A few extra days in East Germany

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/to-the-west/favorite-towns-sites-to-visit-from-leipzig-germany

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/8-day-stretch-of-germany-itinerary-looking-for-suggestons

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/austria/historic-textiles-and-costumes-in-salzburg

When we were in Dresden, we drove to Leipzig one day and absolutely loved it. The Monument of the Battle of the Nations is not to be missed, IMO.

From Dresden you can do a day trip to Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz (Saxon Switzerland). This will be a break from your urban activities into some beautiful nature. From the Dresden Hauptbahnhof, take the train to Bad Schandau. From there, you will need to take a ferry across the river, and then finally the bus to the entrance of the park from the parking lot. If that sounds like too much trouble, there are tour companies that do it by van. I did this tour: https://www.viator.com/tours/Dresden/Best-of-Bohemian-and-Saxon-Switzerland-National-Park-Day-Trip-from-Dresden/d22375-63545P2. There was a significant amount of hiking, though, so you might want to find a different one.

You asked if it's a mistake to miss Erfurt. The answer is, it's not a mistake to miss anything. You go and enjoy the things you see, not try to include every unmissable site.

train to Dresden, possibly have dinner on train depending on timing.

You might find the offerings in the Bordrestaurant rather slim. Picnic time?

You may have your Dresden day all planned out but be sure not to miss the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon within the larger Zwinger museum complex. Truly a wonderful little corner of the palace.

History Traveler--I agree! I did that by myself and my son and husband were so envious, lol. It was fascinating!

If you are interested in over-the-top decorative objects, the Historic Green Vault in Dresden is a place to check out. Unlike the just-plain-Green Vault, the HGV requires a timed entry ticket.

I agree with Lane's answer about Erfurt. You cannot see all the beautiful places in the former DDR. (You haven't mentioned Quedlinburg, Goerlitz or Schwerin.) The places you've mentioned are excellent options.

It doesn't look as if you will have any extra time, but the Buchenwald concentration camp outside Weimar (public-bus accessible as of 2015) was first used by the Nazis and later repurposed by the DDR regime to house enemies of the state.

Erfurt is quite nice but I'm not sure I would drop something you already have listed in order to go there.

am generally interested in history (the history of anything), classical music

Then you shouldn't skip Leipzig. Walk the Leipzig "Notenspur". Visit the fabulous Museum of Musical Instruments. Check whether there is a concert in the Gewandhaus or a performance by the St. Thomas Boys Choir.

Visit the Nikolaikirche, one of the most important memorial sites of the revolution in the GDR.

If these dates correspond with your pre Berlin Marathon run I’d vote for Leipzig. https://www.schumannhaus.de/en/con-spirito-leipzigs-chamber-music-festival/
There is a chamber music festival going on from September 14-22, 2024 in a variety of music related venues in Leipzig.

In 2022 we were in Leipzig and a differently focused music competition was happening in the city center and nearby venues. It was wonderful.

Ideally split your time between Dresden and Leipzig which is what we did in 2022 after just previous day trips to these outstanding cities.

There's no shortage of interest on this newsboard for sites with the word "Stasi" or "Nazi" in their names. But while in Leipzig, you might want to visit not just Bach's church, but also the St. Nicholas Church. The pastor there, along with (... New York Philharmonic Music Director and Leipzig conductor, Kurt Masur) were absolutely KEY people in the fall of the Soviet Union.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_demonstrations_in_East_Germany

Wow, thanks for all the great feedback! Lots to consider, and you're also making me think about how much of the time I want to spend on the train. (Quedlinburg looks beautiful, for example, but I think it would add about 5-6 hours train-riding time, which doesn't make sense for a trip of this length. That underlines that fact that I'll just have to come back another time.)

mikliz97, I'm curious about what you liked seeing The Monument of the Battle of the Nations. From reading the guide, I thought it might be like the Befreiungshalle south of there, which I remember finding very boring when I visited. (But I was a teenager then, so maybe I thought everything was boring.)

I think I will just miss the chamber music series that Mona found, but I was going to try to find a concert somewhere a long the way. I saw the Berliner Philharmoniker on my last trip, which was a highlight.

Nobody said anything about Meißen, so that looks skippable. I think I'll rework this as mainly Dresden and Leipzig, and decide whether I want to try to do Weimar and if so, as a day trip or an overnight.

bradamont--The entire monument was fascinating. We spent about 3 hours there, to give you an idea. Just reading everything and taking it all in.

Both Green Vaults in Dresden need advance tickets. The porcelain in Meißen is perhaps the most important collection in the western world. Nice boat rides from Dresden. UNESCO WHS: Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm. Excellent art museum in Leipzig, and a restaurant associated with Goethe. Besides the oldest building ever used as a synagogue in Europe, Erfurt has a nice botanical garden, with its own tram stop. Less known, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erfurt_latrine_disaster

I spent some time today working on this itinerary and came up with something maybe a bit more standard, that I think will work better.

Day 1. Land in Berlin, train to Dresden, some jetlagged wandering around the city. Stay in Dresden.
Day 2. Dresden sightseeing. Stay in Dresden.
Day 3. Train to Leipzig, sightseeing. Stay in Leipzig.
Day 4. Weimar day trip. Stay in Leipzig.
Day 5. Train to Berlin, a few days before the race.

This way I have a jetlagged afternoon in a place that's pretty to wander around. If it's safe to put off nailing down the time and buying the Dresden->Leipzig and Leipzig->Berlin train tickets (is it, these days? it will be weekdays), then I also have some wiggle room to do an extra morning of sightseeing in Dresden and Leipzig (days 3 & 5) if I'm running behind. I'm not too worried about when I arrive in Berlin because I've been there relatively recently so I don't have a big punchlist of stuff to do.

Now I just need to rob a bank and pay for the plane tickets... :)

This schedule sounds well thought out and doable. Once you are certain about your pre race number of days, you may add anything extra to Leipzig. I feel your pain about ticket prices to Berlin. Last summer one granddaughter flew to Berlin RT for one week for $1,800. Her sister flew to a city in Italy for her much longer trip for $600. You might want to look at multi city tickets into Frankfurt and out of Berlin and take a train to Leipzig or Dresden after arriving in Frankfurt if that could help take the sting out of the ticket price only involving Berlin.