Thoughts on this travel plan?

My reaction is that you're probably short on time in Betlin, are definitely short on time in Vienna and are allowing too many nights in Munich. But perhaps you're planning day-trips from Munich. There are many wonderful destinations in eastern Germany, but trying to see a bunch of them in addition to traveling all the way to Vienna seems problematic to me.

Berlin (4 nights) - Dresden/Görlitz (1) - Leipzig (2) - Rothenburg (1)
- Munich (4) - Vienna (2).

I generally agree with acraven.

I'd drop all 3 overnight stops between Berlin and Munich - and replace them with 4 nights in Nuremberg. From N'berg it's easy to take day trips to Bamberg and Rothenburg on inexpensive day passes. Nuremberg is worth much more than "a few hours", a period of time better applied to smallish Rothenburg (half tourist trap, half interesting old town.)

And 3 nights is adequate for Munich. Apply the extra night to Vienna.

In Munich, I have four nights planned because my time “in” Munich includes two fairly long day trips: one to Dachau and one to Ludwig’s castles. But I’ll consider moving one evening from Munich and adding it to Vienna.

"I have four nights planned because my time “in” Munich includes two fairly long day trips: one to Dachau and one to Ludwig’s castles"

Dachau isn't a long trip. Neuschwanstein and back is a ridiculously long day trip (nearly 5 hours on trains and buses to the final stop, then around 1.5 hours of walking to the "castle" and back. It's a 30-minute tour, you know. That's largely because even though it's impressive, there isn't much to see there. It's not a real castle. It's an unfinished palatial home built just prior to the dawn of the 20th century with a few exotic objects and art pieces inside - and outside, a fake castle facade. Almost purpose-built as a tourist trap, it seems... but a very successful one that draws ridiculous crowds of international tourists intent on chasing down some Disney fantasy from their childhood (I'm sure you've heard that Walt built his faux park castles with this faux castle as a model. Nothing succeeds like a knock-off of a knock-off, I guess!)

https://www.dw.com/en/is-neuschwanstein-all-its-cracked-up-to-be/a-17887035

For genuine medieval castles, I would encourage you to pay a visit to Nuremberg's Imperial Castle while there, and if you wisely spend a night or two in Salzburg, you could not only visit Hohensalzburg (in Salzburg) but also Hohenwerfen (just outside Salzburg in Werfen.)
https://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/hohenwerfen-castle/

As for Dachau, you might reconsider that too. You likely already know what went on there. Are the details you will experience there important to your understanding of what went on there? Will they enhance your trip? I guess it depends on who you are and what you know and how you define a vacation. But these are questions worth asking. I think many tourists don't even ask and prefer to just follow their guidebook recommendations no matter what - some treat it as just another tourist attraction to include in their itinerary.

I wrote, "I'd drop all 3 overnight stops between Berlin and Munich - and replace them with 4 nights in Nuremberg. From N'berg it's easy to take day trips to Bamberg and Rothenburg on inexpensive day passes."

I should have mentioned an alternative to the Nuremberg > Bamberg > Nuremberg daytrip. Just stop off in Bamberg for several hours on your way to Nuremberg. Bamberg has station lockers. With an early start from the north, you can probably spend most of the day in Bamberg and end up in Nuremberg for an early evening check-in and a late dinner.

Some things too consider:

https://museums.nuernberg.de/nuremberg-municipal-museums/

https://www.bavaria.by/experiences/city-country-culture/unesco-world-heritage/bamberg-old-town/

https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/objects/neuschw.htm

Rothenberg is cute, Bamberg and Nuremberg are great.

Making Nuremberg a main stop with side trips to Bamberg and Rothenburg is easy enough with regional trains.
https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml

Less time in Munich and more time in Vienna is the right call, although Dachau is singularly moving, and I would recommend it. But it takes a morning train ride out on the S-Bahn, and you can be back for a late lunch....

Yep, I'd suggest forget Munich for this trip and stay in Nuremberg. Nuremberg has the Nazi documentation centre in the half-completed Nazi Congress Hall, which will provide all your National Socialist history needs for the trip. Then you can do day trips to Bamberg and Rothenburg (if you must, I'd consider Noerdlingen which has all the atmosphere of Rothenburg but is less tourist-crowded).

A lot of spicy opinions flying around this thread, and I'll offer my own, just advising you to take mine, like everyone else's, with a grain of salt.

