Thoughts on a rough 8 day itinerary in early April 2026

Our interests are hiking, seeing castles, medieval towns/cities and quaint villages.

The specific places you have listed so far - no doubt selected from Rick's materials - will be quite tourist-heavy. I'd stay away from most of those if this is going to be in summer. Medieval towns are pretty scarce south of Munich. You'll want to look at Regensburg to the northeast of Munich (Germany's best-preserved medieval town) and other places to the north around Rothenburg for those...

Rothenburg (Northern Bavaria) is on the Romantic Road route, which includes several fine old-world towns. There's a hike you can take from town to Detwang and back (see Rick Steves materials.) Suggest you focus on the part of the RR between Rothenburg and Nördlingen. Harburg has a castle:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romantic_Road

And there are many other towns nearby as well that are just off this heavily-touristed route. So I suggest you settle in here for some outdoor things (hiking, biking, more) and/or some day trips.

Bad Windsheim & the Franconian open-air museum:
https://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/upmedia/dfs-franken-slider-01.jpg
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198421-d284746-Reviews-or10-Frankonian_Open_Air_Museum-Bad_Windsheim_Middle_Franconia_Franconia_Bavaria.html

Besides Rothenburg and Bad Windsheim,Ochsenfurt and Marktbreit, on the Main River, are also fine old-world towns in the same region. The official Timber-frame House driving route runs through these towns and others:

https://motorradstrassen.de/images/artikelbilder/2022-11-FWS-Franken/Kleine_Karte_Frankenroute_12_08_2021.jpg

https://www.ochsenfurt.de/fileadmin/Dateien/Website/Dateien/Tourismus_Kultur/Prospekte/Altstadtspaziergang_ENGLISCH_2020.pdf

https://www.marktbreit.de/freizeit-tourismus/tourist-information/sehenswuerdigkeiten/sights-in-english-version

Nuremberg, a larger city, has a solid old-world vibe and a good variety of museums; it feels like a much smaller place once you are in the nice old town zone. It has a castle as well:

https://www.meine-ferienregion.de/sites/default/files/styles/195x195/public/photos/nuernbergkaiserburg_shutterstock_1152165452_dan-race_kl.jpg?itok=K3dVtF_b

Pappenheim, a small town in the Altmühl River Valley between Nuremberg and Munich, is a pretty place with its own castle and lots of good biking along the white-cliffed river banks:

https://www.frankentourismus.de/data/thumbs/img/8211913_christa-stadt-burg-3.jpg

So I could see you doing a loop like this...

MUC >
1) Pappenheim > 2) Regensburg > 3) Nuremberg > 4) Rothenburg / Bad Windsheim + misc. towns 5) Romantic Road towns > Munich

I can't say which towns you should stay in - they are all nice - or which way you ought to travel this route, or which places you might want to skip in favor of others. Just depends on your interests. But for me they are some of the most attractive towns and are less overrun by the tourist horde (except for Rothenburg, of course, which is tourist central.)

First, you're going to need 2-3 days just in Munich, and even then you're not going to se it all. Or even half.

And Russ has laid out some very good suggestions.

Let me add these, because they're all very close to Munich, and better than a lot of the more famous tourist destinations.

Schloss Neuburg an der Donau is far and away a better castle than Neuschwanstein. And the city is nice too. (one hour by train)

Eichstatt has Willibaldsburg castle, but the city itself is a jewel of Baroque Architecture. (2 hrs by train)

Dinklesbuhl, about two hours from Munich, is much prettier than Rothenberg and, while it is a bit touristy, it doesn't get the crowds.

Ingolstadt has the Audi Museum, and it's fantastic. (52 minutes by train)

In April I'd head to Prien am Chiemsee. It's the prime time to see one of the prettiest places in the country. (55 minutes by train)

Or go to Starnberg, another beautiful place in springtime, and just take the ferry across the lake and back. (20 minutes by train).

But if you just "do" Munich, Regensburg, and Salzburg that's going to be 8 days, easy. I can spend a week in Munich alone, and have; and I never go to Salzburg or Regensburg for less than a 3 day weekend.

Another town to add is „Weissenburg in Bavaria“, which is still quite medieval and has its former city walls turned into a park.
Near of this is Wuelzburg fortress (16th/27rg century star fortress). Later French president de Gaulle was there as a PoW in WW1 (when he was a junior officer)

Both can be integrated easily in a trip from Franconia to the Munich region (as can a number of the places other posts mentioned - check maps)

Early April is around Easter. So there are school-holidays in Bavaria from March 30. to April 12. Weekend April 3. to April 6. is Easter holiday, so all shops are closed and so many families go for skiing in the Alps.
It is still wintertime in the Alps, so not much hiking possible, you can hike only in the valleys.
For Neuschwanstein Castle you have to book your timed entrance ticket far it advance, it will be booked out very early.
As your Teen wants to see Regensburg: This is an easy destination. You can take the train to there, it is only an 1 1/2 hours train ride there.

If your teen really wants to see Regensburg, then do it. As mentioned it is a quick train ride or it could easily be incorporated into your overall car route.

I could see driving to Regensburg then up to north of Nuremberg where there are a few nice castles, then back down along the Romantic road to Fussen if you want to see Neuschwanstein ( I like it having visited it 3 times ). I also really like Salzburg.

as always, it comes down to what YOU really want to see. It’s hard to go wrong no matter what you decide.

For your planning, get detailed with travel times, activity times, opening hours. That will help,alot in decision making.

Another option
From Munich to Regensburg then south to Salzburg onto GaPa, Oberammergau and Füssen and back to Munich

Munich to Regensburg will be a 1,5 hrs drive stay a night or 2
Regensburg to Salzburg will be a 3 hrs drive seeing Landshut and Altötting on the way

Thank you all. I read through all your suggestions and recommendations.
There are so many sights that are interesting. Hoping to discuss with my family and downselect based on the limited time we have for this trip. I'll come back with a refined plan.

As someone who has traveled a lot with a teen, I will say you need to figure out how to get to Regensburg. The fact that your teenager expressed any interest in visiting any particular place is a small miracle, in my experience. Especially if this is the only place they have asked to see, not going there is likely to have long-term repercussions. Also, Regensburg looks amazing. Why not stay there a couple of nights? There is a direct train to/from the Munich airport.

Thanks. We have always involved our kid to help out with vacation planning. Going through the Fodors guide together and noting down places, has been fun. It looks like Regensburg will be a day trip out of Munich.