First Time Visiting Germany

Four days is not a lot of time to hit two big cities. Do these days include travel time from Paris? Where are you flying out of?

Using Munich as a base for day trips to Salzburg, including Berchtesgaden, will be difficult. Berch. is a 45 minute drive from Salzburg, which is a 2 hour train ride from Munich. This would be a very long day. It’s also best done on a day with clear weather for the amazing views from Eagle’s Nest.

I am much more partial to Salzburg, and would spend all the days there. But I encourage a trip to Dachau. It’s a draining experience, though. I would be more inclined to do Dachau as a day trip from Salzburg. Can you add a day or two for Munich? Maybe fly from Paris to Salzburg for 4 nights, then train to Munich for 2 nights, then fly home from Munich?

Since you are a WW2 buff, before you go, check out a site named thirdreichruins.com. It shows photos of many places in the areas you will be visiting that were taken during or just after the war. It then shows photos of the same places taken in later years. We were able to go to the same places from which some of the photos were taken and found the contrasts to be interesting.

Month of the year? Are you flying in and out of Paris, and those tickets are bought already? Will you ever visit Germany again? Will you two want to spend at least one day touring separately, to see your preferred attractions? Have the two of you traveled independently in Europe before?

You named two ... iconic? ... war destinations, but there are plenty more, in more countries than Germany. I wonder if you can get to Berlin faster, because that has plenty of things to do for both of you. Did you name Dachau simply because Munich is the tentative base, or is there another reason?

You may wish to look up the flight times to Munich (and back) and make up a dummy itinerary (with proper arrival times at airports, and taxis into cities) before you try to do so much in four days. We once spent three days in Munich and three days in Salzburg, no car, no war sites. Other cities on that two-week vacation were Vienna and Innsbruck.

How about Luxemburg ? Military cemetary ( Patton ), Battle of the Bulge, Trier.

Since Munich was the 'capital of the movement' there is also plenty to see if you are interested in WWII. Here in the forum I read that these tours are recommended: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g187309-d2013770-Reviews-Dark_History_Tours-Munich_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

Within a day you can look at everything in Munich that belongs to this topic. These include buildings such as the 'Führerbau' - which today houses the 'University of Music and Theater'. The fantastic NS Documentation Center was built right next to it.

In my eyes a very important building is the 'Haus der Kunst' - also a building with a difficult past in typical NS architecture. Today it is dedicated to art again, but more modern. But when you enter the building (necessarily the bunker as well) you feel the brutality of this regime

More about Munich here: http://thirdreichruins.com/munich.htm

And if you are tired of the old buildings ... Munich can also be different: https://www.munich.travel/en/topics/arts-culture/architectural-highlights-from-a-to-z

You might consider Nürnberg instead of Munich - the Documentation Center and rally grounds are powerful, and the old city is full of architecture and medieval history.

If you have to travel from Paris to Munich for only four days, forget going to Germany.
Visit something closer, like Normandy, the Loire Valley, Verdun or Luxembourg.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/czech/the-rhetoric-of-war-and-remembrance-focused-on-wwii-and-the-cold-war

"...huge WW2 buff." You can do both Paris and Germany, depending on how desperate you are to see these sites.

On the topic of the WW2, I differentiate between Nazi sites and military ones. What are your priorities in seeking these places , tracking them down?

Post-Paris it's very much possible going to Germany. I would skip Munich and Salzburg and head for Berlin instead. It 's all a matter of priorities and how desperate you want to see the place. Determine your priorities on WW2. I go after military sites.

Could you and your wife split up-she goes to Salzburg and you go to Munich? I also like geovgriffith's idea.

Four days. I would skip the WW2 stuff and concentrate on the here and now Bayern and Salzkammergut. I know this is not detailed, but there is so much more to see. Tailor your visit on best guess for weather. Have a plan B.

I would skip the Eagle's Nest. It is underwhelming, and while the views are stunning, there are amazing places to get similar views that are easier to reach.

