Itinerary help for 2 weeks - 3 countries/areas - Munich, Switzerland, Nice

I saw a very cheap airfare on Easy Jet from Basel to Nice, but have never heard of that airline. Is that a nice option?

Easy Jet is always a nice option. It kind of reminds me of Southwest Airlines in the USA except bags do not fly free. And the best practice for anything airline you fly: never assume always read the rules of how they operate as they are all different.

Day 3: Drive to and stay near Neuschwanstein Castle and tour area. Day 4: Drive to Lucerne (visit Bern, Basel, Zurich during this leg)...which cities/towns?

The problem here for most would be that you are planning to drive a rental car from one country and dropping it off in another because this is very expensive.

Off hand I would say drive to Lindau and turn the car in there to avoid international drop fees. Nice place to spend an afternoon. Then take a train to Luzern. Basel and Bern are not on the way and Zurich is not worth any time IMHO. Then train to Lauterbrunnen. Whether you go to Zurich or Basel or even Geneva airports for a flight to Nice depends on the flight availability, price, times.

You could even take a ferry across the Bodensee to Switzerland and take a train to Luzern from there.

I've done a very similar trip with my kids, though without Nice at the end.

A couple of things on transportation. Renting a car in one country and dropping it off in another will result in a huge drop-off charge. Also, once you are in Luzern or Lauterbrunnen or Murren, a car is of little use. Almost all sights in those areas require cable car or train to get to.

If it were my trip, I'd take train Munich to Fussen and return. (There's a tourist info in the train station that can help you.) Then Bus Munich to Zurich (cheaper). Train from Zurich to Luzern. Finally, train from Luzern to Interlaken Ost, switch trains there to the smaller train cars (typically on track 1 or 2) going to Lauterbrunnen. Make sure it says "Lauterbrunnen" on the car, because the other half of that same train says "Grindelwald" on those cars. (They'll stop in Zweilutschinen to split the train cars.) Trains typically run every half hour and the schedules are on www.sbb.ch/en

You may or may not be aware that there is a cheap Flixbus from Munich to Zurich. Worth a Google. Also, I and my kids have used EasyJet many times. It's a budget airline, and if you carefully read their luggage rules it's worth it, in my opinion. They've been around for at least 20 years, and that's just based on my own use.

Now for Lucerne (Luzern over there) and Lauterbrunnen. Personally, I give Luzern 1-2 days. We like the boat/train ride to Rigi, the covered bridge, the Lion Monument, and the mirror maze/Glacier Garden next to that. Lauterbrunnen, on the other hand, has enough to do for 2 weeks (in my opinion). I say that having been there with teens who returned to the exact same trails a dozen years later as adults.
Click on my name and you'll find a link to our dozen favorite trails in the area, with maps and pics.

Whatever you decide, you'll want to start making reservations. I like Lauterbrunnen (a bit more centrally located), but Murren is also great. For a family, you might want to consider renting a bungalow at www.campingjungfrau.swiss which is in Lauterbrunnen. I'll be in the area myself in mid-August and even when I made my reservations in January, places were getting filled up.

I know the feeling of wanting to get it squeeze in a bit more family time. It sounds like you are giving some real thought to this trip. I think your kids will love the cities you are looking at. All four of my kids speak German and on two separate trips I took them to Munich, and we had a great time. I took my daughters when they were 20 to Luzern (as well as Munich, Lauterbrunnen and a bunch of other places) We all loved Luzern, the bridges, the old town, the lake, the river, the mountains, it's just beautiful. Lauterbrunnen area was quite a hit as well, we had an amazing time. Let me first say, I've been to France quite a few times, now, but not southern France, I'm no help with Nice, although my daughter-in-law was there for a few days this past summer and loved it. So that said, I offer the following: 1)If you intend on going to Monaco and the "wedding church" , make sure to have a scarf to cover your legs or wear long skirts/pants. 2)I wouldn't go to Zurich when there are nicer cities to visit in Switzerland. We did a day trip from Luzern to Bern because one of my daughters is really into physics so we wanted to go the the Einstein exhibit in the history museum. Bern also has a very interesting old town. We loved the interesting buildings, fountains and the clock. 3)Basel is a delightful city, unfortunately no mountains. They have a very colorful old town and a beautiful setting on the Rhine. 4)Neuschwanstein was never lived in, very little is furnished. It's exterior is beautiful as is the setting. Another castle, Hohenschwangau is literally across the street. The family actually lived in this one, and it is furnished. The Hohenschwangau tour provides great context for Neuschwanstein so its good to do it first. 5) I think your itinerary is doable, though, yes, it's fast paced. You might think about taking a day from Nice and adding it to Munich, especially if you are arriving later on your first day. Otherwise, an additional day for BO might be good, especially because they have unpredictable weather. But, honestly, nothing is more amazing than Berner Oberland when the visibility is good. 6)A family can get from Munich to Fussen area (Ludwig castles) quite cheaply by train on a Bayern ticket. I sure wouldn't drive in Switzerland, their train system is excellent. The only piece I don't know is getting from Fussen to Luzern. I'm sure there is a train, just not so sure how direct it would be.