Switzerland, Austria, Germany Trip With Kids: General Itinerary Questions

1) I would vote Luzern. Bern is worth a day, and you cannot go there without visiting the bears. Otherwise it is a very pretty city, but not much for kids. You can easily do it as a day trip from Luzern.
Luzern has lakes, mountains boats, city walls (for boys of all ages), white topped mountains to visit ( http://www.titlis.ch/en )

2) Lauterbrunnen is at the bottom of a U-shaped valley, Mürren is half way up the side of the valley (Wengen is half way up the other side). I vote Mürren for scenic hikes. You will probably cross the valley to Wengen one day. Lauterbrunnen is famous for waterfalls. Photo: https://s.iha.com/00122233266/Lauterbrunnen-Lauterbrunnen-valley.jpeg
Mürren is on a ledge above the waterfall, Wengen is up the left side of the valley.
Neither are towns, Mürren has a population of just 450, but has 2,000 hotel beds.

3) Train, easily. The road ends at the valley bottom at Lauterbrunnen, above it is trains only.
See 3D map here (red is rail lines, black is hiking routes): https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/6d/9d/db/6d9ddb05f340346e0596f2ced8bfc634.jpg

4) Train probably. Look up the price of a Swiss Pass, or a Berner Oberland Pass, and the various special offers for kids fares: http://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/holidays--short-breaks-in-switzerland/swisstravelsystem.html

5) Innsbruck. One way car hire between two countries (Zürich to Munich) incurs a high surcharge, not usually a good idea.

I cannot comment on all your questions but here are some thoughts on #3 and #5:

1. I am a "car guy". I like the flexibility of route and departure time, the ability to stop and take a photo when I want (and you are traveling through beautiful countryside for the most part) and so my preference would be to rent a car. The car rental may be more expensive than taking a train because you will be picking it up in Zurich and dropping it off in Munich - two different cities and two countries.

2. If you choose to travel by car, here's the route I would take and where I would break my journey from the Lauterbrunnen/Murren area to Salzburg:
   First, I would take the scenic route rather than taking the autobahns. Google will route you on autobahns unless you force it to avoid them. I would plan your intermediate stop between the Bernese Oberland and Sslzburg to be in Fussen, Germany. This is where Neuschwanstein, Ludwig II's fanciful castle, is located. If you have not seen Neuschwanstein it is worth a stop just to see the exterior. In fact I would not tour the interior - it is only partly finished and, in my mind, disappointing. Instead I would take the bus from Fussen to Marienbrucke. This bridge offers an excellent view of Neuschwanstein and the lakes beyond. From the bridge you can choose between walking down to the castle and back into town or taking the bus back.

From Fussen I would take the Alpenstrasse to Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. The Alpenstrasse is a beautiful road passing through Oberammergau (of Passion Play Fame), Garmisch (home of the 1936 Winter Olympics) and past numerous other cute little towns and beautiful lakes. Berchtesgaden is the jumping off point for the Eagle's Nest which offers a great view of Salzburg and the surrounding area. From B'gaden it's a short drive to Salzburg.

!. No advice.

1. Murren (or as mentioned Wengen - on the opposite side of the valley) offer fantastic views. The views in the valley are not bad though. Food is basically a wash - Lauterbrunnen is larger than Murren or Wengen, but it is not large enough to offer a huge selection. Family friendly, hmm - the one nice thing about Lauterbrunnen is that you can get to the sights on both side of the valley equally quickly.

2. Simpler? Probably a wash - both trains and cars have their own set of complications. For example - you don't mention the number or ages of your children. If they are not old enough to tote their own luggage trains get way more complicated, but changing diapers in a train bathroom is a lot easier than in a back seat :-) Cars offer a remarkable flexibility - I drove the trip you are describing and was glad to have the car - EXCEPT - Salzburg - most congested little city I've ever seen.

3. Less expensive? Probably a wash - train costs will depend on the age of the children. Car rental is going to be very high because you are picking it up in Switzerland and dropping it off in Germany.

4. On our trip we stopped (as mentioned in a previous post) in Fussen so we could visit Neuschwanstein then took the Alpenstrasse through Oberammergau - we visited Linderhof on the way to Salzburg but as mentioned there are many sights in the area. There is way more to see between Lauterbrunnen and Salzburg than can possibly be seen in a few days - you'll need to try to decide what it is you want to see to decide where you will stop for the night.

