Help with a 4 night stay in Germany

"historic Nazi locations" There are very few remnants of this time period in Germany, other than the Autobahn. Most structures with a Nazi connection were damaged during the war, then demolished afterwards. The few that remain include the Eagle's Nest above Bertchesgarden (the Berghoff complex below has been completely erradicated), the ruins of the party rally field near Nuremburg, and one building in Munich that was left untouched (forget if it was the local Luftwaffe HQ or police HQ). There are also the remains of a few concentration camps, and some ruins of the West Wall along the border with France. Others may know of more, but to my knowledge, that's about it.

You now have a chance to visit the real beauty of Germany, not just the artificial touristy one (like Neuschwanstein, Rothenburg, Heidelberg etc.). From Copenhangen take the train to Hamburg. Stay in Hamburg for at least two full days. Then rent a car, drive to Lüneburg for half a day, then continue onwards to Goslar. Stay over night. The next day visit Saba Burg castle (the ORIGINAL sleeping beauty castle the Grimm brothers visited and had in mind when writing their fairy tales) and Herkules monument and park in Kassel. Either stay over in Kassel or continue to Marburg. Start the next day with a walk thru that magnificent medieval city that's home of the firt ever Christian but non-Catholic university. End your day in Frankfurt.

Depending on time, I'd recommend stops in both Hamburg and Koln (Cologne)

Although I like the "artificial touristy" Germany of Andreas's message, I also much enjoyed Goslar for an overnight as he mentioned. We used to be stationed in northern Germany and I had to attend many functions in Heidelberg. We most often stopped in Goslar on the way south, both for its half-timber houses (Fachwerk Häuser) and for a nice walk along a series of ponds in town.

Regards, Gary

This is good advice about the Fairy Tale Road. It appears that we can do a side trip to the Bergen Belsen Concentration camp? Is that worth it? Because our flight leaves early from Frankfurt and we don't want to deal with driving in the AM, dropping the car, etc. we are going to stay at the airport in Frankfurt the night before. If we stay 1 night in Hamburg, 1 night in Goslar, then one night in Kassel or Marburg? I think Marburg is only an hour from Frankfurt but it sounds charming. Maybe Kassel is better to stay at?

My kids first went to Germany at age 8 and 11, so I'm keeping 'kids' in mind with my post.

Not sure how the trains run from Copenhagen, but I'd go to Cologne. The cathedral (Dom) is awesome, kind of creepy for kids in a fun way. Then you can drive up and down the Rhine River (maybe do a boat cruise) and go castle-hunting, which is what my kids loved most of all. We toured Marksburg but there are so many castles to see; some have been converted to hotels that would be fun to spend the night in.

We also had the flexibility of a car and drove along the Rhine and saw the brown signs along the way that had the name of a castle and an arrow. We'd just follow a sign and see where it took us; the kids considered it was a treasure hunt of sorts.

You might consider traveling further south towards Nuernberg to Zirndorf, where the Playmobil Fun Park is located, but that would be a fair stretch.

There is no reason to stay near the airport in Frankfurt. There are so many reasonably priced hotels in the city and it is easy to get to the airport too. The subway only takes between 11-15 min. depending on which stop you get on at. With a group ticket of 14 euro, it doesn't cost that much either. You might even think about seeing some sights in Frankfurt.

If you will be in Northern Germany, then you might want to visit Sachsenhausen Concentration camp rather than Bergen Belsen. Here are the websites for both camps.

http://www.stiftung-bg.de/gums/en/index.htm

http://www.bergenbelsen.de/en/

Where you planning on stopping in Berlin?

Be aware that school vacations occur at different times during the summer in Germany in the various states. This will increase the traffic in those states considerably. You can check the dates here:

http://www.holidays-info.com/School-Holidays-Germany/2009/school-holidays_2009.html

Thanks Jo (and everyone for that matter). Is it worth it to visit that concentration camp? Unfortunately, we would like to see Berlin but I just don't think there is enough time. We will be getting off a cruise from the Baltic and this trip has to be rather short. Berlin another time! :) If we have time we will certainly visit Frankfurt. What sites are must sees if we end up having time?