Possible itinerary

I doubt you are going to get 5 people and all their luggage in a car. You'll need a good sized SUV or van. And have you checked Google Maps and/or ViaMichelin for driving times and distances between all these places? I have the feeling that all this driving is going to really reduce the amount of sightseeing time you have available in each place. Remember that parking is not always close to hotels, and can be expensive. Finding apartments for 5 for only a couple of nights in high season may be a difficult in more popular places. You may need 2 separate hotel rooms . Try booking.com and filtering for your needs.

A Mercedes-Benz Vito or a VW T6 Kombi would offer very much space in 3 rows. For renting in Munich Sixt and Europcar have branches at station Pasing which is well located to start into Western direction. Return is possible at MUC. Ensure that driving into the countries you planned is allowed with this contract and car. I am not sure if one of the listed destinations is located in a zone 2 country (see Sixt example).

Drivers need an IDP.

For Austria you will need a vignette. Be aware that a bridge of Austrian Brenner Autobahn is under construction (link).

Your plan seems to be ambitious and I am not sure you will enjoy this balance between driving and experiencing. If you want to shorten a little bit the German Alpine Road can be a good alternative.

For finding accommodation I would use the local / regional tourist offices. Very often they have the best advice.

For Bavaria and also parts of Austria be aware of ticks.

Hi, alexiamcb. I love that you are taking your whole family to Europe, but your itinerary is very ambitious. And staying two nights in each place gives you only one day of sightseeing. All the rest of your time is going to be spent driving between the cities, checking into hotels, finding parking and more. So that's only one day in Venice, one day in Salzburg, one day in Fussen and so on. And if you take a day trip to Neuschwanstein while you're in Fussen, that will pretty much take up all your time. One other thing to keep in mind is that if you are traveling in August, there will be a lot of people on the road driving, which will affect your own schedules.

I would seriously consider removing at least a minimum of two places (or even better, 3-4) from this list. Perhaps Bled and Ljubljana? That will free up some of your driving time and also give you four nights to put somewhere else. Salzburg could definitely use another day. Otherwise, I'm not sure where you intend to get a Hallstatt day trip in there. With only two nights in Salzburg, you will only have one day for Salzburg and no time for any day trips. And Munich, Venice, and Füssen are being shortchanged as well.

I realize that you want to show them everything, and I totally get that. But with that schedule, it will be so much of a blur that they probably won't even remember it, and they'll be too tired to really appreciate it.

For Bavaria and also parts of Austria be aware of ticks.

Mark is correct about this. There has been an increase in cases involving tick-borne encephalitis in some of these areas, and August is prime tick season. Make sure you take all precautions if you are out hiking or in grassy or woodsy areas.

Fussen to Neuschwanstein is 6 minutes not a day trip. What you have mapped out is in my opinion a very undoable vacation. We rent or lease cars 70% of the time when we travel Europe. Which is twice yearly. The last three summers for two months. I would not even attempt your itinerary. Get a good planning map (use Rick's) and pin the cities you want to visit. Take a look and you will see your all over the map. I would not rent a car for this vacation. Too many people and the drive times are worst then you are planning on. Driving in Europe in the summer is a headache. When my GPS tells me it is a 5-hour drive, I always give it an extra 2 sometimes 3 hours if we're a short distance to a major city. Reduce the number of cities you want to visit and add an extra day to the ones you chose. Again, my opinion but you need to rethink the transportation.

"...we thought we should pack in a lot of different places and experiences."

I agree with the others. You can fill your limited time with more experiences if you cut back on the number of countries and reduce the long-distance travel days. I'd drop Slovenia.

"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."

What is in Munich that you and the kids are eager to see? You seem to be less interested in museums, moreso in the great outdoors. Do I have that right? MUC airport is WAY outside Munich by 40-45 minutes. Maybe you don't need to go there if you have no specific goals there. What about places like the ones below, which are not on your itinerary now but are within a decent radius of Salzburg? So many nice family things in this area that you are not considering...

