Where should I go in Germany?

I guess for you as american bavaria would be the most interesting considering that most stereotypes foreigners have about germany come from there. So head south to Munich and the alps. You could continue your travel from there to the west in direction of the Bodensee, black forest, Stuttgart. Very nice landscape there and the small mediavel villages etc. that you don't have in america. From Stuttgart you could take a train to Berlin to see something of the other parts of germany. It's only a half day travel. Germany is smaller then california so i see no problem if you start your travel in a different direction.

But in case you want to go on a direct roadtrip from Frankfurt to Berlin i suggest you to make stops in Eisenach (big ass medival castle there), Erfurt (one of the nicest citys in germany with lots of restored medieval buildings), Weimar (cultural capital of germany thanks to Goethe and Schiller). Close to Weimar is the former concentration camp of Buchenwald if your interested in nazi history. Then head to Leipzig. It's also a nice city. And before you go to Berlin visit Potsdam. Another very nice city.

Munich:

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Castle Neuschwanstein:

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Bodensee:

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Castle Hohenzollern in the Black Forest:

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Wartburg near Eisenach:

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Erfurt:

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Monument of the Battle of the Nations in Leipzig

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Sans Souci palace on Potsdam

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a tour through the "rhine land" might be interesting too. a trip to cologne might be worth a day. there is a lot of sightseeing and roman culture relict. as in any german area you should check out local beer breweries. the taste can strongly differ between each region/city. i recommend eating in one of the "brauhaus"es because those are the places where you will get "german food".

as mentioned the south is really beautiful. a trip to "freiburg" can be nice too. it is an old city with a lot of old buildings and historical background. it offers a nice mix of culture and nature.

No Steppenwolf and Hessi are WRONG, come to the north-west of Germany it is much nicer here!!

No seriously, don't go to the North. There is Hamurg and uhh..lemme think Hannover, Bielefeld (hey we got a castle too!), a couple of monuments of big warriors and kings who kicked Roman ass 2500 years ago...but other than that not a whole lot and everything is so spread out it might be better to focus on a few towns in the south and make your way to the east if you depart from Berlin anyway.

I don't think Frankfurt has soo much to offer for an American tourist, it got skyscrapers which is unusual for a German city, so it is probably more interesting for Germans than Americans. Maybe check out the Römer and some of the old buildings around it, but to be honest, you can get a lot more and better than that in smaller Southern towns.

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If you head (straight) south to Stuttgart, you might as well make a stop in Heidelberg! I've never been there (sadly), but it looks like a really beautiful town. The oldest German university is there and a whole lot of other pretty stuff to look at.

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Stuttgart is bigger and bit more industrial again, if you are interested in cars, it's the place to go though. Mercedes Benz got a pretty kick-ass museum there. Interesting from an architectural point alone:

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Munich is pretty much self explanatory, nice, big, expensive city. Maybe a bit touristy but I think it's worth dropping by the Hofbräuhhaus and just take a look around.

If you head north, on your way to the east, it might be nice stopping by Coburg. Not sure if it's worth it after seeing Heidelberg, but Coburg is quite nice too. It hasn't been bombed in WW II and everything is rather compact. It literally takes just a few hours to climb up to the castle, through the inner city, check out the squares etc.

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Definitely take yourself one or two days in Berlin to visit some of the museums. If you are interested in German history, this is where you can learn the most.

id really like to visit the black forest next holiday

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Weizen Bier (traditional South-Bavaria) (you may differ Kristallweizen, Naturtrüb (Hefeweizen), and Dunkelweizen)Pils (original from czech but today one of the most spread kinds, traditional especially in the middle and west of germany)

Schwarzbier (Black Beer as it's traditional up in the north and in the cloisters in north-bavaria and south-hesse)

Bockbier

Export

Zwickel (unfiltered and most healthy)

Märzen

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I can only concur. Please note down the items on this list and drink them in this order from top to bottom, bottom to top, repeat. Best advice you can get for a trip through Germany

Try out some beers is a must in germany. I also recommend that you try out different fast food sausages that you can get on the streets. Each region has its own speciality and they are all very delicious. In Frankfurt you get the "Frankfurter Würstchen", in Nurenberg the "Nürnberger Bratwürstchen" (e-freak recommended them already), in Munich you get "Weisswurst", in Thuringia (the region where Eisenach, Weimar, Erfurt is located you get the "Thüringer Rostbratwurst" and in Berlin you get the "Currywurst". If you only had Hot Dogs in your life this will make a nice diversion. Of course its the best to eat them with one of the local beers as a drink.

Quote from Steppenwolf

in Munich you get "Weisswurst"

This reminds me of my American roommate who mistook Weisswurst for Bratwurst and tried to prepare it like a Bratwurst in a pan, of course WITH the skin

I'm sure Jon won't make such mistakes after his trip

Safest would be he orders it at a biergarten or a pub and remembers _not_ to eat the skin.

-snip-

If you want to go from Munich in direction of Dresden you could choose a route tru the czech republic and spent 1-2 days in Prague. It's one of the best citys in central europe. Really nice, awesome old architecture. Famous for great food and beer. Hollywood often makes movies there nowadays.

If you are stopping by Weimar look for the ruins of the Bauhaus, if there are any

Tottally off-topic, I know.. but damn, one of these would look great on my Crysis map!

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Danke

Quote from Minotauro

If you are stopping by Weimar look for the ruins of the Bauhaus, if there are any

how comes you know the Bauhaus I thought noone in the whole world would knew about it

HP: Bitteschön (you're welcome)

we learned about bauhaus in high school. granted, i took art classes, but still.

Quote from e-freak

how comes you know the Bauhaus I thought noone in the whole world would knew about it

HP: Bitteschön (you're welcome)

I'm studying for a bachelors degree in Design, we have arts history, industrial design history etc... You can't really consider yourself an artist if you don't study the Bauhaus