I have tentatively scheduled the following 11 day itinerary for Germany. We are a family of 5 (kids are 14, 13, 11). Fly to FRA and spend 4 nights in Beilstein. From there visit Trier, Burg Eltz, Rheinfels, Marksburg, Bacharach, and Cochem. Next 4 nights are in Rothenburg. From there we will visit Wurzburg, Nurnberg, Bamberg, and maybe Dinklesbuhl. Last 3 nights are in Munich for the city and Dachau.

Please let me know if you think this sounds appropriate for this age group. We will go in June. Also, can 5 people share the rail pass in both Bavaria and the Mosel area? Perhaps a car is better on this trip (dropping it somewhere before Munich). Flying home from MUC.

Thanks very much.

4 night in Rothenburg is way too long. I would use a larger city as a base, perhaps Wurzburg.

Thanks for your thought Michael. I was told that night time in Rothenburg is the only real time to enjoy it. Do you think that just visiting by day would be enough? We planned to leave early in the AM to visit a town, and return for dinner.

You can use a daypass (Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, 23 Euros, I think) to travel from place to place in the Mosel region on the regional trains.

From FRA, get a group point-to-point ticket from the RMV machine to Mainz (cheap) and in Mainz get a R-P ticket. You can use the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket from Mainz to the Mosel using the regional (RE, RB, S, SE) trains.

Good choice of sights on the Mosel. However, Beilstein is inconvenient for rail travel. Cochem makes the best base for moving about by rail, is more central to your intended sights, and is a better place with a group - many more diversions, places to eat, shops. Kids will enjoy the Moselbad water park. Beilstein has just a handful of buildings - best suited for honeymooners who want it really quiet.

You can pick up a boat from Cochem to Beilstein - nice tour that takes an hour each way.

Rothenburg is okay as a base if making trips to other towns with a car, but it's on an offshoot rail line that requires a change of train anytime you go somewhere. You might try Nuremberg instead, which has great rail connections.

I agree that 4 days in Rothenburg is too long. One day is long enough to see everything, but the tour at night is quite popular and you may want to stay overnight for that reason. Nurnberg is a good base. We lived there and made day trips (by car) to Rothenburg, Wurzburg, Bamburg and Dinklesbuhl. The train connection to Munich on the ICE is very easy and quick.

I am fine w/the 4 days in Rothenburg but not as a base. We spent 5 days there earlier this year & visited only Wurzburg. It is at the end of a line, so you'll get no place quick. I would think you could also find a better base than Beilstein but am not as familiar w/that part of Germany. In Rothenburg try the gasthof-greifen.rothenburg.de. It is very family oriented w/a great breakfast and also a restaurant & small bier garten. I would also suggest eliminating some our the places you plan to visit. To get to all these places & back & see anything that some day (every day) will make the trip nothing but a blur. Maybe Wurzburg & Nurnberg & a side visit to Salzburg from Munich ? A car on the Mosel is a must.

Thanks for the ideas. It sounds like having a car would ease the in/out time from home bases. I'll look into staying in Nurnberg, but I don't know how we would ever take the night watchmen tour then. I chose Beilstein because of all the rave reviews regarding Haus Lipmann. I can rethink that too, but maybe a car there would make it feasible. Please keep ideas and suggestions for places/sights coming. Thanks.

With a car, Beilstein is a good fit.

Rothenburg, in my opinion is better as a base than Neurnberg (it would be at the outer fringes of the places you want to visit, and Nuernberg is not the easiest city to get in and out of.)

I think your list of places to see from Beilstein and Rothenburg is fine, although you may wish to skip one each and just rest!

On your way from Beilstein to Rothenburg, drive south along the Rhein from Koblenz. Then get on the Autobahn A-3 past Frankfurt, get off at the Stockstadt interchange (Exit 57) and follow the Main river to Miltenberg (a very nice old town worth a stop) and Wertheim, the beginning of the Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road ) to Rothenburg.

