Kid friendly destinations for a 3.5 and 5.5 year old girls

Hi Swati, There is a Legoland in Billund, Denmark that your girls might enjoy. Munich and southern Germany could be fun. There are many castles along the Rhine, you could take a river cruise. I hope you have a fun trip! Rachel

I'd suggest to see some of the castles along the Rhine. Your kids might also enjoy one of the special events at a castle. Your timing would be right to visit the Castle Ellwangen (2 hrs south of Frankfurt) with a festival starting May 30 http://www.mittelalterspektakel-ellwangen.de/

Thank you for all the great suggestions. How about Brussels or Luxembourg? Would you recommend that over Rhine cruise and castle?

Do not worry about vegetarian food in Germany. Particularly in big cities like Frankfurt, it's quite available. Frankfurt has a large variety of non-German restaurants (Vietnamese, for example) which would also have veg options. I assume there are Indian restaurants too, but can't say for sure; there definitely are in Berlin.

Brussels is boring for small kids,, I wouldn't bother with Luxembourg either..unless there is something there that interests you in particular.
If you wish to please your small children then Disneyland or Legoland are best suggestions. From Frankfurt to Paris by train is 3 hours and 50 minutes. Trains are rather pleasant with small children, they can walk around, there is a bathroom , you don't have to worry about the driving so can entertain them, you pack a picnic lunch ( almost everyone does this) and its just a nice way to travel. I would spend 2-3 nights in Paris. Paris is wonderful for small kids, the Luxembourg Gardens will keep them happy and amused they have a nice playground there, a large pond with little sail boats they can rent to push about, live music and ice cream stands. You can also enjoy a boat cruise on the Seine, , and a trip up the Eiffel Tower. And yes, a daytrip to Disneyland is very easy, only 40 minutes by train..

With a trans-Atlantic flight, your best bet is to stay in Frankfurt that day. Especially since we are having our skyscraper festival that weekend. Lots of music, fireworks, and a nice fest atmosphere. Sorry that the website in in German, but you can look at the photos. There will be lots of stuff for kids to do. http://www.wolkenkratzerfestival.de/ Being vegetarian in Frankfurt or any place in Germany is not a problem. Whether you want to eat Indian foods, Asian or even German. Other sites near Frankfurt that your children may like, would of course be the castles along the Rhine, riding the boat, visiting Marksburg or Rheinfels, taking the chair lift up to Germania at Ruedesheim. A visit to the Hessen Park open air museum might be fun:
http://www.hessenpark.de/index.php?id=english or Lochmühle: http://www.lochmuehle.de/start.html The nearest countries are going to be France, or the Netherlands. Both Paris and Amsterdam are just 4 hours away by train from Frankfurt. In Frankfurt itself, kids activities would be the Childrens Museum (Kindermuseum), the Senckenburg Natural History Museum, the Zoo, or the Palmengarten (has a huge play area)

"Brussels is boring for small kids" Very much disagree. The Musical Instrument Museum and Autoworld are two very kid friendly attractions within the city. And if it's still open, MiniEurope near the Atomium is a great little park for kids. It features scale models of famous buildings from every member of the European Union. Lots mechanized model trains run around the park, and most of the models are interactive. It's supposed to close permanently sometime in the near future, but the website indicates it will still be open as of this spring.

Tom,, Autoworld, well that may be interesting, but seriuosly , 3 yr olds at the Musical Instrument Museum,,, lol it would have to be pretty interactive for most pre schoolers to care..

Thanks great suggestions! Now for the planning. Anymore ideas are welcome

" lol it would have to be pretty interactive for most pre schoolers to care.." It is interactive, that's why I mentioned it as being a good museum for kids. You can hear an audio sample of every instrument on display. And the displays in the basement have lots of buttons for little kids to touch and see what happens.

Any recommendations on how and where to book a one day cruise on the Rhine? What castles would you recommend staying at? Thanks for the advice.
Swati

Is staying a day in Frankfurt worth it at all or should we just head out to the Rhine valley? Which part of the Rhine valley would you recommend? I am thinking we will rent a car and drive to Rhine stay at a castle hotel and take a river cruise. Both will appeal to my little girls. Thanks
Swati