Please vote! Which itinerary should i choose?

I like the first itinerary because Munich is a fun city ( Be sure to visit the Deutsches Museum which has exhibits on science geared towards children), Dachau is an important site, Salzburg is beautiful and Regensburg has a lot of intact historic architecture ( Nuremberg’s old town was completely destroyed in WW2). You have a personal favorite— the Alsace-Lorraine for the Grand Finale!
With any extra time and a clear day after Salzburg, Berchtesgaden National Park and Konigsee Lake are spectacularly beautiful and only 30 minutes away. They are right over the border in Germany.
Have a great trip!

I like the first one but it’s too much jumping around - I think I’d pick either go Munich to Strasbourg/Colmar and explore Alsace and Black Forest OR the Salzburg/Passau/etc

Via train you can easily visit Salzburg, Passau, Regensburg, Nuremberg and more with a Munich base. Same if you’re based in Colmar you can go visit a lot via trains/easy day trips.

if you do number one and drive (it is a L-O-N-G drive) to Colmar from Passau you will be driving the width of Germany. If you then want to venture into Strasbourg be aware that your car will not have the appropriate Crit'Air windscreen sticker as Strasbourg is a clean air city.

Then, where will you fly home from, and where will you return the car?

How many teens? Do you enjoy driving on Autobahns in bad weather when the days are short? Do you know that trains can do the hard work for you and are frequent and go right into the city centres where the Christmas markets are?

Parking in Salzburg is expensive. Dachau is a heart wrench. Many people want to sit quietly and get over it. Picking up and going 2 hours to Salzburg (by train or by car) may be a bit much on Day 3.

Thank you all so much for the helpful suggestions! And the reality check that I need! Completely agree that I should focus on Salzburg or Strasbourg, but both in the same trip is a little much…. Also agree with the last poster that said going to Salzburg after 2 days is probably going to be exhausting. So, revised itinerary! I live in a northern climate so am used to driving in the snow and such, but if this is crazy please let me know!

Day 1: Arrive in Munich in the morning. Go to the transportation museum and possibly wander around Christmas Markets.
Day 2: Take a walking tour of Munich in the morning. Christmas Markets in the afternoon / evening.
Day 3: Spend another day in Munich - possibly art museum? BMW museum? Both? Free day to explore?
Day 4: Tour Dachau in the morning; Drive/train to Salzburg. Wander Old Town in the afternoon / evening.
Day 5: Hohensalzburg fortress, Mozart’s birthplace. Wander Christmas Markets in evening.
Day 6: Drive/Train or possible day trip to Hallstatt, explore town.
Day 7: Drive/Train or second day trip to Berchtesgaden, salt mine tour
Day 8: Drive to Regensburg via Passeau; Night go to Thurn and Taxi Christmas mkt. (or would it make sense to do more centrally located small towns like Augsburg? Or stay south and go to small towns like Oberammergau?). Just thinking of an interesting way to cross the country!
Day 9,10: Heidleburg
Day 11: Fly home out of Frankfurt

Blockquote Day 1: Arrive in Munich in the morning. Go to the transportation museum and possibly wander around Christmas Markets.
Day 2: Take a walking tour of Munich in the morning. Christmas Markets in the afternoon / evening.
Day 3: Spend another day in Munich - possibly art museum? BMW museum? Both? Free day to explore?
Day 4: Tour Dachau in the morning; Drive/train to Salzburg. Wander Old Town in the afternoon / evening.
Day 5: Hohensalzburg fortress, Mozart’s birthplace. Wander Christmas Markets in evening.
Day 6: Drive/Train or possible day trip to Hallstatt, explore town.
Day 7: Drive/Train or second day trip to Berchtesgaden, salt mine tour
Day 8: Drive to Regensburg via Passeau; Night go to Thurn and Taxi Christmas mkt. (or would it make sense to do more centrally located small towns like Augsburg? Or stay south and go to small towns like Oberammergau?). Just thinking of an interesting way to cross the country!
Day 9,10: Heidleburg
Day 11: Fly home out of Frankfurt<

In general, is there a reason for renting the car rather than taking trains to Regensburg? Is weather an issue for road conditions? I don’t know about that area in winter. I will say that a car in Salzburg isn’t super convenient to park; especially a “full” size car.

I’ve never been to a Christmas market, much less the T&T one, so I can’t comment on whether it’s worth it, when you could just take a train from Salzburg to Nuremberg. My tendency is always to advise less precious time wasted moving around on trains and cars and changing hotels. In general, you have a lot of that for this length of trip for my personal taste, but you are you.

I was going to say option #1, but now that you chose #2, you have left no time to see Frankfurt and the Christmas market there. Plus, the town offers so many historic sites to see.

Are your flights set? Most of the things on your revised plan are near to Munich. Open jaws (into one city out of another) is advisable if you want to see things near both cities. If most of what you want to see are in southern Germany/Austria, then flying in/out of Munich might make more sense.

If you are set to fly into Munich and out of Frankfurt, then I would look for a fairly direct route between the two, whether by car or train. Road or track miles will take time from your limited daylight hours (about 8 hours) in that season. Our favorite Christmas market routes Munich to Frankfurt are through northern Bavarian: Regensburg, Nürnberg, Bamberg, Würzburg, Rothenburg, etc.

Whether you did your latest, fourth itinerary, or your second or third original plans, all three of those likely work better than original Itinerary #1 simply because of your rental car. Colmar is in France, and its airport, the “EuroAirport,” is also in France, actually south of Mulhouse, France. It’s also near Basel, Switzerland, but some distance from anyplace in Germany you might return the car that you rented in Germany. Depending on the rental company, picking up a car in Germany and returning it in another country (the EuroAirport has several car rental companies, on both its French side and its Swiss side - but there’s no German side) could cost you a big, multi-country return fee. Even picking up at one place in Germany and returning it in another place in Germany could involve a “one way” rental surcharge, but involving an extra country would likely cost much, much more.

So, check with your car rental company about the cost of returning your car one location or another. Maybe that cost (if any) is OK with you, but I’d go with your second idea, starting in Munich and working your way up to Frankfurt. You could cross over into Colmar on your way, or stick just with Germany. If you turned in your car before Frankfurt, then you’ll have to figure out how to get to Frankfurt for your flight home, or else figure out where you’re going to go for flying home.

Thanks again for all the suggestions. As I learn more I agree about a rental care. We will probably take trains around!