bofatooma

Ok, i tried to read as many threads before posting my questions, but I¡¦m still confused!
We are a family of 5, husband+wife+8years boy+6years girl+4year boy.
We need a good itinerary for 2 weeks in one or more of the following countries Austria, S. Germany, Switzerland in July/August 2007.
We need playgrounds in every location we go to (doesn¡¦t matter how big they are). We are going to rent a car.
We also need to keep our budget (low if possible).
We prefer quite towns to use as a base (with a reasonable distance) to zoos, theme parks, etc¡K
We are not much into museums (because of the kid¡¦s age, of courseƒº)¡K.. Please help.

lawchick

http://tinyurl.com/28smyb

Austria is good value.

Here is a list of ideas for kids.

bofatooma

thank you lawchick, this is a great site
More detailed help would be appreciated..

lawchick

http://www.salzburgerland.com/eng/so/ab/index.html

Zorbing?

Also you might want to look at

http://www.familyaustria.at/

or

http://www.kinderhotels.co.uk/

TuckH

>We also need to keep our budget (low if possible).<

For this I suggest that you find two places to stay (one for each week) and use as a base to tour that area. They should be apartments (ferienwohnungs), not hotels or B&B's.

Russ

Completely agree with TuckH.

Here's a site for apartments - search in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg for southern Germany:

www.accommodation.de

Check also www.bensbauernhof.com . Farm stays ("Urlaub auf dem Bauernhof" is the search term in German and will turn up lots!) are very popular among German families and give kids a unique European experience. Then you can travel into the larger towns and cities from your base, if it's well-located.

Hostels are excellent places for families too; often playgrounds on site, ping-pong tables, grassy areas, etc. The German hostel association - www.djh.de - has some English pages with descriptions of each hostel. Bavarian hostels let parents stay at the children's price when accompanied by their kids.

bofatooma

Than you lawchick, TuckH and Russ for your help and iam doing my research on your suggestions.