Germany trip with teens

If you have been lurking that long you will have seen previous advice about driving when impaired. Jetlagged is equivalent to driving under the influence. I hope it works out well for you all.

You will need to have a big car to comfortably fit all of you and your luggage - especially the luggage.

The general flow of the trip seems to flow well except the extremely short stop in Nuremberg - one of my favourite parts of the city. The views from the castle are really good, the Durer museum, the toy museum, the fountains, the island - all worth plenty of time.

Does your husband understand the meaning of Stau and what he has to do?

Here is a suggestion since you want to drive, although you could do all of it by train. First, take the train to Aschaffenburg and rent the car there the next day. After a long flight, some jet lag, lack of sleep, and not being familiar with the road system in and around Frankfurt, driving right off the bat is, in my opinion, a bad idea. Some folks are never bothered by those things, some are driving somewhat impaired and don't realize it, and some are just plain zombies. I lived in Aschaffenburg and Wurzburg and revisited them several years ago. In Aschaffenburg there is a lovely castle named Johannesburg (sp?). There is also Pompeiigean (sp?) which is a replica a villa in Pompeii. If you drive the old road (not the autobahn) to W'burg, between A'burg and W'burg, just south of Haibach (which is just south of A'burg) is the village of Messpelbrun. It has a fairy tale moated castle that has been in the same family for 5-600 years. Much cooler, in my opinion, than the more famous ones in the southern part of the country. In W'burg be sure to visit the Prince Bishop's Residence. One must see the Hofkirche on one end of the Residenze. Easy to miss if you are not looking for it. The Marienberg Fortress is ok but if time is tight skip it. The view of it from the town is more impressive that the view of the town from the fortress. From W'burg it is a short drive to Rothenberg and then you can head south to Nuremberg and Munich. Since you are history buffs and want to see the Nazi sights, check out a web site named thirdreichruins.com. Photos of places back then and what they look like now. The autobahn is faster, but "the road" does go through a number of really neat old villages. Oh, and you should be perfectly safe walking about in places you've mentioned.

I read the driving comments to my husband but he is confident that he wants to drive. He has a CDL and extensive practice in American cities. We're hoping we will be between rush hours. Honestly... if it were just me I wouldn't drive anywhere but he drove many places while in the Navy. We are on a direct flight from JFK to Frankfurt and we hope to snooze on the plane. If we feel horrible we will stay close to the airport and start sightseeing the next day but I am praying it works out.

I think we can add a few hours of sightseeing to Nuremburg

The Frankfurt airport looks like it is right off 3 which is the highway to Wurzburg.

The Munich-Salzburg-Füßen part of you trip seems unbalanced and very rushed (especially Salzburg)

We have 4 nights at Hotel Uhland ... Next we head to Salzburg for 1 night. Perhaps we can squeeze in the Eagle's Nest before we arrive but I may be oversaturated with Nazi by then. I booked the Mozart dinner for the night we arrive (my younger is a cello player). The next morning we are signed up for the Sound of Music tour ... We plan 2 nights near the King's castles.

You might want to think about doing Salzburg as a day trip by train from Munich instead. The traffic is typically horrible between Munich and Salzburg and the train faster and convenient (there is one every hour). You could go in the morning, do a sound of music tour, attend the Mozart dinner and be back in you hotel in Munich before midnight. This would also allow you to drop your car when you arrive in Munich and rent another when you head to Füßen.

Alternatively you could spend two nights in Salzburg to make the driving worth it.

DJ

Welcome to the forum.

"Is this too ambitious?"

I think you probably know the answer... yes, it is. You of course haven't been to Germany before, but it seems you chose the strategy of just traveling all around Bavaria (and Salzburg,) checking off as many of the sights/activities on Rick Steves' tours as you possibly can before you arrive in Mainz - then adding some places of your own. Do I have your destinations right? Würzburg, Nuremberg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Dachau, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, Füssen, Rothenburg - and maybe the Romantic Road towns? Only 1 night in Salzburg? 1 night in Würzburg? 0 nights in Nuremberg? You need to cut back somewhere, or your trip becomes a blur.

"Both my husband and oldest are history buffs..."

Then they must know that there is far more history to explore and learn in Germany than just the Nazi period... Why Dachau and Nuremberg and Munich and Hitler's nest? And if you go to Nuremberg, why skip town after just the Nazi stuff? The Romans, the Hohenstaufens, and plenty of others have left their mark there as well. Nuremberg has a dizzying number of museums and sights that cover many centuries of history. And my guess is that father and son already know pretty much all there is to know about the Nazis - that's the one part of German history that Americans, if they remember anything at all, already remember clearly from their school years (and from Hollywood.)

