Summer 2017 Family Trip to Germany, Austria, Switzerland & Benelux

Switzerland has so much to see. I would consider Interlaken and Lucerne.

For Germany, also consider Garmisch and the Romantic Road that goes through Augsburg, Rothenburg and more. Consider renting a car for a few days and driving the road. Here is a tour if that interests you. Augsburg is worth half a day. We lived there for four years.

https://www.viator.com/tours/Frankfurt/Three-Day-Frankfurt-to-Munich-Romantic-Road-Rothenburg-Hohenschwangau-Neuschwanstein/d21519-2160TEB607F

Berlin, lots to see there don't miss the Pergamum Museum.

"...suggestions for river cruises and hotels/hostels/pensions that would be cost effective for a family of 5."

Rhine: St. Goar is a very good base town for the Rhine - sandwiched in between Bacharach, Oberwesel and Boppard, 3 very desirable old-world destinations, St. Goar shares the west bank Koblenz-Mainz train line with these and other towns. There are no bridges between Koblenz and Mainz, but St. Goar has a ferry for crossing the river - and there's a train station on the opposite bank, serving the east-bank line, so the east-bank towns (Braubach, home of Marksburg Castle, and Ruedesheim) are accessible.

Ferry: http://www.schiffbilder.de/1024/personen-fahrzeugfaehre-loreley-vi-zwischen-18381.jpg

Map: http://welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/fileadmin/images/themen/region/uebersichtskarte/mrt_karte.gif

Accomomodations: A few years ago we stayed at the Loreley Apartments in the Rhineview unit, a 2-bedroom set-up for 5 persons on the top-most floor. The living room window looks over a scene much like the one in the photo link above. Great place to stay, just a few steps from the boat docks and the train station.

Cruise: Take the train south to Bingen and cruise back north to St. Goar. This covers the most scenic part of the river in 1.5 hours. KD Cruises in Bingen offers a discount to train users (just show your train ticket at the kiosk when you buy your tickets - no pre-purchase of cruise tickets is needed.) Bingen-Rüdesheimer also offers cruises through the same sector.

Local train pass for day trips: The VRM mini-group ticket is a day pass for 5 people; cost is €22.10/day and covers the VRM region from Oberwesel north along the Rhine to Remagen, and up the Mosel to Cochem (and a little further.) The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket may be useful too - it covers the VRM and a much larger area outside the VRM as well. Both passes cover the St. Goar ferry too. You can buy both from ticket machines at the station in St. Goar. The Rheinland-Pfalz ticket can be bought anywhere in Germany from any ticket machine, the VRM ticket only within the VRM coverage area from ticket machines in the local train stations. Read about both here:

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/leisure-ticket/

With that many people, you may need to get a minivan. And leasing for 6 weeks will have benefits over a regular car rental. Your idea about staying 4-6 nights in one place and doing day trips is solid.

Thank you all for your ideas. The itinerary is always in flux, so I will see what I can do to incorporate some of your ideas.

In Switzerland I would recommend Engleberg, the trip up Mt. Titlis is really interesting. The area around Lake Geneva is also interesting. Chateau Chillion might be fun for tweens or teens.

There is nowhere in Switzerland that we have been that is prettier and more fun than the Lauterbrunnen Valley and surrounding mountain areas. We have been to Geneva, Lucerne, Chur, Zermatt, Tirano, Lugano, and points in-between. Zermatt is a somewhat distant second to the L.V. If you like to hike and ride lifts and mountain railways, you cannot beat it. Get an apartment and cook for yourselves, though. Food is terribly expensive.

Thanks for the Switzerland info. It's so hard to decide what to see!