We are going to Germany from Sept. 14th to Sept. 24th. Our dates are flexiable and we can add or delete a day or two. We would like to see Germany/WWII history, Germany Culture, and Castles. We were thinking we wanted to see Trier, Dachau, Berlin, Nurnberg, and Munich. Is that doable in 10 days? What else should we see? What could we cut? Any advice or suggestions would be great! We also have a friend that lives in Frieburg so we will be going there. Anything close to see in the frieburg area? Thanks for your help.
Posted by
Atlanta
3250 posts
You can use these tools from Kent's post to help you map your proposed destinations and plan your itinerary. That will help you decide what's do-able in 10 days.
Kent's Itinerary Planning Info
Berlin will be perfect for exploring WW II historical sites--I'd plan at least 3 days for Berlin. As far as the Freiburg area, Baden Baden, Colmar and Strasbourg France are nearby.
Possibly fly "open jaw" into Berlin and home from Munich to make the most of your time.
Posted by
Paradise
6663 posts
I don't think that's doable in 10 days. Berlin is just huge and should require about 4 days; add a day to see Sachsenhausen concentration camp. You should probably bypass Munich and Dachau (Oktoberfest is on and hotels are almost always fully booked by this point and horribly overpriced) and spend a travel day getting to Trier and the Rhine/Mosel region, where you'll find terrific examples of medieval castles (Marksburg, Burg Eltz) in addition to the Roman stuff Trier is known for. Three days is about right - then you'd have a day to visit your Freiburg friends too (long trip there from Trier, however.)
Note two WW II options in the Rhine/Mosel area: the WW II museum in Remagen (north of Koblenz on the Rhine) is worth seeing - www.bruecke-remagen.de - and from Trier, it is possible on Sundays and holidays (2-5) to tour a German WW II West wall bunker called "Panzerwerk Katzenkopf" in the town of Irrel. Buses run to Irrel from the Trier train station, or rent a car:
Posted by
Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
124 posts
What is doable really depends on the person. I went the Germany & Switzerland for the first time last December and had a long list of "must sees" and after prioritizing the major things for me (such as the Jungfroch/Eiger, Nueschwanstien, etc.) and checking the train schedules I ended up with an ambitious itinerary.
We did 8 cities in 12 days and only stayed in 3 cities for 2 nights and the rest 1 night each. Although it was fast paced both of us were glad we did it, had no regrets and tremendous memories.
Except for Berlin all of the places you mention are in southern Germany so it would easier if you skip Berlin but I'm guessing you'd rather not do that. Just know that if you take the ICE train from Munich to Berlin that can be a 6 to 6.5 hr ride with no changes of trains.
Just do proper planning and knowing yourself and your partner determine if it meets your idea of a vacation.
Posted by
Hoheinod, germany
1 posts
If you plan on seeing all that, plan on taking the rail. The Third Reich in Ruins is a website that we use to do the WW2, sight seeing. We just plug it into the GPS and go.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8955 posts
Cool city huh? I can't wait to go back there.