We will be going in May and we will have 7-10 full days. We have never been to Germany
What are the must sees? We want to see castles, the countryside, picturesque villages etc. Also one of our grandsons is fascinated by WWII so what sites should we see? I know its not a long time but we will make it work and will cram in as much as possible. Thanks in advance!

Where are you arriving and departing Germany? That will help narrow your scope.

If you are going to be in southern Germany, Nuremburg is a good choice. You've got the parade grounds for the WWII buff son and a good castle. It is also a good base for seeing the surrounding countryside - Bamberg, Rothenburg, and Wuerzburg are all easily reached by train for day trips.

november_moon has it right about Nuremberg and surroundings. The "castle" in Nuremberg is a youth hostel. I'd spend 4-5 days in that area - known as Franconia - and 4-5 days in the Rhine/Mosel, where there is a multitude of excellent castles to tour:

www.burg-eltz.de
www.marksburg.de
http://www.st-goar.de/17-0-burg-rheinfels.html
http://www.burg-cochem.de/

Excellent falconry show at that last castle, Reichsburg in Cochem:

http://www.falknerei-reichsburg-cochem.de/fotobuch.htm

Trier, with lots of Roman ruins and other historical sights, is in this area too.

We are not sure Most likely frankfurt, Berlin or Munich. Is one better than the others? Cost is probably going to be a small factor. I am willing to spend a little more to fly if it will be easier tho

Frankfurt gives you easy access to Franconia (Nuremberg) and the Rhine/Mosel if that is what you choose to do. It will probably turn out to be the cheapest airport to fly into.

Munich gives good access to Nuremberg and Franconia, too, with the Alps the other nearby draw.

Berlin, which probably has as much WW II cachet as any place in Germany, plus all the Cold War intrigue, is the most "remote" of the three airports mentioned. It takes a little longer to get to Nuremberg and/or the Rhine from there that from either Munich or Frankfurt.

There a couple of ways to potentially deal with this; you could look into booking an open jaw flight - into Frankfurt and out of Berlin, for example. Or you could make your way from Frankfurt to Nuremberg, and then to Berlin, and then back to Frankfurt to leave. Berlin to Frankfurt is a little over 4 hours by train. You can connect right to the airport and just take hotel for the last night, for example.

I agree that the Rhine/Mosel area is an excellent idea for a first trip to Germany. Plenty of castles and gorgeous scenery (although I'm not sure when the vineyards leaf out). Burg Eltz near the Mosel is not to be missed. Cochem is a good town base for the Mosel. On the Rhine, Marksburg has a good tour; Rheinfels is a massive ruin, great for exploring. Another fun one that hasn't been mentioned yet is Burg Pfalz, in the middle of the Rhine - you have to take a boat to get there. For a splurge and a true castle experience, consider staying at the Hotel auf Schoenburg in Oberwesel on the Rhine.

For WWII history, probably the most famous site in southern Germany is Dachau, near Munich. Depending on your grandson's interests and maturity, it could be a very educational and thought-provoking visit for your family. If flying in/out of Frankfurt is the best option, you could start in Frankfurt, hit the Rhine/Mosel, then Munich, and then head back to Frankfurt.

"For WWII history, probably the most famous site in southern Germany is Dachau"

Quite true. But in the Rhine town of Remagen (north of Koblenz) there's a VERY good museum that chronicles the taking of the Rhine at this location by US forces; the museum is housed in the supports of the former bridge that crossed the Rhine there, and most of the displays have English descriptions. The 1969 film "The Bridge at Remagen", with George Segal, is an entertaining way to engender interest in the events there:

www.bruecke-remagen.de

Russ - I didn't know that the castle in Nuremburg was a youth hostel. We toured it a few years ago and didn't notice that part. Curious about why you put the word castle is in quotes too. It seemed like a real castle to me - fortification since the 11th or 12th century if memory serves, the tremendously deep well to help the occupants wait out seiges, big walls to keep people out, a moat, etc.

Nuremburg has the largest grouping of Third Reich sites if your son is interested in that aspect of WW2 - the old parade grounds where the Fuhrer (sp/) was in his special box in the stadium overlooking the vast parade grounds, all still there.

