I will be in Germany from Sept 3rd to Sept 21st (approx)
I know I want to go to Munich, Berlin and a cute Bavarian town. My priorities are walking and photo taking.

I have posted here before with more specifics with my currently planned itinerary, but I agree with most that I was spreading myself too thin.

How many cities should I hit in 17 or so days? I will not be getting a car and i am travelling alone, so the fewer stops the better.

Looking for a few cities that would allow for interesting daytrips to neighbouring places.

Any recommendations?

"Cute Bavarian town"...lol!
What happened to Northern Germany? Like the North Sea, or beautiful "Emsland" which nobody seems to have ever heard about? How come everybody always wants to go to Bavaria? While it is a very beautiful part of Germany, there is so much more to Germany! the Northwest is extremely beautiful, in its own way! Why not go there? You wouldn't run into thousands of tourists there either. Explore something new!

very good advice. which is why I'm asking.

so please answer my question. in your opinion, what 4 cities/towns should I visit in Germany?

I don't want a whirlwind hopping from place to place spending one night in each destination.... so which 4 places should I explore.

And how much time should i spend in each of those places?

Berlin - 4 days
Dresden - 3 days
Munich - 6 days (with day trips)
Mosel Valley - 4 days

Hello!
Well, which 4 cities...well, it depends on what you like. I can tell you what I, personally, like and which cities are, in my opinion, worth exploring. I mean, Munich is most definitely a very beautiful city and you should probably spend a few nights there. But then all these other towns that I want to recommend are all in Northern Germany, so I don't know how feasible it is, but I love Bremen, which is in Northern Germany, Greetsiel, which is a small town even further North, Muenster, which is further South, or any of the cities along the Rhine. I would spend about 2 days in Bremen, 1 day in Greetsiel,1 day in Muenster and several days along the Rhine. So, what you could do is you could take the train...you could start in Munich, spend a few days there, then take the train to the Rhine area, spend a few days there, then explore the North. You could do all that in 17 days. And then, if you still have time and energy, you could go to Berlin afterwards, but honestly, I think all these other places I mentioned are much more beautiful than Berlin, but that is my own personal opinion. You'll have fun!

ill check out Mosel Vally....don't know ANYTHING about that area. Thanks dfr.

Mini, thanks for the suggestions. I know I'll have a great time no matter what. I am a city person, and I love art and culture. it's so hard to pick a few spots.

Hello Kaka:

We are doing a three week, semicircular tour of northern Germany in roughly the same time period. We begin in Koln, then to Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden, all by train. Each leg is relatively short so there are no elaborate train arrangements. All of the destination cities except Bremen are new to me and seem appealing. Gradyghost

> a cute Bavarian town. My priorities are walking and photo taking. <

Rothenburg o.d.Tauber and Bamberg.

Neither are Bavarian but both are 'cute' and also great for 'walking and photo taking'.

Also going in September and one
small town we decided on from researching
is Bamberg. Seems to be a favorite of
many.

Bamberg actually is in Bavaria. I would call it a beautiful and fascinating city rather than a "cute town." another very beautiful Bavarian city NE of Munich along the Danube is Regensburg.

I'd say Bamberg and Nurnberg.

I've thought of Bamberg as being in Franconia, which it is. Franconia is within Bavaria though.

I think of Nürnberg as a rather large city not a 'town' (Bavarian or otherwise) as the OP asked about...

Having visited Nurnberg recently (6 weeks ago), it is a nice town - I mean inside the old city wall. I'm sure it's a big city outside of the walls, but as far as a tourist is concerned, the old town is lovely.

Bamberg, Regensburg, Beilstein (It's not so much in itself, but we loved Hotel Haus Lippmann there, and it's close to my all-time favorite castle, Burg Eltz.) Also Meersburg is not to be missed. Relaxing, charming town. We stayed at the Gasthof zum Bären, with its unique oriel windows. Wúrzburg is also pretty, and the Residenz is a gorgeous palace, my favorite one. Not over-the-top rococo like Ludgwig's Linderhof. Just gorgeous!

Kaka,

for some places that are beautiful and well known to Germans, but almost unknown to Americans, and therefore less touristy, try the Allgäu (Al goy). That is the southwestern tip of Bavaria. Füssen is the eastern extreme of the Allgäu. A good place to go is Oberstdorf (www.oberstdorf.de), at the upper end of the Iller valley. Oberstdorf looks a little like Vail, except it is authentic. From there you can go up into the Kleinwalsertal, a part of Austria that is completely isolated from the Tirol, on the other side of the ridge.

Another good place to stay in the Allgäu would be Pfronten (www.pfronten.de). You can get to Pfronten easily from Munich by train. Use a Bayern-Ticket and go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From there take what is called the Ausserfernbahn through Reute to Pfronten. From Pfronten you can go back to Reute, take the bus to Füssen, or hike. Falkenstein, where Lugwig wanted to build his last castle can be reached on foot from Pfronten.

A large city to stay in while you access both the Illertal and Pfronten would be Immenstadt or Kempten. I think Immenstadt is prettier, but Kempten is on the western end of the Ausserfernbahn and therefore has better access to Pfronten and the Tirol.

Just west of Berlin, in the Harz mountain there are a few beautifully preserved medieval towns like Quedlinburg, Wernigerode & Goslar. Filled with leaning colorful half timber houses,Quedlinburg is set on a hill with the cathedral at the center top like a wedding cake. Wernigerode has a fairy tale castle standing above the 12th century town. From Wernigerode you can take the cable car to the resort town of Braunlage or narrow gauge train to climb the highest mountain top in Harz called the Brocken where all the witches came down from on their broomsticks. Stay in the old Kaisercity of Goslar at the very charming & reasonably priced hotel: www.kaiserworth.de. Both Goslar & Quedlinburg are designated as World Heritage treasure by the UNESCO. Goslar is 2 hours from Berlin by train while Quedlinburg is 3 hours from Berlin.

typo: ...with the cathedral at the center top MAKING THE TOWN LOOK like a wedding cake.

I am also partial to meandering the Mosel. From Munich it is easy to daytrip to many places including Salzburg, Garmisch, Ulm, etc. Bamberg, Rothenburg, Wurzburg & Heidelburg are also in close proximity (of each other). Of course, Cologne has the best beer (in my opinion) followed closely by Munich. On a prior trip - We started in Cologne (from BRU), wandered down the Mosel (visited Burg Eltz) & visited Luxemburg & Munich. Our time frame was similar & split between car & train. Berlin is a long way off, particularly if you are driving. Best case, fly into Cologne (or Frankfurt) & fly out of Munich. (I think). For pics, you can't beat Rothenburg.