First time in Germany-HELP

"First time in Germany so we want to see as much as we can!"

There are too many destinations here and not enough time in them. Cologne, Frankfurt Nuremberg AND Munich? All pretty large cities, all are somewhat shortchanged in terms of time. Heidelberg, Dachau, Rothenburg, and N'stein as well?? I think you'll be seeing very little in each of the many places on your list as you zoom between them.

"Day 9-Return back home :-( " - Does this mean you fly home out of MUC? If so, then it would be wise to keep your travel mostly between Cologne and Munich.

I would suggest instead...

Nov 15, 16: In Cologne - OR - in Frankfurt. It's only one hour from Cologne proper to Frankfurt proper - you could make the trip to Frankfurt on arrival day, if that's your choice.

17: Travel to Nuremberg for the night but stop over in Würzburg on the way (use station lockers for bags.) W'burg can be seen briefly in a few hours (Residenz Palace tour, have a meal and a stroll.)

18-20: Stay 3 more nights in Nuremberg. Imperial Castle and old town, in addition to WW II and other sights, should take more than one day. You can do day trips from here... Rothenburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, and Regensburg are all doable day trips. You don't have to decide now.

21-22: 2 full days for Munich.

Dachau: You aren't sure so don't go. It's time-consuming and it's more likely to give you the willies than to teach you anything that you don't already know.

N'stein: It has a castle-look but it's not a real castle (built in the same 60-year period as Disneyland btw) and for the 30-minute tour, you will spend most of your day because of the long train + bus trip and the hour-long walk up and back to the entrance. If after the Residenz in Würzburg and the castle complex in Nuremberg you wish to see another palace, see Nymphenburg (it's right in Munich, and very good.)

Maybe this ...
Day
1. Arrive Cologne (1)
2. via Rhine to Heidelberg (1)
3. Train to Wurzburg (2)
4. Day to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
5. To Nuremberg (1)
6. To Munich (3)
7. Day to Neuschwanstein
8. Munich - Residenz + Nymphenberg
9. Depart Munich

With that short a trip, David's suggested itinerary is perfect. No point in staying in major cities like Frankfurt and wasting time backtracking, if you're not spending time there.

Thank you so much for all of the feedbacks. Y'all are awesome!
About one of your questions, Yes we are flying back home from Munich.
About the itinerary, I was checking a map with your suggestions and it seems like Rothenburg is shorter distance from Nuremberg. maybe we could stay in Nuremberg for some nights and do day trips from there? prior going to Munich.
Based on the potential itinerary and discussed routes, any suggestions of must sees? should we try to go to the Dachau camp? some of us will really like to visit historical WWII places. any recommendations?
Thank you in advance :-)

"About the itinerary, I was checking a map with your suggestions and it seems like Rothenburg is shorter distance from Nuremberg. maybe we could stay in Nuremberg for some nights and do day trips from there? prior going to Munich."

That was my suggestion in the first post.

I gave you some other day trip options as well (like Bamberg) since Rothenburg is to some extent a tourist trap IMHO.

Day 7-Nov 21- Day trip from Munich to Neuschwanstein Castle

Please consider that day light in November is already short: sunset is around 16:30.
Given that you won't leave Munich before 9am since Bayern tickets are valid from that time only (regular tickets are expensive) and will arrive at Hohenschwangau by 11:15 only, the earliest conceibale time for your castle tour would be around 12:30 or 13:00. So there will be only three hours left for lunch and to explore the surroundig area, the latter being the main attraction of the trip. With rainy wheather you will have not much of it.
At any rate you should make a plan B - may a trip to Landshut or Augsburg and Landsberg am Lech.

Also, you might want to (re)consider the dynamics of travelling with not just your significant other, but two other couples. You need to consider not just travel interests but prior travel experience (some people can be absolutely clueless and drag everyone else down) and fitness levels (it's a ton of walking and again, having people travelling with you can slow down the whole group). Opportunities for resentment and frustration present themselves very well when you're visiting a foreign country with other people!

To compare ...

From WUERZBURG - 42 mins direct.
RB 58111
Dep 09:41 WUERZBURG HBF
(Germany)
Arr 10:23 STEINACH
(B ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER) (Germany)

From NUERNBERG - 52 mins with a change.
IC 2160
Dep 09:39 NUERNBERG HBF (Germany)
Arr 10:06 ANSBACH (Germany)
RB 58110
Dep 10:10 ANSBACH (Germany)
Arr 10:31 STEINACH
(B ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER) (Germany)

Well, but that's not much of a difference. The Ansbch station is small and the Steinach one is tiny. There are no direct trains from Würzburg to Rothenburg. You have to transfer from either direction to the small Rothenburg shuttle waiting on track #5 for incoming trains.

