15 Days with Kids

Plan looks good imo.

In Frankfurt best stay in Mainz or Wiesbaden close to main station. S-Bahn to / from airport and good regional train connection to Bingen (Mainz side) or Rüdesheim (Wiesbaden side) to start day cruise on Rhine.

Link to find family oriented hotels in Berlin.

On day 9 you might stop for a few hours in Bamberg which is a stop on train connection Berlin to Munich. UNESCO heritage old town.

If you want to do Rothenburg I would put that at the end and head from there to Frankfurt by train (reduce somehow double ways).

We traveled with kids from age 5 to teens over the years and found that museums didn't works so well. After 15 minutes at the Lourve my 5 year old wanted to leave.

Things that our kids loved were going up the Eiffel Tower, a gondola ride in Venice, scenic places like the Zugspitze mountain near Garmish, Germany.

The kids should enjoy the Rhine cruise. Also, they should enjoy Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I think your children would enjoy a visit to Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, which is a town along the Rhein. Much of the site is in ruins but there is a hotel, restaurant, and museum on site. They have a website you might look at for further information. I visited there several years ago. I thought at the time that it would be a great place to take children, lots of space to run and play and work off some energy. I would be happy to go back there again someday.
Happy trip planning and have a great trip!

Traveler Girl

Thank you for the suggestions! Considering your feed back, and after more research on this site, I've adjusted our itinerary to better represent our interests.

Updated itinerary:
2 or 3 nights - Boppard. (Visit Bacharach, Rhine cruise, Rheinfels. Can include more castles/hiking if we stay 3 nights.)
4 or 5 nights - Berlin.
2 or 3 nights - Nurnberg. (Day trip to Bad Windsheim/Bamberg/Regensburg)
3 or 4 nights - Berchtesgaden. (Eagles Nest, Koenigssee, Rupertus Therme, Salt Mine Tour, day trip to Salzburg)
1 night - Frankfurt prior to flight out

Most notably, I chose to drop our stay in Munich in favor of time split between Nurnberg and Berchtesgaden. I think we'll be ready to escape the city after our time in Berlin. We still plan on using public transit for travel.

Questions I have are:
Does it make sense to steal a day from Berlin in favor of an extra day in Boppard ? As @geovagriffith rightfully pointed out, my kids aren't very tolerant of museums and would much rather explore outside.
Are 2 nights in Nurnberg enough? The open air museum in Bad Windsheim looks like a great stop and we'd also like to fit in either Bamberg or Regensburg.
I fell down the Berchtesgaden hole today and would love to have enough time there to see the sights in/near Berchtesgaden and spend a day in Salzburg. Should I plan for 4 nights?
Is the trip from Berchtesgaden to Frankfurt going to be too much for one day? We aren't planning on doing any sightseeing in Frankfurt. We just need to get some rest before an early morning flight.
Thank you again for the feedback!

Does it make sense to steal a day from Berlin in favor of an extra day in Boppard ? As @geovagriffith rightfully pointed out, my kids aren't very tolerant of museums and would much rather explore outside.

LOL, this you can have as well in and around Berlin. Over 17% are woods, parks not included in this. Outdoor playgrounds and indoor sports (climbing, trampoline, etc.) enjoy thousands of kids in our city. We have also two zoos, ... more

Koopa, yes we do have very similar plan for this summer! Since you need to be at Berlin and Frankfurt, the Rhine makes sense, but then you might consider going to the medieval towns north of Frankfurt? Like the fairy tale road, etc. Check out other Germany guide books like Lonely Planet, they might give you more ideas.

Planning to go to Rothenburg by train from Munich will take to much time on the train and only little time in town.
So I wont do that with 3 kids

The Alps or Regensburg are only about 1 hr away by train and also worth doing

Tegernsee might be one option Boattrip on the lake and/or going with the cable car up to Wallberg Mountain should be fun

https://www.tegernsee.com/en/

Not the Alps but
Regensburg visit the historic town and do a boattrip on the Danube River might be another option

https://tourismus.regensburg.de/en/

One Option especially for the Kids might be a daytour from Munich to Legoland near Günzburg

about 1:45 hrs from Munich Central Station

https://www.legoland.de/en/

https://www.legoland.de/en/plan-your-visit/plan-your-visit/getting-here/

@MarkK Fair point. Thanks for the link!

@medesikaste Thanks for the suggestions! I have looked into the fairy tale road, but I have my heart set on seeing the Alps and don't think I can fit both in. I would love to be able to focus on the northern part of the country and save the south for another trip, but don't know if/when we'll get a chance to return.

@uwe04 I agree that a day trip to Rothenburg from Munich isn't feasible with 3 kids. I've decided to spend 2 nights in Rothenburg on our way back to Frankfurt. Thank you for alternative day trip ideas!

An updated itinerary. I've started a new thread here, asking more specifically about the difficulty of the trip from Berlin to the Alps and the best area to stay.

• Day 1 (W)- Overnight flight to Frankfurt.
• Day 2 (Th)- Morning arrival in Frankfurt. Stay in Frankfurt (2 nights).
• Day 3 (F)- Bacharach, Rhine cruise, Rheinfels
• Day 4 (Sat)- Train to Berlin. Stay in Berlin (5 nights)
• Days 5-8 (Sun,M,T,W) - Berlin
• Day 9 (Th) - Train from Berlin to Munich/Alps. Stay in Alps (4 nights).
• Days 10-12 (F,Sat,Sun) - Alps
• Day 13 (M) - Train to Rothenburg. Stay in Rothenburg (2 nights)
• Day 14 (T) - Rothenburg, Bad Windsheim
• Day 15 (W) - Train to Frankfurt. Stay in Frankfurt (1 night)
• Day 16 (Th)- Early flight out of Frankfurt

I would have liked to stay in Boppard for the first 2 nights, but I worry that adding the train ride out of Boppard may be too much with a long train ride to Berlin. Coincidentally, the day we're heading to Berlin from Frankfurt is my middle son's birthday. Any suggestions on places in Frankfurt or Berlin that may be good for making his day feel more special?

I recommended Legoland Günzburg for the Kids in prior posting.

So when they like Lego there is also something in Berlin were you can spent a (birth)day with the Kids
It can be combined with other attractions
Check their website

https://www.legolanddiscoverycentre.com/berlin/en/

Seen you plan to start your Rhine cruise from Bacharach.
We did a farmstay for a week above the town and like it very much
https://www.ferienhof-oldach.de/welcome.html
There is also an option to stay in a castle above Bacharach with the Kids for one night
It wont be too expensive cause its a Youth Hostel

Have look: https://www.diejugendherbergen.de/jugendherbergen/bacharach/

You need a taxi to get from Bacharach Train Station up to the castle

https://www.rheintal-reisen.de/leistungen/

Btw Bacharach is 1hr from Frankfurt Airport by train direct connections available train RE2 direction Koblenz

Just be aware of the UEFA championships and how those might affect your travel. Germany is hosting. This could lead to crowds, particularly in certain cities on certain days. This could be a ton of fun or a huge headache, depending on your perspective.

@HowlinMad Thank you for mentioning this! It looks like our travel dates will overlap with the games. Does this mainly affect restaurants/accommodations in the host cities on game days? Or should we expect trains and tourist areas throughout Germany to be busier?

Both. And look for public viewing options, which can be fun or awful depending on your take on crowds. But on the whole it was super positive when Germany hosted the World Cup in 2006. But yeah, on those days and in general expect lodging to fill up and places to be a bit more crowded than usual.