First time family trip to Germany

You have chosen destinations that will be impacted by visitors and not particularly budget-friendly in the month of June. Also, it's often the case that family accommodations are not bookable for just 1-2 nights. You will have a wider choice of places with 3 or 3+ night stays, and sometimes you will get a discounted rate if you stay a minimum of nights (usually 3-5 nights.)

I don't think it's necessary to visit both Alpine areas. I'd choose one or the other. 4-5 nights in GaPa will be beneficial.

I would skip the Black Forest.

Boppard is on the Rhine, Cochem on the Mosel. Boppard will work for visiting Cochem, Winningen and Burg Eltz on the Mosel, if that's what you have in mind. And Boppard will work for Rhine destinations like Braubach ( cute town + Marksburg Castle) as well as Bacharach, Oberwesel, Ruedesheim.

https://delveintoeurope.com/braubach-germany/

Boppard also offers FREE rail and bus trips during your stay. 2 nights will NOT be sufficient for this area especially since you are traveling a good distance to get there, from GaPa or from some stopover town... I'd do 4.

The trip to Boppard (or Cochem) ought to be done by train for ease of travel; it can be broken up with an overnight - or a stopover of several hours if you wish - in the beautiful town of ESSLINGEN.. Get off in Stuttgart, then catch a local train 10 minutes to Esslingen from there; reverse this when you head to Boppard.

https://www.esslingen-info.com/en/discover/sights/top-10-of-the-sights

Boppard MIGHT be OK for getting to FRA airport at the end depending on flight time but I would prefer a final night in the city of MAINZ, where there will be numerous trains heading to FRA around the clock and the trip is a DIRECT one of only 20-25 minutes. Mainz is worth half a day or a day if you can spare it.

A budget-friendly way to travel in Germany is to rent a camper van (there are several companies in Munich). Campgrounds in Germany are generally very nice with great amenities, often including restaurants, playgrounds, pools, fresh baked goods in the morning. Plus, they are full of children for your kids to play with. In Mosel Valley, there are campgrounds all along the river. I can recommend one outside Salzburg. There is one at the Legoland in Günzburg that was very nice. We stopped there on our way out of Munich to get oriented and stock up on groceries. We were mostly in Austria and Switzerland, where the campgrounds were even nicer!

I like it!!

Car rental Munich, don't use airport or railway station desks, they charge more!!! Make sure you know the rules on child safety seats. I used the Sixt office, just north of the Ostbahnhof, https://www.sixt.co.uk/car-hire/germany/munich/munich-haidhausen/ which fits in nicely with the following....

Bad Reichenhall - nice feel to the place, good choice of accomodation ( try www.hrs.com but don't commit until around chiristmas because discounts might not be loaded). Nice traffic free centre for evening dining or just sitting outside with a drink. Easy to reach Salzburg city centre - possibly even easier if you use the Salzburg city bus that actually runs this far out thus avoiding parking problems in the city. My tip for the journey from Munich is AVOID the A8 autobahn and take the quieter (and without high speed traffic) B304. It starts at the back of the Ostbahnof , gets out of the city and then heads via small villages and towns in a much nicer way. Take time for some views and coffee - and remember to turn right onto the local road just after the Teisendorf exit!

Mittenwald - yes!! An easy and very scenic drive from Bad R. much of which is part of the AlpineRoad - with a small alteration, the best route takes a shortcut through Austria for about 15 miles and you should make sure the rental company knows this, they may just make a note or they may charge a small fee. Set a route from Bad R.via Reit in Winkl to Oberaudorf which is a good coffee stop (parking at the Kurpark, behind the post office). If you ask Google Maps (during the summer) for a route from Oberaudorf to Mittenwald without autobahns (check in the Options panel) it should show a route which is mostly using the B307. That road ends at Vorderiss and you continue on a simple private road (very small fee) with amazing scenery right next to a river. Several parking spots but keep the kids close when near the river. This road may not appear in Google Maps suggestions during teh winter when it is closed unless you specify a date in June - and if there has been very heavy rains with flooding it may be closed and you divert via Bad Tölz. The private road ends at Krün which is just north of Mittenwald, much quieter than GaPa which is still waiitng for it's bypass road about 90 years after it was first proposed! Mittenwald has a network of simple walking routes from the centre out to two alpine lakes on the west side of the village. It also has this on the east side https://www.karwendelbahn.de/en/

Füssen is the touristy town but don't overlook the neighbouring village of Schwangau. Afternoon/evening, from the car park at the the Schwangau Kristall-Therme walk across to the park on the north side and follow one of the paths that go a little higher, then turn back and look at the view - as the sun comes around it highlights Neuschwanstein castle amongst the trees. But Füssen is only about 100 minutes drive from Mittenwald so may be better as a lunch stop than overnight if you want to break up the joruney to Black Forest. You would still have time to continue west to somewhere like Immenstadt or Oberstaufen - less well known than Füssen but also with old centres and convenient for the route.