There is enough WWII history, art, and architecture in Munich to more than fill 4 days, and if you really want mountains, a trip to Füssen or something is easier than Berchtesgaden. I would consider looking up the White Rose or sites like https://www.tracesofevil.com for good sites of interest in Munich.

The problem I see is travel takes time, and Munich and Salzburg are a long ways from Paris. You'll spend one of your days going to either, and then you have three left to sightsee, and that's providing you don't have to travel back to Paris to fly out.

I'd suggest you visit Metz and Nancy, both sites of battles during the war (Patton got stopped cold at Metz), and both towns with major architecture and art. Stay at La Citadelle in Metz and really get your military history side happy. Either city is about a 2 hour train ride from Paris. Two days in each would be about perfect.

Don't get me wrong, I've spent weeks in both Munich and Salzburg and I love them both, but Metz and Nancy are much better options from Paris when you only have four days.

Already lots of great advice here. 4 days is not a lot of time, but fantastic to add one city/region especially, if you are flying, and both France and Germany are full of top notch WW2 sites.

You could fly directly to Berlin - there you have WW2 central, with so many sites, excellent museums, plus other incredible art and history… there is a concentration camp site just north of Berlin as well - I cannot stress enough that a visit to any of them will be more of a gut punch than a holocaust museum you may have visited in the US, or elsewhere. Berlin is easy to navigate. It is really the place to see…

However, if you want to see the Alps, go with your plan to stay in Munich. You can use a full 4 days in the area. Imo, the WW2 sites do not compare to Berlin. A car rental works better here. I would save Austria for another time, honestly. Another poster mentioned Nürnberg worth seeing for both WW2 and other history, and I concur. Grand castles abound in the entire area. Also, imo better spas than Northern Germany. And nobody should leave Germany without a spa-day.

The problem I see is travel takes time, and Munich and Salzburg are a long ways from Paris. You'll spend one of your days going to either, and then you have three left to sightsee, and that's providing you don't have to travel back to Paris to fly out.

CORRECT. 4 days will pass too quickly if transport time is excessive. It's neither essential nor desirable IMHO to travel as far as Berlin or Munich. But you can still accommodate your and your wife's interests, and you can do that in GERMANY.

Suggest you take advantage of the direct high-speed train service that Thalys trains offer. A trip from Paris to Cologne by direct train takes just 3.3 hours. The trip to Aachen is even closer - 2.6 hours. Both places are easy to explore on foot. And both have sights nearby that make for optional and easy outings.

.https://www.seat61.com/trains-and-routes/thalys.htm

https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Paris.htm#Paris-Cologne

COLOGNE:

• The Cologne Cathedral is Germany's most visited tourist attraction, hands down. It's a Gothic masterpiece and a UNESCO World Heritage Site packed with significant works of art.

• Museums of all sorts attract art and history enthusiasts. At least one of those would be good for YOU - the NS Documentation Center, housed in Cologne's former Gestapo Headquarters.

AACHEN: lovely old town center, plenty of history, Charlemagne's former digs.

• https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187367-Activities-oa0-Aachen_North_Rhine_Westphalia.html

• WW II "dragon's teeth" outside Aachen, near Roetgen, part of the Westwall fortifications - https://www.komoot.com/highlight/110149

• Monschau, possibly Germany's most beautiful old-world town, a short drive from Aachen. Scroll through the photo gallery.

(I would probably rent a car for a side trip combining the dragon's teeth and Monschau.)

REMAGEN: Nice old-world Rhine River town south of Cologne and Bonn, easily accessible by train. Visit the "Bridge at Remagen" museum there, housed in the supports of the ex-bridge there. Maybe you've seen the George Segal / Robert Vaughan / Ben Gazarra WW II movie by the same name?

https://bruecke-remagen.de/?lang=en

MARKSBURG CASTLE: In Braubach, south of Remagen. Easy to reach by train. Intact medieval castle:

https://www.marksburg.de/en/circuit/#/

(I would combine a day trip to Marksburg with the visit to Remagen.)