The Audi museum in Ingolstadt should not be a day trip but a visit you make on your journey as you travel south or north.

Würzburg... part of a day, jet-lagged... and you must leave the next morning for Nuremberg AND Munich. I like W'burg very much but you could streamline by dropping it - perhaps switch up your itinerary and visit Rothenburg first instead - it's not far from W'burg at all.

I'd consider dropping Füssen as well. It's quite a time-consuming detour when you can more easily visit the Alps near Salzburg; also, the King's Castles aren't castles, and though every tourist on the planet is there for the 30-minute tour of Neuschwanstein, it may not be "all it's cracked up to be." Save the trip and see Nymphenburg while in Munich, or a different King Ludwig palace, Herrenchiemsee, on the way to Salzburg.

Rhine Cruise: the trick is to catch the boat in Bingen, or across the Rhine in Rüdesheim, and float north to St. Goar. That takes 1.5 hours. (Don't do just that small cruise that Rick does in his video series.)

Rhine Castles: Follow Rick's advice - make a point of seeing Marksburg and Rheinfels.

For me, the joy of driving in Germany are the country roads, not the autobahns. Your schedule is too fast for my liking and the initial part involves travel between cities which does not require the use of a car. As you seem to have no real interest in Wurzburg, take the train straight to Munich, stay 7 nights. From here you can take a cheap train (after 9:00am, I believe) to Nuremberg, Salzburg for a day or two - I have no idea what a Mozart dinner is, is it a murder mystery with Salieri always the guilty party, like a classical Colonel Mustard? And the Sound of Music tour would not be one of my favourite things. Lots to see and do in Munich, a splendid city. Possible, easy day trips to Dachau, Regensburg, Ulm, Augsburg, the less visited Landsberg, Murnau and Bad Tolz, the latter two offering a nice glimpse of the Alps. Eagle's Nest is not worth the effort unless very close by.

If you must visit Rothenburg, and I am very much in the yes camp if you are close by, then it is best done by car on the way to Munich, about 2 hours from FRA. You can visit the castles from Munich. I very much like the Fussen area but would not travel that far to see the castles. I have never been to Mainz, Bacharach and the ruin at St Goar are worth visiting.

I actually agree with some of your concerns. Originally Wurzburg and Nuremburg weren't on our list at all. We planned to fly into Munich. I only added those because they were a way to break up a drive from Frankfurt to Munich. I thought that our first night in Germany should be pretty and if we don't see it all that is ok. A veteran friend who was stationed in Germany suggested Nuremburg. Perhaps it would be wise to skip it. I also agree we are seeing cliché sights. As each member of the family contributed to the wish list certain cliché sights seem to be important to someone. If my daughter loves soccer shouldn't we add that in? We also toured the Bronco Stadium in Denver for her. I have been to Germany before. I was 17 and Salzburg was my favorite. I have very fond memories of the movie "Sound of Music" and watched it many times with my sister growing up. The director's other movies or the autobiography have absolutely zero to do with it. I'm sure everyone has their childhood favorites like that. My children are not fond of the movie and they form strong opinions all by themselves. That cliché is my choice and I imagined it was a way to see the city and the countryside. I originally planned more nights there but they got stolen by the change in flights. The castles are important to my youngest but I also like the idea of the beautiful country setting and not just touring the iconic castles. The Eagle's nest seem to be pretty view even if Hitler hated it and was afraid of heights. Fortunately we get to hang with our exchange student in her home in Trebur. She plans to show us her favorite places in Frankfurt. This should be authentic don't you think? I appreciate the idea of going downstream with the Rhine to see more.

If the weather looks to be good, I'd swap Eagle's Nest for Königssee. Yes, the village by the winter sports park is touristy as heck (I actually don't think there's anything wrong with hitting touristy areas in many cases) , but the lake is drop dead gorgeous, there are some awesome walking trails, and the boat ride to the monastery would be interesting.

The spousal unit also wanted to drive a proper German luxury sedan on the autobahn and the experience did not disappoint. And while it's easy to be pro-train in Germany because the network is so strong, there's also something to be said for updating the European maps set on your GPS unit and having the freedom to just pick a road and start driving down it because it looks interesting.

