Germany family vacation itinerary help

I wouldn't consider Prague particularly "kid-oriented."

Suggest instead that you fly into Frankfurt and hop a train into the Middle Rhine Valley, in between Bingen and Koblenz. Think Castles (real ones - not just a fancified late-19th-century home with a fake castle facade like Neuschwanstein, but the genuine medieval variety.) Think also vineyards, wineries, river cruises, chairlift rides to Rhine gorge overlooks... maybe a summer bobsled ride?...

https://www.st-goar.de/en/rheinfels-castle/

https://www.marksburg.de/en/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g4234394-d4234395-Reviews-Sommerrodelbahn_Loreley_Bob-Bornich_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

https://www.deutschlandgourmet.info/bilder/gross/5710-Restaurant-Weinhaus-Heilig-Grab-Boppard.jpg

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g198627-d3306006-Reviews-Sesselbahn_in_Boppard-Boppard_Rhineland_Palatinate.html

https://www.weinhaus-weiler.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/DSC_2434_1920.jpg

Getting to Berlin from the Koblenz area isn't difficult. About 6 hours by train - so leave around 2-3 pm and you'll be there before bedtime.

Salzburg deserves more than a day trip from Munich (3.5 hours alone would be spent on the round-trip train ride.) I'd recommend a longer stay there, not necessarily for Hallstatt or the Eagles Nest, but for other more family-oriented outings...

Eisriesenwelt

Hohenwerfen Castle

https://www.salzwelten.at/en/hallein/the-mine/

Concentration camps... Not for kids, not for vacations either, IMHO.

Have to agree with Russ's suggestions and reasons. The Rhine valley idea sounds like something both the adults and kids would enjoy. Salzburg definitely needs more time than one day's trip. Suggest you look at a Sound of Music tour for the kids while you're there. We really enjoyed the Bob's Tour (small group).

And concentration camps are no place for kids, especially the 2 younger ones, and especially on vacation.

I agree with Russ about the Middle Rhine. In Salzburg go to the salt mines at Hallein. I also recommend the ice caves at Werfen

I worry about the kids being bored by bus time and adult earphone lectures at stops. Is there a museum tradition in your family?

Your plan is not bad. I 'll assure you that a week is not too long in Berlin! Any age. In case you change from Prague for some reason.

I wish I had visited Prague much sooner on my many trips to Europe. I think kids would like Lübeck, but it's harder to get to.

I take it from your OP that you will be researching child-friendly attractions before you get to the cities. Just for a dumb example, we were lucky enough to be in Berlin on annual Family Day at an opera house. Of course the kids can't do cardboard mask-making in German, but tours and demonstrations are still fun.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I agree with the concerns about bus time. It was generously paid for by a different family member, so that's the only reason we are doing that. We figure if the kids want some downtime for gaming, etc., they can have that on the bus when we have free time. We can skip out on a few tours if we need to and just view the bus more as transportation. We always try to incorporate some down time into each day--even if it's just playing catch at a park or the things like the salt mines or ice caves near Salzburg. I'll try to have some things figured out for each day once I have the itinerary firmed up.

A couple questions:

If I did consider the Rhine Valley, do I need to rent a car, or can I take a train from the airport and then train back to Berlin?

This might be a little crazy, but my great grandparents were from villages near Stuttgart. I've been curious to check that out. If I flew into Stuttgart, I could do a day there, or near the black forest, then a day at the rhine valley before taking the train to Berlin. Is this doable? Trying to figure out logistics.

Thanks again

Thanks

I love some of the medieval towns near Stuttgart. Do you know which villages?

Metzingen and a small village called grafenburg. Any suggestions around there would be welcome.

"If I did consider the Rhine Valley, do I need to rent a car, or can I take a train from the airport and then train back to Berlin?"

No car is needed - not for getting to the Rhine, not for getting from place to place during your stay either.

Here's a train line map of the broader region. On the far right, half way down, you will find Mainz Hbf (Hbf = main station) and a grey arrow pointing right to "Frankfurt Flughafen" (the FRA airport station.) The train lines are not shown, but there are direct trains between the airport and Mainz every time you blink. From Mainz, follow the thick blue route (the Rhine River) as it zig-zags west and north on its way to Koblenz. On both the left and right sides of the Rhine you will see thinner green lines - the train lines - and the towns where trains stop on the way. Do you see St. Goar, on the left side? That's a good base town for train users. Trains leave Mainz every hour or better for St. Goar and the other Rhine towns on that side.

Reasons to stay in St. Goar...

• Rheinfels Castle is right in town.

• Boppard and the chairlift are just to the north (10 train minutes.)

• Oberwesel and Bacharach are just to the south (nice towns to visit, 5
  and 10 minutes by train.)

• The St. Goar ferry runs all day long and lets you use the
  trains on the other side or the Rhine (to reach Marksburg, or
  Rüdesheim.)

• The Bingen > St. Goar cruise is the most scenic of all and the most
  popular segment - and with St. Goar as the terminus, it's convenient
  that you will be "home" when your cruise is done - just step off and
  head back to your hotel.

• St. Goar has several hotels with river views. Boppard does too, but
  the scenery in St. Goar is a little better. (Hotels in Oberwesel and
  Bacharach tend to be set back too far from the river for river
  views.)

To find train schedules to Berlin from St. Goar, use "St Goar" (no period) as your "from" station at the DB search page:

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en

It is possible to travel to Metzingen by train. You can use the page above to find schedules. But it's not a good choice IMHO to do both that AND the Rhine if you really have only two days - it's likely turn your intro to Deutschland into some sort of marathon event.

If you go to Salzburg for a couple of days the kids would enjoy seeing the trick fountains at Schloss Hellbrunn just out of town from Salzburg. The trick fountain tour is fun and some people get wet! You can easily get to the Hellbrunn palace from Salzburg on bus #25 and it is covered by the Salzburg pass. Another thing the kids might enjoy is going up the Monchsberg lift and walking the trail along the top of the Monchsberg from the Modern Art Museum to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. The views of Salzburg are great. On the way down there is a spot to get ice cream.