Help with first trip to Germany

If you intend to be in Munich anyway, then I would recommend that, if you decide against Poland, then you can visit Dachau which is virtually a suburb of Munich.

Since Berlin is on the must vist list, you might take a train to the west to Magdeburg with a stop in Potsdam. Magdeburg doesn't have a LOT, but there are some interesting things there. The cathedral area in particular. I was there in 2001 so things may have changed quite a bit since then, but when I was there, we didn't run into a single English-speaking person in Magdeburg and it was still very Eastern-block in look and feel. For me it was an excellent counterpoint to Berlin.

I guess I should have mentioned that what there is to see in Magdeburg is WWII related. Some VERY moving things around the cathedral. If I recall correctly, there were some people either buried alive or kept in what was basically a crypt. I took a photo of the stone block commemorating it, but I haven't seen that photo for years so I don't remember exactly what it said. Also, in 2001 you could still see remnants of buildings destroyed in the bombing raids and the post office has a color change in the exterior marking where they rebuilt from.

Wendy
First congrats.We will be going to Germany ourselves for the first time as well in 55 days. However, from what I have read and what others have posted, and my knowledge of geography, Auchwitz is a long distance from Berlin for example is about 600 miles by train/car.Therefore I would nix that part since it would take over 8hrs. With regards to WWII, Aachen is in Rhine/Mosel region( Remagen Bridge) Nuremburg and Munich are near each other and can be accessed with train and/or car. While in Southern Germany, there is Bertesgarten( Eagle's Nest) I plan to take a car since I like to drive,yet I am aware that there is "sticker shock" with gas prices ...at least 5-6/bucks a gallon. The trains in Europe on the other hand with their schedules and other pitfalls do ROCK...Lot of fun. Since we have the same time frame of days, try to shave some non-essential places from your itinieray. Try not to overcrowd places to see. It is too be savored and not to be rushed through just to say we went to the parking lot, saw it, scratched it of the list, c'mon lets go to the next site...There will always be another trip. Happy Travels

Nurenburg is great for a WWII buff; you can tour the Nazi rally grounds and then visit the "Dokumentationszentrum" museum http://www.museums.nuremberg.de/documentation-centre/index.html. Berlin of course has all the Berlin Wall stuff that can get a little too touristy sometimes. I spent 3 months in Germany and I think all the WWII relics are very interesting, but honestly the thing that I regret most was not learning the language very well and not interacting with the people enough.

Germany is very beautiful also, so I wouldn't get bogged down with all the war history. Take a cruise down the Rhein, rent bikes and just ride around until you're lost, visit a winery...Learning the train system is fun and gets to be exciting when you're on a schedule and trying to rush to get on your train to get to your next city.

Europe is so convenient, you can literally take the train into the central station, get off and in a few minutes you're right in the middle of everything. You will have fun!

If WWII sites are a priority, Germany, surprisingly, is not really the best place to concentrate. Most of the war was fought on territory outside (or is now outside) of Germany proper, and very few remnants of the Nazi era remain.

Besides the D-Day beaches (not recommended as a daytrip from Paris, BTW), the heaviest concentrations of the remains of the war, memorials and cemetaries run from the border regions of northeast France, up through eastern Belgium and on to the southeast of the Netherlands. Also, largely ignored by most American tourists, theres are several fascinating sites related to the Battle of the Scheldt, running west from Antwerp on either bank of the river.

It looks like your trip won't take you farther east, but here's where the real treasure trove of WWII-era sites lie, particularly in Poland, Russia and the Baltic Republics (some of the propaganda at the Russian sites, however, is a little repugnant if you ask me).

I've been to Berlin and Munich and they're nice, but I couldn't recommend making the trip out to Krakov and Auschwitz enough. It was definately the highlight of my European backpacking trip eight years ago (which included Berlin and Munich). It's definately worth the trip, and it's dirt cheap too.

I also wanted to say that if you're going to Munich, Dachau concentration camp is near there; no need to to travel all the way to Auschwitz.

Also, I love traveling everywhere by train, BUT you have to be careful how you pack. We found it difficult lugging 26" suitcases on and off the trains; most people had much smaller weekend-type luggage that fit in the overhead storage. We had difficulty twice finding the luggage storage area when our seats were in the main compartment and the luggage area was in a completely different car. :(

I like your destinations overall. If the hubby wants a WW II experience, you really need to see the D-Day beaches, I believe. Spend at least a couple of days around Bayeux and see Arromanches and Omaha Beach. What does Paris? mean? It's optional?

But you don't have time for everything you've planned. Even without Paris, a rushed trip might look like this:

Day 1: Arrive Paris, train to Caen, overnight there.

Day 2-3: Rent car, see Normandy.

Day 4-6: Take train into Germany, see Rhine/Mosel region: See Trier, tour castles, cruise river, see wine villages. Note: German bunker in Irrel, north of Trier, only possible on Sunday afternoons and on holidays; you will need another day:

www.westwallmuseum-irrel.de/index_en.html

Note 2: WW II museum in Remagen on Rhine, very good: www.bruecke-remagen.de/index_en.htm

Day 7-10: Take train to Berlin; 4 nights scratches the surface.

Day 11-12: Travel to Nuremberg, see city

Day 13: Rothenburg (daytrip from Nuremberg if you don't want to switch hotels.)