As for jetlag and driving, we prefer limited access highways- find the slow lane and drive conservatively and you actually have to make fewer driving decisions than you do with city traffic involving far more stops and turning. Pick that first hotel night location not for charm but for free parking and easy access to the autobahn. (There's probably a bus stop nearby the hotel that will be a better option if you want to go into town proper than if you tried to drive and park near the town square)

Hi,

If you want to see "Nazi" site in Munich, this historical site became a Nazi shine for an event commemorated every year from 1933 to 1942 (?) Just look at the detailed documentary film for this occasion.

What I'm referring to is the Feldherrnhalle, a historical military memorial that shows two Bavarian commanders, Tilly and Wedel, who fought with, then switched sides against Napoleon and tried to stop Napoleon from retreating into France in 1813. He failed.

It was at the Feldherrnhalle where in Nov 1923 that Hitler attempted to seize power, his Putsch, which fell apart once the Munich police and the Reichwehr troops opened up on Hitler and his fellow Nazis, killing several. These dead were seen as martyrs in fostering the Nazi ideology.

@ mei....If the three of you are really into history and aspects of German history, you are focusing on the wrong part of Germany.

Focus on Frankfurt, Naumburg an der Saale, Meißen, Berlin, Lübeck, Hamburg, Hannover, Dresden, Leipzig, Weimar, Cologne, etc, etc. ...notice that they are all north of the Main River.

I have no problems with the itinerary. I have never driven in Germany, but have in England right after flying from Arizona with no problems. The idea of taking the train to your first destination is a good one however.

My first time in Germany was 1) flying from Zurich to Munich, father renting car, drive to Neuschwanstein then back to Munich 2) Drive to Baden-Baden via great-grandfather's village 3) game of golf then drive to Mainz 4) all day boat to Koln ( yes, a boat went the entire way then ) 5) fly to Denmark. It was a great part of a much longer trip. Would I do it that way again? No. Last trip was three weeks in just 3 locations. You will have fun. Do things you want to do.

Sound of Music tour - if you like the movie, you will like the tour. i've done it 3 times. Know however that several sights are in the pedestrian area and won't be seen from a vehicle. I enjoy watching the movie again before the trip.

Romantic Road - There are several towns along it that are ok places to visit. I cycled it. However with one night, I would go straight to Rothenburg.

Yes you are going to typical tourist places. But you wouldn't critisize a German who chose to visit Boston, Manhatten, and Washington, DC and didn't visit Waterloo, IA or Greenville, ME

@Fred I don't think our main focus is history but if we hit some historical sights then we will be happy. Frankfurt and Munich were our nonnegotiable cities. We only have 2 weeks so I tried to focus on southern Germany.

My younger daughter is beyond excited about the king's castles and Mozart dinner so that was a high priority. To stay happily married to my professional and trust-worthy driving husband then renting a car become a priority. Rothenburg is partway between castles and Mainz and that is how it made the list. I wanted to break up a long driving day. Baden-Baden is not our cup of tea and there is a big horse race there so I axed that. Wurzburg was a compromise because of the round trip ticket. It breaks up the trip to Munich but perhaps we take the train and rent the car the next day. I will check into that. The big advantage of the car is we can decide as we go what to see. If we don't feel like stopping in Berchtesgaden or Nuremburg or any of the romantic cities on the romantic road than we just continue on. I will look at Konigssee and Feldherrnhalle. I looked at Rick Steve's suggestion for 2 weeks and I felt like we were doing much less than suggested and spending longer in Munich. Not seeing everything is not a bad thing. It leaves more for us to see when we return.

It's funny because whenever we have a visitor or an exchange student we always have to drive to Niagara Falls. It is always mobbed with tourists and I have seen it so many times but it is the highlight for all my visitors and they love it. I prefer the quiet wine growing region closer to home.

"The big advantage of the car is we can decide as we go what to see."

We used a rental car on two of our early trips to Germany for this reason in part (also because out daughter was younger and in less control of her sleep schedule after crossing 9 time zones.) We had a good time. Our trip was planned - reservations of course, just like you - and our schedule was busy (though not as tightly planned as yours.) What we found was that deciding as we go - stopping spontaneously, detouring, etc. by car - was not all that productive. We ended up with less time than we wanted in our final destination. We had more road time than we wanted. And we also felt like we only had time for a quick glance at the things we came across. It wasn't exactly a "car safari" but we concluded that the idea of exploring by car was too whimsical and tempted us to push the driving envelope for little if any gain.