Herrenchiemsee Palace (in Prien)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOQ8Z9qH5dk

Koenigssee and the Jennerbahn lift (Berchtesgaden)
https://www.scenicandsavvy.com/jennerbahn-berchtesgaden-cable-car/
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b89FOc5NQbw/maxresdefault.jpg

Salt Mine (in Berchtesgaden)
https://en.oberbayern-guide.com/solyanaya-shakhta-bergkhtesgaden

Burghausen Castle (in Burghausen at the German/Austrian border)
https://www.travelbook-magazine.com/attractions/more-than-one-kilometer-germany-has-the-longest-castle-in-the-world

Hohenwerfen Castle and Falconry Show (in Werfen, 30 minutes from Salzburg; Where Eagles Dare was filmed here)
https://www.burg-hohenwerfen.at/en/

Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave (also in Werfen)
https://www.eisriesenwelt.at/en/

Summer bobsled ride (in Hallein)
https://en.oberbayern-guide.com/letnie-sani-keltenblitz

You should probably be looking for a big vacation apartment for a longer stay within a given area (like the area I suggested previously) - Maybe something along these lines... This one (one building, 3 rentals) is near Prien on the other side of Lake Chiemsee.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/de/chiemsee-living.en-gb.html

Wow! I'm surprised by how impossible this is. My research suggested this loop as each travel day was less than 2 hours, except 2. Cutting out whole cities would only make for longer drive days between places.
My husband and I have been to Venice before, so we could cut that out, especially since it will be massively hot and crowded in August. I just thought my kids would find it fascinating, and it might he under water by the next time we can get to Europe!
My thoughts on Munich were that it is an easy hub for flights from Seattle, and we have a friend who lives there. I also thought dropping a vehicle rental off in the same country would save $.
I was looking at this as more of a European road trip, and I really want to see the Alps as well as Slovenia for their beauty. But clearly I need to reconsider.

Wow! I'm surprised by how impossible this is. My research suggested this loop as each travel day was less than 2 hours, except 2.

It's not just the driving that counts against you, but also the time needed to pack, check out of your hotel, drive to the next place, find parking and check back into your new hotel. Believe me, I've done this. I've spent time driving in a loop around, although I took a much longer time to do it. But getting from one place to the other can take at least half a day, even if it's only a 2-hour drive.

Cutting out whole cities would only make for longer drive days between places.

Not really. For instance, if you were to leave out Slovenia, you could take a more direct route there which would eliminate time. And as I pointed out above, it's not just the driving but also the checking-in and checking-out, parking, and so on that factors in.

Obviously, this is your trip, and if you decide you want to visit all those places in the time you have, no one here is going to stop you. But we do have a lot of experience, and I'm assuming that's why you came here to ask questions about your itinerary. As a veteran traveler, I'm just telling you that it's a lot of places to visit in the time you have. But it might work for you! You're the only one that knows that for sure. 😊

With regards to some of your other questions, https://www.booking.com is a good place to search for lodging. I usually do not book the lodging at that site, but I use it to find it, and then you can find the website and go there and book directly as it's usually cheaper. Plus you can filter the search to find apartments, hotels, and whatever kind of lodging you're looking for. Also, you can check the reviews on Booking.com as all reviews are left by people who have actually stayed in these places. I've used them to find lots of lodging and it's a good resource.

Also, when you're in Germany, every German town and city has a website, and that website will have information about tourism, sites and things to do, and also lodging. I found lodging there many times when I've gone to Germany. For example, here is the website for Füssen: https://www.fuessen.de/en/service/search-for-accommodation.

With regards to finding a car to rent, I would suggest going with Auto Europe. I have rented cars from here many times while traveling in Europe, including Germany, and I've never had any problems. They act as a broker, so if you go there and put in your dates of rental and the places, they will give you a quote from anywhere from 5 to 7 or more car rental agencies. Then you can pick the agency (and price) that works for you.

And since you need a large car to accommodate your family, I would definitely suggest booking it sooner rather than later. Make sure you ask for an automatic transmission, as many rental cars in Europe are manual (unless you like manual transmissions). 😊 That said, I noticed that in recent years agencies have introduced more and more automatics into their fleet, so it's not quite as difficult to find them as it used to be. But if you do need an automatic, that's another reason to book earlier rather than later.

Good luck with your planning! I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip no matter what!

Oops, I forgot one more thing. I wanted to mention in terms of looking for hotels and lodging, you can also come back to the forum and ask for hotel and/or apartment recommendations for particular towns and cities. For example, you can come here and ask for recommendations for lodging for Salzburg and mention that there are five of you and give specifics about your budget and time frame, and the number of people and so on. The more information you give us, the easier it is to give certain recommendations.

We have all traveled to many of the places you have listed, so you are certain to find some good personal recommendations from travelers who have stayed there.

My research suggested this loop as each travel day was less than 2 hours, except 2.

