First visit to Europe with 14, 18 and 22 year old children

You can organize the trip like this Balan for 14 days / 13 nights:

Munich 3 Nights

Salzburg 2 Nights (Make a stop in the town of Trieste Italy on way to Venice from Salzburg - It's a lovely town not far from Venice)

Venice 3 Nights

Lake Como 2 Nights

Lucerne 2 Nights

Munich 1 Night

Fly out of Munich on Day #14

Here's a couple of things to check out near Salzburg:
A trip to Hitler's hideout above Berchtesgaden. Google Eagles nest.

A side trip to the ice cave at Werfen. https://www.eisriesenwelt.at/en/

Also consider hiking in the alps near Lauterbrunnen. Click on my name and you'll find a link to our dozen favorite trails with maps and pics. Kid tested.

Thank you RJean for your input regarding the number of nights to stay in each location and also the suggestion to stop in Trieste. I looked it up and that town is beautiful!

Shoe, we’re adding both Hitler’s hideout and the ice caves to our itinerary. Thank you! Also going to check out your link and look into the trails you suggest.

Tom, we do have Marriott points. Would appreciate your tip about Munich. Thanks in advance!

Be sure to get the requisite 'vignettes' for driving in Switzerland and Austria.

How much have you involved your kids in the planning? They will enjoy the trip more if they are involved. Give each of them a day to plan. Have them research sites, things to do, restaurants.

I generally bring up a touchy subject: alcohol. Europeans drink at an earlier age then do Americans. Have you considered allowing your kids (all 3) to hit the bars without you? They might really find that cool. My kids all went to Germany on a "sister-cities" arrangement. They all drank alcohol.

Paul, thank you! Yes we’ve asked them all to let us know what sights they might want to visit and I’m pretty sure my 18 year old is looking forward to having a beer or two. 😉

IMHO your kids are not going to be much interested in WWII stuff. But when you're in Salzburg you may want to check out the Red Bull Hanger 7. If they like soccer (football) check the Red Bull FC schedule for a local game.

In Munich forget Dachau and spend some time at Therme Erding. Think water park, spa, and beer hall all rolled up into one. The kids will thank you. Likewise, the sunbathing in the English Garden was a good way to get to know the locals back when I was 20 something. (You're going to want to pack a swimsuit for Lake Como anyways.)

If you're looking for something unique around Lake Como take a trip over to Campione d'Italia, which is a piece of Italy totally surrounded by Switzerland.

If time runs short you might consider passing Lucerne and heading to Lindau, or Konstanz.

Also, 18 & 22 are adults over there, they need to remember that when doing normal "stupid" stuff. European cops are not always as understanding as those at home. (I know, I know, but since I've had supervision of dozens of "kids" that age in Europe I can honestly say you can't imagine the things they can get up to.)

Our family of five, with “kids” ages a little older than yours really enjoyed 2 nights in Engelberg which is about an hour away from Lucerne. We wanted to have a snowy mountain top experience in the summer, and took a day trip to the top of Mount Titlis. It was wonderful! It was probably one of the highlights of the whole trip for our family. Three cable cars/gondola rides to the snow later, beautiful views, ice cave, suspension walk, and more. They slid down the snowy slopes on their feet and on their rear ends and had so much fun! We also saw some people who had never experienced snow before in their lives. On the way back down we got off the cable car in Trubsee, and found ourselves in a jingling cow parade! Then we spent some time walking around a beautiful lake there. There were even rowboats to take out on the lake. I’m glad we got off and explored part way back down to Engelberg.

We did not have time to go to the Lauterbrunnen area, since the first part of our trip was in France, and we ended with three nights in Lucerne after Engelberg. We all loved Engelberg and would definitely visit Switzerland again.

Have a great trip! We kept a family journal which I really treasure. It was simple, and we took turns writing in it while we were waiting at restaurants or at the end of the day. I would highly recommend that. We made lists, favorite activities, favorite foods, silly things we saw, and highlights of each city we visited. It’s a great keepsake.

Laurie

With 5 people I hope you reserved a minivan. 5 people with all their luggage will be quite impossible to fit into a car...been there done that :-)

When we walked and found our full size rental car for the 4 of us, I had to turn back and go to the counter and luckily they had a minivan available.

