Munich Area

coleen,

A few thoughts on your questions......

1. That's a difficult question to answer in an internet forum. You know your children better than any of us, and will have a good idea how they'll react. I'm also a parent and in the same situation, I'd probably make the visit to Dachau, but try to minimize the amount of graphic details imparted to the 8 y.o. The older children should be fine (but again you know them better). I've seen German high school kids at the camps on numerous occasions, as I believe it's part of their curriculum. How "young" were you and your husband when you were there?
2. The trip from Munich to Venice is going to be a long one, but I wouldn't bother stopping over at Innsbruck. There's a direct train departing Munich Hbf at 11:38, arriving Venezia Santa Lucia at 18:10 (time 6H:32M). That trip goes through the Brenner Pass which is very scenic (IMO) and a trip I always enjoy.
3. Are you using guidebooks to plan your touring? They have good sightseeing suggestions for the places you'll be visiting. There are LOTS of possibilities in Munich, with one being the Deutsches Museum (16 kM of exhibits at the main site). I could easily spend a full day there. I don't know what the rules are for your 8 y.o. but the older ones will likely be able to take a walk through the famous Hofbrauhaus. Munich also has some good walking or biking tours that provide good information on the history - have a look at the Radius Tours website. As I recall, there are also Segway Tours which would be fun for the older ones.

1) This is from the official website: "There is no special exhibition for children at the Dachau Memorial Site, and some of the content may not be appropriate for children under 12; however, visitors will not be turned away based on age."

I'm not sure I myself would take children as young as 8, but as others have said you know your children best. Do they know what the memorial is about? Do they understand what went on there? Are they 'sensitive' children, would they be likely to have nightmares later? Some children that age would have no problem with what they see there. Those are the things you'd have to consider.

3) "We are planning a private tour of the castles, small towns and goat farm and hopefully a luge" - is that all in one day? If so, then maybe an 'unstructured' day to just walk around Munich, visit the English Garden - either walking or biking, graze for lunch at the viktualienmarkt, etc.. Also they might really enjoy the Deutsches Museum, lots of stuff for kids there.

The English Garden is a great place for them to run and play. They also have a small playground area at the Chinese Pagoda and a great beer garden. Dachau is really going to be something that depends on what kind of kids they are. If the older two want to go and you don't think the 8 year olds can't handle it, the Munich Zoo is a wonderful option to take them too. My 3 1/2 year old loves it and sees different animals than what we have at the Atlanta Zoo. The Residence is a cool place to go too. The Viktualenmarkt is awesome to walk through and also a great place to eat.

Also forgot to add a day trip to Zugspitz, the highest point in Germany. Its about an hour and a half by train but its a beautiful ride. The view from the top is amazing!

I'd also suggest the three branches of Deutsches Museum -- the main facility on Museuminsel, a 15-minute walk from Marienplatz; Flugwerft Schleißheim, the aviation branch, a short walk from the Oberschleißheim stop on S1; and Verkehrszentrum, featuring all manner of ground transportation, at the Schwanthalerhöhe stop of the U4/U5. All are wonderful.

Youngsters would also enjoy Olympiapark (Olympiazentrum stop on U3). Go up to the top of the Olympiaturm for a commanding view of Munich and, on a clear day, the Alps in the distance. BMW Welt and the BMW Museum are right across the street.

Here are some photos of the rail trip from Munich to Venice. This is the train Ken described above.

1) The building with all of the photo exhibits is definitely too overwhelming for an 8 year old. The rest of the facility is fairly benign if you have no idea of its past. And 8 year old would be fine there.

2) Munich -> Venice is best done by Air Dolomiti. Great Airline and direct flight at fairly low cost if you buy ahead of time.

3) "Private Tour" do you mean Neuschwanstein? If so just do it yourself. Even if you hire a private guide or a tour company they will only take you as far as the entrance. Only Neuschwanstein employees may lead tours through the castle. Reserve and purchase your tickets straight from the Castle Website. Use the Bavarian Ticket to take you all the way to the castles.

Luge - Tegelberg is just about a 5 minute bus ride from Neuschwanstein (again use the Bavarian Ticket). Ride the luge until your heart is content. It's great fun

Mike's Bikes - I don't usually like organized tours, but Mike's Bikes is the exception. They have a great bike tour through Munich and the English Garden. They ALSO do a Bike Tour all the way to Neuschwanstein. They'll take you by bus to Tegelberg where the bikes are stored. Hop on your bikes and away you go. You'll also go in Neuschwanstein and then to Tegelberg luge if it's not raining. Great fun and I recommend it highly.

Another vote for Mike's Bikes to Neuschwanstein. Super fun!!!

Did a bike tour with Mike's in Munich, but not the Neuschwanstein one (which sounds really fun)--recommend them as well. If it were me, I'd save Dachau until they're older.

1) We are trying to decide if Dachau is too overwhelming for 8 year
olds. My husband and I have been but we were young and cannot remember
the specifics.

A good rule of thumb I give people is to consider if their children are mature enough to watch and understand the movie Schindler's List, if not then they are not ready to visit Dachau (or any other camp for that matter). I agree with the other posters that the Deutsches Museum will be an excellent choice for your family, don't forget the basement area (under the aerospace exhibit) is dedicated just for kids with lots of hands on activities.

2) What is the best way to get from Munich to Venice and make it a memorable travel day. We had considered the scenic train from Munich to Innsbruck and stop over before moving on to Venice. Can anyone tell me which is the most scenic route and let me know if you have any other suggestion. The more specific your suggestions the better as I have had a hard time figuring this out on my own.

If the train is your preferred method, you can do direct to Venice in 6.5hrs but I would recommend Munich to Verona and stop for the night or two just because I like Verona. Your best bet for a scenic trip is the 11:38 departure which would put you traveling over the alps in the afternoon.

3) We are planning a private tour of the castles, small towns and goat farm and hopefully a luge. What other suggestions do you have for travel with our wide array of ages.

Renting bikes and riding through the Englischer Gartens is a good way to spend a day. Taking the train to one of the lakes in foothills for a boat ride is a good activity with children. As others mentioned the Zoo or Wildpark Poing are good for children.

"We are planning a private tour of the castles,"

Most of the tourable castles and palaces in Bavaria are owned either by the state government of the Wittelsbach family foundation, and none allow outside tour guides. As noted, all a "private tour guide" can do for you is get you to the castle.

A vote against Mike's Bike tour of Munich, unless you want to use it to meet up with fellow tourists. The tour didn't cover any ground that I didn't see walking on my own the day before, the only building you enter is a church that is always open to the public and the spiel contained hardly any information that you can't find in a guidebook.

And and one point on the zoo... it's mostly a pretty standard collection of animals (although the polar bears had cubs last year), but there's one really unique exhibit... an open bat cave in which there's no separation between you and the bats as they zoom around. I must admit, I grinned a little when I saw a woman run out of there screaming.

For my kids the best thing about the zoo was the playground:
http://www.hellabrunn.de/en/plan-your-visit/kids/playground/
The pictures don't really do it justice.