June trip to Germany, Austria, Prague

That's 11 nights, isn't it? Do you want to prioritize the list? The three biggest cities require at least three days each. Are you going to rent a car in CR for family history, or just do (wonderful) Prague. Have you bought our host's Germany-Austria book yet?

Looks a bit much. The way to Prague from Munich is train to Nuremburg then Bus to Prague. I would focus on those areas. We did a similar trip to this area a couple years ago with my kids, boys of 12 and 14 at the time. They did not love Neuchwanstein as it was more palace than castle so lots of art and furniture that bored them. They did like Rothenburg and Dachau, which are closer trips to Munich. If you are staying in Prague once you are there its pretty easy. Bus goes to the main train station and we were able to walk to our hotel near the Old Town Square and we walked to all of the main sites. Kids loved the Prague Castle more than Neuchwanstein as it had a replica of how medieval people lived and a weapons and armor type museum.

Thank you for the responses. Yes, I do have three of RS's books that I'm reading now. Thank you also for the suggestion regarding too many things on the list - I agree we need to cut the list. For Prague, at this point we are not planning on leaving the city.

As far as the commentary regarding "Disney" - that is certainly not our desire nor our intent. If you have suggestions for more interesting, less touristy destinations, I am completely open. Of course, not living in the region, I am relying solely on what I have heard of, read or been recommended to visit.

Thanks,
Cheryl

Thanks, Keith! Good feedback regarding Prague.

Thanks, Lubitsch.

I appreciate your recommendations for other guidebooks and for other sites! Sometimes, we get so excited about our trip that it's easy to discount the distance between locations.

Barring road problems, the IC bus is the fastest way to Prague whether from Munich or from Nuremberg. By bus it is possible (and faster) to travel directly between Prague and Munich than to travel via Nuremberg - you may want to use the direct route Munich-Prague at least once.

This castle outside of Salzburg (Werfen) would serve as a good alternative to tourist-trampled Neuschwanstein - and it has a falconry show:
https://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/hohenwerfen-castle/

At what time of day do you arrive on the 4th and depart on the 15th?
How large will your group be once you meet up with the others?
Are you looking to schedule specific concerts into your itin? Do you have dates if so? Or does your interest in music just mean doing Mozart's Geburtshaus and maybe an unscheduled tourist concert, whenever you're there?
http://www.visit-salzburg.net/travel/salzburg-concerts.htm

First of all, I object to calling your trip and wish list "Disney." If you want to go to Neuschwanstein, go to Neuschwanstein! I did, on my first trip to Germany when I was 21. My dad and I did one of those day-long bus tours on a rainy day. We saw Lindhof, Neuschwanstein, and stopped in Oberammergau. Were we with a bunch of other tourists? Yup (in fact, we met people from our home town!). Was it crowded? Yup. Did I love it? Absolutely. Do what interests YOU, and if that means castles/palaces and WWII, then do that. Love the Sound of Music? Take the tour! I've been twice, because it gets me up into the mountains. It's corny as heck, but I love it. My cynical sister even sang along when we went. There's also a luge ride, which - how can you say no to that? My point is don't let the fear of doing something "touristy" stop you from doing what you want.

Okay, with that out of the way, two quick questions: Are you meeting your family in Prague, or in Munich, on June 10? That is, do you need to be in Prague on June 10? And, is there anyway to change your ticket to leave from Prague?

Either way, I think you're going to need to cut Vienna. If you're absolutely married to Prague on this trip, then one of the big cities has to go, and my suggestion would be Vienna.

Nürnberg has an excellent documentation center and party grounds, since you're interested in WWII. It can be done as a long day trip from Munich, if you'd prefer to stay in one place longer. Salzburg has disappointed me both times I've visited, but that's my personal opinion, and if you are interested in music and Mozart, you will probably get more out of it than I did. That can also be done as a long day trip ( I think both Salzburg and Nürnberg are about 2.5 hours from Munich by train. Again, long days, but technically doable).
What if you did:
6/4: Arrive Munich, work off jet lag.
6/5-6/9: That's five full days to explore the city and take any day trips, either out of town, to the castles (palaces), or into the Alps.
6/10: Travel to Prague. (I saw on the DeuscheBahn website a direct train that gets you there in 5.5 hours. Others have also suggested a bus. I'm not sure on price for the train.)
6/10-6/13: Prague. That's 3.5 days in Prague, which should be doable.

6/14: Travel back to Munich.
6/15: Travel home.

You won't get to do EVERYTHING on your list, but if you drop Vienna you'll be able to do a lot. And don't worry about Prague. It's very tourist-oriented, so language won't be an issue. I don't speak a lick of Czech and never had any issues. It's a beautiful city.