Gengenbach is pretty and a Rick Steves speciality but it's on the fringe of the Black Forest region, Triberg is more central but nothing to write home about. Villingen is worth looking at, or Titisee which isn't as old but has the scenery all around. A good day tour from or via Titisee is a loop via Schluchtsee, St. Blasien, Todtmoos, Todnau and Feldberg.

Boppard isn't on the Mosel, that's a Rhein village. But it's a very viable option for your plan and you can cut across to the Mosel. Beware Google routes from Black Forest to Cochem - they may go via France which brings another question for the rental comapny and the possiblity of tolls!! Boppard to Frankfurt Airport would be easy.

I wasn't a fan of the inside tour of Neuschweinstein Castle, but if you stay in Fussen(one of my favorite places I've been-I loved their small museum), you need to take them to see the outside of the castle, since it's the one on which the Disney Castle is based. If you are Sound of Music fans. you may want at least one night in Salzburg so you can take the tour.

I am not wild about your planned itinerary. I lived in Augsburg, Germany for 4 years and have visited there before and after living there.
Your plans stick to the extreme south of the country, except for the Mosel Valley. Also, you don't stay in the remarkable ciityof Salzburg.

Fussen is nice, but sorry Neuschwanstein Castle is overrated. It is only about 200 years old and doesn't compare to other very historical places in Germany.

You have two weeks, which is not enough to do the entire country.

To me the best areas of Germany to see are Bavaria, the Berlin Area and The Rhineland.

Yes, the Romantic Road is worth considering. Rothenburg ob Der Tauber is the most famous medieval walled village, but the Romantic Road has several ancient and very historical places.
https://www.romanticroadgermany.com

When in the Fussen/Garmish area, consider visiting Germany's highest mountain, The Zugspitze. You can take the cable car or cog train. If you just do Munich, Fussen/Garmsh/Zugspitze, Salzburg/Berchtesgden, you will easily spend a week. Do you want to see the Dachau Concentration Camp? If you add doing 4 days on the Romantic Road to Rotheburg, you only have a few days for Berlin, which is what I recommend. Try to do 4 days for Berlin.

You can always come back to see more. The Rhineland is great, so it should be a consideration at some point.
HerrenChimse is a castle copy of Versailles, between Munich and Salzburg.

geovagriffith, I do agree with you on Neuschwanstein and would agree with you to a degree about places, but they are traveling with young kids, which alters the thing a bit (I would skip Dachau for now and return in 5+ years, for example)

@OP:
First point: If you have a car, it might be very budget friendly to locate yourself a bit away from the famous tourist destinations, as this is often remarkably cheaper. English level in village hotels should still easily suffice for accommodation.

Second point: At least this year June was hit by an unprecedented heat wave, with temperatures well over 100-105 for over a week in the south - be prepared for that, at least mentally.

Third point: If you want to break up on the way MU to BF, I would suggest at least two nights so you can also either go to a small holiday / family farm in the Allgäu area (some have accommodation, including sleeping in a hay stack - popular kids thing, look for „Ferien Bauernhof“), or visit Lake Constance (do not look for accommodation right on the lake, it is high season and a bit pricy) for a lake cruise, maybe a dip for the girls and some gelato. Nice towns, and beautiful Mainau, Pfahlbauten Bronze Age pole village or Affenberg („monkey mountain“) in the hinterland.

Fourth point: Mosel and Rhine are quite a distance from the rest, beware not to exhaust by too much driving - but only you know how your kids handle about half a day driving.

Fifth point: I do like your itinerary, but it is a very classic one. With kids, I would maybe also consider the North Sea shore and in particular the Wadden Sea and some Frisian island. Pro: Much better in a heatwave, towns like Luneburg are just as nice as those in the south (but different). Con: Will also be cooler when there is no heatwave, and riskier for rain.

