I am planning a rather adventurous 3 week, June trip with my husband, 2 boys - ages 11 an 16, and my sister. The boys love history and music; and they have a high tolerance for museums, churches and castles. That being said, they also need variety - ie. hikes, bike rides and luge runs! So far our trip looks like this:

Krakow - 3 nights (Auschwitz & Salt Mine)

Budapest - 2 night

Vienna - 2 nights

Prague - 5 nights (Kunta Hora)

(At this point my husband returns home, we continue on.)

Cesky Krumlov - 1 night

Salzburg - 3 night (Hallstatt and/or Berchtesgaden)

Here are were my questions lay for the next 4 days. From Salzburg, should we rent a car and drive out to Neuschwanstein? (We would need to return the car to Salzburg . Factors like needing an automatic, one way drop off fees and crossing into other countries complicated the issue.) Is this a very scenic, "not to be missed", drive? Or is it similar scenery to Hallstatt? ... Or we could take the train from Salzburg to Munich, base ourselves there and do a day trips to Neuschwanstein and either Regensburg or Rothenburg. Or are these towns very similar to Cesky Krumlov? Which town is better? Regensburg is a UNESCO Heritage site, yet Rick Steves, 1,000 Places to See, and Fodor's, all seem to recommend Rothenburg. We will spend one day touring Munich before we fly home.

I suppose the crux of my many questions is, what will give us an interesting, varied travel experience?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!!

I am topping your thread for you pasqualino as it dropped down past the first 25 threads. The weekends are sometimes slower on Fodor's so if you don't get some answers you can top it again on Monday when the Forum will probably be more active. I can't answer you questions but I know there will be Fodorite's that can..your trip sounds wonderful and I always think travelling with children is especially delightful.

Hi Pa,

>From Salzburg, should we rent a car and drive out to Neuschwanstein?
www.viamichelin.com says that it is about 3 hr from Salzburg to Fuessen on the autobahn. The scenic route is 4:18 hr. You will want to stay overnight.

>Or we could take the train from Salzburg to Munich, base ourselves there and do a day trips to Neuschwanstein and either Regensburg or Rothenburg. <

Either visit Salzburg, or visit Bavaria. Your choice.

If you decide to stay in Salzburg (my choice), I can highly recommend
http://www.ammoos.at/main.php?language=en&m=home)

Also, get the Salzburg card.
http://www.salzburg.info/de/sehenswe...card/index.htm

I like both Regensburg and Rothenburg. Both represent the Middle Ages.

Rothenburg was 30-40% destroyed in WWII and rebuilt. Regensburg was largely missed in bombing raids. That does not matter to me but it does to others. Luckily, both have electricity and no longer empty chamber pots out the window. I would not have liked the Middle Ages.

Rothenburg is the most photographic walled city in Germany in my opinion. It is a joy just to walk the city with a camera snapping cobblestone alleyways, numerous city towers, etc. It does have a bit of a theme park atmosphere. It seems more real out in the Burggarten looking over the Tauber River below.

Regensburg is at once more genuinely old and modern. The Altstadt (older core of the town) has a series of squares connected by alleyways, sometimes with cobblestones. I really like Gothic cathedrals and Regensburg's is great. Contrast the cathedral to the nearby Alte Kapelle which has been redone in flamboyant Rococo (wedding cake) style. There are Roman ruins in Regensburg built into other buildings in the Middle Ages but still quite recognizable. It is also possible to visit the Thurn & Taxis Schloss (palace), which is still occupied by one of Germany's richest aristocratic families. Among all these historical wonders is a modern shopping district that meets the everyday needs of thriving community. This is no theme park. All of this lies along the Danube River crossed by a stone bridge built in the 1100's but looking as modern as today.

Near Munich, I would visit Regensburg. Both are great but have different atmosphere's.

Regards, Gary

Salzburg is on the edge of Austria close to the German border. Give the folks at Gemutlichkeit Travel Gemut.com a call about renting your car on the German side of the border to avoid the drop fee in Munich. From Salzurg to Fussen by way of the scenic drive can include Berchtesgaden, Mittenwald (violin maker's village), Garmish, Ettal Monastery, Schloss Linderhof, Oberammergau and the Wiesekirche.

Wow! THANK YOU all for your wonderful advice! And thanks LoveItaly for topping the thread!

