First thanks for all of the great insight on this forum.

I am planning a trip this June for our family of four (2 children ages 4 and 7) to France and Germany. It will be short, so we are just going to be seeing some highlights.

We will fly into Paris and spend 3 nights (husband and I have been, want to show kids just a little).

Then we will take the high speed train to either Colmar or Strasbourg. Which one???? We only have 2 nights to stay. Should we stay in one and visit the other? Is that too much- should we just pick one??

Then we are off to explore the Rhine/Mosel area. I think I have booked 2 nights in Castle Hotel Auf Schoenburg (sp?).

We have one, possibly 2 nights left. Then we have to fly back to states. Should we stay in the Rhine area and fly out of Frankfurt- if so, what other town would be a nice place to stay. Or should we go to Munich and fly out of there after 2 nights.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Strasbourg is a more interesting city but in June you might want to be in the country side in which cae Colmar is better. Probably not worth visiting both but why not the alsace wine region, Bescancon et al


Mosel is very pretty they might like hiring bikes and peddling station to station or take the boats

For your kids consider spending a day in Europapark, Europe's largest and best rated theme park. www.europapark.de.

It's just across the border from Strasbourg. Stay over night in Freiburg on the foothills of the Black Forrest. There're shuttle busses between EuropaPark and Freiburg's train station.

With only two nights available for Alsace, I suggest you stay in one place.

EuropaPark is wonderful, but it easily can take two days to see. If you go one day, it will be very tiring. But, I think the children will love it.

Strasbourg or Colmar will easily keep you busy for two days. Both are worth visiting, just depends what you are interested in seeing and doing.

Castle Hotel Auf Schoenburg is on the Rhine, not the Mosel. I suggest you extend your stay to three nights and explore the towns and castles along the Rhine. With two children, the less you have to change hotels, the better.

Spend your final night in Mainz or Weisbaden before flying out of Frankfurt. I do not think you have time to go all the way to Munich.

Have fun.

Just a quick thought which Franfurt are you flying from? One is on-ish the Mosel

As nice as the Auf Schoenburg is, I would advise against it in your case. Not much for kids to do on the grounds, and the grounds are hundreds of yards from anywhere, as the castle perches on a clifftop high above Oberwesel, and if you're going by train, well, you're not mountain goats, so if you plan to explore the region, you'll be needing to taxi to come and go, as there's no (to the best of my knowledge) shuttle. Might be better to stay with "the folks" down in town so you can get around and to go visit a real medieval castle instead - Burg Eltz and Marksburg are great.

Agree with wanderfrau on spending another day and night in the Rhine area if you want to see anything. However, you should try to schedule an afternoon return flight if you can; if you have an early morning flight, you'll want to stay in Mainz or at the airport itself on your final evening.

We stayed at the Auf Schoenburg this summer with our teenage son. It really is a great place and he loved the family room that they put us in - it had 2 twin beds that pulled out of cupboards in the sitting room. We had a separate bedroom so it was really nice to have some space. But as poster above states, the castle is high above the Rhine - great views. We had a car so it was no problem to drive up and down and head to Bacharach or St. Goar, etc. Assuming you did rent a car I think your kids would enjoy staying in a castle, but I'd hate to wait for taxis to go up and and down with little ones.