Germany in 5 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)

Germany in 5 days: Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Neuschwanstein and the Romantic Road

Five days is where this route starts to breathe: the same Berlin, Dresden and Munich base as the shorter plans, the Neuschwanstein day trip, and a full day on the Romantic Road ending in Rothenburg ob der Tauber’s walled old town. Budget roughly EUR 620-900 for two people across five ICE and regional legs, two timed tickets and a full day of meals in a fourth region of the country. Book every ICE leg as Sparpreis on bahn.de as soon as your dates hold. Need it shorter? The 4-day plan stops at Neuschwanstein. Have a sixth day? The 6-day plan continues on to the Rhine Valley and Cologne.

Day City ICE time Cost (2 people)
Day 1 Berlin arrival day, no ICE EUR 70-110
Day 2 Dresden about 2h from Berlin EUR 90-150
Day 3 Munich about 4-4.5h from Dresden, one change EUR 140-200
Day 4 Neuschwanstein (day trip) regional train, not ICE, about 2h10 each way EUR 140-190
Day 5 Romantic Road / Rothenburg about 3-3.5h from Munich, regional plus a bus EUR 90-150

Book these before you go:

Booking the ICE legs (and the two trains the Deutschland-Ticket actually helps with)

Sparpreis fares booked weeks ahead commonly run EUR 20-50 one way per person on the Berlin-Dresden and Dresden-Munich ICE legs, against EUR 80-150 or more for a same-day Flexpreis ticket; book both on bahn.de as soon as your dates hold. The Munich-Fussen train for Day 4 and the regional connections toward Rothenburg on Day 5 are both regional services, not ICE, so the Deutschland-Ticket (EUR 63 a month in 2026) or a Bavaria-only regional day ticket can cover them. It still never substitutes for the Berlin-Dresden or Dresden-Munich ICE fares; those are booked separately regardless of any pass.

Day 1: Berlin, free landmarks and one advance booking

Start at the Brandenburg Gate, free and unticketed, then walk to the Reichstag for its glass dome, also free but bookable only in advance through the government’s own visite.bundestag.de portal; slots open roughly three months out and go fast in summer. Skip Museum Island’s Pergamon Museum, closed for renovation since 2023 with no full reopening before 2027, and spend that time on the East Side Gallery instead: 1.3km of free Wall murals needing no ticket at all.

Day 2: Dresden, a Baroque city rebuilt from rubble

The ICE from Berlin takes roughly two hours. Dresden’s Frauenkirche is free to enter the nave; climbing the dome costs EUR 12 adult, EUR 7 reduced (check current hours on frauenkirche-dresden.de ), worth it for the view over a city that left its bombed ruins standing as a deliberate memorial for 45 years before rebuilding started in 1994. The Zwinger Palace courtyard costs nothing to walk through even if you skip the galleries inside.

Day 3: Munich, the long train day and the beer hall at the end of it

Dresden to Munich runs roughly 4-4.5 hours with a change, against the direct Berlin-Munich ICE Sprinter’s 3h53, so book this leg early. Marienplatz and its Glockenspiel show (11:00 and 12:00 daily, plus 17:00 in summer) cost nothing, and a Hofbrauhaus dinner is the obvious, touristy, still-worth-it way to end the day.

Day 4: Neuschwanstein, the castle that is not actually medieval

The regional train to Fussen takes about two hours, plus a short bus to the castle base. Neuschwanstein’s timed entry ticket runs EUR 21 adult, EUR 20 reduced, plus a EUR 2.50 online booking fee, bookable directly via the official Hohenschwangau ticket center up to eight weeks ahead. Despite the storybook look, it was built 1869-1886 under King Ludwig II, a 19th-century construction, not a surviving medieval fortress. The 35-minute guided interior tour is brief, but the exterior view from Marienbrucke, seasonal closures permitting, is worth the trip on its own.

Day 5: the Romantic Road and Rothenburg’s intact town wall

There is no direct train to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, so this is either a rented car for the day or a scheduled Romantic Road coach; both run roughly 3-3.5 hours from Munich. The payoff is one of only four completely walled towns left in Germany: Rothenburg’s roughly 4km town wall is fully intact, and the Turmweg wall walk is free, open year-round, and takes about 2.5 hours end to end. Schneeballen, the local fried-dough pastry, is the cheap, filling lunch here, and the half-timbered old town costs nothing beyond a meal to enjoy.

Is 5 days enough to add the Romantic Road to a Germany trip?

Yes, but only as a single-day add-on rather than a proper regional stop. Five days fits Rothenburg’s town wall and old town comfortably in an afternoon, since there is no direct rail link and travel time eats a chunk of the day either way. A traveler who wants two or three Romantic Road towns, not just Rothenburg, needs a dedicated multi-day car trip instead of folding it into this itinerary.

Is a rental car worth it just for the Romantic Road day?

Only if the group is three or more people or the itinerary continues by car afterward. For two people, a scheduled Romantic Road coach tour or a regional train plus taxi from Munich costs less than a one-day rental once fuel and Munich parking are added in, and it removes the need to navigate unfamiliar rural roads on a tight schedule.

Compare a monthly Deutschland-Ticket against two separate regional day tickets before buying either. Days 4 and 5 both run on Bavaria-only regional trains, but a full month’s subscription rarely pays for itself across just two travel days, so check bahn.de for the region’s own day-ticket price before committing to the monthly pass.