First time in Europe this December

Oh my, how old are your kids?

Honestly.... I don;t think this is going to go well.... waaaay too much moving around. Please please reconsider this. You have a ton of travel each and every day. This is a recipe for disaster.

My kids are 12 and 14 - we are heading there in Dec too - this is our 4th trip, and do not underestimate the jet lag. The first 2-3 days for us are always a little rough. Not horrid, but rough. We try to start those first few mornings slowly...

I would spend 1/2 time in Munich (that is where you land) and 1/2 in Paris (where you depart?)... if you want to see somewhere else I would do maybe Strasbourg in the middle. Cut the logistics waaaaay down.

Munich is awesome. And you can day trip to the mountains, Salzburg, Regensberg, even Nuremberg easily. You have 11 nights... I would do maybe 5 Munich (plus day trips and acclimating), 2 Strasbourg, 4 Paris? Or something like that. Do you have lodging yet? I would get that ASAP. We usually get vrbo's to have space....

But please, honestly, I am begging you not to do what you laid out. You will not see much of anything. You will be miserable and exhausted. Those first few days look like about all transport time. And no need for a car, just use the train! I would get the plan and get the tickets now as they re cheaper the earlier you book them.

Kim

Have you checked the map? Look at the places you want to go and see all the zigzagging.... I looked up Margarten (I suppose.. Margraten is in the Netherlands!) and it looks semi-close to Strasbourg so you could go there if you go to Strasbourg. Maybe 4 nights Munich, 3 strabourg then....

Kim

Jamie, you're visiting German cities with which I'm not very familiar, so I can't be of much help, but I'm wondering about all those one-night stops on the way to Margraten. Do you have a specific reason (perhaps Christmas markets?) for going to Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Cologne and Frankfurt? With only one night in each place, you won't have much time for sightseeing. Aside from the driving time between cities (which I realize is not that long), you'll be checking in and out of hotels (the kids probably will make this more of a challenge) and looking for parking. Not being able to settle into a hotel for at least two nights (3-night stays are better) is tiring.

If there's not a specific reason for all those quick stops, you could hop on a train on the day you arrive in Munich and get all the way to Frankfurt in just over three hours. It's pretty unbelievable, but I see a bunch of afternoon departures on that day selling for only 19 euros a person. That offering could disappear at any point, I imagine, so you'd probably have to buy the tickets right away, being sure to allow lots of time between your scheduled flight arrival time and the train's departure. Your arrival day is usually rather unproductive due to jet lag, so getting most of the way to Margraten would be a good use of that time. You could pick up the car in Frankfurt. A plus of this plan is that no one has to drive from Munich to Nuremberg jet-lagged on Day 1.

For the Swiss leg of your trip I wonder about the overnight in Bern. I like Bern, and its arcaded streets can make it more pleasant than some other cities if you get caught in bad weather, but it's another one-night stop and is not usually among travelers' primary targets in Switzerland. You can get from Frankfurt to Grindelwald in one day. Swiss train transfers tend to be quick, so you'd have to be on your toes, especially if you're not traveling light. How old are your children? Will they be able to manage their own bags?

You also have the potential for bad weather since it is winter and Germany. When we were in the same area in the same time period five years ago we had nearly constantly light snow that really slowed down our driving. One day was heavy enough to cause lots of traffic jams. You could perfectly fine weather but you do need to factor in winter weather.

I've not visited all these places but I've done many European adventures. This is unrealistic. You really only have 10 days. Arrival day you will be jet lagged. Good luck taking some walks, having dinner crashing. Fast forward to your last day, 12/30, only 10 days. Forget about how to get from here to there or any of that right now. Pick two maybe three places you want to go, what you want to see there and how much time that will take, spend some time, plot them out, then figure out the most efficient transportation. That means usually, in Europe, trains. Spend some time in Munich, train to stop #2, spend a few days, train to Paris and spend your time there. I'm typing this and it's November. Wow! You're only a month out! You need to really spend some quality time now with maps and train schedules or this trip will be a disaster. It's nothing like a Caribbean all inclusive, believe me.

