Please review our 23 day Germany itinerary

Trains are fine for your itin. The bus between Salzburg and Berchtesgaden is a bit faster than the train.

3 nights for Berlin, 2 nights for Rothenburg?? Insufficient if you are serious about seeing Berlin. It's a 7-hr train ride from Bullay for the two-train connections, so you're talking about only the evening there on Day 1. I wouldn't bother with the long trip unless I had at least 4 nights there. Surely you could borrow one from Salzburg, or from Rothenburg (where 2 nights are actually overkill.)

After a long transatlantic flight, I would prefer the shorter (and possibly DIRECT) train ride to Boppard over the longer one to Cochem which requires a change of train or two. Swap those destinations?

If/when you go to Berlin, keep in mind that tight connections are likely to delay your arrival. DB is having a tough time with punctuality these days on the high-speed train connections. I would look for the two-train journeys from either Boppard or Cochem in the morning; 1 change is always safer than 2 or more! Both journeys start with a regional train ride, and both have a long layover in Cologne before the ICE train ride to Berlin. A good bet. Both take 7 hours - so swapping Cochem and Boppard won't impact that trip to Berlin... it will just make your first day in Germany easier.

On the Rhine: I see no mention of Marksburg Castle, the only intact medieval castle and the best castle tour on the Rhine. You can get to Braubach from Boppard easily in any number of ways... K-D cruise boat (direct), train w/1 change in Koblenz, or ferry crossing plus train ride.

Consider adding a day to Berlin, taking one from another.

Consider going from Rothenburg ob der Tauber on the Romantic Road down to Fussen, then up Salzburg, then Munich and fly from Munich (do an open jaw instead of RT from Frankfurt).
Also, five days is a bit much for Salzburg.

https://www.romanticroadgermany.com
It's not too hard to see the reason for the popularity - despite the modern roots of the idea, the tour combines the historic cities of Würzburg and Augsburg with the three medieval walled towns of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen, and then finishes off with the tourist highlights of Neuschwanstein Castle and the Alps.

I would give Berlin another night at least. It is the most important place on your itinerary.
We disliked our visit to Neuschwanstein, over the top, built in 19th century.

Since you have an interest in WWII sites, check out a web site called "thirdreichruins". It has many photos taken shortly after the war, and pictures of the same place taken many years later. Very interesting site.

Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, and Wurzburg are three cities close to Rothenburg that you might want to consider. Not sure about train service to the first two.

I would certainly plan more days in Berlin. You are short changing yourself. You have fewer nights there than in Salzburg and the same amount as in Cochem, etc.

I will play the devil's advocate.

It takes 5-7 hours to get to Berlin from Boppard and 4-5 hours to get to Nürnberg from Berlin. With local transfers and checking into hotels, that is about 2 days just traveling. It is this math that has always discouraged me from visiting Berlin. IMHO we would have to focus on the Berlin and other north-eastern Germany cities, or give it a miss. I have only visited Berlin for a business conference and cannot "rate" it, but I have never felt that it warranted the time it would take to do it right. Your interest in WWII sights might justify Berlin but then you maybe should allocate more time to it.

I think there are too many stops and too much time will be lost traveling between stops. Germany is geographically big and your stops are far apart. If you are traveling by train, I suggest you use both a map and the Deutsch-Bahn website to modify your itinerary.

Personally, I'd skip Neuschwanstein and Fussen. If you've seen a photo of Neuschwanstein, then that's about all there is to see there. There are many "real" castles in Germany, so why visit a modern pretend castle? I'd also save Salzburg for a trip to Austria.

It might be easier if you stay in one town on either the Rhine or the Mosel. Rather than Boppard or Cochem, I'd suggest using Koblenz as a stopping point simply because numerous trains stop there. That would allow easy day trips to sites on both rivers. Trier, Cologne, Bacharach, etc. are all pleasant destinations for day trips.

Munich, Rothenburg and Nuremburg, are somewhat close together. Nuremburg is a good stopping point. There are many cities within easy travel distance and Nuremburg is a major rail center so day trips are easy. Consider Regensburg, Coburg, Bamburg, Rothenburg. Besides the WWII sites you mention, there is a castle plus multiple other interesting things to explore in Nuremburg.

Berlin is the single stop in your itinerary that is quite a distance from all the others. I like Berlin and hope you can fit it into your itinerary and that you add a few more days to your stay there. . You might make it your last stop. If you must fly in and out of Frankfurt, you could easily fly from Berlin to Frankfurt on the day you return home.

