I like your itinerary but I think I would throw in the scenic route from Salzburg to Fussen. Go to Mittenwald, through Garmish to Ettal Monastary, Schloss Linderhof, Oberammergau, and then the Wiesekirche on the way.

I'm not sure of your hotel budget but I would would opt for staying in the middle of Munich. The Uhland is a good family place and I think they have family rooms. There are a number of hotels in various price ranges near the train station.

I agree with the other posters that have said to wait till you are leaving Munich to pick up the car and get it from a lot away from the airport or train station to save a 19% surtax. Munich has great, easy to understand public transit.

You mentioned the art museum. Munich has three big ones the alte, neues and moderne pinakoteks featuring art from different eras or disciplines.

You also might consider the cheesy but fun Bavarian evening (slap dancing) at 7pm on the 3rd floor of the hofbrauhaus. Get your hotel to make reservations since it can fill up with tour bus people.

Where are you staying in Salzburg? We like the Weisses Kreuz for its location in the altstadt. You might plan to either take the Sound of Music tour or just drive youself out into the Salzkammergut. The SOM tour takes you to a luge ride and to Mondsee (wedding chruch scene from the SOM).

In the Fussen area, since you have a car, your kids might enjoy staying at Gutshof von Schluxen in Unter Pinswang, just on the Austrian side of the border, between Fussen and Reutte. It is a working farm, gasthaus with pet deer, rabbits, etc.

On the way from Fussen to the Berner Oberland if you go through Lucern the cable car up Mt Pilatus is a very nice experience and there is a very long luge ride at the half-way point up the mountain.

Have a great trip.

We made reservations for N and H castles ahead of time and were glad that we did. We didn't have to wait in any line at all, just went to the Will Call window and picked them up. It was nice because even at 9:30 am, the lines were pretty long. And then, the tickets you get are timed, so there may be a long wait until the timed tour. By reserving the tickets ahead of time, you already know what time your tour is, so you just show up at the right time.

Thanks for the castle res site - I will definitely do that.

Wies church is on my itinerary - I love the Baroque and Rococo.

The art museum I want to see in Munich is Alte. And I will look further into the car rental thing. It's expensive to rent one way from Munich to Zurich.

In Salzburg we're staying at the Sheraton with using points. They have nice deals - if you don't have enough points you can pay a small fee and use fewer points. With the exchange rate being what it is, I was trying to save on a hotel or two.

And my younger son loves alpine slides, so we are planning on doing several of these to keep him happy. He's not too thrilled about touring castles and churches, so we're trying to keep those to a few of our "must sees".

I'm not so thrilled with touring churches either, but I survived ;) It doesn't take that long to see the insides and several of the churches we went to had towers to climb, so that made it fun.

In Munich, the Frauenkirche has an elevator to the top of one of the towers. And the Alte St. Peter tower has something like 300+ steps and a terrific view. Just outside the Weiskirche, there are some goats - I looked inside the church, said "Yep, that's a church, I'll be outside talking to the goats." :)

If your son likes to read (books, comic books, whatever) or has a little gaming device have him bring something along. I spent some time sitting on benches outside churches reading - it was nicer than just waiting for everyone else to be done.

The tour of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles requires either a hike up a couple hills or a ride in a horse-drawn cart. That might add to the interest for your son. Also, if you keep going up the hill past N, you get to Mary's Bridge which goes over a small gorge and has great views. Then I think it is the Alpensee (Alpen Lake) that is also behing the castles - very pretty lake.

Just to mention, you can also reach Neuschwanstein by their bus (van) which actually drops you off above Neuschwanstein by Mary's bridge. Views of the castle here are outstanding. You then walk down about 5 or 10 minutes to Neuschwanstein. After touring Neuschwanstein you can either walk back up to Mary's bridge to take the bus down again (not recommended by me), walk back down, or take the horse and carriage back.
Hohenschwangau is not nearly as steep as Neuschwanstein though they have horse and carriages as an alternate to walking.
I think I've now spelled Neuschwanstein enough for one day.

Paul

Suggestion for Salzburg-We have stayed at the Blobergerhof. It is a wonderful place with delightful owners. Great location-outside of city center, but right across the street from the bus for a very short ride into the heart of Salzburg. Check out their website- I would stay there again without one minute's hesitation. Perhaps you can take a short side trip to Hitler's Eagle Nest...pretty interesting stuff if you are interested in WW2 history. Local Sound of Music tour sounds really touristy, but very enjoyable. Have a great trip