But is it? Let's look at the details of a typical driving day. Get everybody up and dressed at a reasonably early time. Kids are easy that way. Pack everything. Go for breakfast. Retrieve luggage and check out. Find your car (how far away did you have to park?). Pack up the car. Drive out of town (is there a rush hour? Need gas? Get on the autobahn and drive to your next destination. Any slowdown due to heavy summer traffic? Any staus due to an accident? Anybody need an emergency bathroom break? You dont want to stop en route for any intermediate sightseeing, do you? Arrive in your next town or city. Try not to get lost or turned around finding your accommodations. Find a place to park. Check in. Stow your bags if room isn't ready. Bathroom break. Lunch time? So your 2 hour drive can easily take up half a day. Just saying...

Lodging: As a couple, we book both short stays and longer stays when we travel, often vacation apartments for the longer stays. Most apartments are large enough for 2-3 persons; larger ones for 4+ persons are harder to find. 2-night stops are very often not offered by vacation apartment owners. You will have a better shot at finding accommodations with beds for 5 people if you book longer stays.

Transportation: Germany is particularly generous to groups of 5. A day pass for all-day train travel within Bavaria costs €72 (Bayern Ticket.) So the standard regional train fare for Munich > Salzburg with 5 persons isn't 5x€32 but just €72. Sub-regions of Bavaria offer similar passes too:

https://www.discover-bavaria.com/tickets

Some communities hand free transportation cards out to all guests who book in their towns. We stayed in the small town of Golling, AT a few years ago and took trains into central Salzburg and to Werfen for no charge. Stay anywhere within the Austrian state of Salzburg these days, and you get this free transport pass for your outings:

https://www.guestmobilityticket.at/en/

Berchtesgaden, DE has a similar offer for its guests.

Do-able merits consideration. Google maps tells me that you are partially right on drive times, though I think you might have three 3-hour drives. Of course, as you drive through the mountains, someone may get hungry, need a WC stop, or want to get out of the car, look around or take a hike. You’ll most likely have mid-day lunch considerations. So 2-1/2 or 3 hour drives turn into 5. Maybe that’s ok. But you drive one day, see one local area the next, then drive, then local … throughout. Yes, each driving day does include breakfast in the departure city and a little time for orientation before and after dinner upon arrival, but you also have family and check-in logistics and dynamics.

So now, what does each full family day in

• Munich
• Fussen
• Innsbruck
• Ortisei/Dolomites
• Venice (LATE NOTE Ask your kids before you cut it. )
• Lubijania
• Bled
• Salzburg

look like? What did you see? Perhaps more important, what did you miss? Not just sights, but food, drinks, cafes, parks, hikes, water activity time (boat, swim, beach), shops … dare I say it, churches, museums, galleries. In Venice, journeys to Burano (lace) or Murano (glass blowing) - or not

Look at that for each of your eight single days (seven if you drive to Hallstatt.)

I don’t know how we did it, but somehow we missed going into San Marco (the church) on our first trip to Venice, so we had to return. Glad we did … and we also got to take in the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Cichetti, and the Accademia, as well as some chamber music on our return trip. Missed all that the first time.

Can you somehow take off (and afford) a third week and make this 16 night trip a 22 or 23 night trip, instead?

We’re a family of 4 (also from the PNW) and we’ve visited most of these places by car, so I’ll offer our experiences. An estate car is what you want for the most cargo space for luggage and most comfort in the back seat.

You have a lot of 2 night stops, which really gives you one full day to explore an area. But within those 2 nights you have a lot of “day trips” which really deserve their own “full” day.

One trip we visited Salzburg (5 nights), Ljubljana (4 nights), Venice (3 nights), and Munich (3 nights), (plus 3 nights in Boppard on the Rhine and 2 nights in Rothenburg).

Even, or especially, in summer, I recommend staying multiple nights in one place. It gives you more flexibility due to weather, energy levels, etc. You spend more time enjoying that area and less time packing, loading the car, traveling, finding parking, finding the hotel, unpacking.

In our 5 nights in Salzburg we went on a Sommerrodelbahn (twice, so much fun!), to the Red Bull Hangar on a rainy day, paragliding over Salzburg, to Eagle’s Nest on a perfectly clear day (WOW!), to Hallstatt and the salt mine, a bier hall, and did all the touristy things in Salzburg itself. We had an absolute blast, and still had time to sit on our patio and enjoy the views. Never found time to go in the pool at the rental. Never made it to the water park or ice cave. So much to do in this area! Nature lovers paradise.

In Ljubljana, we really wanted to go to Lake Bled, but it was rainy day after day. Finally on our last day, it cleared so we went. Because we were there for multiple days, we were able to switch our plans around to accommodate the weather, and went to Postojna Caves on a rainy day instead. Another rainy day we just spent half a day vegging and doing laundry. Kids (and adults) need down time, too!

