I think you'll be moving around quite a bit for a short trip. I wouldn't add another destination for an overnight stay, but maybe that's just my preference.

The only standout hotel that I can add is the Gasthof zum Bären in Meersburg. We stayed in one of the corner rooms with the big oriel window, and we really liked it.

In Munich, I've stayed at the Hotel Westfalia, near the grounds of the Oktoberfest. It's comfortable, but inexpensive.

In Munich, there are many gorgeous churches, the Jewish museum, the Marianplatz, the English garden, excellent museums, the Viktualen Market for food at good prices, the Hofbrauhaus, lots of beer gardens. Even if you don't drink beer or wine, you can spend some pleasant hours having a nonalcoholic drink. Since you'll be there in November, you'll have to adjust for weather, though.

Munich's center is a fun place just for strolling. A bike tour would be fun also.

Staying overnight in Rothenburg is a good idea because in the evening and morning, the worst of the day-tripping tourists would be gone. I don't know that I'd stay 3 nights, though. Two would be enough for me.

thanks!
just to clarify, we'd be staying two nights in Rothenburg, arriving the night of the 14th and leaving the 16th.

We stayed in Mittenwald for 3 nights (which is near Garmisch). Lovely place in a good location. From there, one day we went to top of Zugspitze, another day we went to Linderhof (my favorite of Ludwig's Castles). On our way from Mittenwald to Rothenburg, we visited Ludwig's Neuschwanstein, then continued on to Rothenburg. Worked out great. I think 2 nights in Rothenburg would be perfect.

Hi JFG
Your itinerary should be described as follows:
9,10,11 Munich
12,13 Meersburg
14,15 Rothenburg
16 Munich

You have 8 nights to spend in Europe.

<1a. We were thinking of only staying in four places total - Munich, Meersburg, Rothenburg, then back to Munich.>
Makes no sense to split your stay in Munich on an 8 day trip.

<1b. However, we are wondering if there's so much to do in the Fussen/Garmisch area that we should spend a night there as well.>
Actually Fussen and Garmisch are 2 different locations, about 1 hour apart, each having their own sights.Yes, it is worth spending a night or two in either location.

Itinerary recommendations:
9,10 Meersburg
11 Hohenschwangau (closer to castles than Fussen)
12,13 Rothenburg
14,15,16 Munich

A more relaxing itinerary
9,10 Garmisch
11 Hohenschwangau (closer to castles than Fussen)
12,13 Rothenburg
14,15,16 Munich

Hotel recomendations

Garmisch
http://www.hoteledelweiss.de/english/garmisch.html

Meersburg
Gasthof zum Baren

Rothenburg
Burg Hotel

Hohenschwangau
Schlossrestaurant Neuschwanstein
Note: We stayed here 25 years ago. It is at the castle.Really liked it. But is not for everyone, some shared bathrooms.

Hi,

Having 2 different Munich stays make no sense in my opinion. Put Munich at the end of your trip as suggested by "dugi_otok". I personally like the second itinerary suggestion, with a few changes. Just my 2 cents.

9,10 Garmisch
I'd stay in Mittenwald, we stayed here twice and love Mittenwald.

11 Hohenschwangau (closer to castles than Fussen)
We've stayed twice in Fuessen. Love the old town and just 10 min. from Neuschwanstein.

12,13 Rothenburg

14,15,16 Munich

You could actually add a night to Garmich/Mittenwald, omit the Hohenschwangau/Fuessen night and visit Neuschwanstein from either Garmisch or Mittenwald.

Paul

I stayed at the Hotel Eisenhut, www.eisenhut.com, in Rothenburg, and it was lovely -- right down from the main square.

I also enjoyed the Hotel Muller, www.hotel-mueller.de, at the base of Neuschwanstein and next to Hohenschwangau.

I stayed at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof in Munich. It is a beautiful, grand hotel.

JFG

The way you described your itinerary is perfectly fine.

I agree that you should probably move on from Munich directly after arriving and only stay there overnight at the end of the trip. It is easier to do this than rushing back ot munich on your last day to catch a flight (if you even have time) or splitting your stay.

I am one who would skip staying in G-P or Fuessen for this trip. It can be done as a day trip from Munich.