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses! This is exactly the kind of detailed feedback I was looking for.

I do realize I am leaving out huge chunks of the country, but I figured it would be better to focus on a few areas with only two weeks time. I did leave out Berlin for this visit as my husband is not crazy about big cities.

A couple of you mentioned I should stay in Salzburg. I figured Bad Reichenhall would be close enough to still fit in a whole day in Salzburg, but would it be better to stay in Salzburg itself? My other reason for choosing Bad Reichenhall is that my mother was born there in the displaced persons camp. But if Salzburg is better I can just drive through Bad Reichenhall to see it.

It seemed like some people thought the Black Forest area could be skipped in favor of more time in the Rhine/Mosel area or some other interesting suggestions. The Black Forest caught my eye because it seemed like there were plenty of kid-friendly things to do in the area (as opposed to wineries and more castles than my kids probably have patience for) but maybe I should be researching some other locations in Bavaria instead? I do like the idea of heading to the North Sea shore, but am loathe to give up a whole day travelling up there and think I would prefer to keep transit times around or under four hours at most.

Oh and also, thanks for the tips about seeing only the outside of Neuschwanstein! I had been wondering if it was worth it to do the inside tour and your advice settles it. Are either Linderhof or Hohenschwangau worth touring inside instead?

My point about the North Sea would have been an alternative, and you would fly into a northern city in this case. Driving up there is too much travel, I completely agree. And do not worry about being too geographically restricted - you are on vacation and not checking of a list (in particular with kids that will be exhausting).

With kids in mind, I would definitely tend to Black Forest over Mosel/Rhine (they have a bit of a reputation for being more interesting to older travelers). BF would have the Farms as well, afaik, plus a big amusement park just in case - but you could have most of that in the Allgäu/Lake Constance/ Upper and Bavarian Swabia Region as well. Depends all on the kids, of course - but iirc keeping the kids comparably happy is the key for enjoying the trip as a parent; a tired or bored kid can ruin a trip pretty quickly. Tbh if I were you, I would probably take a convenient spot in the Allgäu region for a couple of days and make day trips as necessary: Fussen, Lake (friends of ours took their elementary school kids on a boat cruise over the lake with us, and they absolutely loved it), Castles, Legoland, medieval towns... Nearer to one or the other, depending on your preferences - I grew up on the Lake, so I know this side better.

As to castles/palaces: Depends on what you want. All these made by Louis II. in the late 19th century were only for the king’s personal amusement - no ruling or governing in there. My wife visited Herrenchiemsee once as a girl in about that age range and liked it, but otherwise I do not know…

Actual medieval castles are plenty btw., but of course much smaller. There should be several dozen from fairly well kept to almost in ruin where you are.
On the way to BF, there are also Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern Castles - these are also not medieval, but the vibe is different. Salzburg has a castle too that is quite impressive, albeit actual medieval and thus rather plain.

As to Salzburg: Depends on what you are looking for. Are you going there for „Sound of Music“ and a Mozart concert or just the city? The city itself is nice, but very touristy (was there myself this spring), and comparably expensive. Imho a day trip is probably enough in the latter case.

if your mother was born in the Bad Reichenhall camp you have to go there. As l-b_m wrote, Salzburg city gets very busy with tourists and traffic. And it is expensive.

Linderhof is a good alternative to Neuschwanstein, it's easy to reach and simpler to get in!

OK, so with your personal interest in Bad Reichenhall, I feel really bad for suggesting you skip this area.

"Two nights Munich." Check.

"Two nights Bad Reichenhall - day trips to Salzburg and Berchtesgaden National Park."

Suggest 4-5 nights instead. (I would drop the GaPa area and Fuessen.)

Also visit the Salzburg Open-Air Museum, right near Bad Reichenhall! Great for kids and families:

https://www.freilichtmuseum.com/en/visitors-information.html

And Hohenwerfen Castle/Fortress just outside Salzburg... with a cool falconry show as well.

https://www.burg-hohenwerfen.at/en/your-visit/opening-hours

And do the Hochlenzer summer bobsled (there are a couple of other bobsled runs in the area as well.)

https://hochlenzer.de/rodelbahn.html

The Jennerbahn lift near Berchtesgaden and the Koenigssee is a thrilling experience as well. And the Berchtesgaden Salt Mine tour can be fun too.