I personally really like Nurnberg, but I know a lot of people who felt it wasn't worth more than a day trip. I think it's easily worth 2 full days, but again, that's kind of an outlier of other Americans I know. That said, it is a good place to base for places you are interested in seeing - namely Rothenberg and Bamberg.

That said, Rothenberg, while beautifui, is touristy and also best experienced overnight so you can take the Nightwatchman's Tour and enjoy the town after the tourist hordes have left, which makes having it be a daytrip from Nurnberg less logical.

Bamberg is amazing and I would prioritize it, even just as a day trip. A really uniquely beautiful city with interesting smoked beer and cuisine.

I find Wurzburg totally skippable given your limited time. I don't know why Rick recommends it, honestly. It's just OK.

I like Munich more than most other people in this thread. It's Germany's "second city" in the sense that it's about as far from Berlin, culturally, as you can get, and it is a good base for several other trips. I haven't been to Dachau or any other concentration camp, but that's mostly a matter of circumstance - I plan to go to at least one in the future and would recommend you do so based on what everyone I know has reported.

I'm neutral on Neuschwanstein - it's a bit much as a day trip from Munich if you also want to see Hohenschwangau, which you should, but I really enjoyed my visit there, but I also visited in January when it was very atmospheric in the snow.

Actually knowing the time of year of your visit would help me make recommendations. Munich can be a bit dreary in winter (aside from Christmastime) but it really comes into it's own in the summer, particularly if you enjoy biergartens and parks.

Knowing what time of year you're planning on going would help myself (and others) give better input.

I would certainly add days to Berlin if at all possible. If visiting a Concentration Camp is on your list, there are 2 of them near Berlin - Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück. Both were used by the Soviets after the war and still have most of their original buildings.

The residence in Würzburg is stunning and worth seeing, but if that is the only thing you want to see there, then it may be out of your way and you could add a day in somewhere else.

But between Leipzig and Munich, there are four great cities very close to each other: *Würzburg, Bamberg, Nürnberg, and Rothenburg.** I'd like to see at least a few of them. What do you think of this travel plan?
Leipzig -> Würzburg (visit for a few hours) -> Rothenburg (spend the night) -> Nürnberg (visit for a few hours) -> Munich*

I was stationed in Würzburg and Nürnberg and love this part of Germany. If I was ever offered a 1 week expenses paid stay in one town in Germany, I would choose Würzburg (with day trips). I can understand your desire to visit this area. However, I do not believe that you would get much out of a short visit to any of these towns. Würzburg as an example has 3 principal sights for me: the Residence (and Gardens), the Marienberg Castle with area museum (including the walk to it), and the walk up to the Marienkapelle pilgrimage church through the 14 Stages of the Cross. Each takes considerable time. A few hours stop would not allow you to see much.

I think a similar point could be made of all these towns. I would pick one that fires your imagination and concentrate on it.

Thank you all for your great advice! I'm planning on traveling in May 2020, if that helps.

Right now, here is my revised schedule based on your comments.

• Berlin (4 nights), with day trip to Potsdam
  
• Dresden/Görlitz (1 night): not sure whether to stay in Görlitz and day trip to Dresden, or vice versa (see below)
  
• Leipzig (2 nights), then possible day trip to Würzburg on the way to Bamberg (but I probably won't have time, and the direct train to Bamberg is faster).
• Bamberg (1 night), then day trip to Nuremberg on the way to Munich
• Munich (4 nights), with day trips to Dachau and to Ludwig's castles
• Vienna (3 nights)

A few comments/explanations:

• The Dresden/Görlitz part of the trip is a little tricky. Ideally, I'd like to see both, even if it just means doing a city walk in each place (I don't mind missing the Green Vault). The issue is how to plan the trains/buses. The current plan is to go directly from Berlin to Görlitz, spend the night, and then spend a half-day in Dresden on the way to Leipzig. (It would be fun to stop in Bautzen, too, but I probably won't have time.)
• I'm planning on Bamberg instead of Rothenburg because (a) it's easier to get to from Berlin and (b) it's supposed to be charming and not as crowded. The idea is to sleep in Bamberg and then spend a half-day in Nuremberg on the way to Munich. In theory, I could also pass through Würzburg on the way to Bamberg, but that's probably excessive.
• Three days in Munich isn't much, especially if I have two day trips. But I'm hoping that the two half days (i.e., when I arrive and when I depart) will be enough to fill the lost time?