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Review of Germany Itinerary June/July 2025

All - heading to Europe (London/Germany/Switzerland/Paris) June 11-July 6 - for Germany part of trip, itinerary and plans below. I welcome any thoughts/comments/suggestions. Will be 12 of us (me, wife and our 4 kids (20, 17, 11 and 11); in-laws; and then sister-in-law and brother-in-law and their 2 kids (16, 10). Thanks much in advance.

June 17 - arrive Frankfurt airport from London around 4pm. Pick up rental car at airport. Drive from Frankfurt to Rothenberg ob der Tauber (2 hours).
Hotel Goldener Hirsch for 2 nights.
June 18 - Explore Rothenberg (Christmas Village; Museum of Crime; Walk the city; Night watchman tour)

June 19 - depart Rothenberg - drive to Dachau (2 hours) - tour Dachau (we realize we cannot do guided tours with kids).
Late afternoon - head from Dachau to Munich (30 minutes)
Arthotel Munich for 2 nights
Visit Marienplatz (using Rick Steves walking itinerary); visit beer gardens; Any thoughts on The Residenz with kids is appreciated. Right now not planning to visit - but if we have time, could do so.

June 21 - depart Munich - drive to Konigssee for boat ride to Salet (as early as we can - nearly 2 hour drive). If we have time that afternoon, visit Documentation Center/Hitler's bunkers.
Hotel Pension Almhof Baumgarten for 2 nights
June 22 - tickets to Eagle's Nest (10:35 bus reservations/12:40 return); afternoon - visit Salt Mine in Berchtesgaden (can't book until May 26)

June 23 - depart for Fussen (2 hour 45 minutes) - Stop on the way at Zugspitze (2.5 hour drive) (debating which side - Austria or Germany)
Hotel - Best Western Hotel Plus in Fussen for 1 night. Plan to have dinner at Schloss Brauhas.

June 24 - tickets for Neuschwanstein at 9:50a.m. for English tour. Plan is to arrive early and take 8am bus from parking lot 4 up to Mary's Bridge. Cross bridge and get back down hill to Castle by 9:30 for 9:50 tour.
Depart Fussen 12/1pm and drive to Engleberg, Switzerland (almost 4 hours).

June 24-29 Engleberg/Lauterbrunnen

June 29 - depart Lauterbrunnen and drive to Triberg (3 hours 15 minutes).
Hotel Cafe Adler for 1 night. Visit Triberg Waterfalls, Rodelbhan Coaster, explore Triberg town center.

June 30 - depart Triberg for Lautzenhausen (3 hours 30 minutes)
Hotel My Place for 1 night.
Early dinner on the Mosel. Visit wife's family's old friends and see the place they lived back in the mid 80's/visit Hahn AFB.

July 1 - depart Lautzenhausen early for Frankfurth (1.5 hours) - return rental car to Frankfurt airport - train from airport to Hbf Train Station - depart Frankfurt for Paris at 1pm.

Posted by
979 posts

You may be able to take the train from the airport, maybe not direct to Paris, but with a change somewhere other than Frankfurt Hbf. I saw one that went through Cologne, arriving at Paris Nord, another that arrived at Paris Est. I would take a close look at all your options.

Posted by
267 posts

Its no longer Hahn AFB but International Airport but some old aircraft shelters are still there :o))

We flew to Ireland from there (KerryAirport) several times

When its your first return to Lautzenhausen since the 80ties be aware many things have changed since then
A lot of construction and new buildings at the former AFB
The housing area/barracks are used by German Police for ex.

get more info at https://www.hahn-airport.de/en/home

For the Füssen/Neuschwanstein part

When you plan to go to Schwangau from your Hotel in Füssen for dinner Schlossbrauhaus is good idea for a large group
Just in case you find no place there Hotel Gasthof Helmer in the village of Schwangau is also nice and offers good food
Contact for the restaurant direct for large group reservations [email protected]

Posted by
1968 posts

I took a cousin and her two teenagers to Munich last June. They liked the Residence more than the Deutsches Museum.

Posted by
7414 posts

I welcome any thoughts/comments/suggestions.

Here's my Danny-Downer contribution.

I get the Swiss Alps part. The Bernese Oberland is spectacular.