Venice is definitely not a place where you want a rental vehicle. You’re going to have to park it for your duration. DO NOT choose a hotel in Mestre...stay in Venice Island. Mestre is the industrialized mainland and even though it might offer easier parking don’t take the bait (another of my mistakes).

You really don’t need a car Munich either so hopefully you’ll pick it up as you leave.

And whoever suggested to bypass Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial is off their rocker! How could you come to Munich and not utilize that unique teaching opportunity??? Beyond me.

A few practicalities:

• In order to drive in Austria and Italy, you need an IDP (International Driving Permit), which certifies your licence as valid. If ever stopped by the police (hopefully never) you need to show both.
• Autobahn tolls in Switzerland and Austria are paid by buying a fixed price "vignette", which is a sticker you attach to the windscreen. You can buy it at the border. Switzerland: CHF 40, Austria €9.20 for 10 days.
• Italian Autostrada have conventional "per Km" tolls. German Autobahn are toll-free.
• Germany, Austria and Italy use Euros (€ or "EUR"), for Switzerland you need Swiss Franks (CHF).
• You don't want a car in Munich, so don't pick it up until you leave.
• No roads in Venice. You will need to put your car in paid parking.
• Elsewhere, do not assume a hotel has parking, ask. Even if it does, you may have to pay.
• On your way north from Lake Como to Luzern, do not go through the long Gotthard tunnel. Instead exit the Autobahn before the tunnel (at Airolo) and go "over the top" via the Gotthard pass. The driver will see little as (s)he is watching the road, the other 4 of you will have spectacular views. There are many videos of this, for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PyC98s4-vE
• Luzern 360° view (to whet your appetite): http://tour.luzern.com/360/en/
• From Luzern, there are 3 mountains you can go to the top of as a day trip: PIlatus, Rigi and Titlis.
• And finally, I hope you are aware of fuel prices.

Agree 100% with the trip to Dachau. My parents took us when I was 8, and the others were 7, 5, 3, and 1. Some preparation is a good idea. But children who are teens are certainly able to go to such locations. I was not traumatized, but have worked to understand the mentality of the Nazi state since then.

Piggy-backing on the car: we are a family of five and have rented whatever car is cheapest that can fit our three teens across the back-seat in several countries. Worked just fine

We went to Europe in 2011 with 3 kids and 2 adults in a medium size rental car. My son was 6'3" at the time, and the girls are 5'8". It was tight. The longest leg was Budapest to Ljubljana, 4 hours. Everyone had 1 bag. I didn't spend time looking in the back seat at the signs of pain and crushed elbows, but we survived. The kids here are younger, and presumably smaller. I'm with Jessica - we go with the cheapest. We used the car ONLY for inter-city transport.

Consider taking the train for most of your travel; it is more comfortable, faster, easier and environmental friendly.

Munich to Salzburg is super easy by train and you don't have to worry about parking. I really love staying in the pedestrian only portion of Salzburg.

Venice is another place you don't need a car; and like it was mentioned already do not stay in Venice mestre but in Venice proper.
Varenna on Lake Como is gorgeous; Lucerne is pretty but it is eclipsed by the beauty of the Bernese Oberland.

Overall, I really like your choice of destination. In Munich I liked Mike's bike tour.

Keep in mind that your 22 year old isn't a child. Be flexible with your planning as the 22 year old may want to hang out with the 18 year old for a day and/or evening as they both can drink legally and may have different interests than the 14 year old.

It is a whirlwind tour. Although it is relatively easy to say X days/Y nights, when we have planned our trips we have actually tried to break it down into AM - PM - Evening - Night in W. This is not to hamper spontaneity, but to create a framework in which to make choices. There is never enough time for half of what you want to do. What do you hope to do in each time block, and how many of them will be taken up by travel? 3 Nights in Munich or Venice may sound like a lot till you find out that most museums (or a trip to Dachau) may take up half a day. There are timed admissions to some things, or opening/closing times on various days. Most of your drives seem to be from 3 to 5 hours. You have at least 5 half-days of travel (20% of your daylight time) outlined already.... Quite do-able, but perhaps challenging if you want to stop along the way for sights, lunch, etc..

Sounds like a great adventure for the family.