I am traveling to Germany for a week in the beginning of July with my 3 children - ages 3 & 6 (boys), 8 (girl). I would like to have two separate places to use as a home base from which to have our daily "adventures." Right now I am leaning towards Cologne or Koblenz and Munich. I need recommendations for a home base and fun kid ideas the first 3-4 days. And again, ideas for the last 3-4 days of our trip - staying in Munich- just for ease of hopping on the train. I will need to use the train and public transportation everywhere (taxis if needed.) We enjoy kids friendly/interactive museums, PLAYGROUNDS, train and boat rides, cable cars, castles without terrible uphill hikes (3 year old isn't quite ready for that yet) - anything that gets the kids excited to be there. Restaurant and lodging recommendations would be great as well. DANKE!! :)
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Rick has a chapter on what to do with kids, in his Germany guidebook.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
If you're near Koblenz or Köln:
For southern Germany, an Alpine town might be a better base than a city. I would recommend Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as the location is somewhat centralized for the Bavarian Alps and offers a lot of kid-friendly activities. Like a Kletterwald or a Sommerrodelbahn.
Near Ulm: Legoland
Near Nürnberg: Playmobil Funpark
I'm trying to think of tourable castles that don't involve a lot of climbing and are accessible by public transportation... I can think of plenty in northern Germany, but the only one that comes to mind is Burg zu Burghausen, the longest castle in Europe. However, to see the more interesting Altstadt section of town, you would need to walk down a steep hill from the castle (the train station is in the modern section of town, an easy level walk from the castle).