July 16 - 26th Germany & Austria itinerary --> help please!

Sounds like a great trip. I have found homebasing in some key cities and getting to know that area and then move on. I allow 3 nights to give me that time. I am going to Nuremberg next month and staying at Hotel Probst and there is so much to see. I love Salzburg as well and everywhere you have on your list!
Enjoy whatever you do!! Trust your gut.
Kathy

Hi, Traveler. Here's a plan you might consider for getting to Salzburg.

7/16: Take the S-Bahn into Frankfurt (a few euros) and overnight in Frankfurt (about 10 minute train ride) near the main station. Get showered, rested, fed and see a few things if you like.
7/17: Use a saver fare ticket (buy now) for the direct high-speed EC train departure from Frankfurt's main station to Salzburg (7:39 - 13:59, currently only €59.80 for two at the DB site!)

If you travel on 7/16 to Nuremberg that day, you will spend a lot of time (about 4 hrs) on multiple trains getting there and of course money (maybe €50) too - then you'll spend €31 and 4.5 hours on 3 different trains getting to Salzburg on the Bayern Ticket (you can't use it before 9 am so you end up leaving 9:10 and arriving in Salzburg at 13:42 anyway.) My suggestion gets you there faster and cheaper - and you use only 2 trains total from FRA.

On your trip to the Kehlsteinhaus (the Eagle's Nest), you will board the bus to go up there in Obersalzburg at the Dokumentation Obersalzberg Museum. If time allows, you should not miss this museum which covers the rise and fall of the Nazi party. Be aware that you can tour the bunkers used by Hitler and his army at this museum. They are accessible at the end of the museum. If you are short on time, go there first.

On 7/22: Why go to Frankfurt if you're tired of Frankfurt? Go to Mainz - nice town - and in the morning you'll be only 20-25 minutes from FRA by direct train or S-Bahn.

And why are you overnighting after that in Frankfurt if you're tired of Frankfurt? After seeing Mainz you could book somewhere in the Middle Rhine Valley for 2-3 nights and do day trips from there locally and to Cologne. A place like Boppard would be very central to the area. (Koblenz might work if you're dying to stay over in a post-war-reconstruction place.) That's a lot less hassle altogether than day tripping out of Frankfurt.

Boppard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IjTma6VRY
https://www.wliw.org/21pressroom/files/2010/11/Boppard.jpg
http://schnuggel-elsje.de/upload/Bilder/IMG_0131.JPG

There's a 3-day VRM day pass for trains and buses that gets you around nicely on the Rhine between Oberwesel in the south and Rolandseck (which is most of the way to Cologne) in the north - only €40. Use it to see the castles and the Rhine towns and the Mosel River too if you like.

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/ticket-offers/leisure-ticket/

VRM zone in light green: http://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data/pdf/2016/Schienenliniennetzplan_2016.pdf

Wow, so many helpful comments, thank you!

@Kathy -- I hope you will have a lovely trip as well!

@Russ -- Great ideas all around. I was able to get train tickets like you mentioned, which is definitely better than what I had previously planned. I'm also looking further at your suggestions in regards to staying outside of Frankfurt and it definitely seems like the way to go. A a 3-day VRM day pass seems to cover or come close to all sorts of great places as well -- Bacharach, St. Goar, and Koblenz for a cruise, Bonn, and from Bonn it would be a very short distance to Cologne. Awesome!

@Denise -- I have added the Dokumentation Obersalzberg Museum to my itinerary and I hope time will allow it.

A a 3-day VRM day pass seems to cover all sorts of great places as
well -- Bacharach, St. Goar, and Koblenz for a cruise, Bonn, and from
Bonn it would be a very short distance to Cologne. Awesome!

Look closely at the "light green" area I gave you - that's the VRM. Anything within the VRM is accessible with the 3-day pass. Bacharach and Bonn are just outside the VRM, so you would need add-on tickets for those destinations... from Oberwesel (VRM) to Bacharach, the extra ticket is €2.60 (DB ticket, buy for this travel segment at any station)... from Rolandseck or Remagen (VRM) to Bonn is €3.90 for a VRS ticket (which you can buy in Remagen or Rolandseck.)

If you want to do a cruise, then I suggest you do that ON THE WAY to Boppard, St. Goar, or wherever your room will be. Board the cruise in Bingen, get off wherever you are staying. So from Frankfurt or Mainz or wherever, first, take the train to Bingen Rhein Stadt station, then walk to the KD boat dock. When you buy your cruise ticket, show your train ticket for a 20% cruise discount, and board one of the 5 northbound KD boats throughout the day. TO VISIT BACHARACH - you could hop off the boat there and reboard at a later hour if you wish - speak to the boat personnel about your intentions. (That way you don't have to buy a supplemental train ticket later.)

Braubach (south of Koblenz) is the train stop for Marksburg Castle. Travel there via Koblenz or via the St. Goar ferry crossing (no charge with your 3-day VRM pass) to St. Goarshausen - and catch the train north to Braubach from there (a 20 minute ride, also covered by the VRM.)

Moselkern (on the Mosel River train route) is the train stop for the hike to Burg Eltz Castle - trip is also covered by the VRM.

Cochem is a beautiful town and home to Reichsburg Castle.

Rheinfels Castle ruins is in St. Goar.