Just some ideas...

I mean this in a perfectly nice way, but you need to accept that you are not seeing "all" of Germany. I agree Berlin deserves more time. You are right to combine Munich with Salzburg, but I find Munich (a long trip) greatly overrated, compared to the rest of Germany. We combined Munich with a Vienna-Innsbruck-Salzburg itinerary. Can you fly home from Munich?

Well, the glaring error from my perspective is of course the omission of Hamburg, but that's me ;)

I would add a day to Berlin for sure, maybe even two. I would cut from Munich/Füssen. You can do Füssen as a day trip from Munich, which eliminates transfer and makes your time in the area more efficient. I would also ask if your Salzburg time includes hiking or other side trips. Salzburg is absolutely lovely, but you have more time here than anywhere else even though it is smaller. This makes sense if you are hiking, but otherwise I would maybe cut a day there and add it to Berlin as well.

The consensus on Berlin as I see it: Allocate some additional time, or drop it.

I feel compelled to amend my suggestions...I'll join the Suki-Anita-Howlin'mad team of Neuschwanstein naysayers. Do drop the Neuschwanstein stay / day-trip idea. Too much bother for this overpriced, overcrowded 30-minute tour unless you already have some very peculiar fascination with the even more peculiar 19th-century Bavarian King Ludwig II. The day trip from Munich dedicates 4.5 - 5 hours of transportation (round-trip) for little reason, IMHO.

History, WW II: Berlin, Nuremberg, Munich, Berchtesgaden, Dachau... My only comment here is that all these places are enormously worthwhile for all kinds of reasons WITHOUT going on a historical hunt for Nazis and their evil deeds. Don't overdo this aspect of your visit, or you will be denying yourselves lots of other experiences, including the opportunity to learn about the OTHER many centuries of German/European history. Nazis actually ruled Germany for only 12 years.

Suggested revision:

Rhine/Mosel (5)
- 2-3 nights Boppard
- 2-3 nights Cochem

Berlin (5)

• When you leave for Nuremberg... Visit Bamberg enroute. Then you won't need to backtrack from Nuremberg to see this UNESCO World Heritage city.

• Possible schedule... Lv Berlin 8:28; stopover in Bamberg 11:15 - 17:39; Lv Bamberg 17:39, ar Nuremberg 18:19)

Nuremberg (4)

• 1 or more day trips to Bayreuth, Würzburg, Bad Windsheim (open-air Freilandmuseum, great for local history,) and/or little-known Iphofen (adorable walled town full of winemakers and artists; scroll photos on 2 pages at link below:

Iphofen photos

Rothenburg (1-2)...only 1.25 hours from Nuremberg... 1 night is plenty.

Munich (3)

Salzburg (5)

• Day trip options:
  

1) Werfen (Hohenwerfen Castle + falconry show)

2) Berchtesgaden + the Koenigssee + Jennerbahn Cable car lift + Eagles Nest

3) Hallstatt

I think that's 23 nights if you keep tiny Rothenburg down to just one night.

Since you have expressed a distinct interest in seeing WW2 sites, given your time constraint that is even more incentive to skip Füssen and Neuschwanstein, basically not worthy of your limited time.

I would suggest planning more time in and around Berlin if you want to pursue the WW2 sites, such as the Invalidenfriedhof (cemetery), the oldest Prussian-German military cemetery in Berlin, including those historical figures from both wars and memorials to WW2, the RAF (British air force ) Cemetery on Heerstrasse in Berlin-Grunewald, and the Museum on the Nazi-Soviet War in Berlin-Karlshorst, housed in the building in which the Germans signed the capitulation on 9 May 1945 with the Soviets.

Outside of Berlin two places come to mind : Seelow (the museum will still be closed during your trip) but the grounds and the battlefield memorial site with its display of Soviet armor can be seen. And, there is Halbe, south of Berlin, the site of another horrific battle in April of 1945.

Only a few suggestions here...there is more on the war.

Based upon

Historical sites, especially WW2 sites, wine tasting, strolling
through cities enjoying the culture and scenery, nice (but not
extravagant) dining experiences

Agree that

Also, five days is a bit much for Salzburg.

