10 Day Southern Itinerary w/ Children

While in the Garmisch Partenkirchen area, visit Oberammergau and do the alpine coaster.

While in Munich, you could do the BMW plant guided tour. Be aware the factory tour typically sells out well in advance, but since your trip isn't until next May, you should be able to stalk the reservation schedule and nab tickets when they first come available. Since the BMW facilities are next to Olympiapark, you can make a day of it in the area.

If you are driving from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg this is a great summer toboggan run on the road between them. duerrnberg.at

In Berchtesgaden we really liked the German restaurant with a big outdoor seating area at the end of the pedestrian street. We also loved this up in the mountains Gasthof for dinner at a lovely setting. gasthof-vorderbrand.de

In Munich my kids liked best: the surfing wave in the English Garden and floating down the stream in that park (one part is rough and fast but slightly further in it’s a more mellow current safe for kids). Fun time if it’s warm enough by then and most people sounded German based on languages we heard.

Also if you fly out later your last day or spend the night outside the city, the kids LOVED this amazing huge water park: therme-erding.de
Sounds like a fantastic trip! Hope your kids love it!

This looks like a fabulous itinerary! But I’d suggest you consider taking time from Berchtesgaden or Garmisch to actually stay over in Salzburg. My children LOVED it and there are some really cool things to do. In particular they loved visiting the fortress via funicular, and Hellbrunn Palace to see the trick fountains and water features. We did some fun Sound of Music exploring as well.

The salt mine is so fun, good choice!

In Garmisch, we easily did Partnach Gorge and Zugspitze in one day, just FYI. So you could potentially lose a day there for Salzburg and still fit a lot in.

It sounds like you may have a rental car, so you should look into the Alpine Coaster in Oberammergau! Such a cool experience. We did that in the morning before driving to Neuschwanstein.

In Munich: My kids enjoyed seeing the crown jewels at The Residenz museum. The science museum there is super cool as well. You’ll want to spend some time in the park (Englischer Garden), and just hanging out in beer gardens :)

We also went to this honestly bizarre but really cool place called Motor World. It was free and there were so many different types of cars. I think it’s maybe for collectors or something? We never could figure it out but it was interesting if you’re at all into cars.

This will be our children's 1st European vacation.

If the age 9-11 kids are an important focus, I like the waterpark and toboggan/bobsled (Sommerrodelbahn) suggestions you have received. In a similar vein, you might want to pull back on the Nazi/Hitler items and the not-so-kid-oriented, late-19th-century, faux-castle experience in Füssen... have a look at these alternatives...

• Free-flight falconry exhibition and tour of a genuine fortified castle (Hohenwerfen, of "Where Eagles Dare" fame, with roots going back to 1077.)

• World's largest ice cave (Eisriesenwelt)

(Both of the above are located near Salzburg in Werfen.)

• Highline 179 Suspension Bridge near Reutte

And the kids might find this very Bavarian venue more entertaining than a Munich beer hall...

• Fraundorfer Inn, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

We took our 4th grade class to Neuschwanstein years ago, and they liked the castle tour well enough.

I was going to suggest a Sommerrodelbahn, but it appears others have already beaten me to it.

In Munich I would also suggest the surfers and das Deutsche Museum. It's a museum of technic and science, highly interactive and fun for kids this age. For the city center, make sure to spend time at the Viktualienmarkt and let the kids try to find some interesting and unusual things.

Near the BMW stuff is also a Wasserspielplatz--a water playground (playground with water cannons and other fun wet stuff). Might be worth it to bring dry tshirts ;) as these playgrounds are often a big hit.