Since then, we've done train travel exclusively; however, it has not been rigid in the way you may think. We pick a travel base town that allows numerous trip options - we look into all those options beforehand - and then on a given day, we decide day by day which places suit us and which ones we'll explore, depending on our mood, or the weather, or our stamina. This way, we aren't locked into traveling on a certain day. If we learn there's a fest or interesting event in the area on one day, we can reschedule our activities. This has worked very well for us.

Of course, it is NOT necessary to use the train at all with this "hub-and-spokes" approach to planning. Car enthusiasts can do the same thing if the outings are not too long and the itinerary is not tightly scheduled anyway. With a car, there are additional concerns about traffic, which tends to mess with spontaneity sometimes. Anyway, I'm not trying to persuade YOU to take trains on this trip... my point is just that using trains for all of a trip or some of a trip does not have to exclude spontaneity and exploration.

I'm a big believer that people should see the things that they want to see -- touristy or not. I really enjoyed Neuschwanstein when I went there in 2014. I treasure my picture of it from Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge).

While I personally am not a fan of one night stays, I did something similar to what you are doing with Würzburg when I went to Italy a few years ago. I landed in Rome and hopped on a train to Orvieto (on the recommendation of a friend), where I spent my first night before heading on to Siena (4 nights). It worked out well. At the same time, if you are struggling to fit things in that you want to do, it's a 3.5-hour train ride to Munich from the Frankfurt airport; that would allow some dozing while you get to the place you really want to be.

Salzburg is one of my very favorite places. I watched SOM and read The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (by Maria Trapp) before my trip to Salzburg. While I like the movie, the book (at least to me) is far more compelling than the movie. If you can get the girls to read the book (easy reading), it may give them a new perspective on the movie.

Nuremberg is doable as a day trip from Munich. If you are a WWII history buff, it's pretty cool to see the Nazi Rally Grounds and courtroom number 600 in the Palace of Justice (site of the Nuremberg trials). The courtroom (still used) contains something that would never be found in a US courtroom, but I'll leave that for others to discover. The old town is also gorgeous, with a wonderful fortress. There is a nice artisan/hand craft area just inside the old city wall near the train station that offers some unique souvenirs, different from the typical souvenir crap.

Berchtesgaden is a pretty amazing place, too. If you want to see Eagle's Nest, I STRONGLY recommend that you contextualize it by doing a tour with Eagle's Nest Historical Tours, which will help you understand the importance of the entire Obersalzberg complex, including the relatively insignificant Eagle's Nest, which has views that apparently did not do much for Hitler, but were adored by Eva Braun (and me!). Your family could do a 4-hour private tour for close to the cost of the 4-hour group tour. I did the 8-hour History Buff tour, which I LOVED, but my travel companion found a little overwhelming.

Königssee, as mentioned above, is also a really neat place, if you get past the touristy entrance. Someone suggested stopping at St. Bartholomew's Church, the chapel in the middle of the lake. I would suggest saying "Ooh" and "Ahh" as you ride the boat past it to the Salet Obersee stop at the far end of the lake. There, you can get away from the crowds, take a short walk to the very pretty Obersee, hike around the right side of the lake, and then continue your hike through an alpine meadow surrounded by mountains (and shared with cows!) to Röthbach Wasserfall.

You will have a great time regardless of what you do! Enjoy!

Thanks for the great replies

One thing about your party - 4 persons - a car is considerably cheaper. For 1-2, trains are superior. For 3+, cars definitely save money.

We have driven in a number of European countries. Germany I never had problems with. The main issue is the interface between the city and the high-speed Autobahn. In the US, this is the key to many cities. In Europe, the cities are preserved. It took us 2 hours one time to find out how to get out of Budapest, because the signs seemed to be arranged differently. In the US, a sign saying "Right" generally means "at this point", but in some parts of Europe, it seems to mean "next block". We simply could not find the road to Eger. Very odd. Especially since i can't speak a lick of Hungarian, and no one we could find could speak German, English, or French.

One thought - you might consider allowing your friend who was the foreign exchange student to take your kids for a day somewhere. Maybe to a bar? If that offends you, sorry. Kids in Germany are allowed to go such places at younger ages. It would really open their eyes to Germany. 14 YO is maybe a little young, maybe not. The 18 YO should be rarin' to go on her own. I sure was at that age.

Enjoy your trip, and ignore all the comments about how your trip is "overly touristic". You are a tourist. Do tourist things.