Another trip we did Ortesei/Val Gardena area. Absolutely loved it, but it might be super crowded (and hot) in August. We were there mid-June. It was over 100 when we drove from Venice to Munich via the Brenner Pass in July.

My recommendation is to stay 3+ nights in each stop. Pick 3-4 places to base, then be flexible on what you do on each of those days. We look for apartments on the normal booking sites. You will want ac in August, which will limit your options. And many rentals have washers, but no drying machines- just a drying rack. Another reason it’s useful to stay multiple nights! I would drop Venice and drop Munich to 1 night. Stay in one spot for Ljubljana and Bled. You can see the Soja river on your way to the Dolomites. We stopped at the open air museum in Kobarid.

Munich, Salzburg, Ljubljana, Dolomites, drive through Innsbruck, Fussen, Munich would be my route. Don’t forget the vignette for Austria and also Slovenia, I think.

Travel 4fun offers excellent guidance. Please give thought to the following, you have an opportunity to create wonderful travel memories without needing to travel a lot. So INVEST time into absorbing the experiences and seek to avoid SPENDING time traveling from point to point.

I REALLY appreciate all the advice and thoughtful input. I've re-evaluated based on your experiences and recommendations, and we are now considering a major shift towards having 2 main "home bases."
After a couple days in Munich to acclimate, see Marienplatz, and get a beer with friends, I'm thinking 6 days/5 nights in Bavaria (maybe Oberammergau) with day trips to the Zugspitze, Linderhoff Palace, Ettal Abby, Neuschwanstein (the 14 year old's request), and Mittenwald maybe? Still learning and researching...
Then 6 days/5 nights at Lake Bled, Slovenia with day trips to the Postojna caves, Predama Castle, Ljubljana castle, Triglav National Park, and maybe Lake Bohinj.
Then we could add 2-3 nights in Salzburg, skipping Lake Halstatt, and return to Munich to head home.
I would love to take advantage of Germany's excellent transportation system, but I fear that each place may be easier to day-trip to/from via car. And I definitely get a sense that while Slovenia has buses, a car may be needed to hit up all these locations in a timely manner.
So much more research to do regarding places to see and things to do, but is this plan looking more "doable"? We are a pretty active family. We pack light, and we have done a 12 day tent camping trip from North of Seattle down thru the Oregon coast and California coast, all the way to Sonoma and back (when the kids were 4 and 7), so I know we have the fortitude, but Europe is definitely a different beast! So I really appreciate your insights.
Thanks!

Looking again, I think you all are right. Salzburg may need more time. Re-arranging again! Maybe we'll just dinner in Munich and devote that time to Salzburg and surrounding areas.

What a wonderful gift to your kids! 21 years ago, we took our daughter to Europe for the first time when she was 10. Now, as an adult, she’s an avid and confident international traveler.

I’m glad to hear that you’re open to paring your itinerary down. You’ve gotten some spot on advice.

We learned a lot in our first years of traveling internationally as a family. The first lesson we learned was about jet lag and adjusting to a time difference. Although our daughter was a great traveler, and trips to the East Coast when she was little had minimal effects, jet lag and sleep deprivation hit her really hard on that first trip and subsequent trips in her early teens. Coming from Seattle, adjusting to the 9 hour time difference always took several days. I had a similar experience traveling to Europe with my family as a teenager. Hopefully, your kids will adjust quickly. Giving yourselves more days in fewer places could make for smoother sailing.

It sounds as if your kids are already involved in some research. We found the DK Eyewitness travel books to be just the right balance of great visuals, top ten lists and practical info to interest both kid and adults. After everyone had a chance to do some research, we used a ranking system for must see activities so that everyone felt that they had a say and got to see at least one or two top choices. At one point in her teens our daughter was given the job of local transit navigator and now when we travel together (yes, she still wants to travel with us!) she has become our trusted family food and restaurant guide.

I would suggest just doing Germany and Austria and going to Rothenburgh. The Crime Museum and the Night Watchman's Tour would be fun for your kids.

Now you are cooking with oil! A couple of home bases and ability to flex the day trips to meet your at hand needs is great! There is a huge variety of experiences to be discovered when you are less concerned about moving from point to point. Keep an eye out for hot springs where you can relax the muscles and bones while recharging for the next portion of your journey.

I have learned that fewer destinations means more time to actually see and experience things. Each move wastes so much valuable vacation time. We mix in a lot of 3 night stays with an occasional overnight.