Germany / Austria Itinerary Suggestions

Very good itinerary. I would add a day in Rothenburg. Be sure to do the Crime and Punishment (Torture!) museum and the Night Watchman tour. Walk down to Detwang to see the small church. Even if the boys aren't interested, they will probably enjoy the walk. Just walking around the walls is great bun for boys of all ages. Climb the church tower.

If you can go to a sommerrodelbahn (summer toboggan) near Fussen or Salzburg, be sure to do that.

In Salzburg, consider going to the ice caves in nearby Werfen.

You might look at staying at this farm just outside Salzburg. It is on the light rail line so it is convenient.
http://www.neuwirtgut.at/

Your itinerary looks pretty good for me.

I suggest you go on Mapquest to checkout the distances between the towns. I think you'll find the circle farther than you realize.
If it's a little more ground travel than you want, drop the Rhine River leg of your trip--flying in and out of Munich.

Rothenburg doesn't need an entire day. You can see most of it in about 3-4 hours. Unless you want to visit every single bleeding trinket shop...

If you have an interest in mountain excursions, I would suggest staying in Garmisch-Partenkirchen instead of Füssen. It has good bus links to just about everything in the area (if you don't end up renting the car). And, for ascending into the mountains, timing is everthing because the weather can change quickly. In GaP, you can better plan your day to day activities based on the weather. Keep it flexible from day 5-8.

You might want to try to work in Chiemsee and/or Berchtesgaden between Munich and Salzburg.

We were thinking of staying the one night in Rothenburg to be there after the day tourists leave. That way we had time to walk around with less people and even take the night watchmen's tour. But then the next day I didn't see much point in staying around but I'm not sure where to go or what to do next.

Salzburg - I was considering the Ice cave and/or the Salt mine there. I need to read up some more on that. What do you all think about the castle in Salzburg? Worth a visit?

Is Berchtesgaden worth a day trip from Salzburg or is that simply not enough time to do anything there?

• Ben

Ben,

If you end up renting a car for the Fussen area, I can't recommend Gutshof zum Schluxen highly enough. Reasonably priced rooms, excellent breakfast, charming and rustic atmosphere. It's in Pinswang, Austria, just minutes from the German border. In fact, there's a trail directly behind this working farm/gasthaus that allows for walking around the Alpsee and directly to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau "castles." My husband and I did the 1-hour walk to the castles, went on our tour, and took a leisurely, 1.5-hour walk back to the Schluxen. It was great exercise and the scenery was breathtaking. Very few people on the trail. It was so nice to be able to walk back to the gasthaus, have some dinner and drinks, and walk right upstairs to collapse in our room. The restaurant at the Schluxen is very good, with both traditional Tyrolean and wild game options.

We also stayed in Salzburg. We spent several hours at the Hohensalzburg Fortress, and felt it was time well-spent. Entrance to the fortress is free, and the museum admission costs only a few Euros. I think two 10-year-old boys would have a great time exploring an old fortress - and the walk from Old Town up to the fortress would help wear them out! If you do go to the fortress, there's an interesting walk that Rick mentions in his book, which basically takes you through the hills next to the fortress and down to the Augustiner Braustubl brewery. The Augustiner is an excellent, family-friendly, reasonably priced beer garden. Great atmosphere and the food comes in large portions made for sharing.

During our stay in Salzburg, we did a day trip to Berchtesgaden. We did a whirlwind boat tour on the Konigsee and then did a guided tour of Eagle's Nest. For a family with children, I'd highly recommend Konigsee. It's touristy, but the boat ride to the church/beer garden is fantastic and it could easily be a half-day side trip or more depending on how long you want to poke around. We loved the Eagle's Nest tour because of the wealth of historical information provided, but you'd be a better judge of whether your boys would be up for a 6-hour historical tour.

Enjoy your trip - that's a magical part of the world!

Thanks Jen! I'll have to check into that. We haven't settled on any accommodations yet.

Castle in Salzburg is worth the visit.

Salt mines in Hallein are interesting

If you stay only one night in Rothenburg, report back - i'd be interested to know if your boys would have liked another day.

Any other opinions and / or suggestions?

Still not sure what to do after Rothenburg or if i should take that day and the other open day I have after Fussen and look for 2 nights somewhere in Tirol.

Two nights only equals one whole day. If you're headed to the Alps, give yourself at least 3 nights. Bad weather can easily wipe out an entire day, although the odds are on your side in July and August.

Ben,
If you decide to add an extra day to the Fussen area, I would suggest taking the kids to check out the Ehrenburg castle ruins. They're near Fussen and Reutte (Austria), on the Austrian-German border. The ruins are free to enter and, if you go in early morning or late afternoon, you might just have them all to yourself. We spent a couple of hours there on a foggy, chilly day last fall and it was like going back in time. Incredible. Ehrenburg saw several battles and has the scars to prove it. The views are outstanding. It's located right by one of the major highways in the area. Parking might be 2 or 3 euro. The hike up to it is steep, but fortunately only takes about 20-25 minutes. We saw a few families with small children easily making the hike. I bet your boys would love exploring a real castle that saw several battles. Most of the signs and historical information also are in English.

Just a small correction to Jen B's suggestion to see the castle ruins while in the Fuessen area. The ruins' name is Ehrenberg (with the letter e) not Ehrenburg (with the letter u). The latter one is in Coburg, Germany. You want the one in Reutte, Austria. Don't want you to research the wrong one.

And, just something to think about and research if you decide to fly from Munich to Oslo....If on Day 8 you are in the Mittenwald area, as your wife would like, you can train to Innsbruck on Day 9 and take a non-stop (very scenic) IC train from Innsbruck to Salzburg (about an hour and 45 minutes) using a SparScheine ticket (E42 for whole family and train specific), sleep in Salzburg, Days 9-11, then sleep in Munich, Days 12-15, and fly from Munich on a direct flight to Oslo. Then you wouldn't have to get back to Munich from Salzburg to fly to Oslo.

Thank you all for the info! Diane that is a great idea going to Salzburg first. I will have to check out the route from where we end up after Fussen to Salzburg and see if that works out. It would make it easier to end in Munich and fly out from there.

Still a lot of time left. Anymore ideas/suggestions are welcome.

• Ben

When you are in Frankfurt, take a day to go to Wurzbug and visit the Residenz. It is absolutely amazing and has my favorite fresco.