The Nürnberg to Rothenburg connection uses an IC, so you can't us a VGN Tagesticket.

flore,

Your initial Itinerary is FAR too busy! You'll be spending most of your time in trains, and won't be able to spend much time in the places you've come to see.

Your profile doesn't indicate where you're from; it would help to know that. Are you flying directly in Cologne? I'd skip Frankfurt, since you're only planning on using it for a "base" and doing day trips.

I'd suggest planning for a minimum of two nights in each place you stay, which will provide one full day for touring. Keep in mind that each change of location is going to use about four hours (minimum). Allocate more time to Munich, as there's much more to see there.

As some of your group is interested in WW-II history, Dachau would definitely be a worthwhile stop. You can visit that either with a guided tour (have a look at Radius Tours) or on your own. You could also take one of the Third Reich walking tours in Munich or take a day trip to Berchtesgaden and the Eagle's Nest (although it may not be accessible in Novemeber, but there's always the Dokumentation Centre & Bunkers and the Salt Mine). There are lots of possibilities.

You might find it really helpful to buy a copy of the Rick Steves Germany guidebook, as that has lots of information that will help to plan an efficient Itinerary. It also has tips on which sights are worth seeing and which are not as worthwhile.

People tell me my schedule is too busy all the time. I always ignore them, and I always have fun! HOWEVER...your schedule really is too busy. You're going to spend all your time checking in and out of hotels/trying to find them/figuring out the local transportation/etc.

That being said, with 9 days, you can really enjoy 2 cities with some day trips to make it feel like you're seeing a lot without having to pack/un-pack twice a day.

I would concentrate on the North, West, or South.

In the north, you have Berlin and Hamburg. Tons of stuff to do in each city. Berlin has museum island, Reichstag, Brandenberg Gate, the park, the zoo, the theatres, checkpoint Charlie....you can't see it all in one day. It would take you AT LEAST 2 days just to check off the major sights. Likewise, Hamburg has tons of stuff to see. Assuming you tour the 2 cities HARD for 2 1/2 days each (which is a bare minimum for any city worth it's weight), you have 4 days left. Use the base cities to take day trips to nearby sights of interest. BTW, trains are awesome, but there is a lot of added time needed to sight see when you have to walk to each sight. If you are flexible and would consider getting a car, here is my suggestion:

If you want a stereotypical German vacation (from an American's point of view), you could visit southern Germany and do a roadtrip. I have done this myself. My partner and his brother and sister and I went by car throughout southern Germany to various points. From Cologne, I would spend a whole day there.

Day 1 Arrive in Cologne and spend the night. (Spend at LEAST 2 nights wherever you go)
Day 2 See Cologne and all it's sights including the roman gate and the cathedral. (You could even visit Wuppertal in the evening to take a ride on their hanging trams....google it). Spend the night again.
Day 3 Leave in the morning and drive to Heidelberg. See the old town/take the funicular to the castle/have lunch.

Continue driving to Rust, Germany Spend the night in Rust. If you have the energy and the Wunderlust, travel over the
border to Strasbourg, France and see what happens when Germany and France have a baby.
Day 4 Enjoy a full day at Europa Park...the cutest non Disney theme park in the world!
Day 5 Drive to Lake Konstanz (driving through the Black Forrest) and having lunch in Konstanz and taking the ferry across

the giant lake. (The Germans call it the Bodensee). Continue on to Garmisch-Partenkirchen since it's November, and nobody needs to be on a giant lake in that weather). Spend the first of 2 nights.
Day 6 Take a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle (the inspiration for the Disney castles), then enjoy the sights of G-P in the afternoon.
Day 7 In the morning you could take a short hike to Hell Valley Gorge and an afternoon train and/or skytram to the Zugspitze

(highest mountain in Germany/northern alp) Continue north to Munich check into hotel/dinner at a Biergarten
Day 8/9 Enjoy all that Munich has If you get bored, take the train to Salzburg for the day and see Mozart's home town/sights
from the sound of music.

There are TONS of things to see in Germany. Even Germans won't be able to see them all! Just be selective about how you tour or you will cheat yourself of enjoying all of them!