Where to cut ?

I think you could cut a day from Boppard (I would add it to Munich).

I spent five nights in Boppard in 2008. The first day I went to Braubach to see the Marksburg. I took the ferry across the Rhein and walked approx. 1 km to the train stop in Filsen. From there it is only about 20 minutes to Braubach. You could also take the K-D boat to Braubach. I had lunch in town, then walked up to the castle and took the tour. When I came back, I had enough time to look around Boppard a bit.

The next day, I took the train to St. Goar, spent some time at Rheinfels, then took the boat to Bacharach and toured the town. Came back on the train with a stop in Oberwesel. Note: better to to the reverse. The boat from St. Goar to Bacharach takes too long, 70 minutes against the current. I got bored. The other direction takes only 40 minutes.

The third day I went into Koblenz and walked to Deutsches Eck. Still had time to see more of Boppard (there are some ruins of the Roman wall there).

The last day was spent seeing more of Boppard and Boppard-Salzig. I'd trade that day for a little more time in Munich. 2½ days in Munich is not enough time, IMO.

Make a list of what you really want to see in Berllin and Nürnberg. You might cut a day or two there. One day trip to Rothenburg, Würzburg, and Bamberg would be too rushed. Do Rothenburg one day and Würzburg/Bamberg one day.

Thanks for those advices Lee, they give me some things to think about !

We couls add 2 days to our trip, which could give us, obviously , more time to get around.

Also, Instead of a return flight to Luxembourg i've found a flight (still with Swiss) that goes like that: Yul-Zurich-Berlin and the return is still from Lux (Lux- Zurich- Yul).It's 300$ more than the return to Lux but it would allow me to save some train time (no need to get to Berlin from Boppard).

I agree with Lee that you can cut a day from the Rhine area and add it to Munich. We spent some time in this region with our kids and they were actually rather "castled out" after the third castle or so ...

However, it would be very fun for them to actually stay in a castle. If you book asap you could be able to reserve a family room at the youth hostel in Burg Stahleck in Bacharach. Or try Kolpinghaus in Burg Schoenburg in Oberwesel.

http://www.jugendherberge.de/en/youth-hostels/bacharach390/shortportraet
http://www.kolpinghaus-auf-schoenburg.de [website is German only but the managers speak English]

You're covering way too much of Germany and staying in too many major cities IMO.

Boppard or maybe Trier or some other place on the Mosel like Cochem are generally better targets for families than Dresden, Berlin, Nuremberg, and Munich (and much closer to your airport as well.) In smaller towns like Boppard you can navigate them on foot; you don't have to drag your kids onto the subway or other transport whenever you go somewhere, and apartments are easier to find too. Not that you shouldn't see a big city or two. But if you spent a week in Boppard, you could day trip to Cologne for museums and the cathedral. You could day trip to Mainz (a pedestrian-friendly city also with a nice old town zone, interesting museums and a very nice city park.) And Trier is loaded with history and sights - and it's possible as a day trip from Boppard as well. (Another good base town for outings like this is COCHEM on the Mosel River, which is worth a look as well.)

Then maybe you take a train trip to Bavaria for a week or so there. Pick one small town and settle in. Do day trips as you find the time. A place I like is PRIEN AM CHIEMSEE which has a lovely lake and proximity to the Alps (lift in nearby Aschau.) From there it's only 1 hour to Munich and 1 hour to Salzburg. Herrenchiemsee palace is right there.

You could do the same thing in the Nuremberg area for a week but maybe from a smaller town.

IMO Bacharach's Stahleck castle hostel is poorly located for outings by train or even into town. You'd have way too much uphill walking to get anywhere.

One more question: the flight is with Swiss (yul-zurich-Lux and Lux-Zurich-Yul). Is it a good company ?

Yes, a very good company, one of my favorites. Quick question: If you are looking to do a circular tour of Germany and fly Swiss, why not just do it from Zurich and save time and money by skipping the leg to Luxemburg? I'm seeing a saving of $250 CDN per adult.

Thanks Russ for that point of view !

Like I've said there's a lot of chance that we will arive in Berlin and leave From Luxembourg. We will have 24 full days in Germany. We are aware that kids can't walk as much as my wife an i can. We've plan to use cities as base town to get around and do daytrip from them , but maybe we can use smaller places and then make daytrip to larger town.

It's hard from me to know what to remove because every place seems to offer something for us and/or our kids.

''If you are looking to do a circular tour of Germany and fly Swiss, why not just do it from Zurich and save time and money by skipping the leg to Luxemburg? I'm seeing a saving of $250 CDN per adult.''

well I don,t see that saving, maybe someone can help me about that one !

anyone about that flight to Zurich ?

I was just looking at the prices on the Swiss website for your dates.

Flights are bought ! Finally we will leave Montreal july 10 and we will arrive in Berlin (via Zurich) at 10 am july 11. The return flight will be at 10:40 AM august 4 From Luxembourg to Montreal (once again via Zurich).

We have 24 full days to plan, and it's very exciting ! I'm also thrilled that all the flights are with Swiss since i've read a lot of good things about them .

First question (maybe many more will come !), is there a neighbour In Berlin that would allows us to go easily from Tegel airport and that will be convenient for getting around Berlin qithout being too much expensive ?

Thanks !