Day 14-17: Salzburg, Munich, Dachau

Personally, I would just skip the chaos that is the Oktoberfest and skip Munich altogether. Allocate some time to the other places or maybe spend a day in lovely, well-preserved Bamberg, north of Nuremberg; lots of good beer in this area (Franconia) too!

Having driven a good bit in Germany, I'm a big fan of trains there. It's more relaxing, time-saving, and inexpensive, generally, when compared with driving.

I think I would divide the time more between Normandy and the D-Day beaches - take a look at the Battlebus Tours website, and Berlin. From Berlin you can take day trips to Sachsenhausen and Ravensbruck, or to Dresden and Potsdam. Beautiful palace in Potsdam! With time left over, spend a few days along the Rhine. Though the Black Forest is pretty, the Rhine is more impressive. Would not bother with going down to Munich during the Octoberfest madness, but that is just me, it does not sound attractive to me. Perhaps save Bavaria for another trip?

We just got back from Germany and France yesterday. Since you're going during the month of September you should go on a Rhine A Flame cruise. If you do, though, make sure you book your hotel early. I waited too long and couldn't find a hotel in Rudesheim or anywhere close by. Ended up having to stay about 25 minutes away late at night.

Rothenburg is wonderful. We stayed in two different places, one recommended by Rick Steves, a B & B and the other an apartment owned by the friend of the lady we first stayed with. We had a miscommunication problem and she only booked us for one night.

Don't overdue the moving from town to town, it gets really old driving from one place to another every other day. The longest we stayed in one place was three nights.

Thank you for the replies so far.
We are not going for just WWII sites alone but would like to have a nice mix of things. We love history and architechture as well. And believe it or not my hubby loves gardens.
We are still working on days we want to go. How crazy is Munich a week or so before Oktoberfest? Would it be ok to go then?
Thanks Again!

Hello, Wendy:

Your 17 days gives you a good deal of flexibility, and you've certainly received much good guidance here. If the two of you are very interested in WWII sites, then you should make a point to spend at least three days in Normandy. As suggested by Russ, Bayeux makes for an ideal base. The hotel Churchill is especially nice and welcoming, located a very short distance from the town's splendid cathedral. From Bayeux you're not too far from Paris, so it would make good sense to spend a few days in that marvelous city.

From France, you can then dedicate the remainder of your trip - about 11 days - to Germany. (See if you can catch a Ryanair flight from Beauvais Airport to Berlin.) I wouldn't spend any less than three full days in Berlin, one of Europe's most fascinating, cutting edge cities. Come to think of it, add another overnight in Berlin and make an easy day trip to Dresden, an underrated Baroque jewel of a city (see Rick's chapter on Dresden in his latest Germany guide). There is much lovely architecture and some memorable museums in Dresden; don't miss it.

For the remainder of your trip, head south and spend your remaining week in two or three locales, Nuremberg, Rothenburg, and Munich, with the latter as your departure point. All three places have much to offer. By trip's end you will have experienced a terific mix of great cities, moving history, and top-notch tourist destinations. What a fine way to celebrate 20 years!

Best of luck.

We were in Germany and France at the end of June through end of July. We went on one of the Battlebus tours in Normandy and if your husband is a WWII history buff he will want to go on one of them. It's one of the few things my teenagers thought was interesting. They were bored most of the rest of the trip. We went on the American Highlights Tour and if I ever go back I'm planning on taking the 2 day tour.

We also went to Dachau, Germany, lots of history about the war and events leading up to it, and even after.

A lot of good advice has already been given, and I can maybe add a little.
First of all, I think it's commendable that you really are going to all parts of Germany, but it might be too much at once. I might recommend leaving out the Black Forest or Rhine. Maybe doing France (sorry I don't know much about there) to Rhine (could fly from Paris to Frankfurt or take a train from Paris to Cologne and then venture to smaller towns from there) to Berlin (could also just fly here from France). Be aware that a train trip to Krakow would last an entire day; therefore, I would probably save that for another trip. There may be flights though, I'm not sure. However, there are other parts of Poland closer to the border nearer to Berlin.
From Berlin you could go south to Bavaria (maybe stopping in Dresden inbetween as mentioned) and explore several of the cities there. Nuremberg does have a lot of WWII history but also lots of other things - I lived a year outside of the city, so if you have any questions about this area or any smaller little day trips, let me know. Munich and Rothenburg can definitely be done as day trips from Nuremberg as well. Salzburg would probably be stretching it though.
One great thing about Germany is that it's fairly compact and that there are often so many interesting things in the surrounding areas of cities, like interesting nature regions or cute little towns. A lot of cities also have parks, but they're normally not directly in the center, so you just have to look for them, but they'll probably be there! Munich's English Garden is a famous one. If you're looking for more planned gardens, they often appear as part of palace complexes. The German rail system is great, here's the web site: www.db.de. Here you can look at travel times, prices, etc. The train is very extensive and dependable; some areas are best done by car though. I can also answer some questions about the train system if you have them.
Happy travels!

Wow, thank you for the replies so far. I have been thinking that with the time we have it might be wise to pick a few cities/towns to have as a home base then do day trips from there. So here is an update as to where would like to go.
Berlin
Rhine
Nurenburg
Black Forest
Rohtenburg/romantic road
Bavaria (not Munich)
Paris/ Normandy

I have also been playing with dates ect.. for 2010 and it looks as if this could turn into a 20 day trip. So please keep suggestions coming. Thanks

Wendy