Early August trip to Germany
 

I will be visiting Germany on 8/3 and landing in Dusseldorf. I will be departing on 8/8 but can further extend it. I will be traveling with my wife and three kids of age 4, 6 and 11.

Would you please suggest an itinerary that will allow me to enjoy a few days without too much struggle. I would love to go see the countryside with the kids and may be stay there a well.

One idea that I have is to go to Cologne and stay there the whole time and take day trips to nearby towns. Any suggestions?

The other option may be buy a 4 to 6 days rail package to travel within Germany but in that case need suggestions on where to go and stay. Each Adult is $351 and older child is $178 and children 4 and 6 are free. I save some money on travel.

Third option is to buy 4 to six days Germany/Benelux rail package. Adults are $326 each and each child are $212 each.

Any help in planning the trip is appreciated.

there are many places to visit..

travel to the munich area and visit saltzburg and weave in and out od austria/germany

visit the rhine/mosel area---i especially like the mosel area..

spend time in the black forest..

rent a car for sure and extend..

I will presume that you also leave from DUS.

Cologne will probably receive 0 votes from responders. It is, simply not that attractive and doesn't form any better of a base to see the area than does Dusseldorf.

My suggestion would be to travel to Wurzburg and stay in the northern Franconia area, visiting places like Nurnberg, Bamberg, Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuehl, etc.. It is within 3:30 hours of Dusseldorf

Once you are in a specific state within Germany, like Bavaria, of which Franconia is part, you can purchase tickets called Lander Karte for unlimited travel on regional trains (after 9:00 a.m. departures) trains within the region for about 22 Euros a day for up to 5 people.

6 days of travel for about $160 in total (after you get to Franconia from Dusseldorf) for your entire family beats the rail passes you listed.

This would be a much cheaper option for you and your family and you could go as far south at the Alps in Bavaria using this ticket option. So, you could stay in Munich the entire time and use this option.

http://tinyurl.com/7cd83rr

For all practical puposes, you have 4 full days for travelling, so Munich, Salzburg etc. are out.

I would not pick Cologne as my center; it is a major city and you will be wasting time every day just to get out of the city.

Considering that you have 3 children, I recommend that you rent a car for the last two days and make Koblenz you "Headquarters" for the whole time. It is a nice, compact city amnd offers all kinds of parks, etc. for the kids. To get there you can take the train on August 3rd, after you land in Dusseldorf. There are all kinds of discounted tickets for families. Go to www.bahn.de and check schedules.There is an English language version of this website; check the appropriate flag at the top of the page. Distances are not so great that you must take an express train (IC, ICE, EC trains). You can take also Regio trains, the ones that offer the discount tickets. Enter Duesseldorf Flughafen and Koblenz Hbf.

Then, on August 4th, take a Regio train along the Rhein upriver to Bachchrach, and take the boat back downriver to Koblenz. That covers the prettiest part of the Rhein; it is about 40km long, so the kids won't get bored. Lots of river traffic and castles to see. If you want to, you can get off the boat in a nice town along the trip and catch a later boat to continue the trip.

On August 5th, pick up the car in Koblenz, and drive to Trier, using the Koblenz - Trier autobahn. . Spend some time visiting this old historic town and then drive the 2-3 hours trip along the Mosel back to Koblenz. On the 7th, drive the short distance up-Mosel to Chochem and visit the town and castle. Drive that day or the next, depending on when your plane departs, back to Duesseldorf.

Check on the Internet details on the various cities/towns/areas I have mentioned - - - Koblenz, Bacharach, Trier, Mosel River, Cochem. Wikipedia has good English language write-ups on each town and region. The KD- Line runs the boats along the Rhein. They also have a website.

This is the first time I have posted a question on any forum. Folks, your sincerely and desire to help is heartwarming for me. I am going to take a look at what has been proposed by rhkkmk, Aramis and treplow. You folks are awesome. Truly appreciate the info. I will try to digest the info tonight and come back with a follow up.

How would it be if I decide to go for Benelux?

Well Treplow has offered you a good idea of visiting the Rhine/Mosel area. Bike hire might make a good day out.

Benelux is also good and has some very good public transport (I mean VERY good) and some dense motorways. You could also hire bikes. But the base is harder to chose, one might be Brugges with day trips out. Visits might include Gent and Antwerp, Middleburg

Luxembourg is a interesting city but compared to the Mosel (just near by) it is a bit of a drag. I could imagine another idea which is base yourself in Trier and visit the Mosel Valley and Luxembourg from there and Metz (in france).

Some people like Brussels (I think it is a harmless city but hardly worth the visit).

If you are thinking further East in Belgium/Holland I'm out of knowledge, (well I've been but on business so little holiday info). But there are Plopsa theme parks http://www.plopsa.be/en

"Plopsa" is says it all

This may be a little far but I will suggest you go to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein and stay at Gutshof Zum Schluxen, a wonderful farm type B&B nearby that has pet deer and other animals your kids will love. From there it is a short drive to Oberammergau, Linderhof, Wiesekirche and the Ettal Monastery. Check Google maps or ViaMichelin.com to check the distances, costs and driving times.

Thanks folks. Appriciate all the help.

Ideas from Aramis look ineresting, but I for now, I am going with the suggestions made by Treplow.

Please let me know if you would like to suggest any variation in the plan.