PALACES: On your way to this area from Munich - or as you are leaving it - you will probably be driving right past The Chiemsee, also nicknamed the "Bavarian Ocean" where Herrenchiemsee Palace (another King Ludwig Palace, mentioned already by others) is situated on an island in the middle of the lake. A ferry gets you across.

https://www.herrenchiemsee.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm

That's half your trip. As for the rest... I read this...

With kids in mind, I would definitely tend to Black Forest over
Mosel/Rhine (they have a bit of a reputation for being more
interesting to older travelers).

Yes, older travelers frequent the area - BUT... the area is no old-folks home! both Rhine and Mosel have excellent medieval castle tours. For an outdoor family like yours, both offer excellent hiking trails with wonderful views that range from simple walks to rigorous climbs. Oberwesel has a fun walk along the remaining fortifications and towers of the town's old defensive wall.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198501-d2189241-Reviews-City_Fortifications-Oberwesel_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

https://www.niederrheinscout.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Stadtmauerrundgang-Oberwesel.jpg

Both rivers have fun boat rides and cable car rides. Just outside COCHEM is this small amusement/wildlife park - with a falconry show - designed for younger kids:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g1053688-d1905592-Reviews-Wild_Freizeitpark-Klotten_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

Cochem's indoor water park / pool facility is great too:

https://cochem.de/galerie/leisure-centre-cochem/?lang=en

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5d/b2/e1/5db2e1bd71e0697d59996868bd3565de.jpg

Thrills? The Geierlay suspension bridge might be your thing.

https://www.geierlay.de/en/

Or just take the chairlift ride in Boppard, exhilarating at a minimum:

https://fewoboppard.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sessellift.jpg

And because of the area's nice collection of old-world towns like Bacharach - and BRAUBACH as well (home of Marksburg Castle) - I don't think you'd be missing out on much of anything at all by keeping the Rhine/Mosel and dropping the Black Forest. Braubach, 3 pages of photos:

https://stadtbild-deutschland.org/forum/index.php?thread/7322-braubach-am-rhein-und-marksburg-galerie/

Six sets of lodging and six days devoted in part to traveling to the next stop; are you sure about all that? Summers have become a bit more unpleasant too over the past decade or more.

I enjoy Munich and heading to the Alps. Nuremberg was mentioned above, very charming. Been on the Mosel overnight; a well deserved stop and just as pleasant as the Rhine. Ultimately do less enjoy more and give the family time to overcome jet lag. I lived in Germany long enough for our now adult children to claim Wiesbaden as home….so I could prattle on about places to go from the Danish border to the Swiss border. Can’t resolve your possible conflicts but there are interesting alternatives here. Good Luck.

recent Rick Steves' article, "Cobbles and Castles in the Bavarian Alps"
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/fuessen-oberammergau-castles-bavaria-germany

Okay, after everyone's input here (thank you!) and some time thinking about what we really want to get out of this trip, I have decided to narrow my scope and just make this a Bavaria trip, with a heavy focus on the alps. So here's my current thinking, and please enlighten me if there are things that don't make sense/better options.

Land in Munich in the evening and train to Bamberg (or Nuremberg?) for home base for Northern Bavaria/Franconia

Three nights in northern Bavaria, seeing Bamberg and Nuremberg

Pick up a car and drive to the Allgau region, stopping along the way in Rothenburg (or is Bamberg similar enough that there is a better stop we could make - Esslingen or Tubingen for example?)

Two nights in the Allgau (Immenstadt maybe?), seeing Bodensee or just something close to where we're staying and then stopping in Fussen to get a view of Neuschwanstein and see the town, then continuing on to Ehrenberg and finally stopping in Grainau or Mittenwald.

Four nights Grainau/Mittenwald (which one?) seeing Eibsee, taking a cable car up either Wankbahn or Eckbauerbahn (want a summit with a restaurant, playground, and hiking), doing a gorge hike (either Partnach or Leutasch), riding an alpine coaster, hiking (Geroldsee, a hummock meadow, etc), checking out the towns, seeing Linderhof (grounds for sure, maybe inside too?) and Ettal Abbey.

Drive to Bad Reichenhall, stopping at either Tegernsee, Chiemsee, or the Markus Wasmeier open-air museum along the way.

