Copenhagen, Munich AND ?????

Berlin? It is on the way and certainly one of the very best cities in Europe to visit. 2nd choice would be Hamburg. Also on your way and your child will love the Miniatur World there.

Seconding Berlin, it would make perfect sense from Copenhagen to Munich.

Berlin always appeared to be more modern than I think we would like. We tend to like towns with historical old architectural character. We aren't too big in museums but our focus with rather be food/drink/hiking/sightseeing and just getting a good local feel of the town. Would you consider Berlin to be more modern and less scenic than we may like? We've been to Amsterdam, south Germany (Bavaria) and Gimmelwald, Switzerland before and would consider visiting some of these places again because we loved them, however I'd like to go to a new place if we can find somewhere we think we'd like as much. Note: We're planning to probably fly from Copenhagen to wherever we decide and then probably take the train into Munich.

Well, I was going to suggest Quedlinburg, Lübeck or Dresden until I read you wanted to fly closer to Munich. How about Vienna?

As long as we are within an 8 hour train ride from Munich (preferably less, but 8 would be max) then these other towns could work. I'll check them out. We went to Austria 2 years ago (Salzburg, Hallstatt and Vienna). Loved it, but looking to go somewhere new. It's not completely out of the question to fly into Munich from somewhere, but I love the trains and would like my daughter to get that experience.

I thought I'd be creative and suggest Berlin, but I see some very smart people beat me to the punch. Surely you wouldn't rule out visiting a city because of a type of architecture,would you? If I did that, I would have never visited Paris, because it's one of the most architecturally boring cities in Europe. No, that's silly. There's much more to Berlin than modern buildings (Pretty much every building in the city is from after 1945. That's what starting the worst conflict in the history of the world will get you.) Just the act of passing through an area that would have gotten me shot 30 years ago was enough to convince me that Berlin was a heck of a place to be. I can't recommend it enough!
(It's also refreshingly less expensive than other large European cities.)

I'm definitely not ruling Berlin out and will research it a bit more. Location wise it would be the best fit. Any thoughts on Prague?

Prague has fantastic architecture, both the really old and then the Art Nouveau.Tons of history. A great walking town, and a great town for people-watching. You said drink -may will say the best beer in the world is in the CR. it's also a relatively inexpensive city.

I can think of a couple of good options. A. Do a C shape land trip through Zealund, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Cologne, the Rhine, etc. back toward Munich. B. Do something that includes a ferry then South from there. I'm not the expert on ferry choices but I think Copenhagen connects only to Oslo. South of Copenhagen in Koge, you can connect via Ronne to a port in Poland, right by the German border, that would be a good jumping off point for say Berlin and/or Prague. Across the bridge in Sweden, Malmo connects to Trevemunde, Germany (more toward Hamburg than the other direction). South of Malmo, Trelleborg probably has the most choices to connect to Germany/Poland.

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely start researching these options! My husband and I have travelled to Europe quite a bit, but this will be our first trip with a kiddo in stow, so trying not to bounce around too much! Truth is that it's so hard to decide becuase I want to go everywhere!

I wouldn't say all of Berlin feels super modern, some buildings were rebuilt as they had looked before, so some areas - MuseumInsel, the Berliner Dom, Under der Linden - have stunning, grand neo-Classical architecture. Karl Marx-Allee is fascinating for the scale (and sort of creepiness) of Stalinist architecture. A lot of the neighborhoods use brick and brightly painted apartment buildings, and these all exist alongside very modern, sometimes very strange buildlings as well. It's definitely a mish-mash. I didn't really get the 'big deal' about Berlin but went on a whim last fall because my husband had always wanted to go. I fell in love with it and have returned twice since then, will surely be going again soon. It's a very unique place, but it's hard to predict if you would like it or not. I think it's a fascinating, exciting city. The fact that it's a lot cheaper than Southern Germany doesn't hurt either. But if you wanted something smaller and more atmospheric, Salzburg is close to Munich and lovely to stay in, and Vienna reminded me of Paris without the hassle and cost of Paris. Haven't been to Prague but it seems like another natural fit. I would certainly fly from Copenhagen to Prague though. The train trip is nearly 12 hours.

You were on the right track originally. Prague is the place. Perhaps the most beautiful city in Europe. From what you say you are looking for, it is idea. And, you have already been to most of the other top choices. It also fits your transportation desires; train from Prague to Munich 4.5 to 5 hours, with 0 to 1 transfer.