Southern Germany itinerary feedback

Much of your trip is in Bavaria and covered by the Bayern train ticket which makes it super inexpensive to travel by train. (Salzburg is also covered by the Bayern ticket.) Just wanted to mention in case you are unaware of it, like I was until I purchased a train ticket for three in Munich and couldn't believe how inexpensive it was.

So many one night stays! Is there a reason you're not just basing in Munich and doing day trips? Switching hotels is a little exhausting so often. Also is there a particular reason you're going to Rothenburg? It's one of many beautiful medieval towns you could visit and it's a bit of an outlier although easier by car.

That's a lot of one night stays. The only day you are spending in Munich is the first one when you will be jetlagged. My advice is to reduce the number of stops. Munich is good for two full days minimum (three nights). For this amount of time Bavaria alone is more than enough. Also, investigate the practicalities of how you will handle the luggage for five people with the car. You cannot have anything showing when you make stops in transit, even larger cars might not have a trunk big enough for five 21" bags. The Laender tickets would probably be a steal within Bavaria for a family.

Thanks so much for the advice! I have been scouring AirBnB and the one-night stays are killing me. I am rethinking that.
We travel with one backpack each, so I'm not worried about luggage. I will look into the train tickets mentioned, though!

I chose Rothenburg because it's on the way to Heidelberg from Nuremburg. It's really just a quick stop along the way. I am open to suggestions!

Or...what if we skip Heidelberg and Rothenburg and head north to Wutzburg instead? I've don't know much about that city, but the pictures online are beautiful. So many choices! I need another week. ;)

I've never been to Wutzberg but I've spent a day in Heidelberg. The castle is beautiful and the old town very nice.

Sunday / Monday: It's not a good idea to drive in and around Munich, and public transport is good, including Dachau. The same holds for the Munich to Salzburg trip (crowded, often congested motorway; expensive parking in Salzburg). I'd rather rent the car, if at all (see below), the following day in Freilassing (in Bavaria, just outside Salzburg, to avoid the steep international drop off fee).

Thursday / Friday: If you go to Würzburg instead of Heidelberg you can stop by in Rothenburg as well, it's not such a big detour from the direct Nürnberg to Würzburg route.

Friday: return your car at the airport but stay overnight in the city (just a 12 min S-Bahn ride from the airport), which has a better and cheaper selection of hotels.

We are renting a car since it's cheaper than train tickets for 5 of us.

I am not sure if that calculation will proof correct. If your children are all or part of them under 15 years old, they will travel for free with the Bayern Ticket, and the Munich - Dachau and Dachau - Salzburg trips would cost € 31, which is perhaps a quarter for a large car, petrol and the Austrian motorway vignette. Also, train tickets can be cheap if you book early and if you can commit to a specific train (www.bahn.com)

Wutzburg

That's is my new favorite among all misspellings of that place name (Wutzburg = "pig castle"), which displaces the previous one (Wurstburg, "sausage castle") to second position. ;)

Ok, here is a revised, brief itinerary... I took out Salzberg. I didn't feel like we would be there long enough to do it justice.
Sun - arrive in Munich, see city, stay night
Mon - Dachau, see more of Munich, stay night
Tues - day trip to Berchtesgaden, back to Munich to stay the night
(that's 3 nights in Munich)
Wed - head to Nuremberg, stay night
Thursday - more Nuremberg, half-day trip to Rothenburg, stay night
(that's 2 nights in Nuremberg)
Friday - head to Wurzburg OR Heidelberg (depending on how much driving we want to do), then drive on to Wiesbaden since it's just 20 min from airport

Still need to look into train vs. car rental.
I hope I did a better job on the spelling! Didn't mean to call Wurzburg a pig castle! ;)
Thanks, all, for the help!

Since you will be in Munich longer, now, you might enjoy Augustinerkellar. Its a beer hall/restaurant, and for that type of food, I've found it to be quite good. There is one on the Marienplatz and one by the train station which has a huge outdoor beer garden with outdoor games. I have been to both and thought they were related, but I'm not completely sure. I liked both.

What are the kids' ages, at time of travel, Julie?

"He is a big history buff and has always wanted to visit Germany." In that case I heartily recommend to him going to Berlin, focus on that city for the history.

“What are the kids' ages, at time of travel, Julie?”
They will be 18, 16, and 16. Not sure how they got so old. I guess I blinked.

New itinerary makes a lot more sense. It's not the worst idea to visit Rothenburg from Nuremberg en route to Heidelberg, if you have a car, and I know some people like staying overnight for the Night Watchman's Tour. A couple one night stays isn't the worst, but the Munich portion of your itinerary is a lot better.