There are a couple of things you could do.

#1. Paris is a great place to spend 10 days. Take the train and enjoy.

#2. If you want to get a taste of Germany and France. You'll start out close enough to the Black Forest for a lovely drive. Strasbourg France is right along the way and you could even get down to Zurich. (Keep in mind you will need a vignette for driving in Switzerland and Austria too.)

If you use google maps, you'll see that a drive from Ramstein, Strasbourg, Zurich, Munich and Salzburg is about 15 hours. Cut Zurich or Strasbourg out of there and you'll have a nicely paced vacation.

Enjoy.

cars are great for exploring places in between big cities but in a place like Paris ditch the car - a complete hassle otherwise - leave the car outside the city if driving - perhaps staying at a chain motel on the edge of Paris with a metro or RER station nearby.

Two nights in Paris is really not enough. You need at least one more.

With only 10 nights, I would scratch Salzburg and just stick to Paris, Munich, Garmisch, and either one or two nights in Ramstein (definitely need the one night there before you leave). That is more than enough for 10 days and would be a much more enjoyable pace without so many changes, which all require transportation time and checking in and out of hotels.

You are now thinking:
1. Arrive in Ramstein in the morning. Sleep in Ramstein .
2. Train to Paris
3. Paris
4. Tour Paris during day, Night Train to Munich
5. Arrive Munich A.M. Sleep in Munich
6. Drive to Salzburg
7,8,9. Salzburg or Garmisch
10. Drive to Ramstein. Sleep in Ramstein.
11. Fly home

I would recommend:
Days 1-5(for you, I am not a night train person)
1. Arrive in Ramstein. Train to Paris .
2. Paris
3. Paris
4. Tour Paris during day, Night Train to Munich
5. Arrive Munich A.M. Sleep in Munich.

Days 6-11, Option 1(Salzburg is in wrong direction, but if you must)
6. Drive to Salzburg. Tour and sleep Salzburg
7. Salzburg. Sound of Music tour, Hallein Salt mine
8. Drive to Garmisch. Afternoon choose from Mittenwald, Oberammergau, Linderhof, Ettal, Zugspitze
9. Garmisch. Kings castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, Wieskirche or from sites of day 8.
10. Drive to Ramstein.
11. Fly home

Days 6-11, Option 2 (you liked Switzerland, still a little far, may want to be near Swiss-German border-Bodensee )
6. Drive to Garmisch. Afternoon choose from Mittenwald, Oberammergau, Linderhof, Ettal, Zugspitze
7. Garmisch. Kings castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, Wieskirche or from sites of day 6.
8. Drive to Lucern or Grindelwald
9. Lucern or Grindelwald
10. Drive to Ramstein.
11. Fly home

Days 6-11, Option 3 (Or an Option 4 of all Germany)
6. Drive to Garmisch. Afternoon choose from Mittenwald, Oberammergau, Linderhof, Ettal, Zugspitze
7. Garmisch. Kings castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, Wieskirche or from sites of day 6.
8. Drive to Alsace- Colmar or Riquewihr. Tour Kayserberg castle.
9. Colmar or Riquewihr. Tour wine villages
10. Drive to Ramstein.
11. Fly home

Alsace, in the Franco-German Borders is one of the most beautiful places in France, it has a really great German Influence, it's actually a mix of Germany and France, really interesting and beautiful place. Visit Strasbourg, Riquewihr and Colmar, they are all stunning, been there believe me.

Down to ten days, unfortunately not enough time for the original ideas for your trip. You said Paris is a must, and IMHO, that is a great start.

Pick one other city in Germany and/or one area or base for countryside exploration in Germany and you have the makings of a wonderful trip. Consider Freiburg. It is picture perfect. Garmisch area is also lovely.

Whether you actually have 8, 9, 10 or 11 days depends on return flight possibilities. Keep that in mind for planning the last couple of days, what you can do if there is time and what you will leave off if time runs short.
One thing I can say with assurance. This will be a fantastic experience for you!

PetrosB3 is absolutely right, and that is logistically a great trip from Ramstein.

You could train to Paris, train to Strasbourg from Paris, rent a car and tour the Alsace. Check where to rent the car so you could return it in Ramstein without a penalty.

Two weeks was not enough for your original itinerary, 10 days most definitely is not! You need to cut our several places from your original idea to make this trip more do-able... and fun.

If you go to Paris, then go to Paris. You really will not have 10 full days in Paris because you will be getting there and then getting back to Ramstein.

You do have the perfect amount of time for a 1st trip to Paris for your anniversary.

Seriously, either go to Paris or stay in and around Germany. Don't rush through Germany, it's best savored slowly.

Thank you for your recommendations. You've given us A LOT to think about. Our planning is continuing to evolve based on everyone's input. I'll post what the final verdict is!

Not to rain on your parade but have you factored in the possibility of not getting on the Space A flight at Ramstein on day 11? Nothing is assured when flying Space A.

We're doing all of our homework in regards to Space-A, however we know nothing is guaranteed.

best not to book discounted tickets for days right after arrival - train tickets if the plane is iffy as those tickets are non-changeable from the specific train you book them on and are non-refundable (talking about German tickets - discounts may be available if tickets remain in that class up until the day before or so if you have online access in Ramstein however.

