Hello RS's Community. I need your help planning a family itinerary next summer (Summery 2013). We're hoping to exposure our niece to European culture next summer and would like to run through an itinerary with everything to get some feedback. It'll be my wife and I, our niece and a future 18 month old. We're affording 10-11 days and planning to drive. We would like to gain much cultural, UNESCO, linguistic, and fun experiences. My wife and I have gone to Europe quiet frequently in the past, but this is the first time that we're traveling as an extended family. (i.e. this time we're carrying car seats and more luggage) Here's the layout right now, Day 1 - Arrive in Munich Day 2 - Munich Day 3 - Fussen - Oberammergau - Munich Day 4 - Munich - Zurich Day 5 - Zurich Day 6 - Zurich - Lake Como Day 7 - Lake Como Day 8 - Lake Como - Milan Day 9 - Milan
Day 10 - Departure from Milan We would like to know if the route / schedule meets our criteria above, without causing too much stress. Lodging is not a concern, but finding parking and car friendliness is important. Thanks for your help. If there are any other itineraries that might be better, please let us know. aC and Family
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
7886 posts
I have only been to half of your destinations, but it's the Lodging decision that makes the most difference in car friendliness. I'm sure you know that Munich, Zurich, and Milan are not car-friendly destinations. In the others, I'm sure you can enjoy the freedom of your high-priced gas powered steed! You have a stroller, and your previous travel has shown you that the historic parts of most cities are best seen on foot. But you have to make the decision that you will (I'm making this up based on my own recent travels .... ) fight your way into town and park (for 25 Euros a day) at the Hilton or Four Seasons, so that the sights are all within stroller distance. Innsbruck has nothing over Zurich on culture, but it has sights and nature, and is more car friendly. I wonder if you should drive further to Basel, which I remember (2011) was less hard to navigate than Zurich in a car. But even better would be to concentrate on scenery, like the Black Forest, or Konstanz, and or Bregenz. I guess my point is that a "car-friendly" itinerary might not involve so many major cities. There's no reason you should be interested in the same things as I, but last year I went to the Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein, and Augusta Rarurica, and the Fondation Beyeler (art museume) in the North suburbs of Basel, and the nice medieval town center of Stein am Rhein and , the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen. You could continue on to Southern Alsace and see the le Corbusier cathedral in the hills, or the Rick Steves favorite of Colmar, and on to Besancon (even better, Perouges) and fly home from Geneva. I'm not trying to persuade to these specific attractions, only to respond to your car-travel desires!