I am with Paul in that for your family size and age of the children, a car is the more affordable alternative compared train rides. My recommendation would be for a station wagon so you have room for people AND luggage. And they are good and fast on the Autobahn, too. Heck, even the small Ford Focus (too small for your family needs) I rented a few weeks back comfortably made 180 km/h on the Autobahn - once I left the Ruhr region where I had picked up the vehicle.

Not surprised that you have difficulties finding quad rooms in hotels. Most German families would rent vacation apartments when traveling. You get more space for less money usually.

Instead going to Wuerzburg upon arriving at the airport, why not stay in Frankfurt for the first night and rent the car the next day to head straight to Nuremburg? Frankfurt is definitely worth that half day and evening and you avoid getting overly tired on your first day.

And yes, do add the soccer event if you like the sport. To this day, my daughter regrets that she never got to see a Bundesliga match because there was no game scheduled when she was there. The atmosphere can be something quite special. Make sure you check out the schedule well ahead of time and book your tickets. You may have to plan around it.

We reserved a wagon. Thank you.

See "Brian's guide to getting around Germany" for information on traveling in Germany. The author says "This is the most complete site on this subject on the Web". It is true, at least as far as information in English is concerned. www.gettingaroundgermany.info

We are saving Frankfurt because our friend is excited to take us around her favorite places.
I have already read Brian's guide and find it very helpful.
I think I will ax all sightseeing after Salzburg because we won't start driving until after the tour. I think we will just head straight to Schwangau. So no Eagle's Nest and no Konigssee.

Not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet: What I don't quite get is the beginning of your trip. You fly into Munich, pick up your car, jetlagged, for a three hour drive to Würzburg for one night only, then go back to Munich.

This doesn't seem to make any sense to me. Why not do Munich first, once you are there anyway? And then pick up the car when you leave Munich? By that time, you will have adapted to the change in time zones, and driving is going to be much easier and safer.

A car in a city like Munich is going to be a millstone around your neck. You'll spend all your time hating the traffic and looking for parking. So why not save the money on car rental and expensive parking for your days in Munich, plus save yourself the hassle?

About the history thing, there are certainly several ways of looking at that. I personally believe it's important to see the Nazi sites like Dachau (I can do very well without the Führer sites though). But if you really are history buffs, you will of course know that German history consists of much more than those twelve years only to which it is unfortunately reduced by some media.

BTW, you will probably have to look for hostels in order to find quad rooms anywhere in Germany. I don't think you will find any in regular hotels. And your triple bedroom will probably turn out to be a double with some sort of added bed or cot (in the American English sense, not British). The alternative would be to rent an apartment ("Ferienwohnung"), but there may be a minimum stay of several nights for those.

We fly round trip to Frankfurt.
We don't just want to focus on WW2 history and I'm sorry if I gave that impression. We homeschool our kids (although my older daughter has graduated and is now at Liberty University). My kids do not get their history knowledge from the media or movies. We use books (Sonlight curriculum). It really is part of my husband's family lore that causes the interest. My husband's grandmother divorced a Nazi soldier and then later married an American GI. My husband's mother was born in Germany before the young family moved to NY. We recently looked through all the old pictures and paperwork. I could have said this all up front but I was trying to be brief. My younger daughter is much more interested in Roman history. I am not a history buff. On vacation I love beautiful country settings. If we spent all our time in 2 big cities I would be so disappointed. I'm trying to plan a trip that highlights something for everyone and that is no small task.

As for rooms... We have quite the variety reserved. Some places we have a triple and single, some have 2 double beds in one room, some places we get 2 rooms with a double bed in each... and in 2 places we got 2 bedroom apartment style with a queen and 2 twins.

Melm,
Four years ago I did a similar trip and rented a car for 2 weeks. There were 4 of us like you and an economy car did the job. If you limit your luggage to carry-ons and 1 extra personal bag I think you will have enough space. I didn't limit myself so we were a little cramp. The car will definitely give you more flexibility than the train but you have to be sure you have a place to park it at your destination. Think about how many days you want to rent the car since weekly rates are cheaper than daily. I followed RS advice and rented the car through a company in the states. I was afraid to drive in Europe but found it a bit easier than rush hour traffic 95 south. If you drive on the right and take your time I think you will be fine. We took a good GPS that showed us speed limits (helpful when you are driving thru small towns) and saved our destination before we left on the trip.

