Help me find that dream view from a castle between Munich and Berlin

Germany is the easiest country to drive a rental car in Europe. If the places you want to see are all close to rail stations, ok. But if not, I'm just sayin'.

I haven't been there yet but I found a recommendation for our upcoming trip for Pottenstein and Gößweinstein. They're both on your route and might fit what you are looking for.

I also recommend renting a car for driving in between the cities. It can be more expensive but it gives you a lot more flexibility and we've never had much trouble with parking in the smaller towns/cities. Driving out of Munich is easy. Not sure about driving into Berlin, though.

Enjoy your trip. You'll fall in love with Germany!

Hi,

A great view between Munich and Berlin: I can think of one, but the view is from a monument way up on a hill, accessible by public transportation and by car since I saw them there too. Since you want the view specifically seen from a castle, my suggestion may not fit the bill; moreover, you would have to stray towards Hannover as you're going north, then go west of Hannover.

I like Pottenstein, but the "castle" there is more like thicked-walled house on top of a hill than most people's idea of a castle. Pottenstein is also kind of inconvenient without a car.

If you're looking for a great town with a big castle, perhaps consider Landshut, although that's pretty close to Munich and you would probably need to double-back to Munich by train if headed to Berlin next.

It looks nothing like Oberwesel, but Nürnberg has a castle, and it sits in your direction of travel.

Coburg is another option. The castle here is one of the best in Germany and the town is very attractive, although in a different way from Oberwesel.

Bamberg, maybe?

The state of Saxony has many castles also, but I don't know them as well.

Wow - this is why I love posting on RS. As I was googling around all these fine suggestions, it occurred to me to alter the itinerary: Fly into Frankfurt, instead of Munich, and tour "up" from Frankfurt to Berlin...I could see the Rhine Valley and that is drawing my attention. (At least today.) Trip is in three months so I need to book hotels asap.

Itinerary help: Want to see Oberwesel - can anyone suggest a Rothenburg-type stop between Frankfurt and Berlin?

Thanks!

Oberwesel is very special. Auf Schoenburg Castle-Hotel is tops.

The old town wall there is largely intact, and a path allows you to walk along it (and on top of it) from tower to tower. See green route on map below:
Wall
MAP

Hike up to the Günderodehaus (of German TV series "Heimat" fame, now a restaurant) for a glass of grapes and the view:
G'haus 1
G'haus 2

Oberwesel is just 5 minutes from Bacharach and 5 from St. Goar (home or Rheinfels Castle ruins.) You'll probably want to take a tour or Marksburg Castle in Braubach as well - the only never-destroyed Rhine Castle.

Bacharach
Marksburg
Market Square in Braubach

While you're on the Rhine try to squeeze in a trip to Cochem on the Mosel River:
Cochem w/ Reichsburg Castle

Between Frankfurt and Berlin: Hannoversch Münden sports 700+ old half-timbered buildings. Büdingen (photos) is amazing.

I really liked Schloss Sans Souci, the German equivalent of Versailles. There's numerous palaces on the grounds including an Asian tabota. It's in Potsdam, contiguous with Berlin. Once of my best memories of eastern germany.

"can anyone suggest a Rothenburg-type stop between Frankfurt and Berlin?"

I can think of several, although it depends on exactly what you mean by "Rothenburg-type". Near the Mittelrhein, there's the twin town of Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. The Ahrweiler section of town maintains it's defensive wall, and many examples of preserved Fachwerk buildings. The community sits in a beautiful valley surrounded by vineyards.

Fritzlar is Rothenburg's twin that hardly gets any visitors at all. Located in the Waldeck region of NW Hessen, it also has a wall, an impressive medieval church, and plenty of Fachwerk. The surrounding countryside also has many castles, including the virtually intact Felsburg overlooking the town of the same name. Getting here without a car, though, is very difficult.

At the northern edge of the Hartz mountains, Quedlinburg, Wernigerode and Gosslar are spectacular but almost completely off the radar of most tourists from North America. Each is larger than Rothenburg, but have a tiny fraction of the trinket shops that seem to be Rothenburg's main economic activity these days. No wall in any of them, though. There's also a very impressive castle in the vicinity, but I forget the name.

"can anyone suggest a Rothenburg-type stop between Frankfurt and
Berlin?"

The Harz mountains!
Here is a gallery with 130.000 pics of the region:
www.raymond-faure.com

Have a look at Goslar, Quedlinburg, Wernigerode, Stolberg, Duderstadt, Einbeck, Hameln, Wolfenbüttel or Celle. The most popular are Goslar, Wenigerode and Quedlinburg, my favorite is Stolberg. From Wernigerode you can take a steam train up the the Brocken, the highest peak of the mountains.

And here is a nice article about the area:
Germany: fairytale highs in the Harz Mountains

Thanks to memory cue in the link provided by Martin, the name of the impressive castle to which I referred in the Hartz region is Burg Falkenstein. Well worth a visit.

Looks like you have some good ideas for your planning. If you could spend more than a week in Germany, you'd have plenty to do. Sound like the trip will be in November. Hotel reservations don't have to be a big rush, yet.

Thanks to all! I plan to immerse myself in maps and these great links you sent. Can't wait!

Question - can we move up and down the Rhine via local train or is there a water "taxi" kind of option?