Hi all, I am starting to plan a European trip for my family of 4, plus a friend of the family. Kids will be ages 11 and 14. Our goal is to give our kids a love of traveling, see amazing natural sites, as well as a few must-see places, like castles. We will be traveling in August due to their school schedules, unfortunately, but we haven't been to Europe since 2009, so we are going to make the best of it. We figure we can do around 17 days in total.
Since we love nature (PNW folks), here is my possible itinerary:
SEA to Munich, stay 2 nights
Get rental car
Fussen 2 nights, day trip to Neuschwanstein
Innsbruck 1 night. On the way there, visit Zugspitze
Ortisei (dolomites) 2 nights, Seceda
Venice 2 nights (skip most museums, just see the sights from all the canals)
Ljubljana 2 nights. See Predjama castle & Postojna caves on the way
Bled 2 nights, daytrip to Bohinj or Soca River?
Salzburg 2 nights, Halstatt daytrip if not too tired
Then back to Munich 1 night to return car & fly home
We figure with 4-5 people, this will only be doable by car. Any car advice is welcome.
Does this itinerary seem reasonable? I know it's not a lot of time in each place, but with older kids, we thought we should pack in a lot of different places and experiences. Tripsnek.com liked it! Thoughts? Are we cramming in too much?
Also, any advice on finding lodging for 5 would be super helpful. Where do you search or do you stick with RS recommended places?
Thanks so much!