Itinerary help needed to Berlin

So, of the regions between the Dolomites and Berlin you already know Bavaria, Franconia (Northern Bavaria) and Czechia. How about Central Germany? Rick Steves calls it "Luther land", but to most other people it's Thuringia, Saxony and the Harz mountains (which Rick Steves still doesn't know). Thuringia and the Harz mountains are (almost) on the direct train route from Munich to Berlin, Saxony takes a bit longer.

The Harz mountains offer dozens of small towns with literally thousands of half-timbered houses. They can easily compare with Rothenburg, but are almost unknown outside Germany. Two of them, Quedlinburg and Goslar, are World Heritage Sites, but Wernigerode, Wolfenbüttel or Stolberg just as nice. The Harz mountains are great for hiking, and from Wernigerode you can take a nostalgic steam train up to the highest mountain of Northern Germany, the Brocken.

Thuringia is all about small towns. Historically the state was divided into many tiny duchies, among them Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, where the Windsors are from, and every tiny duchy had a tiny capital with a big castle above the town. The capital of Thuringia however, Erfurt, offers one of the biggest and best preserved old towns of Germany. Rick Steves calls Erfurt a "untouristy Rothenburg". From there you can do day trips to Weimar, one of Germanys cultural centres, or Wartburg castle, historically Germanys most important castle.

Saxony offers the biggest diversity, everything from big cities to small towns, castles, world-class museums and beautiful mountains to vineyards and cute villages. Most people however treat Dresden, the capital, just as a short stopover between Berlin and Prague, which is a real shame, since Dresden offers so much more, and is probably the best base for day trips after Munich.

Since you mentioned canoeing: consider a day trip from Berlin to the Spreewald. That's a region where the river Spree meanders in thousands of small waterways through meadows and forests. It's moreover home of th Sorbs, a small Slavic minority. It takes just one hour to get there, and you can rent a canoe and explore the area on your own.

What Martin said. I would also offer up Leipzig as a choice for an overnight stay. It doesn't take long to explore (unless you want to check out the fabulous zoo, which occupies the better part of a day), but it's a surprisingly nice city with a very walkable core. Good mix of the old and new.

Thank you, Martin and Tom for your excellent suggestions. I've read about Rick's "Lutherland" but didn't know about the Hartz mountains. Any suggestions for train travel routes/stops from Northern Italy up to Central Germany? We typically prefer to spend around 3 hours on trains to our next destination.

Just got back yesterday. I'd say that Nuremberg is worth a stay of several days, since you have already done Munich and Wuerzburg. Easy to get around on daily VGN tickets which will cover trains and local transport to outside towns like Bamberg and Bayreuth.
We also stopped for 5 hours in Eisenach. Hourly bus service from the train station to Wartburg castle. Eisenach is also the birthplace of JS Bach. Beautiful market square.
We boarded the wrong train and ended up in Ilmenau. Can't recommend the town, but the train ride to and from through the Thueringer Wald was gorgeous.

Christine: Just a thought. If your final destination is Berlin, why not fly back to the U.S. from Berlin instead of Frankfurt?

Yes, Darrel, I am planning on flying out of Berlin. Although since we fly Lufthansa we would still need to change planes in Frankfurt.

Thanks, Sam. Nürnberg does look like a good stopover on the way up to Berlin.