Ten days is enough to cross Germany properly and see how little the two ends of it resemble each other. It is not enough to see the country comprehensively, and trying will produce a trip made mostly of train windows.
This itinerary runs north to south: Berlin, Dresden, the Rhine, and Bavaria. It follows the rail network rather than fighting it, and it ends in the Alps, which is the right way round.
Fly into Berlin, out of Munich. Open-jaw tickets cost little more than returns.
The route
- Days 1–3: Berlin
- Day 4: Dresden
- Days 5–6: Cologne and the Rhine gorge
- Days 7–8: Munich
- Days 9–10: Bavarian Alps and Neuschwanstein
Before you book: the ticket question
This route involves several long hops, which puts it in the awkward middle ground for the Deutschland-Ticket.
At €63 a month it covers all regional trains and all local transport nationwide, but excludes the fast ICE and IC services. Berlin to Cologne on regional trains is possible and takes most of a day; on an ICE it takes about four and a half hours.
Two workable approaches. Either buy ICE tickets early for the three long legs — advance fares are far cheaper than walk-up — and skip the pass. Or take the pass and accept slower regional connections, which suits the Rhine and Bavarian sections particularly well since those are regional-train regions anyway.
The pass runs on calendar months, not on your travel dates. A trip crossing month-end needs two.
Days 1–3: Berlin
Berlin needs three days and could absorb a week. It is not a beautiful city and it does not try to be. What it has is the most legible twentieth century of any capital in Europe, and a scale that means every neighbourhood is effectively a separate town.
Give the first day to the historical spine — Brandenburg Gate, the Holocaust Memorial, Checkpoint Charlie, and the East Side Gallery stretch of the Wall. The second to Museum Island, which holds five museums and deserves at least two.
The third day should be spent in a neighbourhood rather than at a sight: Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Prenzlauer Berg, which is where the city’s actual character lives.
Our Berlin travel guide covers the neighbourhoods and museums in more detail.
Day 4: Dresden
Two hours south of Berlin, and the reason to stop rather than pass through is that Dresden compresses an entire baroque capital into about 800 metres.
The Frauenkirche, rebuilt from rubble and finished only in 2005, the Zwinger palace complex, and the Semperoper are all within a short walk. The Historic Green Vault treasury needs pre-booked timed tickets — sort this before you leave home.
If you have the appetite, cross the Elbe into the Neustadt in the evening, which survived the bombing and became the city’s alternative quarter.
Staying the night here rather than day-tripping from Berlin is what makes the rest of the day worth having. Full detail in our Dresden guide.
Days 5–6: Cologne and the Rhine
The long leg of the trip — Dresden to Cologne is most of a travel day. Break it with an afternoon arrival and give Cologne the evening: the cathedral is directly outside the station, and the Kölsch breweries in the old town are the right introduction.
Day six goes to the gorge. Take a regional train south into the UNESCO stretch between Bingen and Koblenz, base yourself around Bacharach or St Goar, and use a combination of train and river boat to work between the villages. Rheinfels castle at St Goar is the one ruin substantial enough to spend real time in.
Our Cologne and Rhine Valley guide covers how to combine boats and trains.
Days 7–8: Munich
South to Bavaria, and a noticeable change in register — Catholic, conservative, wealthy, and far more invested in regional identity than anywhere further north.
Day seven is the old town: Marienplatz, the Viktualienmarkt, and a beer hall or garden in the evening. The English Garden is larger than Central Park and full of people doing nothing on a warm day, including surfers on a standing wave at the Eisbach.
Day eight belongs to museums — the Deutsches Museum or the Pinakotheken — or to a day trip. Our Munich travel guide has the detail.
Days 9–10: the Alps and Neuschwanstein
Finish in the mountains. Neuschwanstein is about two hours from Munich, and the essential thing is that entry is timed and sells out — book weeks ahead, and allow 90 minutes between arriving in the village and your tour slot, because you still have to collect tickets and climb the hill.
Full mechanics in our Neuschwanstein guide.
The better version of these two days uses Füssen or Garmisch-Partenkirchen as a base rather than commuting from Munich twice. That gives you the castle on one day and an Alpine day on the other — the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak, is reachable by cog railway and cable car from Garmisch.
Compare stays in Munich and the Alps
Variations
Reverse it. Munich to Berlin works identically and may be cheaper on flights.
Swap the Rhine for Hamburg. If ports and modern architecture appeal more than castles and vineyards, run Berlin – Hamburg – Munich instead. It is a cleaner route with less backtracking.
Swap Bavaria for the Black Forest. If you prefer forest and rail journeys to Alps and castles, substitute Freiburg and the Black Forest for the final leg.
Seven days: drop the Rhine. Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Neuschwanstein.
Fourteen days: add Hamburg after Berlin and the Black Forest after Bavaria, and slow the whole thing down.
Practical notes
Book Neuschwanstein and the Green Vault before you leave. They are the only two hard reservations on the route, and both sell out.
Sunday closing is nationwide. Plan any shopping around it.
Carry cash. Card acceptance has improved but small restaurants and bars can still be cash-only.
Avoid Munich during Oktoberfest unless that is the point of the trip — it runs mid-September into early October and prices peak.
Frequently asked questions
Is 10 days enough for Germany?
Enough to cross the country and see four contrasting regions properly — Berlin, the east, the Rhine and Bavaria. Not enough to see Germany comprehensively; the country is large and the distances are real.
Should I get the Deutschland-Ticket for a 10-day trip?
It depends on your legs. At €63 it covers all regional trains and local transport but excludes ICE services, so long hops like Dresden to Cologne become slow. Buying advance ICE tickets for the three long legs is often the better call.
What should I book in advance for Germany?
Neuschwanstein tickets, which are timed and sell out weeks ahead, and the Historic Green Vault in Dresden, which has capped timed entry. Everything else on this route takes walk-ups.
Which direction is better, Berlin to Munich or Munich to Berlin?
Either. North to south finishes in the Alps, which is the stronger ending. South to north can be cheaper on flights.
Can I add Hamburg to a 10-day Germany itinerary?
Yes, by dropping the Rhine section. Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and the Alps is a cleaner route with less backtracking than trying to fit all of them in.
How far is Neuschwanstein from Munich?
About two hours each way by train to Füssen plus a local bus. Regional trains on that route are covered by the Deutschland-Ticket.
