We are flying into Munich in late May with family of 4 (2 teens). This is our first trip to Europe. Would appreciate help with itinerary and hotels in Munich/Salzberg/ and possibly Italy?
We only have 8 days so are open for suggestions.
Also good sites for train info.
Thanks!

The courtyard in Munich is a great hotel close to the train.

The both best westerns are good in Salzburg.

The dbahn site is the only site one should ever use for trains.

A Fodors favorite in Munich is the Hotel Uhland. Nice, large rooms, great breakfast buffet, less than two blocks from the u-bahn station and wonderful staff.

I Salzburg we like the Hotel Via Roma. Have stayed there two times and both have been superb. Again, nice large rooms and a great breakfast buffet. About a ten minute bus ride into old town Salzburg but the bus stop is just 1/2 block from the hotel.

Both of these hotels are a great value for the money. Enjoy your trip. J

Are you interested in using the two places as bases and doing day trips? Areas of interest? Scenery, food, museums, ice caves, lakes, castles, SOM tour, beer? And traveling by car or train or both?

the dbahn site is:
http://www.bahn.de/international/view/en/index.shtml

Thanks for the help.
We are thinking day trips around Munich and or Saltberg, and maybe a trip into Italy for a day or two. We are very limited on time, as we only have 8 days. I want to see a lot, but not get overwhelmed in travel time.
We will not have a car, so all travel is by train.
I'm not sure my 13 y/o son will like the SOM tours, but my daughter will be disappointed if we skip it. Any thoughts?

You probably wouldn't want to spend a "day or two" in Italy if you've only got eight days.

There's a lot to see in Munich and <i>Salzburg</i> alone.

You guys should consider doing some day trips while in Munich. I can think of Neuschwanstein (also known as the &quot;Cinderella Castle&quot and Hohenschwangau just outside of Fussen (two hourish out of Munich), Dachau Concentration Camp(though I'm not sure if it'll be appropriate for your 13 year old son), and Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

I agree that with 8 days there's a ton to do in Bavaria already without crossing the Alps.

Trains will get you most places pretty easily. A Bayern ticket for 29 Euros for the whole family provides a day's travel:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/internatio..._tickets.shtml

I'd spend several days in Munich with outings to Dachau and Andechs Monastery (to the south, train to Herrsching); 2 nights in Garmisch or Mittenwald area; and 2 in Salzburg, perhaps with a side trip to Berchtesgaden. You may also wish to see Herrenchiemsee Palace near Prien, betweeen Munich and Salzburg.

For accommodations, apartments are generally best for families if you can get them for a couple of days. See Ben's non-commercial website on options:

www.bensbauernhof.com

Not to hijack family's thread but...Russ, what is at Andechs besides big food and big beer? Are the food and beer the same as Andechs am Dom by the Frauenkirche?

Family, when are you going. Check out biddingfortravel.com We got the Marriott Courtyard (a very american style hotel in a good location) for $65 a night. Also consider the Uhland Hotel.

We were in the area last summer with our 13-year old son and 11-year old daughter - both great travelers. We spent 5 days in Germany after 10 days in Hungary.

Munich - a very big city with big city feel. Budget travelers - we stayed at the affordable A &amp; O City Hotel. It had a double bed and 2 twins in a bunk bed. Think hostel but with your own room. It was not fancy, was 10-minute walk from the main train station, and was 15-minutes from the Marienplatz area.
Our most enjoyable time in Munich was by far, sitting under the trees in the Marienplatz area relaxing/eating a delicious meal of German sausage, sauerkraut and German beer (Orange sodas for the kids). We did not spend a lot of time in Munich as my spouse is not a big city guy. We have friends that love the museums in Munich.

We spent 2 days in Rothenburg ob de Tauber &amp; it was delightful. Your son would love the Medieval Crime &amp; Punishment Museum. We stayed at the Golden Rose - although lovely and wonderful staff, it was an extremely noisy location with horrible street noise!!

We also visited both castles in the Fussen area as previously mentioned. Although the kids loved the castles, after these 2, they wanted to visit no more. They wanted to hike in the Alps, walk in the wildflowers, jump on the trampoline at the farm where we stayed, eat some spatzle, and ride the luge tracks some more.

Also, I would caution that less is more. It will take a few days for them to adjust to the time change so plan lightly those first few days &amp; keep them up outside in the sunshine when you arrive to help with the adjustment. EVERYONE will be grumpy from the travel so don't plan too much. Even though ours was an 'overnight flight' our kids did not sleep an hour on the trans-Atlantic flight due to the excitement, noise, in-flight movies, &amp; food. This made for a difficult first day touring Budapest, but we slogged through it and adjusted quickly by the 2nd day.

Also, be sure to allow time just to explore some quiet places and to soak in the culture of a different country. We encouraged our kids to learn basic German phrases for 'please', 'thank you', 'you are welcome' and to use them often. Also, we shopped at local markets for breakfast snacks and fruit to curb some of our costs.

We spent our last 2 days at a quiet place in Pinswang, Austria that was heaven on earth... the kids loved the rabbits, horses, wide-open fields, and walks with their parents. They sat for hours reading their books in the large playground area while Dad and I drank some Austrian beer watching the sun set... it was wonderful!

