Danielle811

After a fair number of travel hiccups, we are looking at booking a last minute trip (relatively) to Germany for Thanksgiving, We would have 8-9 days on the ground, not including arrival and departure days, and it would be myself and DH, as well as our 3 children who range in age from 5-12. This has come about just in the past 24 hours or so, and I am just starting to get a feel for what we would want to do and see.

Many of the Christmas Markets start during the week we would be there, and we would like to factor those into our plans. Keeping in mind that this is a first glance itinerary, at this point, we would likely want to go to Fussen (and Neuschwanstein), Munich, Rothenburg and Salzburg. With this particular list, it seems it would make the most sense to fly round-trip in and out of Munich; however, should we consider flying into Frankfurt, visit Baden-Baden on our way south, and then move to Munich? I know that our time is limited, and we would plan to travel by train/bus rather than renting a car.

Would it make sense to base ourselves in Munich and just take day trips to Fussen and Rothenburg? I do think it would be nice to spend a night or two in Salzburg (I was there many years ago, but it is completely new to everyone else). Dachau is on my radar as well, though I'm not sure how it would go with my 5 year old in particular. What glaringly obvious thing am I missing as I start to piece this together?

Thank you for your feedback. It is always appreciated!

bilboburgler

with such a tiny holiday I'd not travel from one side of Germany to another just to pick off Baden.

what I would consider is you are in Europe not just Germany. So Austria, Switzerland are also within easy train trip or even lovely places like Ulm. I'd hunker down and tour locally

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swandav2000

Hi Danielle811,

Just a quick note -- Dachau recommends that children be over 13 years old to visit the camp, so it's likely not suitable for all of your children, not just the youngest.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is too far really for a day-trip from Munich, but Füssen is entirely do-able. Please note that reservations for the tour sell out weeks in advance, so you may want to get your reservations as soon as your itinerary is set.

Salzburg is great for a few overnights. My nephew and his partner visited me recently, and we spent 2 nights in Salzburg, which I thought was 1 night too short to really relax and take in the city.

Baden-Baden is a lovely 19th Century resort town, but the town itself is far from the train station, so you'll follow all the other passengers onto a bus to take you into town. That may be uncomfortable to deal with on a quick trip with many stops.... maybe save that and Rothenburg for another trip.

Have fun as you plan!

s

swandav2000

Hi again,

Another idea might be to spend a few nights in Nuremberg upon arrival in Munich -- Rothenburg is an easy train ride from there, and their Christmas market is huge. Then head to Salzburg for a few nights, and end in Munich with a day-trip to Füssen.

Have fun!

s

Danielle811

Thank you for your insights. I've booked our flights round-trip through Munich, arriving on Sun, 11/19, and returning to the US on Tues, 11/28, with the knowledge that there are a fair number of places that are going to go on our "next time" list.

In your other post, you mentioned the idea of traveling to Nuremberg upon arrival, and then using that as a base in order to visit Rothenburg, which is very intriguing, and something I'm considering. Many of the Christmas Markets open midweek while we there, and I'm trying to figure out how to fit some of them into our plans. Unfortunately, we will miss the Nuremberg market by just a few days, so that's why I'm considering putting Nuremberg at the start of the trip, versus other destinations. I am also considering Nuremberg as a day trip from Munich, in order to avoid too many moves; although, i think that may be inevitable given my ideas.

How many days should I plan on for touring the city of Munich itself? I feel like that's where I should start with planning, and work my way out from there. I did look at the tickets to Neuschwanstein, and so far things are fairly open for our timeframe, but I appreciate the heads up, and will get those booked ASAP.

Danielle811

Thanks for the feedback. I know it's not a massively long amount of time, but we've got to work within the timeframe we have. I've booked our flights round trip through Munich, and we will have 8 full days on the ground, as well as a jet-lagged arrival day. We get in fairly early, so we'll try to make the most of it.

As you mentioned, basing out of Munich gives us myriad choices, and I've got a lot of planning to do. I do think we'll make Salzburg one of our side trips, if only for a night or two. I hadn't considered Ulm, but will take a look as well.

Danielle811

A quick question for the experts out there. According to the Munich Airport website, there are fairly significant S Bahn construction works happening, and it looks like the service on the S8 line will be significantly reduced on our arrival day. Should we plan on taking the S1 line or the Express Bus into the city? I haven't nailed down lodging yet, so I'm just using the Central Station as my point of reference at the moment.