Auschwitz then Germany (10 days total)

Are you driving or taking the train through Germany? Munich to Mainz via Lindau and Heidelberg is really stretching it for one day by car, and all but impossible by train.

The German portion of the trip is a little rushed, but probably feasible if you drop Lindau. It would make more sense as well to start in Munich, visit Nürnberg, then procede to Mainz via Heidelberg... which by the way, is nothing like Nürnberg.

I would spend two nights in Krakow, the historic center is beautiful and if this is your first stop you might be jetlagged the first day. You are scheduling a lot of short stops in Germany, I couldn't do it but if you love trains...

If you're going to Krakow, by all means spends 2-3 nights there. And see if you can find a flight from there to Nuremberg or Munich - long trip on the ground. BUT... if you're only going to Krakow for the concentration camp, you might reconsider the trip altogether, since you'll be in Munich and Dachau KZ can be reached from Munich in a matter of minutes - so maybe just fly into Munich.

I would absolutely lop off all that extra travel you have planned to Lindau and Heidelberg, places you don't seem too interested in anyway. Both the Nuremberg area and the Rhine area deserve more time; I would head from one straight to the other... Bamberg and Würzburg are easy trips from Nuremberg. Bad Windsheim's excellent Freilichtmuseum is between Nuremberg and Rothenburg. On the Rhine, well, if you don't actually set foot inside some of those 800 - 1,000-year-old castles, you are missing out. Make time for Marksburg (Braubach) and Rheinfels (St. Goar) on the Rhine. If WW II interests you, check out the Bridge-at-Remagen "Peace Museum" which tells the story of the former bridge's demise.

If you cruise the Rhine, get yourself to Bingen to hop on the boat - starting in Mainz does waste a lot of time.

That's a good idea to stay in Kraków longer to see The Old Town especially and the salt mine in Wieliczka, a town bordering with Kraków. During travel to Nürnberg you can visit Wrocław, Dresden, Leipzig, Jena and Erfurt or Prague.
Greetings from Szczecin
Michal

Hi,

First of all, it's inaccurate to assume that Heidelberg is "very similar" to Nürnberg, as referred to above. The feel in both cities is distinctly different. Whereas Heidelberg received slight war damage, Nürnberg was absolutely plastered by the strategic bombing and in ruins when the US Army reached the city to take it.

Train fare in Poland is pretty cheap compared to Germany, so it is not worth it to use the German-Poland Pass, depending on how many days in total.

First of all, thanks for everyone's help in shaping this tour, espeically those who sent me PMs as a help. This is new update plan, please let me know what changes to recommend if any:
Day 1: Arrive at Krakaw at 3pm
Day 2: Auschwitz (most of day, also I'm assuming seeing Dachau would be overkill)
Day 3: Salt mine (fly out at 7pm)
Day 4-6: Munich
Day 7-8: Nuremberg
Day 9-12: Mainz & Cologne (tour up the Rhein, Eltz Castle, Cochem castle, etc) and fly out
Day 13: Fly out at 8am back to UK to buy shoes in Northampton

Any links (I'm happy to read, but don't know where to start) or insights to what would be best to see would be helpful too. I love history and beautiful places and happy to get up at 6am and keep walking/seeing until 10pm every night (I hate sitting down and doing nothing).

Last summer, I took the night train from Krakow to Vienna and it was effortless, cheap, and convenient. I had a couchette. I rode the bus outside of Auschwitz at around 3:30 or 4 and got to Krakow and had dinner, wondered around the square (putting my luggage in luggage check at the train station) and then hopped on the train at 10 or 11 PM. I know that's not Germany, but I know the inter-city line runs a night train from Krakow to Vienna.