The trip is doable but you might want to cut back on cities in order to maximize sightseeing. Even with a car, every time you move you will loose 1/2 day packing and unpacking. Here is my "humble" suggestion based solely on my preference (that and 3 dollars will get you a cup of coffee at DD):
Arrive at Frankfurt and drive to Nuremburg that afternoon (you are already packed) and spend 2 nights
Drive to Dachau and see CC
Drive to Salzburg (2 hour trip) and spend 2-4 nights. (One option would be: do Munich as daytrips. I like Salzburg more than Munich)
Drive to Munich and spend 2 nights
Drive to Fussen and see the castles
Drive to Rothenburg. If you spend more than 1 night you could do Wurzburg as a day trip).
Drive to Mainz and drop the car.

Have fun!

Oh, I'm sorry, I misread "We want to fly into Munich" for "We wanted to fly into Munich".

To drive in Austria, the driver needs an International Driving Permit (basically an official translation of the driver's license that can be gotten at any AAA office) and a vignette sticker if you're going to drive on the Austrian autobahn . The sticker can be purchased at any German gas station just of the autobahn within about 50 km of the border. Sticker was something like 8 euros for 7-10 days. If the Austrian cops catch you without one- and they do sometimes run enforcement checks on the ramps to the autobahn- the fine will run you much more than that.

If you do not press it onto the windshield too hard, you can peel the vignette off at the end of the trip intact and have a cool little souvenir.

Thank you for the suggestions Nestor. Also thank you for the info Selkie. We did know we needed both of those and made a plan.

Melm,
First of all have a great time. Nestor has very good suggestions. Our most treasured memories while traveling through Bavaria were the stops at unplanned places. The people were wonderful and helpful. Leave time to explore places other than typical tourist destinations. Try to spend an evening at a Spring Festival, Fruhlingsfest. I know that Wasserberg has one in mid to late May. It's a wonderful experience for all ages. Your girls can try the beer as well. I would suggest Halfbier--beer and lemonade mixed. It's surprisingly good. There's a wonderful carnival outside of the tent, much cleaner than fairs in the U.S. and the food inside is delicious. The entertainment was also great. The night we went there was a large band with singers and dancer, 20 to 30 people. There were many teens there having a wonderful time.
Another experience is King Ludwigs unfinished replica of Versailles on Lake Chiemsee-- A beautiful garden and fountain on the outside and a hall of mirrors completed on the inside. A boat needs to be taken out to the island. It makes for a quiet relaxing day. You won't run in to many American tourists at either of these places.

If your younger daughter is interested in Roman history, then these places might be of interest.
Near Frankfurt is the town of Bad Homburg and near-by you will find the Saalburg, a re-constructed Roman fort. Surely worth a visit while you are so close.
http://www.saalburgmuseum.de/english/sb_en_home.html

You might want to include Regensburg, which also has a rich, Roman history.
Mainz has quite a few Roman sites too, but am hoping your former exchange student will show them to you. My favorite is the Isis Temple.

As an FYI, when German menus or servers say Lemonade / Limonade they do not mean American lemonade, they mean Sprite or Fanta.
There is no drink in Germany called "half-beer". The previous poster means a Radler, which is beer mixed with Sprite.

Our teens loved Germany this past summer.
If possible, try to stay awake on your arrival day and go to bed early-ish.

You'll be fine driving, especially if you have good GPS. Ours worked quite well and we didn't have any issues. Note that the autobahn, especially near large, metro areas, will have speed limits. Also, with almost all public restrooms in Europe, you'll need coin to access restrooms along the autobahn. Your ticket will probably give you a discount on a purchase too!

Your daughter will find plenty of Bayern memorabilia!
Audi is cool, but BMW is better and you can visit the Olympic stadium too.
Dachau will be exhausting, mentally and physically, so you should plan your time after that accordingly.
Definitely walk around in Nuremberg.
Eagle's Nest is cool, but anywhere in the Alps is fantastic. I'd drive to Füssen from Munich, rather than Rothenburg. It's a beautiful drive. If you don't want to see the castle in Füssen, you can go to Tegleberg. Our kids loved it and spent an entire day hiking and refueling in the biergarten. (wear sunscreen!)
We did the bicycle Sound of Music tour (Fraulein Maria's Bicycle Tours) and it's a fantastic way to see the city, even for those who are not SOM fans. It isn't a difficult ride and it may be more fun the a bus tour. (even the teenage boys liked it!)

You'll have a wonderful time!

@ meim....If you want to order something non-alcoholic, clear lemonade, ask for a "Brause." It looks like 7-UP/Sprite.

In Austria for a local lemonade like, non-alcoholic drink, ask for a "Almdüdler."