Need Help Planning an Itinerary

Hi,

My husband and I (in our late 20%26#39;s) are planning a trip to Germany. We love to explore different cultures and aren%26#39;t as dedicated to visiting museums. I want to see castles and coutry sides and love nature. I know he wants to go to the mercedes and porshe museums. We probably only have about 5-7 days available for travel in Germany before we head off to Belgium and we are ok with moving around every 2-3 days.

What cities would you all recommend. Based on my research in these forums, my potential list is below but I don%26#39;t know how to narrow it down to meet our time frame. Please help.

-Munich

-Berlin

-Frankfurt

-Stultgart

-Salzburg

-Bavaria

-Black Forest

Thanks!

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The Mercedes Benz and Porsche Museums are in Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ). Besides other things to see and do in Stuttgart, 15 minutes away by S-bahn are also Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) with its well preserved medieval center, and Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) which has Germany%26quot;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), the Swabian Versailles, with several days worth of interesting things to see and do including the longest and best palace tour that I%26#39;ve been on in Europe.

A little further away is the lovely old college town of Tuebingen ( www.tuebingen.de ) which is our favorite place to repeatedly visit in Germany. Just north of it is the lovely well preserved medieval Bebenhausen Monastery (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ).

Close by is also the Swabian Alb ( www.schwaebischealb.de ), low mountains with lots of castles and caves and excellent cliffside scenery. Two fairytale-like castles of the Alb are Hohenzollern Castle ( www.burg-hohenzollern.com and Lichtenstein Castle ( www.schloss-lichtenstein.de only in German) where the shooting of a new version of Sleeping Beauty was completed this last summer.

The Black Forest ( www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info ) is also close to Stuttgart, and a little further away is Lake Constance ( www.bodensee-tourismus.com ) with Meersburg ( www.meersburg.de ) being the loveliest town on the lake which also has Germany%26quot;s oldest castle.

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Depending on where you are flying into and out of...If just starting out, I would fly into Munich for a day and 1/2, then down to Garmisch for a day, over to LInderhof, Ettal, Oberammergau, Wieskirche, Fussen (Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau castles), then make my way to Stuttgart taking in some as much of Marcopolko%26#39;s recommendations above as you can. Day or two in Stuttgart and then on to Belgium. Depends on where you are flying into..no shortage of country side views and castles...

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If you want countryside and nature, you need to keep away from the cities! For unspoilt nature and %26#39;real%26#39; Germany, come to the Bavarian Forest. Lots of walking on well marked which you will have pretty much to yourselves at any time of year. Pretty villages, lots of castles on the Bavarian and Czech side of the border and easy access from Munich with very good public transport.

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Depending on where you are flying into and out of...If just starting out, I would fly into Munich for a day and 1/2, then down to Garmisch for a day, over to LInderhof, Ettal, Oberammergau, Wieskirche, Fussen (Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau castles), then make my way to Stuttgart taking in some as much of Marcopolko%26#39;s recommendations above as you can. Day or two in Stuttgart and then on to Belgium. Depends on where you are flying into..no shortage of country side views and castles...

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Goto Rudesheim am Rhein, it is beautiful there. You can take a cable lift to the top of the hill with great views over the rhine. Then you go down with the ski lift to the next village where you can take a boat back.

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Just looked at your post again...after Stuttgart head north and maybe a stop in Heidelberg (brief), then up the Rhine with stops along the way and into Belgium. I would recommend the 7 days to ensure you get as much in as possible. Depending on time and where you are headed in Belgium, you can head up the Rhine, or cut over to Trier and the lower Mosel before you head into Belgium. Hope this helps!!