I understand being locked into using a certain airport. It's unfortunate but there are reasons this happens.

I understand wanting to revisit friends/family/places from your past.

Things I don't get: the rest. The 1-2 night stays and the extensive and rigorous ground-travel schedule around Bavaria, with all the road-time you have planned, will be challenging with such a travel group and are not imperative for seeing/doing the kinds of things you have in mind. I would not willingly choose to dine on that big Bavarian plate you have in peak travel season with the heavily-touristed destinations you are targeting. Rick Steves' "Bavaria-First" approach to Germany means lots of competition from your fellow Rick-fans for the tourist experience there. But Bavaria has no monopoly on castles, WW II, and beautiful scenery.... you could avoid the large detour through Bavaria entirely and still have fun touring castles, hitting Nazi/WW II memorial sites and points of interest, doing boat cruises, hitting beer gardens, tromping around old-world towns, riding summer bobsleds, etc. From FRA: Start in the north, Lautzenhausen/Mosel/Rhine. Then to the Neckar River Valley and the Black Forest. Then to the Bernese Oberland. Two or three stays of 3-4 nights each could probably be arranged for the Germany part. Then head straight to Paris after that. Return the cars just across the Swiss border in Germany, maybe Freiburg. Freiburg > Paris is a 3-hour train ride.

Posted by
20 posts

Spinning on what Russ said:
1. If we consider the Swiss alps as set, you might not really have to do all the Bavarian Alps. The Swiss are probably just more spectacular anyway.
2. Is Neuschwanstein a must for you? It is spectacular, do not get me wrong, but very touristy and not exactly original (19th century)

Here’s a suggestion: Get from Frankfurt to Switzerland on the Bavarian border one way and the Rhine on the other:
- Rothenburg 2 nights
- Hohenzollern Castle (Family Seat of the last German emperors) on the way south
- Lake Constance (Lake Cruises, Mainau Island, but beware of high season) for at least 3 nights
- Switzerland: Is there a spot north of Bernese Oberland that might mean less driving?
- Check the Rhine waterfall on the way back north, and Triberg is near
- If you want to do a camp, there is Struthof in Alsace (now France) but I have never been there. Straßburg and Colmar are on the Way, and are what German cities were before the air raids (the region was German when these houses were built)
- Now the Mosel is near

Btw: You could check if driving to Paris and returning the car there is doable at a reasonable rate. Might be lucky…

Posted by
23 posts

Thanks much - for Neuschwanstein - we debated whether to actually tour it - decided to because the way our itinerary is set, we can hit it early morning and then head to Engleberg Switzerland. I think having a car to drive there early helps us here - we already booked tickets for the 9:50 a.m. tour, and plan to get there early and do Mary's Bridge early and walk down to the castle. I understand the tour is short.

We're pretty set on seeing the BO/Jungfrau area in Switzerland and have that part planned out as well. Spending 4 nights in Lauterbrunnen for Top of Europe/Grindelwald Frist/Schilthorn and Murren/Wengen/Manlicchen area for hiking/etc.

And flying in/out of London - so going to Paris (4 nights) then train to London at the end to catch flight back to US. So car in Paris is not really doable.

Posted by
20 posts

Sure, my question on Bernese Oberland was merely a matter of convenience. Having done multiple road trips, you always end up taking longer than Google says…

Which brings us again to the Bavarian part of your trip: Are there Must Sees there? As Russ and I mentioned, it is quite the detour, when compared to going straight down from Rothenburg. If there are no musts, you might find more convenient options along the way to, say, Bregenz, Lindau, Überlingen or Meersburg.
Castles, Palaces, Water Cruises and a Beer Garden are easy to do, while Dachau or Eagles Nest will be harder - in particular if it is specifically these; as noted, the Struthof camp would be doable from Triberg to Lautzenhausen, but I cannot really assess on their quality (online reviews are favorable though).

Posted by
91 posts

My kids’ favorite (teens) from Munich was seeing the surfers in the park and then floating down the part of the stream in the park that won’t kill you (one part is very fast, one more gentle). Very cold water but fun and seemed like so many Germans just hanging out in the park that it felt like we had joined them for a bit vs just touristing.

Posted by
768 posts

My kids’ favorite (teens) from Munich was seeing the surfers in the park

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