You're trying to go to 3 countries in 10 days! If you think you're a nervous wreck now.... Spending more time in 3 cities will make pre-trip planning much easier because you will need fewer hotels and less transportation. And while a car may be cheaper for the 4 of you, if you travel light, trains will be much less stressful than driving. DeutsheBahn(probably misspelled) has a wonderful app that even tells you the platforms where the trains arrive. When I was in Germany,, I used it to choose trains that arrived and departed from adjacent platforms. When I was there, the trains were so to-the-minute on time that if I didn't understand the German announcements, I just got off the train at the proper time. German trains were truly an amazing experience. The trip you outlined in your post is a polar opposite of your usual relaxing Caribbean trips, which also don't involve much jet lag. You need to allow time to stop and smell the hot chocolate on this trip!

The areas you are visiting are farther north than most U.S. cities. The days will be shorter, 8.5 to 9 hours between sunrise & sunset. You are spending almost all of that sunlit time in a car or train. I'd trim the week in Germany to two places, no more than three.

I hope you know how to drive in Germany. Unlike the U.S., they expect other drivers to know what they are doing. Learn traffic signs, including the ones written in German. Learn traffic rules & customs. For example, do you know what the right-of-way rules are on unmarked intersections?

Agree with the many comments on your planned trip involving too much travel. However, it appears that you probably already have your flights booked, arriving in Munich and departing from Paris. You could skip the trip to Switzerland (an expensive country anyway) and go from Holland to Paris.

Also, not sure why you picked going in the winter, but it is cold and dark this time of the year. One thing, you won't have a lot of other tourists to compete with at sites. Still, you will need to pack more heavy clothes, just to stay warm and be sure you have head gear and a warm coat.

If you have never driven in Europe, you probably need to have a navigation system on your vehicle or buy a Garmin with Europe downloaded. If not, do a map quest of your travel driving days from point A to B with the specific addresses. Further, you need to plan for parking if you keep the vehicle. Parking in the larger cites is a real pain and expensive. Even in medium sized cites like Nuremberg parking can be expensive and require a lot of walking to the sites.

Hope it doesn't sleet or snow, since that will really mess up your driving. Also, when driving on the autobahns, make sure that you stay in the right (slow) lane if you are driving slower than other traffic. Not sure if Germany still has no speed limits on the autobahns, if they still do, there will always be someone wanting to go over 100MPH and you are obligated to pull over in the slow lane.

Not sure why you aren't staying in Munich, it a great city. Nuremberg is worth a day. Stuttgart has a great auto mueum with the oldest car in the world, also, you can visit the Mercedes Benz factory. Cologne, don't miss going to see the cathedral.

Our kids are 10 & 11! We were really trying to get the most out of our time, but understand logistically, we probably need to slow it down. I can change my flight to arrive in Frankfurt and perhaps that can be our home base from 12/19-12/22. I would really like to go to Margraten, Nuremberg Market and a castle during our Germany stay. Is this realistic if we stay in Frankfurt for those days? On 12/22 we can then take the train from Frankfurt to Grindelwald and stay there until 12/26? Then off to Paris on 12/26 until the remainder of our stay of 12/30...Is that a "better" itinerary"? Thank y'all so much for your input and advice!!

I wrote a long reply and my computer ate it.

Trying to do everything you want to will be nearly impossible. You will spend most of your time traveling.

Realize you will only have about 8 hours of daylight. Sunrise around 8:30 AM and Sunset about 4:30PM.

Driving distances are bigger than you think. Take a look at a road map. And unless you plan to drive only when it is dark out, then you will not have a lot of time to see things. And you will be tired. Frankfurt to both Margraten and Nuremberg are slightly over three hours each way.

If you insist on going to Margraten, then I think you have to cut out either Paris or Switzerland. If you cut out Margraten this trip and do it another one, you can easily do Munich-Grindelwald-Paris.

From Munich, Nuremburg is a one hour and 15 minute train ride. An easy day trip. Neuschwanstein Castle is a half day trip from Munich.

I also suggest not renting a car and taking the train instead. More relaxing and you can see the beautiful scenery. Better for the kids as they can walk around the train rather than have to sit still in the car.