That leaves you with a 2:30 drive to either RodT or meersburg after landing. You probably don't want to drive with jet-lag - correct? it's a personal decision, only you or your BF know if you would be comfortable doing it. Personally, I do it all the time for up to 3

That would give you a recommendation of;

RodT 2 nights
Meersburg 2 nights
Munich 4 nights (leave Meersburg early and visit G-P on way to Munich)

If you are not comfortable doing that, then it is a much quicker drive to G-P and you could do

G-P 1 night
Meersburg 2 nights
Rothenburg 2 nights
Munich 3 nights

thanks for all the feedback!
just to clarify, we are only going back to munich on our last night because our flight will be early the next morning. we are going to see munich first because it allows us to recover from the flight and get our bearings, and we are also planning to do a day trip to salzburg from there.
we've expanded our trip a bit, so that we have four days to spend in southern Germany. the additional time would allow us to drive to Herrenchiemsee on our way from Munich to Mittenwald (I know it's the opposite direction, but we will have an entire day for that drive). based on comments here and other places, we will probably stay in Mittenwald or Oberammergau and do a day trip out to Lake Constance.
thanks for all the hotel suggestions - some of them don't have availability, but we will still have plenty to choose from!

Mittenwald to Lindau is about 2.5 hours and to Meersburg is 3 hours. That is one big day trip. have you dropped it from the overnight rotation?

I think we all understood why you were returning to Munich the last night - most who responded have probably done what you are planning and, as a result, decided that spending your last day packing and driving to the departure city, unpacking and then packing again is not a great way to end a vacation.

By the same token most of us have probably also hopped in into our rental car and driven to our first overnight right after arriving and have found that we are so pumped about the trip that fatigue is not an issue.

Adrenalin is your friend.

Regarding Lake Constance, we are working out whether we'd prefer a day with a fair amount of driving or adding another stop/unpack/repack to our trip.

Herrenchiemsee by the time you drive there, park, get the ferry over, walk to the palace, take the tour, walk back to the ferry, back to Stock and your car, etc., that is going to take you several hours so remain aware of that. It is well worth the effort since the palace is the largest and most elaborately decorated of the four Ludwig "builds" including Linderhof. It is unfortunate that you are unable to combine the Herrenchiemsee visit with your trip to Salzburg since it is right on the way and would eliminate any backtracking.

As Dukey1 stated, I'd allow about 2.5 to 3 hours for Herrenchiemsee alone. You'll park, buy a ferry ticket, take a 15 minute boat trip to the island. Here you'll buy the tickets to tour the palace. You then walk about 20 minutes (level, easy walk) to the palace. The tour takes about 30 to 40 minutes. Then reverse. Figure nothing's perfect, so waiting for the boat to leave, the tour times, etc. will also take time.

Paul

Shame you will be a little early for the Christmas Markets which open around our Thanksgiving. IMHO Meersburg is cute but a pretty good ways out of the way for the experience. I would do Munich with a daytrip on the train to Salzburg. Then after you pick up your car go toward Garmish on the autobahn. You can go to Garmish and Mittenwald if you like then back track a little to go toward Fussen. Stop at the Ettal Monastary, Linderhof, Oberammergau, Wiesekirche then on in to Schwangau or nerby Fussen. After you do the castles here you should head north to Rothenburg. Close to that, Dinkelbuhl is cute. You probably won't need more than one night in Rothenburg to experience it. If you do go on to Meersburg you may want to make a stop at Lindau. It is a nice cute town. It is also close to Lichtenstein. Whichever way you go have a great trip and have one of those lovely schneeballs in Rothenburg for the rest of the Fodorites.

thanks again for all the suggestions!
@AisleSeat, i really do wish we were going to be there for the christmas markets - it's the best time of year to be in germany, in my opinion! but we will have to do that another time.
we decided to go ahead and rearrange a little bit so that we can stay in lindau. that way we can see lindau, meersburg, and even go into switzerland if we decide to do so.
do you recommend any car company over another? i am consider avis (i have status with them) and sixt. we already found out about the winter tires issue, so we are prepared for that.

I have used Gemutlichkeit Travel Gemut.com a number of times. Bob or Andy Bestor can get you the best deal and make sure you pick up your car away from an airport or train station to save the 19% surtax.