Best way to travel around Germany

"Are there any must-go places in Germany that I have missed out? Or any that are not worth going? What would be a good amount of time to cover these cities?"

About "Neuschwanstein Castle" and how much time it takes... it is a nearly 5-hour round trip from Munich by bus and train. It was built relatively recently. The tour of this late-19th structure takes 30 minutes. It's not a true castle, but the private home of Bavarian King Ludwig II (who lived within its unfinished walls for a total of 6 months before his death.) A theatrical set designer made the place LOOK like a castle, on the outside anyway. Since Ludwig died, it has had no purpose other than as a destination for tourists, a lot of whom probably think they're touring a castle because they've been to Disneyland and hey, N'stein looks just like Cinderalla's castle. Is it worth your time? Not IMO, that is, I don't recommend you go all the way to Füssen for that alone.

I assume Potsdam will include Sans Soucci Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site vastly more complex and interesting than N'stein.

To see some real German Castles, look into Wartburg in Eisenach, not far from Leipzig and also on the UNESCO list (which is a very good starting point if you want to identify "landmarks" in Germany.)

UNESCO list for Germany

Notice the Middle Rhine Valley on the above list. There are 40 genuine castles and castle ruins in the 40-mile stretch of river - and a few that you can tour, including Rheinfels and Marksburg:

MARKSBURG
MARKSBURG INFORMATION

RHEINFELS
RHEINFELS INFORMATION

Two other UNESCO sites that are on your way to Munich would be BAMBERG and the Residenz Palace in Würzburg. Both are very worthwhile, IMHO.

If going to Berlin....Summer summer summer! the city is full of live and things to do that will leave a mark, after all is the party capital of Europe!

I think the Neuschwanstein castle is still pretty nice, eventhough it's not a castle per se. The area around is beautiful and you can also stroll in the forest :)

Consider it almost a full-day trip from Munich. Best is to go early in the morning, to avoid crowds.

You might look at a German Rail Pass, depending how long your trip is and how you'll do it.
You could get an apartment in Berlin. Potsdam, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dresden are all within 2 hours of Berlin, so you could do them as day trips, if that's the way you want to go. When you buy a Twin Pass, two people travel as one for 50% more. You can change digs going to Munich and visit N'stein from there.
If you want to move city to city, advance purchase nonrefundable tickets are probably the way to go. Short day trips can be done using Laender Tickets.

Hi,

Great choice of cities on your list to be seen. You've picked places focusing on culture/music (Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig), history (Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, Potsdam, Munich). Depending on how much time you have, I would ger a German Rail Pass with this itinerary which I assume will include a day trip or two once you arrive at certain city, such as from Dresden to Meissen (from Dresden Hbf taking the S-Bahn), Hamburg to Lübeck or Lüneburg...very doable, or Hamburg to Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Dresden to Weimar, a singular cultural small town and its landmarks, that of Goethe and Schiller (and others you'll see the statues of), esp if you're into German literature; Dresden to Görlitz, where "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was filmed. Use point to point tickets for the day trips from cities to small places.

You ask about time? I suggest at least an entire month with ample time to relax as you walk through parts of Potsdam, Weimar, maybe Lüneburg, Leipzig.

"...soaking in the culture." I suggest here also Naumburg an der Saale, which can done as a day trip from some of the cities listed but you might find it worthy of an over night stay, again that depends on the the time factor and pace of the trip.

I understood from your last post that you are studying in Copenhagen for a semester. Are you trying to accomplish these German trips on weekends, or are you planning for a longer break period? As I indicated before, it can be pretty affordable to fly from Copenhagen to your starting point, especially if time is short. Train travel time from Copenhagen to Berlin is 7 hours with no night train option; a German Rail Pass would cover most of that train ride.

Only people who have resided in Europe for the past 6 months or more can use InterRail passes. If you are a US resident, then you can use Eurail-brand passes or the independent German Rail Pass with a youth discount for under age 26. The Eurail Germany-Denmark pass does not cost much more than the one-country pass, but is not sold everywhere; check the Copenhagen train station's Eurail office to see if they sell it.

The German pass flexi version offers a certain number of unscheduled train travel days within a one-month window or they now offer a consecutive-day version for maximum 15 consecutive days. (You can buy the German pass in your first train station in Germany, or on the DB web site, but that doesn't work quite as smoothly for passes as it does for tickets; flexipasses have to be mailed to you.)

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.

"I'm not sure if I should purchase an interrail pass for the number of cities I am going to..."

If you are studying in Germany you will likely need an "Aufenthaltserlaubnis" or residence permit, probably from the state government. A valid residence permit should be enough to make you eligible. I recall getting my residence permit in September and my Interrail pass in February - less than 6 months. I had a residence permit for 12 months. If there is a 6-month requirement, it may be that your permit must only stipulate permission to reside 6 months or longer, and that you don't have to have 6 months behind you already to get the Interrail pass.

But if you are only using it for Germany you may not need it. And a German railpass would be real overkill. If you can pin down your travel dates and purchase tickets well in advance (91 days) it's possible to get fares for Berlin-Dresden or Dresden-Leipzig for €19 at DB. Leipzig-Munich and Hamburg-Berlin might cost you €29.

Read HERE about saver fares.

Berlin-Potsdam-Berlin costs less than €7 for a regular ticket. Short day trips like that, if you have several, are reasons to AVOID buying a German railpass, which costs you much more per day on average.