Nice to see that u changed trip to late april. Upon arriving at Ramstein, I would register for ur trip back to states. Its registration date, not first at roll call that puts u in a seat. ex-U arrive on 27 April and u register for flight back. U go back to Ramstein to catch a flight with a roll call of 1300 on 9 may. Couple A arrives at 1230 and states they want that flight. But they just register on May 1. Ur husband and u arrive at 1330. Even though u showed up later u get 1st preference for seat within ur category. Upstairs is a uso and they have a bank of computers that are free to use. Across from the terminal is the Ramstein Inn and the base exchange. Depending on ur husband rank, u may or may not be staying there. They have billets located thru out the base. We ended up in bld 304 about 1 1/2 mile from the terminal. They will shuttle you to ur billet once and bring u back. But they have post shuttle. Check times. Let u know now, you cannot use the px except for what u can drink or eat. You can buy cold cuts frozen pizza, water soda, etc but no socks or toothpaste. They have a chilli, so we ate and got wings to take back to our billet. Also, they will let u store ur luggage behind the check-in counter til ur ready to leave, if ur not staying at the main inn. Communications. how will u charge ur cell phone or tablet. They have adaptors but don't know if they sell them here in states. I agree with Sassafras. depending when u arrive at Ramstein, I would go directly to Paris. Oh almost forgot. inside Ramstein inn is a tour/travel agency, I believe they can book you a hotel in paris, if u don't have one booked by the time u arrive. Also being retired u can also use the tours they have.

Jersey61,
Things should work that way, but if you are not actually signed in at the beginning of roll call, they can put you at the bottom of the list. I know because we were coming from Frankfurt on the USO bus and roll call was 2:00. We actually called while we were on the bus to verify. However, so many people were there, they started roll call a half hour earlier than posted and they took everyone who was signed in by the beginning of roll call first. Sign-up dates counted, but only if you were there at the beginning of roll call. After calling all of those, they went back to calling by date. We had over 50 days on sign-up and were lucky to get seats. So, my advice: not fun, but get there a bit early, regardless of your sign-up date.

Also, the OP does not have to wait until they land in Germany to sign up for the trip home. They can do that from the States. I never saw if they are active or retired. If they are retired, they should sign up for the trip home about 10 days after signing up for the trip to Europe. If they are active, they can sign up for both as soon as their leave starts.

Sassafras, lucky you. Wished I could have used the USO bus, but found out they no longer provide service. Ended up using Alex limo from Frankfurt to Ramstein. Few extra Euros than train and less stress. Did it for the wife, I wanted to take the trains. oh, I agree with you as far as getting to any place early. When we left Paris to come back to Germany, we got to the station at 12:20 for a 1400 departure. After my wife haggled over souviners for the kids back home, it was 1300. Well, I never really looked at my ticket carefully. I thought est was some kind of code and that gare d'nord was the main and only station for international countries. Should have seen the terror in my eyes when I was told we had to be at gare d'est. Back downstairs to the metro line, of course at a main train station the line for the ticket machine is like 50 people long. At 3 to 5 min per person, do the math. Went right to the front and danced and begged to get in. After being allowed, found out the machine only took coins...no paper. Had coins till the wife made the souviners purchase. finally a woman gave us change--Oh, when we first arrived the day before, had problem trying to obtain a day pass for metro, so in frustration attempted to take a taxi to the hotel. Got about 2 blocks from the station, driver attempted to make a U-turn and ran right into a couple on a motorcycle. hub caps are rolling down the street, driver being attended to for nerves and shock. Couple being attended to..luckly no serious injury. we'll still sitting in taxi and meter is still going. WE just got out, walked back to train station and pointed to our hotel on map and got metro ticket. But we cant wait to go back.

Here is another who has done space a to Ramstein many times. Ramstein has always been one of the more difficult places from which to get back to the US - if you are category 6 (retired) it is tougher skill. That is because it is a very popular departure terminal, not to mention that there will be many leaving on environmental/moral leave who have priority over you. Changing to April will help a lot though. My last time leaving from Ramstein, and I was active then, I gave up after 3 days of trying and bought a ticket home from the travel office at a good discount because my leave was running out. I had a pretty good sign up date, but with cancelled flights and more and more people showing up I was out of luck. Similarly, you may or may not luck out with billiting on base, but if not the USO office upstairs can refer you a local place that would not be too expensive. We had to do that a few times and it was fine.

If you go to Paris, then the train from Kaiserslautern is your best bet. Go the same day you arrive in Ramstein rather than spend the night there - you can nap on the train. If you do stay your first day in Ramstein, try to get into town for awhile rather than hang around on base - it is a pleasant little place.

if you plan to visit the most beautiful castle in the world Neuschwanstein

here is a list of things to do during your stay

first of all book the hotel you like depending to your budget
here my top list ( after experience of 3 years in Hohenschwangau)

http://www.new-swan-stone.eu/2014/03...in-castle.html

---------- Things to do in Hohenschwangau ----------

** For One Day Stay

Neuschwanstein Castle
Hohenschwangau Castle
Bavarian Museum
Marien Bridge
Pöllat Gorge Waterfall
Alpsee Lake


** Two Days Stay


Tegelberg Cable Car , Toboggan (2Km from Hohenschwangau village )
Füssen Town (5Km from Hohenschwangau village )

Kristalltherme Schwangau (2Km from Hohenschwangau village )
Linderhof Castle (1hour drive from Hohenschwangau village )

Thank you very much!! I would really appreciate some more recommendations for hotels in Paris.

If you start a thread saying Looking for Parisian Hotel Advice and what you are looking for in terms of the type of a hotel you will get many answers - buried in this thread however not much.

Repost that question on a new thread.