Have fun!

I agree with Bruce that Salzburg is congested but it is small enough that you can see all the key sights on foot. So if you plan to stay in town try to choose a hotel with parking. If the hotel does not have parking or you stay outside of town you can always park in the Altstadtgarage. It is a very large underground parking lot that I have used in the past.

Back to your basic itinerary. I think that you will enjoy Hallstatt. It is a pretty little town. Be sure to read about parking in Halstatt before you go. The first time I tried to visit Halstatt I had driven past the town before realizing that I had gone past all the parking opportunities and was south of town with no easy way to turn around.

I enjoyed the boat trip from Halstatt that goes around the lake, but your kids may prefer the tour of the salt mine. The mine itself is reached by a funicular and the observation point near the mine entrance gives an extensive view of the lake and the countryside, Plus the mine tour includes a slide to get to a lower level that seems to put a smile on everyone. Take a look at the mine website:
https://www.salzwelten.at/en/hallstatt/saltmine/

If you decide to stay in Bern instead of Lucerne I would still pay a visit to Lucerne. The Chapel Bridge is beautiful and there are lake tours available nearby. You might take a look at the Lion Monument on the internet to see if it may interest your kids.

1. I have never been to Bern but Lucerne is lovely.

2. There are good hikes above Murren. The North Face Trail was nice as was the kids adventure trail. My 7 year old daughter loved the Kids Adventure Trail. We picked up sandwiches at the Coop grocery store for picnics that we had during the walk. We also loved the Mannlich to Kleinne Scheidegg walk above Wengen, but one side has a dangerous drop for little kids I was confident about our 7 year old and she stuck to the side of the trail opposite the drop off. The trail is four or five feet wide at the narrowest of places. My wife who has two left feet and some times stumbles on level land had no problems. Above Murren at the top of the Funicular is Almendhuble and a Childrens adventure park with small zip line, slides, tunnels, and lots of things to run around and play on. There is an indoor pool in Murren and a playground.

3. Our family of four prefers to travel by train. We have a 3 year old and have taken trips when she was 10 months and 22 months. If she gets tired of sitting down, she can get up and walk down the isle, changing diapers were a breeze. We brought picnics on our longer train trips. You don't have to stop for bathroom breaks.

4. Look at Rome2rio for comparisons for between auto and train, but dont forget parking fees and the increased price of fuel, fuel prices are quoted for liters, roughly 4 liters per gallon for easy conversion. You don't have to worry about getting lost or traffic.

How old and how many?

Little people and teenagers are two different things. ;)

3: one teen, one tween, and one elementary schooler :)

1. Luzern, and do Pilatus. The trip to/from Pilatus is fun (boat/cogwheel train/50-person gondola/4-person gondola/bus back to Luzern) it self will be fun and cool for everyone. Plan on stopping at Fraekmuentegg coming down from Pilatus (when switching from the 50- to 4-person gondolas). It has some food (basic) and an alpine adventure park that all will find fun. There are also various places to stay in the area between Fraekmuentegg and Kriens--sorry, no recommendations, but they look good.

2. We LOVE traveling by car and find the pluses to more than make up for any minuses.

3. Cannot say.

4. Appenzell definitely :)

Many thanks to all of you for your advice!

Kids <16 year travel free all over Switzerland with their parents as long as you have the Free Swiss Family Card. Dropping the car in a foreign country will increase your rental costs astronomically.

Regarding dropoff costs...looking at a Compact car for ~16 days: (from Kayak)

1. Pickup ZRH and return to ZRH - $500
2. Pickup ZRH and return to Munich - $725

The only difference is the dropoff. A $225 dropoff fee on a $500 car, or about a 45% premium to drop in another country.

That being said, I would pickup in ZRH and dropoff in Munich if Munich was that important. After all, how many times will you make the trip? Otherwise I would cut Munich or at the very least make the trip more of a loop where you start and finish in Zurich. That would get rid of the $225 fee.

Edit: I just checked and you might just want to head back to ZRH from Munich, a 3 hr 26 min drive. That isn't that bad and you can go straight to the airport.

Good travels!

We decided to fly in and out of Munich, thereby receiving and delivering back a rental car to the same place. Saved us money on all accounts. Thanks!