We rented a car at the Munich airport and found it rather easy to get around the countryside. We did not have the car in the city - we dropped it at Garmisch and took a regional (unairconditioned in HOT July) train back into Munich.

Friends have visited the Salt Caves outside of Salzburg and said they were magnificent - just be sure to take gloves as it was cold in there.

use www.bahn.de for trains - it is a great site as is this feed...

Take time to enjoy what you are visiting and try not to over plan... Europe isn't going anywhere - you can always return.

I just remembered something else... When you arrive at the airport, purchase that &quot;Family Ticket&quot; train pass for the 29 Euros as previously posted by someone. You can use it on the subway to get from the Munich Airport to the main Munich train station - much cheaper than using a cab... and you can continue to use it throughout that same day...

Also, pack light in bags with wheels or backpacks! You don't want to be lugging luggage all over Germany.

Aisle Seat asks,
&quot;Russ, what is at Andechs besides big food and big beer? Are the food and beer the same as Andechs am Dom by the Frauenkirche?&quot;

Can't say on your last question. Andechs isn't necessarily a must-do place but makes for a very nice outing/escape if you've been in Munich for a few days. Besides the traditional food and brew, I enjoyed the forest walk up from Herrsching with views of the Ammersee, the chapel tour, the history of the place, the informal patio dining with a view of the Alps (it was a particularly clear day) and the sternwheeler cruise across the Ammersee to Diessen.

Thanks so much for all teh feedback. You all have been a tremendous help!
Several asked for our &quot;must-sees&quot; and the family has listed the Fussen castles and Dachau near Munich. My daughter wants to do a SOM tour in Saltzberg.
We are pretty much up for ideas at this point. At the top of my list is a gentle walk in the mountains or countryside. I want to see the sights but also the beauty of the area.
Any suggestions?

If you're going to visit Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles in Hohenschwangau, there's a lot of nice hiking possibilities in that area.

I have never done the trail but there is a great hotel/gasthaus just on the Austrian side of the border from Fussen called Gutshof von Schluxen. Supposedly (I have never done it) there is a 1 hour hike from there to Neuschwanstein.

We are planning a trip to Munich, Salzburg (and Prague) for June. A friend recommended Fraulein Maria's Bike Tour that does a SOM tour by bike. (http://www.mariasbicycletours.com/welcome.htm)

We are planning on doing this. I suspect your son would enjoy this more than doing one by bus.

Thanks for all the help.
I now have the trip narrowed down to staying a few days each in Nurnberg, Munich and Saltzberg.
Any suggestions for daytrips or &quot;must sees&quot; in or around these 3 cities?
We are traveling with 2 teens, age 16 and 13.

If you are just going from the Munich airport into downtown and maybe some travel that day within Munich itself, the ticket to get is the MVV Partner Gesamtnetz Tageskarte for &euro;18. It is valid all day for up to 5 people for the entire Munich metro transit area, S&amp;U-Bahn network shown at http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/web4archi...nnetz_2008.pdf.

For travel outside the Munich metro area, throughout Bavaria (also to Salzburg), then use the Bayern-Ticket for &euro;27 from an automat, &euro;29 from a ticket counter. The Bayern-Ticket is valid for up to 5 people traveling together, all day weekends (after 9 AM weekdays), for all regional trains (RE &amp; RB) within Bavaria and for all modes of transport S&amp;U-Bahns, streetcars, and buses) within the Munich metro area.

We just came back from a trip to Germany with our kids - our daughter, 21, lives outside of Nurnberg and we took our 2 sons, 17 and 10. Our older kids mostly enjoyed hanging out and just checking out everything - they loved Munich. We would do some required family stuff for the first part of the day and then let them go on their own until dinner. We stayed at the Hotel Uhland in Munich and it worked out great - not to expensive and only a few mintutes by subway to the Marienplatz area. We stayed at Blobergher Hof in Salzburg, about 15-20 minute busride from the Aldstadt, great place to stay and reasonably priced - www.blobergerhof.at. We visited the Residenz which is beautiful inside but didn't see the whole thing because it was a little much for the kids. They were impressed by it, just didn't need to see it all. We went to Dachau and it was interesting for everyone although we did not take our youngest to the film. We had been &quot;prepping&quot; for Dachau to make sure it was not too much for our 10 year old - watched videos, read books, talked a lot and he is a mature 10 so it was fine. We had 11 days and were also considering Italy but decided to cut it out as there is nice to spend more time just walking around and absorbing everything, we didn't want to lose another day to travel. All of our kids loved Rothenberg do Ober Tauber, that might be fun but it is about 3-4 hours by car from Munich. One night is enough. We had fun at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich - lively atmosphere and great for people watching. The drinking age is 16 so if your kids are that old, decide how you want to handle it before you go! Viktulien Market in Munich is a fun place to wander around and eat lunch.

Thanks for all the feedback. I am now ready to book hotels in Munich.
Any suggestions for family style rooms at an affordable price near train transportation?