Help with Germany itinerary, family with two kids

Much of the Pergamon Museum is closed. You may want to investigate.

The Pergamon Museum Is Taking It Slow.
The Berlin institution with a spectacular, but disputed, centerpiece closes next week for a refurbishment that won’t be complete until 2037.

After a 6 to 8 hour drive from Berlin to Munich, you may not have much time or enthusiasm to hit the sights of Munich for your one day visit.

Perhaps fly into Munich or Frankfurt? Is this a possibility? Your children will love Salzburg, the salt mines, and Berchtesgaden. Have fun planning!

We spent 3 nights in Stuttgart so that we would have time for both the Mercedes Museum AND the Porsche Museum. The Mercedes museum is pretty spectacular. If your family has car enthusiasts, both museums are worth it. We did factory tours for both places also and loved those. They're very different and you can see the differing design/build practices they use.

I've taken kids to Germany and gone with just my husband several times. IMHO Berlin is a more attractive destination for adults not so much for kids.

If you haven't booked flights yet I agree with the other poster suggesting you fly into Munich or better yet Frankfurt. You could add in some time on the Rhine which has many great attractions kids will enjoy, especially Rheinfells ruins in St. Goar and a boat ride on the Rhine to see all the castles.

When our son was 11 his favorite stop was Rothenburg and 2nd best was our stay in Bacharach on the Rhine.

Interests include nature walks, museums, castles, biking along the
Rhine, scenic drives, cafes, city sights, kid-friendly spots.

Thoughts...

• After Berlin - I see big-name places like Munich, Frankfurt, Strasbourg and Stuttgart on your list, but not much for the scenery, the nature walks, the biking, the castles, or the kid-friendly spots that are also on your list.

• Generally speaking, driving within Berlin and into Munich, Stuttgart, and Frankfurt should be avoided. And since kids, IME, find train travel a lot more interesting than riding in the back seat - or even in the front seat - I am even more puzzled that a rental car is your choice.

• Biking on the Rhine (and its tributaries, like the Mosel) can be a nice experience. But the Rhine Gorge isn't on your itinerary. It really should be if you are interested in castles (which aren't mentioned in your itinerary or implied by your destinations.)

Suggested itinerary:

Day 4) Instead of 1 night in Munich, stay in Rothenburg.There's not much for kids here, and it's a small town. Some afternoon and evening hours on Day 4, maybe a couple of morning hours on Day 5.

5-8) Salzburg: you need at least 3 nights here. On Day 5 I suggest you visit REGENSBURG on the way to Salzburg. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Germany's best-preserved medieval city. Only Rick Steves can explain why it's not in his book.

Salzburg... More interesting than the Salt Mines IMO are these sights, a little ways from Salzburg up the Salzach River, in the town of WERFEN.

-Hohenwerfen Castle and Falconry show
-The Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave
-The Sound of Music hiking trail

Maybe some time in the Berchtesgaden area? It's very close to Salzburg. There are salt mines there too, but also Lake Koenigssee and great alpine scenery from the Jennerbahn lift.

9-11) Black Forest... Skip Freiburg and Baden-Baden if you want nature walks, scenic train or car rides, etc.

These attractions are in Gutach:

• Vogtsbauernhof open-air Museum (must-see)
• Park of all your senses... Park mit allen Sinnen
• Summer bob run - Sommerrodelbahn

GENGENBACH is a wonderful old walled town and a good travel base if you want to stay in if you want to visit Gutach, Triberg (waterfall, Black Forest Museum), Schiltach, and Strasbourg (FR)

12-13) Stuttgart area... car museums... I'd look into Esslingen, just outside Stuttgart, as a pleasant place to stay.

14-16) Rhine Gorge/Middle Rhine Valley / Mosel River Valley.

Biking/hikiing or easy walks
River cruising
Burg Eltz Castle, Marksburg Castle, Rheinfels Castle
Old-world towns to: Oberwesel, Bacharach, Cochem, Braubach, Rüdesheim
Base town: Boppard is excellent... many hotels and restaurants chairlift ride there, easier access to the Mosel and to Burg Eltz than from other Rhine towns. Free area train rides come with your room or apt.

17) Final day/night in Mainz or Frankfurt

How about taking the train from Berlin to Nuremberg and getting the car there. Skip Munich. Visit Rothenburg on way to Salzburg. Drive to Black Forest then Stuttgart where you turn in the car.

Gengenbach is where I have stayed the most in the Black Forest. It’s still rather unknown to American tourists. I never hear English spoken there. But since you have a car you might consider staying at a farm - google Urlaub auf dem bauernhof schwarzwald

Russ gave you excellent suggestions.

With kids, your itinerary seems very rushed. I would skip the Black Forest and spend that time in Salzburg. Check out the Red Bull hangar. My teens loved it.

Two nights is perfect for Rothenburg. Do the Nightwatchman’s Tour on the first night. Get up early (before 7 am) and explore the town as it wakes up. It’s a completely different place at 3pm.

Sommerrodelbahns were a big hit with my teens (me too!). There’s one near Hallein, very close to a salt mine, outside of Salzburg. We stayed 5 nights at this apartment nearby and didn’t want to leave. https://www.booking.com/Share-yjoIlh

A few initial thoughts. Would spend 2 days in or near Munich and only one and a half in Salzburg, but it really depends on what you want to see. For a trip with kids you should add one of Germany's great thermal baths, or non thermal, but amazing and huge indoor water parks. There are several close to where you are already visiting.

If you are visiting family, you might want a few more days with them than just two... also you will be within an hour of the Mosel/Romantic Rhein with all its castles...
Unless you have a Porsche fan I'd skip Stuttgart, but if you do have car fans - see above you might want to visit even more than one, however, I'd not stay overnight in Stuttgart. 2 days in or around Rothenburg should be good. If you want less moving around, consider choosing less bases and do more day tripping.

Driving in Germany is a pleasure (for me), as all "slower" traffic is dutifully staying in the right lanes, and the fast lanes are reserved for very high speeds (don't stay in the left most lane!! Don't even consider the left most lane in a no speed limit area unless your rental is build for high speeds, and you are an excellent driver. The tiny dot in your rear view mirror will be upon you in no time, and he's going too fast to slow down. The Autobahn changes frequently between various speed limits and "no speed limits". Please be careful.) ...but I'd consider taking a train from Berlin to Munich and picking up a car there, more relaxing, since you will be doing a lot of driving, or fly from Berlin to Munich and pick up a car at the airport.

Thank you all for this wonderful info and policies for the belated reply — has been a busy few months with some work travel.

Based on this great info I’ve revised my itinerary and am considering skipping the Black Forest, and adding another night in Salzburg. Also considering spending some time in the Dolomites as it seems like a doable train journey.