And as mentioned, don't underestimate jet lag and unforseen bad weather.

It is normal for first timers to want to do as much as possible. Sadly, it's not always realistic.

Ok, so most likely we will cut out Margraten and use the trains to get to at least Nuremberg and to the castle. I think we got it down finally! Everyone has been so helpful and thank y'all (yep I'm a Texan) for your suggestions! Looking forward to it!!!! Cheers!

I agree with the other posters. Europe looks small compared to the US or even Texas. But driving should not be an option especially this time of year. Unfamiliar roads, unpredictable weather and the limited daylight hours. I understand wanting to see as much as possible as Europe is fascinating. However you will be seeing roads through car windows. I would suggest splitting you actual time on the ground between Munich and Paris with day trips. Train Munich to Paris. My train ride from Lucerne, Switzerland to Paris was about 3+ hours. I would definitely skip Switzerland on this trip and make it a focus for another vacation should you decide to return to Europe. We are not exaggerating when we say how expensive it is. I paid around $45 American for 4 pieces of pizza and 2 sodas 2 years ago from a shop that already had them made and they heated them. I can't imagine buying meals for 4.

Still you are covering waaaaay too much ground. I have traveled 3 times with kids around those ages and I am telling you it is too much. Frankfurt arrival is better. I have not been to the christmas markets at all (we are about to go) but I have done extensive research and I think that you do not need to make a special trip all the way down to Nurnberg... there are tons of awesome markets everywhere, just go to ones where you will be. The german ones will close up mostly by the 23rd. Paris has some through the new year.

There are so many great places to go that do not involve seriously long trip to switzerland.

Frankfurt to Grindelwald is a 5-6 hour trip with 2 connections, Grindelwald to Paris is 6-7 hours on the train with 2-4 connections. Do you seriously want to do this?

This is like arriving in Corpus Christi, exhausted, then a couple days later driving to Dallas, then a couple days later driving to New Orleans. Not to mention while you are in Corpus Christi, taking a "day trip" to Houston, and another day to San Antonio. In my opinion this is way too much.

Pick places that are easy to get to by train. If you base in Frankfurt, you can go to Margraten (but it does look to be about 3 hours on the train each way!). If you want a middel stop I would go to Strasbourg. Easy from Frankfurt and then easy to Paris. Cut the logistics and I promise you will be happier. Oh and traveling, especially by train.... only a carry on size for everyone (plus small backpack). If you show up to the train with a ton of big luggage you are going to be very, very sad.

Near Strasbourg is an amusement park - we were planning to go but then Strasbourg got cut from our trip itinerary because... well, we were simplifying our own logisitics. But it looked super fun! http://www.europapark.de/en

If you wanted mountains, then I would stay in Munich (skipping Frankfurt and Margraten) and go from there... though you may have to day trip, Finding short length accommodations at this late date will be hard. And again, logistics... sleep as many nights in the same place as possible.

Good luck and have a fabulous trip!
Kim

The Nürnberg Christmas market might be the most famous, but other than the huge amount of foreign tourists who visit (and sometimes overwhelm) it, it's little different from any other market hosted simulataneously by a cities of similar size throughout Germany. Nürnberg has much to offer, but on such an ambitious itinerary, I wouldn't bother making a detour just for the market.

BTW, if you still plan to drive... I could not imagine a worse day of driving than going from Nürnberg to Stuttgart to Köln. You'll find yourself navigating through some of the most congested arteries in the country, all in one day!

Not sure if Germany still has no speed limits on the autobahns, if they still do, there will always be someone wanting to go over 100MPH and you are obligated to pull over in the slow lane. Portions of the Autobahn network still have no speed limit, but most stretches around major cities limit you to 100 km/hr or slower.

If you based in Munich, it would be an easy day trip by train to Salzburg and I think they have a Christmas market.

it would be an easy day trip by train to Salzburg and I think they have a Christmas market.

Munich has a market as well.

Tryto get to Stuttgart before Xmas and visit nearby Esslingen. They have a medieval market that is fun for all, including medieval games for kids. After dark it's even more special when most of it is lit by lamps and candles, no electricity.