Family Vacation June 2017 18 -19 nights

In my opinion I would absolutely take your family to Dachau. Very easy train ride to get there.

Very sobering and something everyone should see. IMO it's the most important thing to do. I think in today's world of attempts at taking away rights (2A for example) young people need a reminder of what can happen as too many seem to take for granted what we have.

I would highly recommend Neuschwanstein castle. One of the best pictures my wife and I have of ourselves is from the walking bridge across the huge gorge above the waterfall with the castle in the background of our pic. Would be fantastic to have a family pic there.

Thank you Vick for your feedback. We will be doing Dachau for sure. It is more of a timing thing as to if we should do it as a day trip from Munich and return or visit in conjunction with driving to the Salzburg Berchtesgaden area. As far as Neuschwanstein we will be doing that as well although I have already done it my husband wants to go. Where did you stay? We have looked at staying in near by Schwangueas as well. Just noticed I didn't mention that one above as a option.

We did a day trip tour by bus out of Munich
They also took us to 2 other (smaller but more gaudy (that's not the right word) estates/castles. Can't think of the name right now. It was a fun day.

Arrival Dusseldorf - Bacharach 3 nights-See castles such as Rheinfels, Marksburg, River Cruise Any other suggestions here?

It will take 2.3 - 2.7 train hours to reach Bacharach from DUS so along with airport time and jet-lag you may find your first day somewhat compromised when it comes to sightseeing.

Best river cruise: start in Bingen and disembark in St. Goar (or perhaps Boppard, further north) - here's a map.

If you arrive early enough in the area, this would be a relaxed way to introduce yourselves to the region. Drop bags at your hotel then catch an hourly train south for either the 14:30 or 16:30 cruise boat from Bingen.

The "Bridge at Remagen" was the site of an important and interesting struggle at the end of WW II. The museum tells the story and is housed in the supports of the old bridge:
1945: http://www.precision-panzer.moonfruit.com/communities/9/004/006/621/409/images/4538646570.jpg
Today: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Remagen_002.jpg
Museum: http://www.bruecke-remagen.de/index_en.htm
(A 1969 movie with George Segal and other big Hollywood names might be worth seeing before you go.)
This day pass - the VRM minigroup ticket - will get the 3 of you to Remagen and back for E22.10 total.

Boppard is a nice town south of Koblenz on the west bank of the Rhine - it has a cool chairlift and an nice riverfront walk:
http://www.jazclass.aust.com/blog/photos29/blog273.jpg
View from Gedeonseck terrace, a short walk from the top of the chairlift

I'd suggest St. Goar over Bacharach as a base town. Bacharach is pretty and worth visiting but it has a problem with train noise that other towns don't have to the same degree. St. Goar would be closer for outings to Boppard, Braubach (marksburg) and Remagen. Unlike Bacharach, St. Goar has an all-day ferry to get you over to the St. Goarshausen train station for the ride to Braubach. And because your cruise goes to St. Goar, you don't have to use a train again to get to your hotel after the cruise. St. Goar has perhaps the most scenic setting of all the Rhine towns. (That's the ferry in the photo.)

St. Goar lodging options:
http://www.st-goar.de/612-1-host-directory.html
We very much liked our apartment, the Ferienwohnung Rheinblick ("Rhine View", look under "holiday flats.")

Screen reviews for train noise wherever you end up. You don't want to be at a location like this inn in Bacharach:
http://www.rhein-zeitung.de/cms_media/module_img/557/278944_1_gallerydetail_278944_1_org_bacharach.jpg

Hi Russ-Thank you!! This is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. I will spend more time researching St. Goar. The hostel in - Bacharach appealed tour daughter being in what was a castle and all but given that we would really only have two full days not counting our arrival day it might be better to be more centrally located. I took a look at the apartment web site and will spend more time on it later. I couldn't find the one you described yet but I could be blind at the moment and will return for a longer search. This information is great and I am beyond thankful. First hand experience is always the best!

As for Dachau, I wouldn't consider it a "must do", but it is easy to do as a day trip with public transportation from downtown Munich. It take 45 minutes from the Munich Hbf, 21 minutes on the S-2 (Richtung [direction] Petershausen) to the Dachau Bahnhof, 10 minutes to find the bus, #726, then 7 minutes on the bus to the Memorial. All you need is a München XXL ticket, just a few more euro than an inner zone (Innenraum) ticket.

Between Bacharach and Rothenburg you might want to consider Wurzburg. And if you do that, consider Mespelbrunn Castle between Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg. Google them and see what you think. If you decided to visit we can give you details about getting there. If your daughter is really interested in WWII, have her check out www.thirdreichruins.com.

Lee- Thank you for the transportation details. While it might not be a must do for all it is for my daughter. I did not do it in Munich when I was there last time but she wants to go for sure. I am still trying to figure out if driving there in the morning of our travel day to Salzburg would be a good idea or not. I am hoping someone who has rented a car before would have a thought on this.
LC- Thank for your suggestion. We have toiled about Wurzburg. It is more of a time thing. We considered staying there over Rothenburg or even Nurnberg. The Nazi history in Nurnberg is what sealed it. Would you choose Wurzburg over Rothenburg? If so why? Thank you for the link as well we will check in out for sure.

islandfam2008: Here's a link to the home page of the Ferienwohnung Rhine View, the 2-BR apartment we had for 3 nights a few years ago:

http://www.loreley-apartments.de/die_4_wohnungen_en.php

There are other good places too. For a hotel stay look into the Rheinhotel St. Goar, which always gets good marks. I will disagree with you slightly about anecdotal advice like you're getting from me. It's only a hint... You know what sort of place your family would like best. And the reviews at Tripadvisor or booking.com and other sights are invaluable for identifying problems or advantages as long as you read through a good number of reviews.

