Itinerary Questions

There are numerous American cemeteries in that area of Belgium. The one I stopped at was mesmerizing. What was the name ..... oh, Henri-Chappele! We were greeted by a retired Marine Colonel who, recognizing us as Americans, asked if we would like a tour of the grounds which, of course, we did. The tour was incredibly moving and informative.

Having traveled in that area trying to visit WWII places, I would recommend checking out a guided tour for the WWII sites (particularly those for the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and Luxembourg). For example, it took me a while just to find the cemetery in Luxembourg when General Patton was buried.

You do have three week, which should be enough time to see all those places.

Are you planning to rent a car or use public transportation? The train system is very good in Germany but iti depends on where you want to go and whether you just want to stay inside the various cities/towns or travel around them. And if you are looking to see battlefields, it might be easier with a car. Keep in mind that with a car rental, you will need to check on additional costs for take it out of the country; i.e., from Germany to Belgium.

In regards to time, I'm not familiar with the smaller places, but Aachen is a very short day trip from Cologne by train so you could easily see both cities in 2-3 days. Same with Nuremberg and Rothenburg, although Rothenburg is a bit more difficult by public transport. If you had a car, it would make these trips easier. You will probably get advice from others here to use the train system rather than rent a car. While that advice is good and in keeping with Germany's excellent public transportation, if you are traveling to smaller towns and especially outlying areas, a car will give you greater flexibility.

Our tentative plan is to rent a car.

Are you sure that is a good idea? Based on the places you want to visit, it would be much easier by train in my opinion.

I am listing the places he wants to visit, and would like input if it
is do-able, or if it would be better to scale the trip down a little.
We would fly in and out of Frankfurt, visiting the following places:
Bastogne, Liege (Belgium), Aachen, Cologne, Remagen, Kassel, Leipzig,
Weimar, Bayreuth, Nuernberg, Rothenburg, and Heidelberg.

It is doable in 3 weeks, but would hardly be enjoyable in my opinion. You will have a bit more than a day in each place.

I am listing the places he wants to visit, and would like input if it is do-able, or if it would be better to scale the trip down a little.

I think you'd be wise to scale down. There is so much of interest that you will be skipping right past in both Belgium and Germany if you attempt every one of these places.

Nuremberg is a great travel base town. From there you could take outings by train to 2 towns on your list... Rothenburg (1.25 hrs. away) and Bayreuth (less than 1 hr.) very easily by train. Cheap too... €22 round trip for 2 persons with the local day pass called the VGN Tagesticket Plus. But there are other truly fantastic places nearby as well... Würzburg, Iphofen, Bamberg, Bad Windsheim, just for starters. Research these places and you'll see why a week or longer in this area could be very worthwhile.

Bastogne, Liege: Very worthwhile. And the Ardennes mountain towns are too... Houffalize, Malmedy, and other battle sites can be toured independently by car (which is how I would do this part of Belgium) if you give yourselves several days' time. Henri Chapelle cemetery, the Hürtgen Forest and the timeless, storybook town of Monschau (Germany) could be visited on the same car trip.

Cologne, Aachen and Remagen could easily be visited from a Cologne base and would easily take up 3-4 days.

But nearby is the Rhine/Mosel region, dotted with medieval castles, old-world villages, vineyards, and wonderful natural scenery. Trier, St. Goar, Cochem, Boppard (good base town,) Bacharach, and Rüdesheim are some of the charming place you could visit. Make a separate base in this region for at least 3-4 days as well. Again, the train is the way to go... Free train outings if you stay in Boppard, btw. Don't forget to enjoy a winery or two and to take a scenic river cruise.

Heidelberg requires no more than a day or so IMHO. But you may want to add a day or two to see other places in the area... Bad Wimpfen is a particularly charming place. Ladenburg and Heppenheim, also nearby are too. Look into Michelstadt as well.

I would probably leave out Leipzig, Kassel, etc.

The German train system is very extensive and normally efficient - that would be my choice for the places I've suggested.

I think it is doable, but you will be on the road alot, but not far. Not including Frankfurt, 12 places in 24 days? You could hub and spoke some reducing your base/hotel moves. Some places may only require one day depending on what you want to see. I'd plan it out on your Navi, Google Maps, Rome2rio etc. You'll need the car to visit many battlefield sites, axis of attack/routes, cemeteries, museums etc. I did some Staff Rides in the Army and Gvt. Service in Europe. A good guide/tour is invaluable, if you want a good tour. Places you would never have found yourself, or in some cases never heard of in the big picture.

I don't know anything about the war sites in Belgium but I think it best to rent a car for the first part of your trip. The Germany portion of your trip is doable by train but involves a lot of moving around and changing. I've only visited the last four places in your list.

I'd suggest cutting back on the number of bases. Ramagen and Aachen can be visited from Cologne. The northern part (Kassel, Weimar and Leipzig) is a bit trickier: I'd rethink that, unless they are all very important to you. Nuremberg is a very good base without a car: from there I'd say Bayreuth, Würzburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg, Munich, Iphofen, Coburg are all worth visiting. Many posters recommend Regensburg. I wouldn't go out of my way for Heidelberg, only if close by.