This is a very nice route.I have dsriven it many times.It will avoid the poitential heavy traffic on the A-3 over the Spessart Mountains.

As for getting on the A-3 after driving along the Rhein, there are several highspeed routes, depending of where you get off the Rhein route. Just get your self a good map and pick any one of them

Just want to second several recommendations you have received. If you have a car - Rothenburg o.d.T. would be a good choice as a 4 day base (considering the places you wish to visit during the day). And the Gasthof zum Goldener Greifen in Rothenburg would probably be a good fit for your family. I've stayed there several times in the past. Considering your family I also agree that Cochem would be a better base on the Mosel than Beilstein (with or without a car). Plenty there to keep you kids occupied. The Haus Lipmann in Beilstein is certainly nice but your kids would probably not appreciate it as much as you (considering the lack of anything for them to do there). Drive or take a train to Trier - take the car or boat to Beilstein - drive to Burg Eltz or if you are into hiking take the train to Moselkern and hike up. With a car and an early start from Cochem you can do everything you want to do on the Rhine in one day. You might also want to consider visiting Würzburg on the way to Rothenburg and if you don't want to make separate day trips from Rothenburg to Bamberg and then to Nürnberg another day - you could do them both in one day (with a car) - then a daytrip south to Dinkelsbühl (and possibly Nördlingen). Another possible half day trip from Rothenburg which your youngsters might enjoy would be to the outdoor museum in Bad Windsheim. My daughter and I certainly enjoyed it. I think you have the makings of a wonderful vacation and your plan to homebase for several days at a time is very smart. If you are traveling on a tight budget you might think about using apartments instead of two rooms and reserving ahead of time. If you need assistance with finding accommodations just drop me an email - [email protected].

I also recommend a car. Driving isn't at all difficult in Germany--outside of the big cities, that is.

TT for pablopaul

Hi!
I don't know anything about Germany (I clicked because we travel with our tween and teen) so I can't be of help in that arena.

However, we are big soccer fans.....I don't know your timing in June, but if you are not already aware, a huge world sporting event will be in Germany in June 2006. It will be packed with people from all over the world. In many areas, hotels are already completely sold out.

Not saying not to go and you may already be aware of it, but just thought you should understand that World Cup will most likely be going on.

Have a great family trip!!

Fun4all4 - I have become aware of the World Cup. We are actually more interested in avoiding crowds than in being part of them. We may decide to spend the entire vacation in small towns and skip the big cities. Still working on it. But, if you go have fun.

Not us! We will be in Switzerland and Italy in June. We are looking forward to watching some of the matches with other fans, but are not planning to be in Germany at all.

Good luck with your planning and have a great trip!! Our kids are 11 and 14 so very similar ages that we travel with. Have fun.

ttt for future reference, thank you

As much as we love Beilstein and Hotel Haus Lipmann, if your children would want to roam around at night after your day of sightseeing, Cochem would likely have more to see and do--though I don't know how late things stay open in Cochem.

For two adults, Beilstein was heaven--of course we usually got back from sightseeing so late anyway that we weren't up for carousing around. The local wine cellar and Haus Lipmann's terrace overlooking the river were sufficient.

How late are things other than bars and restaurants open in Cochem?

Oh, I meant to add: the kids should like Rothenburg, and it is pretty and worth a stop over, but it is really, really touristy--four nights get a bit treacly.

Don't get suckered in to buying those Rothenburg Schneeball "treats." They were terrible.

If you decide to get a car you will want to drop it as soon as you get to Munich. It is big-city traffic, big-city parking fees and the public transportation is great and simple. You can get a family pass for the U- and S-Bahns If you can shave a day somewere I would at least day-trip out of Munich to go to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein.

If you are doing that by car there are some charming back-road villages between Munich and Fussen. I like the drive by Weis Kirche to Oberammergau and Schloss Linderhoff (another Ludwig show-piece).