Itinerary Help for 10 day trip From Munich - Berlin early October 2016

October 3 - Leave Munich (in the am) - to Salzburg (during the day) - arrive Fussen (that pm)//

Are you planning visiting Oktoberfest while you are in Munich because this is a long day on trains with a lot of back tracking through Munich. Instead, I'd recommend heading strait to Salzburg when you land for a night or two and then next head to Munich then Fuessen, etc...

October 7 - Leave Rothenberg (in the am) - to Rhine Valley (during the day) - travel to Berlin (overnight Train?)//

You won't have much time to really see anything in the Rhine (maybe a few hours). Taking the night train form Köln to Berlin is you best option here.

DJ

We were planning on trying out Oktoberfest! (But I see what you mean about going through Munich multiple times.) Maybe we could do a day trip to Salzburg when we arrive, then come back to Munich. (We were only planning on hitting Oktoberfest for one night anyways)

You should definitely hit the Octoberfest in Munich. You will also be in Berlin for the Illuminate Berlin festival - it is amazing . It was a highlight of our trip. (I checked the dates when I saw your post)

October 3 - Leave Munich (in the am) - to Salzburg (during the day) - arrive Fussen (that pm)//
October 4 - Fussen//
October 5 - Leave Fussen (In the am) - to Rothenberg//
October 6 - Rothenberg//
October 7 - Leave Rothenberg (in the am) - to Rhine Valley (during the day) - travel to Berlin (overnight Train?)//

Some good choices but it's a problematic itinerary IMO... I'd make some changes...

• There aren't any really good overnight connections to Berlin. If you're in Bacharach for example you'll be forced to get off a train in Frankfurt at mid night and board another train at 1 am and wake up around 7 am so you can get off in Berlin.

• Your time in the Middle Rhine Valley is much too short. The MRV is a UNESCO World Heritage site dotted with numerous and very real medieval castles; you need more time to visit Rheinfels and Marksburg and to enjoy the small old-world towns there - and a river cruise is nice as well.

• You do not have adequate time in Salzburg.

• 4 nights in Fuessen and Rothenburg? And only 2 nights in Berlin??... Berlin needs 3 full days minimum IMO. Also IMO Rothenburg is quite overrated, too touristy and kitschy. And the same can be said for Ludwig's Neuschwanstein, the principle reason most go to Fuessen... Fuessen is nice for its mountain scenery and hiking and more, but the pricey, overcrowded 30-minute tour of N'stein Palace (not a castle but a late 19th-century palatial residence) isn't enough reason to go there IMO. You could in fact spend skip extra trip nights in Salzburg and make a side trip to see the Alps and the Koenigssee in Berchtesgaden, or to see Hohenwerfen, a medieval castle with a spectacular setting. If Ludwig is your idol, you could make a much easier trip to see Herrenchiemsee Palace, maybe the best of all his palaces. It's half way between Munich and Salzburg, on an island in Lake Chiemsee. You could see it on the way. Rothenburg is small enough to see in a day if it's a must for you. But IMO there are some delightful old-world towns elsewhere in Germany where you can still hear German spoken (I'm exaggerating but it really is given over to tour buses and international tourists.) Maybe spend an extra night on the Rhine and day trip COCHEM. It's an enchanting place on the nearby Mosel River with some tourists but definitely a German sort of place at heart.

Your plans for October 3rd and 7th are barely feasible, if not flat out impossible. Rothenburg is not very big and it certainly doesn't require a two night stay, unless you wanted to check out Dinkelsbühl or Nördlingen as daytrips. And despite all the attention it gets, apart from all the trinket shops, it isn't nearly as unique as advertised. It is, however, a convenient stop-over point between Munich and the Rhine. But since you're barely even skimming the Rhine, why even go that far out of your way? It might make more sense to head directly north and hit some of the highlights of Franconia (Nürnberg, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Coburg), or make your stop-over point the amazing Hartz mountain region, particularly the towns of Wernegerode and Quedlinburg.

But IMO there are some delightful old-world towns elsewhere in Germany where you can still hear German spoken (I'm exaggerating but it really is given over to tour buses and international tourists.) I agree very much with that statement, but I would change "there are some delightful old-world towns elsewhere in Germany" to "everywhere in Germany".

Based on suggestions from all, Would the below itinerary be more feasible?

September 30th - Arrive in Munich @ 9am visit (Oktoberfest that afternoon or evening)//
October 1 - Day trip to Salzburg return to Munich//
October 2 - Munich//
October 3 - Leave Munich (in the am) - arrive Fussen)//
October 4 - Fussen//
October 5 - Leave Fussen (In the am) - to Rothenberg (during the day) - arrive Rhine Valley (late pm)//
October 6 - Rhine Valley//
October 7 - Leave Rhine (in the afternoon) - arrive in Berlin (Late pm)//
October 8 - Berlin//
October 9 - Berlin//
October 10 - Leave Berlin 7am back to Houston

We are very excited to spend time in Fussen and I would not like to cut our stay there any shorter. But It makes sense to make Rothenberg a stop on the way to the Rhine valley and spend some more time in Rhine than previously mentioned. (Our goal is to make our shortest stay in each spot at least 2 nights. Its proving difficult when there is so much to see and only so much vacation time! Thank you for all the suggestions thus far!

Much, much better, although October 3rd is still kind of tight. It it really comes down to it, I think you can cut Salzburg. There's nothing wrong with it, per se, I just found that compared to many other cities of comparable size in Austria and southern Bavaria, it's historical core (Altstadt) is surprisingly small and not particularly elaborate. About the size of decent-sized shopping mall. And surprisingly monochromatic, given that brightly painted building facades are the norm for the region. Salzburg's Alstadt, by contrast, is mostly white and gray.

In Salzburg's favor, though, it does have an interesting castle and some great views of the Alps (of course, you'll see plenty of the Alps in Füssen). And if you are a Sound of Music fan, well, I guess you can't replicate that anywhere else. With the amount of time you have allotted, however, you likely will not have time for a SoM tour.

Take my Salzburg comments with a grain of salt (rimshot!). My opinion is certainly in the minority. But that's my perspective after living in Germany for several years.

To modify that itinerary a bit I would go from Munich straight to Vienna (instead of Salzburg as a day trip), if you are willing to be more flexible with your time. Vienna is a MUST-SEE in my opinion. My husband and I (Canadians in our 20s) visited over 15 cities in four countries in 2014, and Vienna is the one place we decided we could/would live. Add it in if you can!! You can then do a day trip to Salzburg (which is definitely worth seeing) on your way back to Germany. Also, there isn't tons to do in Fussen except the obvious Neuschwanstein, so you don't need long there. We just did a day trip to Fussen from Munich on our trip in 2014.