Take a look at what sites you want to see and how long it takes to travel to and tour them. I haven’t been to Berlin, but is there much WW2 places there? Eagles Nest sounds intetesting, but I belive that everything connected with Hitler is gone ( including the silverware a classmate’s father liberated from there ! )

I haven’t been to Dachau. I know what happened there. One acquaintance and a friend’s father liberated it. The friend visited it a couple of years ago. She was disappointed in the experience. The acqaintance took pictures.

he never showed them to anyone.

2 nights in Rothenburg ( spent 4 nights in Sept, my 5th visit ) is not too much. Nor is 5 days in Salzburg.

But the best thing is to make a detailed itinerary with all the times included. Plan on doing the most important item first thing in the day.

I think someone mentioned this, but I would be a fan of a single Mosel/Rhine base. I did 8 days in the area a few years ago. I was looking at one base on each river but ended up going with just one base (on the Rhine). It worked well. A WWII site that is a possible day trip is Remagen, the one city on the Rhine where the bridge spanning the river was not blown up as US troops reached the river. It was used by US troops to cross the river for several days before it failed. There is a Peace Museum that recounts the history of the bridge in one of the surviving support towers for the bridge. Across the river is the gorgeous town of Linz am Rhein.

https://www.bruecke-remagen.de/

My advice-

Take two nights off Salzburg. It's a lovely city but after a few days the crowds were enough for me. Get the Salzburg card which allows free transport and gets you into some museums for free. Don't miss St Peters Cemetery and the Fortress Museum which tells more about the history of Salzburg and the Prince-Archbishop and about WW2.

Give yourself at least 4-5 nights in Berlin. It's a big city to get around and there are lots of attractions spread out. I would recommend an Original Berlin Walks tour about WW2. The tour guides are excellent and are usually American/British expats.

I find myself at odds with many on here but I loved Munich more than Berlin. Cleaner, less graffiti and just a more livable city due to the pedestrian streets and transport options. Don't miss walking in the English Garden and sitting and enjoying nature. I will also recommend Radius tours of Munich and the Munich Beer and Brewery tour at night. A great way to taste more German beer and Bavarian food. There are a number of breweries near Munich that you can visit as well. I would also probably skip the Neuschwanstein Castle-people that went told me it was crowded and you stand for long periods of time. There are much better castles in Germany to see.

Go to Dachau-so easy to get to you don't even need a guide just get on public transport. I'm always kind of amazed when people say they were disappointed with Dachau as if it's supposed to be an amusement park. The camp was repurposed for German refugees kicked out of European countries and was modified considerably because of that. To get the most out of your time, I can't recommend enough paying the 3 Euros for the guided tour at 11am. My guide was so passionate about the subject-had talked to many of the surviving inmates-most of whom have died by now and made the complex come alive. I probably wouldn't have gotten that experience by just walking on my own.

Bamberg is a cute city to stay overnight.

Just another perspective. As always mind where you walk, sidewalks are made up of a bike lane that is paved and more cobblestoned for pedestrians. Do not stray you will either cause an accident or be cussed out in German as they wiz by.

Fly open jaws by changing your return to Munich.

Salzburg is maybe 2-3 days BUT I’d say the Alpine area near Berchtesgaden is totally worth the extra 3 days with this itinerary. It’s the classic “take a vacation from your vacation” area. Plus, as you’re a WW2 buff, you have the nazi sites and the newly renovated Document Center

I always recommend skipping Neuschwanstein. If you’ve seen video of the outside, you’ve seen the best part already. The tour is pretty “meh” IMO. If you absolutely have to visit, then make sure you add Hohenschwangau. And book ahead. And no, Füssen is not destination without the castles. It’s a fine place, albeit very touristic, but it’s nothing special.

I might try to find an extra day in Cochem since you’ll be jet lagged.

The allocations of days to each city are fine, BUT for me the glaring omission is any extra “down days” for rest, laundry and time spent away from traveling companions. It’s a really full itinerary

This suggestion requires a bit of train ride, depending how desperate you are to see a WW2 site military site west of the Rhine. (I would in the summer if in your place, jet lag or no jet lag, which I can dismiss. )

The site is Vossenack, a bit of a ride and at least a couple of transfers from Cochem.

In response to your later question, if you travel by ICE between Nuremberg and Berlin, it's only a 3 hour trip. If you wanted to break it up, then a stop in Erfurt would make sense. If you are driving, I'd suggest either Leipzig or Dresden.