@n_moon: I was incomplete with my comments. The Nuremberg castle was a confusing place for me in that so much of it has been parceled out for different uses - the 350-bed hostel, banquet rooms, etc. and it isn't entirely accessible. It's an interesting place to see, however, if you're in Nuremberg, and I didn't meant to make it seem otherwise.

taylor - are you taking trains or renting a car? Trains go everywhere, even to Mad Ludwig's fantasy castles at Fussen - if going by train I'd elaborate more as I have ridden the rails in Germany now for too many years to admit.

Frankfurt is good to fly into and out of but not to visit; Munich and Berlin are good for flights but also have much to offer as stops.

Can you do an open-jaw? Fly into Frankfurt and out of Munich/Berlin? From Frankfurt do the Rhine-Mosel, then head out ot Nurnberg, etc. and end up in either Munich or Berlin.

Munich is where Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch took place, albeit much earlier than WWII, but still a critical piece in the history of the rise of Hitler to power. As mentioned Berlin has a lot to offer in terms of WWII, the Cold War, and also marvellous museums.

WE will be taking trains everywhere.

Fly into Frankfurt take train to Rhine Mosel region, from there take train to nurnberg, take train from there to Berlin

check out
http://www.thirdreichruins.com/misc_...htm#heidelberg

"WE will be taking trains everywhere."

DB has the best deals for long-distance travel.

Two can get from the Rhine/Mosel - say Koblenz - to N'berg for 49 Euros total, and from N'berg to Berlin for 49 Euros, using Sparpreis tickets (advance-sale for specific trains) at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

You should be able to get the Sparpreis tickets for May, assuming they'll still be offered at similar prices. But be sure you buy them 92 days in advance of your travel - when they first go on sale - to get the lowest prices.

The same tickets will get 2 pasaengers to Koblenz from FRA for 29 Euros.

You can check all these prices by inputting a fictitious travel date of December 8 or 9 or thereabouts.

For daytrips around the Rhine/Mosel, look into the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket (24 Euros/day for 2) and the VRM mini-group ticket (more limited travel range around Koblenz, 3 days = 40 Euros.)

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...-pfalz-ticket/

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...eisure-ticket/

Thanks for the clarification about the castle in Nuremburg Russ. I was wondering if we were talking about the same place, and we are.

If you are taking many train trips then be sure to also investigate the German Twin Railpass which allows you total flexibility to just show up at the station and hop any train anytime - the discounted tickets Russ thoughtfully mentions are train-specific and should be booked way in advance to get as they are sold in limited numbers per train.

If you want flexibility to hop any of the zillions of trains anytime then the pass will be a great deal as such fully flexible fares are often extremely expensive - there is also a cheaper Youth Pass for anyone under 26.

To me flexibility is priceless as I just like to get up whenever I feel like it and leisurely make my way to the station and not have to rush to make the one train my ticket is valid on - marshalling teens to get up and out IME is difficult and stressful perhaps.

Actually the German Railpass per day can be less even than the discounted Spar tickets - and the Lander or regional tickets also have restrictions on them - you cannot take the faster trains.

The railpass is also valid in full on K-D boats on the Rhine that are very popular with tourists and which your kids may especially like - and for castles the Rhine between Rudeshseim and Koblenz, the classic Rhine cruise, is studded with castles, many ruined but some like fabled Marksburg in pristine condition.

Great sources of info on German trains (besides Russ, above, one of Fodor's German train experts IMO) check out these Wunderbar IMO sites - www.budgeteuroeptravel.com; www,seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. www.bahn.de the official site of the German Federal Railways has all the schedules and fares to compare to a pass.

And if I were traveling with teens I would go first class because there are always IME of years of traveling on German trains oodles of empty seats in first class whereas with a group of 3 or 4 in 2nd class you will often be hard pressed to find seats together IME - the railpass is an especially good deal in first class compared to skyhigh first class fares.

Still confused on the best cities where to stay in the rhine mosel region, please help thanks

What kind of hotel budget? large hotel or small b&b? Please provide some parameters.

We love b&b but like hotels. And under $150 per night if possible. What else do you need?