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Itinerary Help

Considering a couple of itineraries for my wife, 18 yr old and me. We are visiting for 10 days flying into Berlin and out of Munich in early June. We are thinking about a Berlin-Munich-Salzberg with a stop somewhere between Berlin and Munich or a Berlin-Prague-Salzberg, Munich itinerary. We want to experience Bavaria, castles, some WWII along the way. Are these too aggressive and if not what would be the best choice. Am open to other thoughts as well as other than the flight in and out we are open.

Thanks

Posted by
28131 posts

How many nights do you expect to spend in Europe? If it's ten nights, that's really just nine days for sightseeing purposes, because the arrival day is usually a day of sleep-deprivation and jetlag. Every day you change cities you will lose at least half a day of your sightseeing time, so Berlin-Prague-Salzburg-Munich is really pushing too hard, as is any other combination of four of Berlin, Munich, Salzburg, rural Bavaria/castles and somewhere between Berlin and Munich.

Berlin, especially, is a large, spread-out city with many top-flight sights that take time to see. The first thing I'd do is read the Berlin Sightseeing section of a good guidebook and make a list of my must-sees and would-like-to-sees. I'm betting you'll have at least four full day's worth of activities (for me it was six, and I didn't get to the Germany History Museum or several other places on my list). Then you'll have a better idea how much time you'll have left for other destinations.

Posted by
636 posts

I think with 10 days 3 cities is the max you should do without being "too" rushed. Berlin-Prague-Munich is not a bad set and they all are a bit different from each other. You can do a day trip to Salzburg from Munich.

Posted by
7078 posts

Berlin: Nights 1-4, plenty of WW II there. Spend an extra night if you want to visit Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam? (Train from Berlin at 2-3 pm on your final Berlin day and arrive between 7 pm and 9 pm in...)

Rhine Valley: Nights 5-6, castles castles castles. Do a Rhine castle cruise past dozens of castles; tour Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar and Marksburg Castle in Braubach, visit Bacharach and another old-world town or two. Overnight in St. Goar, probably the most convenient base for train outings and where 3 castles are visible from town - this is the most scenic part of the river. Stay at least half a day here on Day 7 as well. Leave the area at around 3-4 pm and arrive about 3-4 hours later in...

??? I guess you could just go to Munich for the rest of your time if you are lacking alternatives, but alternatives there are, and Munich would be a second mega-city that like Berlin was bombed out and rebuilt. So I suggest you look into other Bavarian options - that are on your way to Munich - like...

Nuremberg: Nights 7-9, varied options in town and a base for easy day trips by train. Nuremberg was also bombed heavily and rebuilt but they sure rebuilt it nicely. Nice old town zone WW II stuff and much more, including some nice pubs. A day trip on Day 8 or Day 9 would be possible - take your pick of several Bavarian towns - Bamberg or Rothenburg (tourist central) or Iphofen or Bad Windsheim are all different sorts of experiences. Pick what suits you. On Day 10 see some more of Nuremberg before you head to MUC airport for your final night.

Bavaria is huge - like a country unto itself - so there's no way you can experience Bavaria in just a few nights. But you can get some variety for sure if you go with Nuremberg + an outing or two.

Posted by
3020 posts

Berlin 5 days incl. 1 day Potsdam palaces https://www.spsg.de/en/palaces-gardens/palaces-and-gardens-overview/.
Prague or Nuremberg: 2 days, visit Imperial Castle. http://www.kaiserburg-nuernberg.de/englisch/castle/index.htm
Salzberg 1 day
Munich 2 days

Question also here what you expect / want to see by general phrase "WWII"?
+ Nazi terror regime,
+ persecution of regime's "enemies" and "Jews" (not only faith related),
+ systematic Holocaust,
+ rest of combat places in today German area

In every case you shall visit this exhibition: https://www.dhm.de/en/ausstellungen/permanent-exhibition/epochs/1933-1945.html

Map overview of castles and palaces in Bavaria: https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

As you are young you can try using overnight nightbuses by Flixbus: https://global.flixbus.com/overnight-bus

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for your advice. It is very helpful. Any suggestions on where to stay the first night after leaving Berlin?