family trip to Germany and more
 

My family, husband, 13 year old and 15 year old boys will be flying to Germany this summer to visit my brother in law in Landstuhl Germany for 2 weeks. We went to explore as much as possible but also enjoy the time there. Any recommendation on what we need to see and how far we can explore without doing too much. We’d like to get to Auschwitz, any ideas are greatly appreciated to enjoy as much as we can. Thanks

Wizzair has cheap flights (fares start at 46 EUR OW without checked in luggage) from Hahn airport to Katowice airport.
Hahn is 50 miles from Landstuhl. Katowice airport is 30 miles from Oswiecim/Auschwitz.
The highway distance between Landstuhl and Auschwitz is about 700 miles. Along this itinerary you could visit gems like Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Krakow, Wroclaw and Dresden, but of course not all of them, as there wouldn't be enough time in only 2 weeks (and nothing of Germany for sure).

You are only about two hours from Paris for a day trip. Is he in the military by any chance? MWR has some great day trips and overnighters.
Train travel is excellent and you could visit Heidelberg, Trier, Speyer, Worms and so many other places close by.

Auschwitz? A long journey. Why not visit the Osthofen concentration camp memorial site? Unlike Auschwitz, this camp isn't a household word around the world, seldom mentioned in text books - so it's a place where you would all actually learn something new about the holocaust period.

It's near Worms, only an hour from Landstuhl.

http://www.ns-dokuzentrum-rlp.de/fil...Osthofen_e.pdf

Then there are some fun and interesting places nearby too.

Check out the Technik-Museum in Speyer: https://speyer.technik-museum.de/en/

Speyer is nice:
http://www.en.romantic-cities.com/cities/speyer/

This excellent open-air museum is in Bad Sobernheim:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...neland_Pa.html

Three excellent castles:
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-rea...neland-castles

The Loreley-Bob summer bobsled run is near Rheinfels Castle (see previous link.)
http://www.loreleybob.de/

Take a Rhine River cruise from Bingen to St. Goar to see more castles:
https://www.k-d.com/en/

Visit Heidelberg and the Neckar River; the old-world town of Bad Wimpfen is further upstream:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lauer_turm.jpg

Because you are on the Western side of Germany traveling to Poland to see Auschwitz will burn several days of your trip.

Munich would be much closer than Auschwitz. Dachau is a suburb of Munich and is the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. It was used as the model for the later camps. It housed political prisoners. Take ICE train to Munich in the morning tour Dachau in the afternoon. Spend a day or two touring Munich.

I would focus on the Southwest region of Germany. The Black Forest region is beautiful to see.

What modes of transportation are you going to use? Trains, cars, buses and planes are all good choices but each has its own limits.

I like trains between cities and in urban areas. Buses can be used in most urban areas and some rural areas. I prefer cars in rural areas that may not be covered by other modes or may not have regular service. Planes can be used as well.

Is your brother in law going to be your tour guide?

The OP never came back since Dec 11th

For lots on German trains check www.bahn.de/en; www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

Dachau is not much like Auschwitz but still you get the same eerie feeling - if going to Berlin, my favorite city in Germany, check outy Sachenhausen Memorial/CCamp - see gas chambers remains and the horrors they represent. But Auschwitz is very very far away in Poland - scratch that one.