I would warn you though about advance-booking. A lot of people just book, thinking they can cancel later... But German law favors the innkeeper... unless there is a published cancellation policy for a certain establishment then it's possible that your cancellation will be considered a no-show - and you WILL be held responsible for payment in full for any nights booked - even if you paid no deposit or provided no credit card information. Always inquire before reserving if you are unsure.

Boppard would be a good alternative town to book in, in part because you can end a nice cruise there, in part because it has so many lodging and dining options, and in part because it's a handsome, well-located place (and ALSO has a ferry crossing, though not quite as convenient as St. Goar's.)

If 5 days seem like too much in Fussen area after Salzburg, you might want to also look at Lake Constance (Bodensee) or Tuebingen and Swabian Alb for a couple of days.

Check out www.bensbauernhof.com for some good ideas from the trip reports and reviews of accomodations.

Near Salzburg, consider visiting the ice cave at Werfen. Also the castle there.

The youth hostel in Bacharach needs to be booked well in advance. I guess hostels today are not always the madhouse of little kids they were when I stayed there many years ago. It is a steep walk from the town. Of course that gives you a great view. These days I stay at a place in town - one that is not next to the tracks.

Thank you Russ for the warning. My husband and I both work in tourism so we are used to reading the fine print. Generally once we make a decision we stick to it so I am not too worried about committing. With triples and apartments I feel like booking farther out will be required to get the best deals. Seems that there are fewer places that accommodate three. With just two I think I would be more comfortable. I will be talking with the family about the logistics of Bacharach vs. St. Giles. I have a feeling even with the train the entire sleeping in a castle thing might win. However, the daughter always leans more towards apartments so we will see on that one. Thanks for the link as well!!

Stephen- Thank you for your suggestion of Lake Constance. It looks beautiful. We really want to try and stretch out some of our stays and see as much as possible in certain areas. Those last few days we wanted to do the Zuspitz from either the Austrian side or German depending on where we end up settling. The castles near Fussen and possibly even Ettal Monastery and Linderhof. With car we might even have time to go over to Ruette and see Ehrenberg and Schlosskopf. It is really just about where we base ourselves. I can not for the life of me seem to be able to figure out what would be good fit. At this point I think we would want to some place a bit slow and relaxing. We are between Fussen, Schwangau, Oberammergau, Garmish, Proften, or Loomis. The only requirement we have for accommodations is wifi and some space.

Personally, my choice would be Wurzburg rather than Rothenburg. Primarily because of the Prince Bishop's Residence in W'burg. Rothenburg is a great little place -- no doubt about it. Enjoyed every visit there. But if time only allows one, then do W'burg and, if driving, go through Dinkelsbuhl or Nordlingen on the way to Nurnberg. They are also on "the romantic road" and are more interesting and less crowded than R'burg. If you go to W'burg and time is tight, the view of the fortress from the town is much better than the view of the town from the fortress. Hope this helps.

"I will be talking with the family about the logistics of Bacharach vs. St. Giles. I have a feeling even with the train the entire sleeping in a castle thing might win. "

St. Goar, right.?

I would not underestimate the uphill climb from town to Stahleck Castle in Bacharach. If you stay there multiple nights and travel by train, you'd do best to make taxi arrangements for leaving and returning on day trips. Or you can make it one night - then 2 elsewhere - that way you go up and down only once.

Alternatively, splurge a bit at a castle/hotel (which avoids the large, noisy school groups like you get in June in the hostels) for one night, or longer if you can find one with a hotel shuttle into town (Burg Liebenstein has a shuttle to town but I don't know much about it. Liebenstein is in Kamp-Bornhofen, across the river and upstream from Boppard. Like St. Goar, K-B would also be a good place to end a cruise. With a long walk, you could get to Boppard from K-B on foot, if you wished, using the Boppard ferry. K-B has a train station as well, of course.)

Another castle/hotel choice is Burg Reichenstein, which you can find at booking.com. Reichenstein is a much easier walk into town and to the train station than the other castle-hotels. It's on the west side of the river in Trechtingshausen, south of Bacharach, also on the train line and situated directly on the Rhine Castle Trail.

Castle accommodations are not so badly priced, actually, if a castle-stay is a must. The castle/hostel rooms probably aren't that much less expensive.

Hi Russ- Thank you for the castle suggestions. I took a look and checked both of them out. :) they look great. I still like the location of the one in Bacharach so we will see. There are also a lot of apartments between there and St. Giles that look great so we might just have to sucker the kid in forgoing the castle thing. We will have to have discuss it. Everyone seems pretty concerned about this walk to the hostel in Bacharach. It must be something... Thanks again!

Russ- These apartments look great by the way. I finally had time to look a the link this morning in detail. Great find. Thanks for the link.

In case you did not already know, there is a luge near Neuschwanstein on Tegelberg. There is also the Tegelberg cable car which can take you up to an area with some walking paths and great views of the surrounding area, including Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.

https://en.schwangau.de/sightseeing/the-tegelberg-cable-car-and-summer-luge/

We had a rental car in Bavaria and used it on a day trip from munich out to dachau..The drive was no problem with gps. We were there in November with plenty of parking etc..We did not find it difficult at all. The only issue was returning the car at the train station was a little tricky as we left munich by train.

We did Neuschwanstein on a Mike's Bikes tour a couple years ago and it was one of the best days! A full day from Munich, but it was interesting and fun. We biked, had lunch, and rode an alpine slide thing before visiting the castle. It was a super fun day!

https://www.mikesbiketours.com/munich/Castle-Tours/neuschwanstein-castle-tours-bus-bavaria.html

Have fun!
Kim