Four nights in Bad Reichenhall, seeing Salzburg on a day trip, Berchtesgaden for hiking, Konigssee, doing a salt mine tour, touring Hohenwerfen. So many other things to do in this area too though!

Two nights in Munich to see the Alstadt and English Garden and fly out in the afternoon of the last day.

Except this all ends up being a little too long. Where do I cut a day? Only one night in the Allgau and skip Bodensee maybe? Or one night in Munich and then skip the English Garden and just walk around the Alstadt?

Geographically, Bamberg/Nuremberg are kind of outliers. I realize that you have shifted your geography from the initial itinerary. Maybe do your "city" touring (Munich, Bamberg, etc) first by train, then pick up the car (at Munich airport to save the drop fee?). I'd be concerned about missing the train to Bamberg and being stuck if your flight into Munich was delayed. This wouldn't be an issue if you planned to spend the first day or two in Munich. I can't remember if you're coming directly from the US, but getting out and walking in the English Garden seems like a great way to counteract jet lag.

As the previous post says, Franconia is a bit of an outlier. Esslingen or Tübingen would also be outliers, to a certain degree.
I would recommend either
1. Franconia (3 nights) and a stop to the north of Allgäu, on the latitude of Ulm (maybe Ulm itself, if you vibe) for one night before driving to Fussen - so skip the Lake and Allgäu itself
2. Skip Franconia, go west from Munich and do 4 nights between Bodensee and Ulm as you please. Visit maybe Meersburg, Lindau on the lake, Ravensburg (Home to Ravensburger Games, who also have a theme park near by, and a Museum), Memmingen or Pfullendorf in the Hinterland for towns.
3. Start with Franconia to end in Fussen clockwise or start in Fussen and end in Franconia counterclockwise.

Depends a bit on what specifically draws you to Franconia, and whose style of architecture you prefer.

You will need time to overcome the jet lag, so 1 night in Munich after landing might be better. And again one at the end.

Is the math correct?

I guess I included Bamberg because it looks so very charming, with the half timbered buildings built right on the banks of the river. And after reading so many must-see lists, it feels sacrilegious as a first-timer to miss Rothenburg, even if it is touristy. And Nuremberg makes it onto so many people's lists for it's historical importance. I also felt like I would be slighting all Bavaria has to offer if we only stay in the southern regions.

That being said, of those three options you listed, skipping Franconia in favor of Ulm and Bodensee is appealing. All of those towns you listed certainly look beautiful and like we could find plenty to fill our time. I also like the idea of splitting our two nights in Munich between the first and last days of our trip to account for flight delays and jet lag. We will be landing in Munich at 1720, so there won't be a ton of time to fill before I imagine we'll be ready to fall in bed.

Franconia is a charming region, no question. And these are nice cities! I have friends in Nuremberg, and my wife was in Bamberg for university a short time.
That being said - if Germany has one thing aplenty, it is charming historical towns. As long as they were small and unimportant enough to be missed by air raids in WW2, a place that was an important trade hub in 1400 still has quite a lot of the old buildings around.

The interesting thing: Franconia and Upper Swabia (north of Bodensee) are quite similar in certain ways, and rather different to South Bavaria. Both are wine regions with rolling hills just like Mosel, and half timber is a tad bit more prominent there than in south Bavaria - half the villages will have some older farm houses and the village pub be half timbered.

Rothenburg is touristy, but so are some of those I have listed (on the Lake in particular). Difference is that Rothenburg is probably more used to large amounts of tourists from the Anglosphere in particular (Sufficient English should be spoken everywhere, that should not be a problem), whereas Bodensee will tend to have more Europeans.

Your listed interests (towns, hikes, gardens, nature - gardens a bit more in Bodensee towns, and in particular on Mainau island) should easily be satisfied in either region. So it is really only a question as to what suits you better or charms you more.

How the jet lag turns out for you is really hard to tell and depends also on the duration of the trip - but 17:20 is probably about 10:20 in Minnesota, so you are either extremely tired from a sleepless night or fully awake and ready for the day.

It's your trip. You make the "must see" list. Most people aren't traveling with two young children. You have LOADS of time to decide where YOU (and your family) want to go and what YOU want to see and do there. Rick has good advice about how to decide: https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/itinerary-tips

I would ask that you look at summer solstice events. Many towns and places have special events. A dip into Austria is nice.
https://www.montafon.at/en/my-montafon/mountain-villages/silbertal