was. Only an hour from Frankfurt, you could easily take the train here. Group tickets that cover 5 people are only 28 euro.

Rather than an overnight train, head up to Berlin from Frankfurt. The train only takes 4 hours, so if you left at 7, you could be in Berlin by 11, and out sightseeing by 12. Same thing for the train to Munich. Night trains are not very restful, and besides, wouldn't you like to see the countryside of Germany?

A visit to Sachsenhausen in Berlin could be added to your list. Used by the Soviets after WW2, many of the buildings are original. Check out the tours going here that are offered by Insider Tours, as the most efficient way to use your short time. At 15 €, it it well worth it. Our guide spent the entire time going there and coming back passionately providing us with tremendous insight about this time period and the concentration camps.

From Frankfurt it may be wise to either go north or south, but not both. I have bicycled the Romantic Road from Wurzberg to Fussen, and many, many other destinations in Germany. Rotenberg is cool, but from Frankfurt I personally would suggest Strasbourg. The teens might appreciate the cathedral light show, and the city is very cool. Day trips? four {4} hours of train for each of them, except Dachau. I think "go and stay the night," unless you are trying to use up a rail pass. Here are some names- Heidelberg-Badenbaden-Strasbourg-Colmar-Riquewihr-There are so many-Perhaps a theme will help the focus..But, north or south-not both,./

I agree you should head either north or south from Frankfurt, but not both. That's a lot of travel for only having 8 nights total.

Did you buy your airline tickets yet?

Paul

If it were I, I would spend most of my time, 6 nights in Munich. There is far too much in Munich, the only large town in Germany in which I like to spend time. Four nights, as you have planned, is basically three days and you want to spend two of those days out of town (in Salzburg and Füssen) for essentially the entire day. That leaves you only one full day, and you'll spend at least half of it at Dachau.

You need to spend some time on the pedestrian zone through the old town, see Frauenkirche, watch the Glockenspiel. Have lunch at the Hofbräuhaus or one of the other Biergartens.

I would spend a day in the Deutches Museum. It's extensive and very interesting. You can't really cover the entire museum in one day.

The city museum of Munich (Münchner Stadtmuseum) is also interesting.

Go out to see the park-like grounds at Schloß Nymphenburg.

Consider day trips Nürnberg, the Romantic Road towns of Harburg (with it's intact castle) and Nördlingen, or to another authentic castle at Burghausen.

You'll run out of day before you run out of places to see. I've spent 16 nights in Munich since 2000 and never get tired of going back.

Is there any way you can fly into and out of MUC so you can spend more time in Munich?

Oh thank you everyone! So many wonderful suggestions - we'll sit down with our travel books, maps and such tonight!!! Wish we could change our departure city but cannot. That would've made things much easier.

I second Lee's proposal. It will be MUCH more enjoyable that way.

Sandy,

I also agree with Lee's suggestions, especially since you plan on taking several day trips from Munich. For such a short trip, focusing on one area will be more efficient and reduce the amount of travel time between locations.

If you can't change your flights, that shouldn't be a problem. There are two rail stations right at the Frankfurt airport, and travel time to Munich is about 3.5 hours if you can connect with one of the direct trains. Most of these will depart from the Fernbahnhof, which is used for the faster long distance trains. While that's a bit of an ordeal after a long international flight, I've done that in the past and it's actually not too bad. On one trip, I travelled from FRA to Rothenburg ODT (which involved three changes, as I recall) and then carried on to Munich and other points after touring Rothenburg for a few days.