Intinerary Ideas for Central Germany

Marburg is kind of your geographic outlier, but definately give it a look (along with nearby Wetzlar, and Braunfels). Eisenach and Erfurt would make decent central locations. I would rent a car for this trip.

If you visit Wittenburg, don't miss the Garden Realm of Wörlitz, which is really close by.

Also, if you can extend your trip a few days, plan to visit the Harz region, especially the magnificent old towns of Quedlinburg, Wernigerode and Gosslar.

Where will you be coming from prior to your week in these regions of Germany and where will you be heading to after your week? That may influence my suggestion for a base because perhaps you could visit one outlying city as you enter the region, base yourself somewhere for about a week for your day trips and then see the most distant city as you leave for your next base in Germany or beyond.

Without knowing this information I'll throw Erfurt out there as a city I really enjoyed on my first visit a couple of years ago. It has an interesting depth of history, good tourist infrastructure and charming vistas and architecture. I've been to all of the cities on your list except Eisenach. I hope you will also get a chance to go to Leipzig and Dresden if you are in the area.

A single base will not work since Wittenberg and Marburg are too far apart. If you drop Marburg you could use Leipzig as a base. But it would be a shame to visit only places related to the Reformation. The Harz mountains for example are not far away and one of the best regions to see picturesque, cute towns. Day trips from Leipzig to the Harz mountains however are difficult, that's why I would recommend a second base to explore this area.

Sights to see from Leipzig (WHS = World Heritage Site):
Wittenberg** (WHS)
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm** (WHS)
Dessau* (Bauhaus, WHS)
Naumburg* (cute town, famous Gothic church)
Torgau* (first protestant church, tomb of Luthers wife, nice old town)
Erfurt**
Weimar** (WHS)
Eisenach** (WHS)
Schmalkalden* (cute old town, Schmalkaldic League, Smalcald Articles)
Mühlhausen* (preserved old town with walls, Thomas Müntzer)
Bad Frankenhausen* (Peasants' War Panorama)

Sights to see in the Harz mountains:
Quedlinburg** (WHS)
Goslar** (WHS)
Wernigerode**
Halberstadt* (best "French" Gothic cathedral in Germany)
Wolfenbüttel*
Stolberg*
Harz Narrow Gauge Railways**
Brocken mountain*

Here is a site with 150.000 pics of the Harz mountains:
http://www.raymond-faure.com/index_harz_english.htm

I think a week is enough to see the main sights of "Luther land". To see the Harz mountains too add 3 or 4 days. If you are one of the persons who thinks Rothenburg ob der Tauber deserves more than one day add 4 or 5 days, since Quedlinburg is like Rothenburg without the tourist hordes.

Sorry, I should have included more information in my post. We will be coming from the US to Frankfurt and picking up a rental car. From there we will drive to Marburg for a short visit and then on to the Erfurt or Leipzig. Right now we are planning for a week in the Lutherland area and then on to the Harz Mountain region for another week.

I appreciate the suggestions all of you have made. Any other ideas are welcomed.

So, you can spend two weeks in the area. In this case you could consider three bases to see Saxony too, or explore "Luther land" in-depth since you can get to places which are difficult to reach by train. And by car the Harz mountains are doable day trips both from Leipzig or Erfurt btw.. If you do mostly day trips by car I wouldn't want to stay in Leipzig however, since it takes some time to get out of the city. Erfurt is smaller and, according to Rick Seves, a "untouristy Rothenburg", while nearby Weimar is a very pleasant small town surrounded by castles and parks. Both great bases in my opinion, but getting to Wittenberg will take some time (on one of Germanys busiest Autobahns).

If you want to explore "Luther land" more in-depth: this isn't only Luther's land, but also Bach's land, and in the past this region was separated into many tiny duchies, among them Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, where the Windsors are from. Every tiny duchy had a tiny capital, and every tiny capital had a huge castle. The most interesting are Gotha and Rudolstadt, with really absurdly big castles. Other former capitals with such castles are Schmalkalden, Altenburg and Coburg. Other places I like are Bad Langensalza, the Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes and Lauscha deep in the mountains of the Thuringians Forest, the place where the Christmas baubles were invented.
The Saale valley is something like the Rhine of Central Germany, with quite a few castles and a wine growing-region around Freyburg, near Naumburg. Freyburg has a impressive castle btw.

I don't know if I would recommend a full week in the Harz mountains. After a while all these preserved towns full of half-timbered houses look a bit similar. To me Quedlinburg, Goslar, Wernigerode and Stolberg (a hidden gem where a car is needed) are more than enough, but with a bit of hiking, the steam trains, the cathedral of Halberstadt and one or two Romanesque churches (some of the best in the country, and World Heritage Sites) it's of course no problem to spend a week, or more, there.

Hi Bob. My husband and I visited some of these sites a few years ago thinking we would "beat the rush" for the 2017 Luther anniversary. Unfortunately, some of the buildings we most wanted to see were closed for renovation and "sprucing up" in anticipation of 2017. Please verify that things are open and ready for visitors.