This is what I decided to do. After Salzburg, we take the train/bus to Berchtesgadedn - see the documentation center and Eagle's Nest. There we could get a three day, automatic car rental with GPS and with return in Garmish - Partenkirchen (Yeah!) While we have the car, I plan on going to Halstatt, visiting the lake towns of St. Wolfgang and Mondsee along the way. Then backtracking a bit, we continue out to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We take the B305- Alpine Highway- from Berchtesgaden to Reit im Winkl. Next, we head south into Austria on the B172, connect to the B177, pass through Mittenwald and end in Garmish. Based in this area for 2nights/3days we venture out to Ettal, Schloss Linderhof, Oberammergau, Wiesekirche, Neuschwanstein and the luge ride in Feussen. Finally, we take the train into Munich, and definitely visit the Deutsches Museum. We will only have one day in Munich. Although it has much to offer, we will have been to a lot of big cities the two weeks prior and probably will love the small villages in the Alps. I decided to move Rothenburg and Regensburg to the "next time " list. So, how does this plan sound? Also any guest house recommendations for these areas?

(In addition to Fodorites, I must credit "Treplow" from Trip Advisor for his wonderfully, detailed advice. I believe he's also a regular on this forum.)

There are some pretty lakes in Berchtesgaden. You can rent a boat and the boys can row. Also, since they love music and you like castles, go to Herrencheemsie (sorry about spelling if it is incorrect) for a concert. You will love it. You take a boat out to the castle in the evening. It is lighted with candles and there is a concert.

Sassafrass,

Thank you for pointing out the summer concerts at Schloss Herrenchiemsee. I would love to go! However, I can't find out any details: dates, times, tickets.

Anyone? Thanks!

Hi pasquailino
sorry to post here but I am interested in hearing about your China adventures. My husband and I are taking our 2 teenage sons to China mid august. My boys also love music. Do you have any high lights that you can share with us.
Thanks!!

hi pasqualino,

are you sure that you want to spend so mcuh time travelling around? if I follow your itinerary correctly [and apologies if I am wrong] you are not staying in the salzkammergut long enough to do any of the lovely walks, and excursions that I'm sure your kids would enjoy, especially exploring the area on bikes which I believe [I am in the throws of planning our trip for next month] you can rent very easily, or going up the mountains in the cable cars and walking down - definitely the best way to do it!

when my kids were that age [and much older!] they much preferred staying in one place and using it as a base to moving around and spending long times in the car. I think i would aim to stay longer in the salzburg area so as to get the most out of all the activities available.

regards, ann

Ann,
Yes, you're are right. Our itinerary has been revised, again! We decided to stay 5 nights in Salzburg and do some day trips from there. It makes much more sense.

zverybestfamily,
There's so much to say, and so little time. Musically, we attended the Peking Opera at the Huguang Guild Hall - very good. Other shows we saw, though not really musical, were the mask changing at Ba Guo Bu Yi in Beijing, ERA in Shanghai and West Lake Impression in Hangzhou - all recommended.

Highlights - wow - almost everything! Let me just list some of the less obvious ones.
Beijing: staying in a hutong, hike from Jinshanling to Simatai, cooking class at hutong cuisine (dumpling and stir fried noodles), hot pot dinner, Old Beijing Noodle King, bizarre food at the night market, haggling at the dirt market, watching and joining in with the people dancing/singing/exercising in Temple of Heaven Park
Xian: biking the city wall, overnight train, Muslim market
Shanghai: eating dumplings for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
Hangzhou: spent time with a friend of a friend's daughter - lovely to share thoughts and ideas, Dragon well tea village
Huangshan: classic scenery, walked up 1,651 steps - didn't count the steps going down!
Xidi: absolutely BEAUTIFUL just walking around, bought a Chinese flute

Before we went, we read a lot of children/young adult books on subjects like ancient china, Taoism, Buddhism, Confucius, Mao, etc, etc. Usually they have just the right amount of information! My older son read Stillwell in China. We watched movies like The King of Mask, Farewell my Concubine, The Last Emperor, The Red Lantern, The Rape of Nanjing, etc.

Do your boys like photography? Mine are beginning to have fun with it. China is a photographer's paradise.
They documented the unusual food, Chinlish signs/menus and architecture.

Have fun in China. It's an adventure!

Thank you so so much!
What Hutong did you stay in? We are trying to decide where to stay in Beijing, we will be there at the end of August and my concern is that a Hutong may be to hot and maybe smokey.
zverybestfamily@aol