Military travelers in Germany

Are you stationed in Europe now? If not you may not be entitled to all the military benefits. The savings that you realize for gas coupons as an example may be limited to personnel covered under the Status of Forces Agreement - that is, those assigned to Europe. Although I suspect it happens more often than it is authorized. You might do a little research. I has been years since I was there in the military. Gary

If budget is a concern, than don't even consider the Swiss Alps. By far and away one of the most expensive regions of Europe, and it would be a significant detour from your primary areas of interest. Get your Alpine thrills in Bavaria or Austria instead.

If you want a frugal vacation, then going to Berlin would give you the most value for your money and your kids may really enjoy this city. The area has its' share of medieval towns equal to Rothenburg. If you want beautiful mountain scenery, the Harz mountains offer an native to Bavaria. It won't be the majestic Alps, but gorgeous in their own right. http://www.thisisharz.com/ A visit to Quedlinburg, Lübeck, Erfurt or any town on the Fachwerk route will give you towns like Rothenburg.
http://www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de/uk/index.php The eastern part of Germany will also be considerably cheaper.

Check out hostels. Hostels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are immaculate. If interested....once you find a hostel that is interesting....Google the hostel for their web page and book directly with the hostel. Hostels usually have breakfast included. http://www.hostelz.com/hostels-in/Germany

Piggybacking on the info James gave you... Ramstein and Spangdahlem are nowhere near where you want to be in southern Germany. And I can attest that the area around Ramstein is about as uninteresting as Germany gets. The only installation it might make sense to visit is Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is a resort town at the foot of the Alps. However it's been reported on this board that the Edelweiss Lodge there is really no cheaper than the other lodging options "on the economy" in Garmisch. You could fly direct to Munich which puts you close to such sites as Salzburg and Ludwig's castles. However Rothenburg is in the opposite direction (north). If you really want to see Rothenburg, you could try to fly "open jaw" into Frankfurt and travel southeast from there. I personally wouldn't want to stay a night in Frankfurt or start driving right after a transatlantic flight, so you could take a train from the airport to Heidelberg, Wurzburg, or another nearby city, spend a night or two, and rent a car at that point. And finally, I agree that Switzerland is best left out on this trip. It's very expensive and rather out of the way of your other destinations.

Add Salzburg to your itinerary. It's one of the most beautiful cities anywhere (and has a nice castle Hohensalzburg). The one good thing about military may be sending stuff home. It's been awhile since I was stationed overseas. If it's still the same, you can send parcels home from a base post office for the same rate as sending it within the states.

You didn't say if you were thinking of flying space-a on military aircraft to take this trip, but if you are, just remember traveling space-a in the summer can be very stressful because so many other people have the same idea. If you are considering flying military space-a, go to every one of these websites and really get a handle on how it works before committing to it. http://www.pepperd.com http://www.spacea.net http://www.takeahop.com/app
http://www.amc.af.mil/amctravel

Thanks for all your replies! Lots of great info. We will NOT be traveling Space A for flights because of the time constraints and not being conducive for planning our leave. Unfortunately, this eats away a HUGE amount of our budget. Didn't realize how expensive flights to Europe have gotten... It looks like we'll be spending around $1200-1400/pp for our tickets. Is there a guideline on how far out to book a flight? I'm hoping the cost may decrease. We've been checking out the guidebook and trying to plan accordingly. As far as I can tell, being military does not offer any advantages in the way of budget travel. Sigh. Our preliminary itinerary so far:
Flying into Munich, 3 nights, 1/2 day trip to Dachau. Renting a car then driving to Rothenburg (3 nights with day trip to Nurnburg) Driving on the Romantic Road to Bavaria/Tirol and staying 3 nights either in Fussen or Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch. Driving to Salzburg for 2 nights. Back to Munich, drop off the car and then hubby back to the States, and the kids and I, onward to Albania (where my brother lives) for 2 weeks. My husband would really like to go to Berlin, but at this time, I'm not sure if it makes sense to travel out of our way to accomplish this. Any thoughts on our itinerary and the allotted time in each place? Any can't-misses that we should include? Thanks!!

Look into staying in apartments (fewos - short for ferienwohnung) or small b&b's or farm stays (bauernhof). Check out some of the trip reports on Bavaria Ben's website - www.bensbauernhof.com. You also might consider using the train instead of using a car. The Bayern ticket would be an inexpensive option for travel since you seem to be staying mainly in Bavaria. There are several posts on this and other sites that discuss its use.

Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch is for military families. They have cabins and even campground sites, as well as regular rooms. Lots of things to do in Garmisch and it is a good base for visiting castles in Bavaria. Make sure you get Edelweiss Lodge and Resort when you Google, there is also an Edelweiss Hotel in Garmisch but that is not the place I am talking Bout.

The Edelweiss suggestion is excellent. This is indeed a good budget option open only to military families, and since it is in Garmisch-Partenkirchen you are right in the heart of the Bavarian Alps, with great hiking and other activities. http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/highlights.html A rustic cabin is $455 per week (you must book the whole week, apparently) and sleeps up to 6, so should be very comfortable for a family of four. From a base here you can easily visit Munich, the castles, etc. by car (although for Munich you might do better to just take the train). We love the hiking around Garmisch-Partenkirchen, especially the Klamms (gorges) and also the cabled path across the face of the Alpspitze. You can also hike or ride a lift up Wank to watch the paragliders take off. Plus it is a nice little town to explore, and the dolomiti Eiscafe, if it is still open, serves my favorite ice cream dish, Spaghetti Eis, made with fresh strawberries. Their Pizza Eis (with a hazelnut ice cream "crust") got rave reviews from my family too.

Berlin isn't necessarily out of the way, and offers a lot of good value. Check the prices flying into Berlin and out of Munich (or somewhere else since you are going to Albania). You could spend 2-3 nights in Berlin, and then take the train directly to Nuremburg (a 4.75 hour trip). If you buy well in advance, you can get a great price for a family ticket. Just now I saw a Sparpreis of 59,00 euro for all 4 of you, traveling on Jan. 31. that is much cheaper than a rental car + gas. Spend a night in Nuremburg and then take the train on to Munich, and spend 2-3 nights. Pick up the car when you are ready to leave Munich. I would skip the multiple days in Rothenburg and spend maybe 2 days driving the Romantic Road before heading to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. You could also save a lot by taking a cabin at Edelweiss for a full week, as I suggested above, and using that as a base to visit Munich as well as the castles. Then you would spend Week One in Berlin, Nuremburg and driving the Romantic Road, then Week Two in Ga-Pa, visiting Munich on a daytrip from there. You might check hotel prices in Munich for family accommodations to help you decide which option makes more sense, cost-wise. It will be pretty hard to beat that 65 euro a night for Edelweiss.

3 nights in Rothenburg is way too much. You can do it in 1 day or one overnight at the most. When staying in Garmisch, Innsbruck makes a nice day trip. I would also recommend a day in Wurzburg if you can fit it in. It's a straight shot north of Rothenburg on the A7.