Black Forest or Rhine Valley?

I'd suggest the Rhine Gorge area since it's closer to Frankfurt and easy to get to by train. How about:
4 nights Berlin / 4 nights Munich (with a definite day trip to Salzburg) / 2 nights Fussen / 2 nights Rothenburg (day trip to Wurzburg) / 2 nights Frankfurt (day trip to Rhine Gorge).

You could easily spend two nights and days in Rothenburg without having to take a day trip anywhere else. There is quite a lot to see in the town and in the valley below the town walls. If it interests you, you could then leave Rothenburg for Wurzburg on the Romantic Road bus- some brief sightseeing opportunities along the way. overnight Wurzburg, and next day to Frankfurt

I would add a day to Rothenburg as well; maybe see Würzburg on the way from Berlin to R'burg. Munich and Füssen: add a night to Munich and just see Füssen on a daytrip (saves a day for R'burg.) If it were me, I'd do my hiking and come home on a late train. The Neuschwanstein tour isn't worth much. I'd definitely want to see the Rhineland castles instead, the ones that have seen history by the century, not the decade. 3 final nights on the Rhine is about right. You'd probably enjoy all of the following: http://www.marksburg.de http://www.burg-eltz.de http://www.burg-cochem.de http://www.falknerei-reichsburg-cochem.de/fotobuch.htm (falconry show at 11:00, 1, 2:30, 4) http://www.bruecke-remagen.de Lots of good hiking in this area too. It's not convenient to do the Rhine from Frankfurt. There are plenty of hostels and B&B's. I had a very comfortable stay in Boppard (Hotel Sonnenhof) and in St. Goar (apartment) last month for less than 30 Euros/night. You don't need a car. Trains cover both sides of the river. Get a VRM train day ticket (17 Euros per day to see the towns involved above, 34 Euros for a 3-day pass: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/network-tickets

"but things in the Black Forest seem to be booked up and expensive already. " Baden-baden and Freiburg are not the only places in the Black Forest. In fact, I wouldn't even consider them good examples of the Black Forest. (Before I saw Baden-Baden, I had already spent almost 21 days visiting really small Black Forest towns. In comparison, Baden-Baden did not impress me at all.) Have you tried Triberg or Freudenstadt? How about Bad Herrenalb, Bad Wildbad, or Alpirsbach? The VRM Tageskarte is an excellent way to get around in that area. It's valid for unlimited travel all day (after 9 workdays) for one person from Oberwesel down to the VRM border below Remagen and up the Mosel past Cochem (to Bullay). However, Bacharach is just outside the VRM, so you'd have to pay extra to go to Bacharch (or Bingen). You sound like you are alone, but if not, the VRM Minigruppentageskart, for €20, is valid for the same area for up to 5 people.

Rick suggests this place in his Germany guidebook, and it was a real winner: http://www.hotel-am-markt-baden.de/en/index.html Clean, comforable, very friendly staff, etc. Great bfast each AM and great location; on quiet square across from a church and the Friedrishbad is about a 5 min walk away. Very reasoably priced and if you but your ticket there for the Friedrishbad, they take off a few Euros. Baden-Baden CAN be expensive, but this place is very resonably priced, and I loved it. Baden Baden is very pretty; a great, small, enjoyable city. I strongly suggest if IF you have the time. Very easy to take train to Triburg (for highest waterfall in Germany) and to Freiburg as side trips, which is exactly what I did.

Danielle, Since you're not adverse to seeing and staying in big cities, then I would say 4 nights alloted for Berlin is right, a fifth night, if you can pull it off. In line with the cities, spend that one night in Dresden or Leipzig, skipping Rothenburg o.d. Tauber. As part of your stay in Berlin, be sure to allow an afternoon in Potsdam, which you reach by taking the S-Bahn from Berlin.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I think I'll just head to the Rhine and save the Black Forest for another trip when I could rent a car and visit all of the small towns. Another quick question - looking at train schedules to get from Fussen to Bacharach, they often only allow 5-10 minutes for a connection. Do the trains in Germany generally run close enough to on-time that this is realistic to do?

"they often only allow 5-10 minutes for a connection. Do the trains in Germany generally run close enough to on-time that this is realistic to do?" Yes.

"I think I'll just head to the Rhine and save the Black Forest for another trip when I could rent a car and visit all of the small towns." It might take a decade to visit all the small towns in the BF. And when you get there, I suggest that, instead of a car, you use public transport, which is extensive, fun and dependable. It's also completely free if you stay of any of the 130 small towns that participate in the Konus program. Here's the list: http://www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info/service/konus/was_ist_konus/uebersichtskarte/hier_erhalten_sie_ihre_konus_gaestekarte

Not a lot has been said about your question about doing the Rhine as a day trip from Frankfurt. I think, that, Yes, it is very easy to do, though doing it from Mainz or Wiesbaden would be easy too. I do it all the time. Frankfurt is livelier though, with lots of museums, and a great cafe culture, clubs, etc. Just walking down the river is fun, or seeing all the buskers on the Zeil, our pedestrian shopping street. Frankfurt has its' share of original, medieval churches too, as well as the coronation cathedral, the Kaiserdom. The plus point for being in Frankfurt is the wide variety of things to do in the evening and the proximity to other small towns that would be good to visit. For example, going to Büdigen, instead of Rothenburg. Here you will find a medieval, walled town, with all original houses, but no tour buses and no souvenir stores, and with mainly just German tourists. It is an hour train ride outside of Frankfurt. Idstein is another lovely town, on the Fachwerk Route, but without the city walls. Kronberg, which is only 30 min. ride on the S-bahn out of Frankfurt has a lovely little castle, built in the 1200's. Bad Homburg has the summer residence of Kaiser Wilhelm 2, as well as the Saalburg, a reconstructed Roman fort. Here are some events happening in this area the first part of June. * 23rd Idstein Wine Festival, 2-5 June * Koenigstein im Taunus - Jousting Tournament, 3-5 June * Eltville Rose Festival, 4-5 June

Danielle, Bacharach would be a great choice for a short stay along the Rhine. I was there last year, and had a great time. As you've probably noted, the shortest travel time from Füssen is about 6H:13M with 3 changes. The small station in Bacharach is not staffed, but there's a Kiosk there for purchasing tickets. I arranged Bacharach as my last stop, as it's an easy trip from there directly to the Frankfurt airport for the flight home. Happy travels!

I'll make my usual alternative suggestion to the Black Forest- the Odenwald. It sits just to the south and east of Frankfurt- you have to go through it to get to and from there to Rothenburg. It has almost everything the Black Forest offers, from forested mountains, lakes, castles, fachwerk villages, great hiking, but no touristy souvenir shops... or skiing in the winter. It's right there, yet most foreign tourists bypass it.