Frankfurt, Bavaria & Munich

The Porsche Museum is north of Stuttgart; I'm sure you could find a hotel nearby if you have no other purpose for moving into Stuttgart than just to sleep.

"We don't want to have a hectic schedule and just overwhelm our kids with castles/churches, but I don't want to be bored or miss something."

When you reach the Porsche Museum you will have bypassed some nice things in the area including Speyer's Technik Museum and Ludwigsburg, as well as the old-world wine town of Besigheim (you will miss seeing towns like this on your current route unless you're including the Rhine towns.) Oh, and Guttenberg Castle with its raptor shows, located not too far from Heidelberg further up the Neckar River Valley. Not sure how much of this interests you or how much you'd have time for.

That said I already find your trip pretty hectic. Seems like a lot of back seat time for the kids. You've listed June 9 twice. Not sure you have time for a whole lot that day after a lengthy drive. If you're headed to Mittenwald you might do the Karwendelbahn there in lieu of allocating a full day for the Zugspitze. Tips for a day in Mittenwald

I would probably reduce your Garmisch stay to 4 nights - cut the outing to Innsbruck - and perhaps figure in a 4-night base for all the Heidelberg/Maulbronn area stuff. Perhaps visit the Porsche Museum in the morning before traveling to Garmisch. I would drop the Salzburg day trip as well... (If you're staying in Munich 3 nights, the question is why leave when there's plenty to do there? Spending 3.5 hours getting to Salzburg and back probably isn't a relaxed way to see Salzburg.

Longer stays in your base towns won't decrease your ground miles but they will ease a little of the packing/unpacking stress and the difficulties you face finding multiple accommodations with two bedrooms.

Thank you so much for your feedback! Based on your recommendations, we changed our plans quite a bit: (edited after sending)

• 6/6: Night: Heidelberg: Hotel Holländer Hof
• 6/7: Day: see Heidelberg. 6/7 Night: Burg Hornburg. Should we stay there? Is there a nice place that's a bit less $$$
• 6/8: Day: Guttenberg Castle, Besigheim, Bad Wimpfen. 6/8 Night: North Stuttgart. Recommendation? Two nights vs. one?

• 6/9: Day: Porsche Museum

• 6/9 to 6/12: Night: Garmische or Oberammergau?

• Gorge/Mittenwald Karwendelbahn (1 day)

• Schloss Schachen (10k hike) (1 day)

• 6/11: Neuschwanstein; Hohenschwangau; ride bikes. Rent in Fussen. dining at the Hotel Muller. (1 day)

If time:
- Schloss Linderhof, Ettal Abbey, Pilgrimage Church of Wies (see either on our way from Stuttgart or to Munich)

• Nights 6/13 - 6/16: Munich. Might reduce to three nights.

• Museum/Markets.
  6/15: Munich - Soccer Stadium
  6/17 - Travel home (fly from Munich)

Thank you! You're awesome - Veronica

"Burg Hornburg. Should we stay there?"

I haven't and I dunno the costs there and I dunno. Sounds like you're locked into your Heidelberg night on June 6. I checked booking.com for fun. You might look into Sinsheim - not too far from those Neckar River destinations you named - and not terribly far from the Porsche museum either - and could be a base town for 2-3 nights - and it has its own tech museum as well - and it seems to have some availability for June 7 & 8 anyway - perhaps for the 9th too? Look at the Ratsstube (quad with 1 queen, 1 twin, 1 sofa bed.) About $150/night, includes breakfast. There's a 2-BR apartment there on your dates as well - Casa Diana - for your dates and for about the same price. Then there's Ferienwohnung (which means vacation apartment) Wolfsberg = 2 BR apartment at $225/2 nights with free cancellation. (You might have to click on the apartment search function or search names to find these places on booking.com.)

There is also an official youth hostel in that area of the Neckar which may have family rooms available (18 of their rooms have 4+ beds with en suite bath.)
https://www.jugendherberge.de/en/youth-hostels/mosbach-neckarelz-18/portrait/

You will miss lots. You can come back. When we travel in Europe we try to do 2 things in a day while staying in a place and have a half-day travel/one thing to do when moving. We have relied on Booking.com and the Rick Guidebook recommendations for hotels. Frequently even if Booking.com does not show availability the individual hotel websites will since they only release a percentage of their rooms to aggregators. Garmish-Partenkirchen is great for Zugspitze/Linderhof/Mittenwald but not so much for “Bavaria.” Oberammergau is cute but small and I am not sure if it would make a great base. 3 hours by car from Stuttgart to G-P according to google.de. Neuschwanstein is farther away and you need to check its opening hours if you are driving over from G-P. If you want to cut down backtracking, maybe go G-P to Innsbruck and then Innsbruck directly back to Munich. There is also a BMW Museum in Munich as well as several other ones of significant interest. Salzburg is cute, but there is plenty to do there and you will have gotten your Alp-fix in G-P.

The area immediately around the Porsche Museum (the district is called Zuffenhausen) is not particularly pleasant. It's quite industrial. Stuttgart is also home to some bad traffic and a massive construction project so my recommendation if you stay here would be to park the car at your hotel and take public transit to the museum.

I would either stay in central Stuttgart (known as "Mitte") or in a more appealing area nearby and commute via S-Bahn train to the museum. If you chose not to stay in downtown Stuttgart, pleasant options would be Bietigheim-Bissingen, Marbach, or Esslingen (my fave). They are far enough away that it will require a train change and 20-30 minutes on the train, but if you want half-timbered charm you can find it in those cities. But Stuttgart-Mitte will be the most convenient. You could also consider the Mercedes Museum, which is the best Car museum in Germany in my opinion.

Another option would be staying in the district of Bad Canstatt. It has a bad reputation because the area around the train station is filled with ugly architecture and a lot of young people from immigrant backgrounds, but it's quite safe and steps away there is a lovely small old town with some of the best Greek restaurants, a bit of a Roman wall, two great biergartens, etc. You'd be on the train line to go directly to the Mercedes museum in one stop, but you'd still have to change to get to the Porsche museum. It's quite close to downtown Stuttgart as well, which is worth at least a quick wander for it's two palaces side-by-side in the center of town and visiting a traditional wine tavern (weinstube) for a hearty Swabian meal.

I also agree that your initial itinerary is way rushed. Changing hotels takes time. It's better to minimize 1-night stays and base in an area for 2-3 nights and use day trips to see stuff, IMO.

I do like that Maulbronn is on your list. It's often overlooked but it's beautiful and well worth the stop. If you find extra time (I know, I know!) driving along the Neckar river from Heidelberg to Stuttgart passes many lovely wine-growing towns with ruined castles and great scenery, although obviously that eats up time. Then again, so do the traffic jams on the autobahn, so...

Sorry, saw your updated itinerary. Liking it more. I'm not well-qualified to weigh in on one night versus two in Stuttgart because I'm biased.

Stuttgart hotels are expensive, which is one of the reasons I suggested staying the nearby towns. Something to consider.

I prefer Garmisch to Oberammergau with young kids. It's a more touristy town but there's a lot more to see and do there. Oberammergau is pleasant but rather sleepy.