southern germany itinerary : car vs train

Training is possible. If you go that route, my personal preference is to use regional trains and take advantage of the discounted passes for five (Laender or Schoenes Wochende) a very good deal in my opinion. The trains aren't particularly fast because they stop at every town but they're punctual and reliable, plus they are the only trains that stop in the small towns on your itinerary. Stops are brief, so be ready to hop off before the train stops at the station or you'll miss it. Don't load yourself down with luggage - one carry-on each is plenty and you'll be glad you kept it light and easy. You will lose time to connections. It's best to plan your next train options before you leave the station (we can catch our next train at 2:15/14:15, 3:15/15:15 or 4:15/16:15, remember it's on the 24 hour clock). If you plan ahead you can use spare time to see a site, relax in a park, and/or get a bite to eat rather than waiting in the station.

That's a bit too much to take on in a week no matter how you travel, even for 2 people. Are you including a visit to Munich proper? That and Füssen on a daytrip from Munich would require 3-4 days. Assuming that's the case, I would drop Gengenbach and Trier. 3-4 nights in Munich and Füssen, one in Rothenburg, 2-3 nights in Bacharach. The train: if kids are under 15, you'll pay 29 Euros for Munich-Rothenburg total for the family with a Sparpreis discount ticket at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. Buy it 92 days in advance - as early as possible. The R-burg-Bacharach stretch will cost 49 Euros, same Sparpreis deal. For your outing to Füssen and back, your family can travel on a 29-Euro Bayern ticket; try to schedule on Sat or Sun so you can leave early (weekday travel on this daypass is only aftedr 9 am.) I figure 107 Euros total for the family if you snag these deals.

Thank you both on the information on the discounted tickets. I will definitely look into that.
Regarding Munich, we have decided that we can't do it justice in the time we have and will have to leave it for a future trip without the kids !

Southern Germany is one of the areas of Europe that you can do a lot more things if you have a car. Since your listed interests don't include large cities, like Munich, it would be quite time consuming trying to get to the more remote areas by train. With 5 people, rent a van. Break down the places you want to see into separate areas & then decide how many nights to spend in each. From Munich, start with the Alps (Garmisch, Füssen), then it's a nice drive to head to the Black Forest (Triburg) by way of Lake Constance. From there head to the northern part of the Romantik Road (Rothenburg), and finally to the Rhine Gorge area (Bacharach) before ending at Frankfurt. You have a lot more flexibility on a driving trip, and lodging in the smaller towns is usually much cheaper than the cities.

There are two kinds of transportation "deals" in Germany. There are the Länder-Tickets, which are unlimited ride passes for regional trains inside an individual German state, all day on weekends and from 9 AM on workdays. These Länder-Tickets range in cost around €29 depending on the state and are valid for up to 5 people of any age and relationship. Along with the Schönes-Wochenende and Quer-durchs-Land-Tickets for travel over multiple states, they comprise the best deals for regional train travel. Then there are the Sparpreis tickets, which are advance purchase (3-92 days), date and train specific tickets with limited refundability. They start at €29 and go up as lower tiers are sold (so buy early). Sparpreis tickets can be from any where in Germany to anywhere, but must have at least one leg on trains of the Bahn (ICE/IC/EC). These tickets are only available online from the Bahn website. Children under 15 are free with a Sparpreis ticket when traveling with their parent. For two adults and their children under 15, Rothenburg to Munich would be €49 with a Sparpreis Ticket. You would have to go from Munich to Nürnberg by ICE to get the price. You'd probably save an hour. You'd have to buy the tickets in advance and take the trains you specified on your tickets. OTOH, using a Bayern-(Länder)Ticket, five people would cost €29. You could take any trains that day. It would take a little longer via Truechtlingen.

Lee: Munich to Rothenburg with 2 adults and 3 kids comes up 29 Euros for some departures. Try May 2 and 3. Special deal? Glitsch?

i just wanted to say thanks for posting this, as i have the exact same question (minus the kids!) my husband is in the living room studying the map, and i'm in the office deciding between a rail pass or a rental car (as of right now, we are still quite undecided). i will be following this post along with my own research. thanks!!!!

Russ, I think you will find that those are €29 Bayern-Tickets.

You don't say how old your children are, but my inclination in Southern Germany is to rent a car and wander about. From Munich, you are close to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where you can take a cable car up the Zugspitz. Then there is Salzburg and the Salt Mines in Berchtesgaden (always a favorite with children and adults). King Ludwig of Bavaria built many castles, but my all-time favorite is Neuschwanstein, near Fussen. And there is the wood-carving town of Oberammergau. We used to stay in Garmisch, because it was central and had many attractions, and we could take easy day trips about the region. If your family is older, and wants to split up some, Garmisch will allow that.
After 3-4 days in the mountains, and then you could turn in the car and take the train, slowly, up to Frankfurt.

Wieskirche is worth a stop. It is a nicer feel than I expected. A while ago the Romantic Road bus went from Fussen North with a half hour or so stop at Wieskirche. If I was drving between Munich and Fussen i would stop for as long as it takes (probably not more than an hour) or even go a little bit out of my way- but not take a trip specifically to see the church. We have seen it a few times (years apart) noticing an incresae in "tourist attractions" in that time. used to be a wonderful peaceful little church in a meadow in the middle of nowhere

For just "wandering about" the regional trains and buses work great. You can get a Länder-Ticket for all regional trains and most buses in one state for all day, on/off travel for the five of you (regardless of the age of the children) for €29. You'll spend most of that just for fuel for a car, not to mention daily rental. A nice thing about using public transportation is being able to look at scenery whenever you want to instead of having to watch the road. I see you have Triberg and Gengenbach on the list. Those two towns are linked by the Schwarzwaldbahn, a very scenic railroad the goes up the Gutach river valley on a series of switchbacks. We did that trip by train a few years ago. I was sure glad I was able to look at the scenery instead of the road. Last year I took the bus from Bad Tölz to Mittenwald via Kochelsee and Walchensee, another scenic trip where you are better off riding than driving.

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions. So far, it looks like we may stay in Fuessen for 2 nights, 1 night in Triberg, 1 night in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and then 2 nights in Bacharach. The trains out of Fuessen seem very long towards the Triberg area (and a lot of transfers) so not sure if a rental for that stretch makes sense - the idea of a scenic drive along Lake Constance is appealing. Trains look like a good plan between Munich and Fuessen, Gengenbach area and then from Rothenburg to Bacharach, etc. I read about Wieskirche - is it worth a stop ? It seems like the only way to reach it is by car or the romantic road bus.

I went to Wieskirche by regularly scheduled bus (RVO) in 2007. I had an hour between buses, but only spent about 5 min in the church (I don't like overly gaudy churches), then retired to the restaurant next door for an early lunch. The trip can be done by regularly scheduled bus, but it does take some planning. It's on the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern line 9606 that runs between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Füssen, but there are only 4 buses/day to Wieskirche and 4/day back to Füssen and they just stop long enough to let off passenger. You'll usually wait several hours for a return bus. I think I would start in Füssen, go to Rothenburg, then go to Triberg by way of Ulm and Sigmaringen (following the Danube to it's headwaters at Donaueschingen), and from there down the Gutach from Triberg to Gengenbach.