My family of 4 (sons ages 7 and 10) will be leaving Paris August 21, 2011. Our plan is to travel to Germany then to Switzerland, then fly home from Zurich on August 28th (flights already purchased). We are interested in the Rhine valley, Rothenburg ob der Tauber or other medieval town, perhaps Legoland, and the Berner Oberland area. I have a hotel in Zurich for night of Aug 27th but would like to nail down the rest of the itinerary for this leg of our trip. However, I'm concerned that this is too many things for the 6 nights we'll have. Would love suggestions from seasoned travelers. We are not planning to have a car, and we are not experienced travelers. We will have already been in London and Paris for a total of 8 nights.
Posted by
Los Angeles, California
1986 posts
Wow!!!!!
Much too much planned. You will be happier if you concentrate on a smaller area. Either do Rhine valley by a combination train/boat and possibly add on Romantic Road by train or Europabus; or Switzerland by train. Romatic Rod you can stop at a number of small towns including Rothenburg and end up at Munich Switzerland I would think of Interlaken/Murren/lauterbrunnen/Jungfrau area and possibly Lucerne (which is cuter than Zurich). many many suggestions on this board to stay in Lucerne and train to Zurich airport rather than overnight in Zurich.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Way too much. Maybe you could cut down on your time in London and Paris and put 1 or 2 more nights in Germany and Switzerland. Kids love castles and Germany certainly has plenty of them. There are even castle hotels where you can spend the night - your kids would love that. Munich, Nuremburg, Füssen (Nueschwanstein, Tegelberg). But I'm partial to Switzerland and would highly recommend you spend some time there. The snow covered peaks of the Alps, Jungfrau, Schilthorn, beautiful lakes of Thun and Brienz - these are all in the Bernese Oberland. Eye-Popping scenery is everywhere. Stay in one of the high mountain Alpine Villages like Mürren in the Chalet Fontana. Your kids will have a blast. Swiss Public Transportation is outstanding and both your kids will travel absolutely free with you everywhere in Switzerland on all forms of transport - trains, boats, buses, gondolas, cogwheels - even up to the expensive Jungfrau and Schilthorn. Switzerland is designed for tourists and families. Go and have a blast!
Posted by
Kirn, Germany
331 posts
I agree with the other posts that Germany would be fun for the kids, boat trips on the Rhein, castles to explore, forests to roam around and cable car rides. Wonderful as Paris and London are I think the children could become fractious and would get more fun out of a more relaxed environment. Don't try to cram too much in, take a day or two to unwind and take it easy.
Posted by
Germany, Germany
813 posts
We live an hour from Legoland DE and have season passes, we really like it. That said, it's hard to get to without a car, I wouldn't recommend it by train. I suggest Paris to Strasbourg, France, for two nights, then down to Lake Constance/Konstanz and Luzern area for the remaining days. I personally disagree about Zurich and would stay closer to the airport the night before, just my opinion. Go to Meersburg, Germany, it has an awesome castle my kids love.