Thanks, Russ and Allison. Our party will be a total of 7 when everyone arrives. They also fly into Munich, but are open to going straight to Prague. Everyone flies out of Munich, so no opportunity for an open jaw ticket.

Yes, we'd like to see a concert if possible and honestly we all love Sound of Music, corny or not. We're not stuck on any particular castle / palace, nor on visiting Eagle's Nest. I would just like to visit a palace / castle while we're in the region. Obviously, in the US these are pretty uncommon!

"I would just like to visit a palace / castle while we're in the region."

Intact medieval castles (like my suggestion, Hohenwerfen) are trickier to find than palaces (which were built centuries later.) Salzburg's Hohensalzburg fortress is an option as well. For palaces, consider either Nymphenburg in Munich, or Herrenchiemsee in Prien, half-way between Munich and Salzburg.

Nymphenburg:
http://www.schloss-nymphenburg.de/englisch/palace/index.htm
http://www.theworldisabook.com/16991/munich-with-kids-nymphenburg-palace/

Herrenchiemsee (a King Ludwig palace on an island in Chiemsee Lake) :
http://www.ferienhaus-am-chiemsee.com/files/template/background.jpg
http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/objects/hch_ns.htm
http://www.dw.com/en/herrenchiemsee-a-dash-of-island-magic-mixed-with-megolamania/a-18524402

A train stopover of several hours in Prien on the way to Salzburg would work. Stow bags in a Prien station locker.

1. Classical and Baroque Music

Here comes in yet another place: Leipzig and it's great musical past. For info you might want to start here:

http://notenspur-leipzig.de/en.html

Munich
Salzburg ( 2 nights ) day trip to Werfen - visit Hohenwerfen and if possible the ice caves
Nuremberg
bus to Prague
Bus to Munich
See if you can find a Michelin guide for Germany that is a good source for times to spend at various attractions.

I would probably drop Neuschwanstein. I like it, having been 3 times, but it takes a long, full day to do it as a day trip from Munich. And there are castles in Salzburg, Werfen, and Nuremberg

Wow, great information. So everyone so far is suggesting to drop Vienna just due to timing, distance, etc?

I see a lot of people recommending the bus from Munich to Prague, but on seat61.com, he recommended the train. Has anyone taken both and do you have a compare / contrast?

Thanks!

I see a lot of people recommending the bus from Munich to Prague, but on seat61.com, he recommended the train.

Well, apparently the man in seat 61 doesn't like buses. ;) Nor do I.

But let's consider some facts: Undeniably, the buses are faster than the train. There are in fact two DB buses per day which, according to the time table, cover the distance to Prague in 4:40. Now, 4:40 is the approximative time calculated by google maps for a normal car under average traffic conditions, and given the number of constructions sites along the route I wonder how a bus should do it reliably in the same time (I have no experience with the Munich - Prague bus but I see often buses from Prague arriving in Nuremberg late). Other buses take just over 5 hours. From dec. 10 the trains takes 5:27 and there will be seven direct trains trains form Munich to Prague per day (train numbers at the DB website are prefixed by "ALX").

Now, it's a matter of preference - saving half an hour or so but sitting in a narrow seat in a bus or spending a bit more time and have much more comfort in the train, where you can stretch your legs, wander around and take a coffee and a snack in the snack bar.

But wait, people say the train is way more expensive than the bus - €74 against €19.90 for the bus. Those people usually have looked up prices at the DB website, which gives the international standard fare only - apparently a trick to lure people into the DB IC Bus (for some connections they even suggest you to take the train to Nuremberg und to transfer to the DB bus there). After all, the train is not run by DB but by a competing company (Netinera, a subsidiary of the Italian Ferrovie dello stato). But €19.90 is the cheapest safer fare ticket which has to be booked well in advance; a week out from today the price for the morning bus is €39.90 and for the afternoon bus €59.90. Now compare what's on offer for the train at the E-Shop of the Czech Railways (Ceské dráhy). You will find that prices currently start at €14.50 one way. You can book your ticket online and print it out at home.

I certainly don't want to discourage you from taking the bus, but I think you should be aware of all relevant facts.

O> Neuschwanstein = Disney

There are many German speakers visting Neuschwanstein. Also remember that Hohenschwangau (a real castle from before the 1100's) is one of the places where Ludwig grew up and is across a shallow valley some 3 kms distant. Also Füssen itself is a wonderful little village to visit (if you like little villages although Füssen is somewhat touristy across the board).

One can also debate whether Ludwig applied perspicuous pre-Keynsian economics to stimulate the economy or if he had just lost all perspective. Nonetheless, his ministers, ever angry that Ludwig passed on the Emperorship (okay, not really, he was never going to be Emperor even in name with Prussia around), engineered his disposal and murder (or did they?). Check out his memorial chapel at the southern end of the Starnberger See.