allib123

Thinking...Mom with boys 16, 13, and dtr 11...coming off a cruise

Tues: Early train Venice to Salzburg, arriving at 1:50pm See Old town/Fortress/Hellbrun - preferably by tour if not too late -sleep Salz

Wed: To Dokumentation Center/Eagles Nest/Salt mine tour - back to old town for evening. Sleep Salz

Thurs: Sleep in! take train to Munich, explore Old Town, wander and shop, Hofbraus Sleep in Munich

Fri: Train to castles Neu. and Hohen., Tegelburg luge, Return to sleep in Munich

Sat: ???? Sleep in? So much to see. Munich - Since/if we did castles the day before, thinking we could do Dachau, Deutsch museum. I really want to do Rothenburg, but it would be insane??

Sun: home to New Orleans.

Better to go Salzburg to Fussen overnight to see castle area, then on to Munich? What's the furthest from the Munich airport one might stay if we do Rothenburg?

padams421

If you can overnight in Rothenburg, it might be worth the time. Rothenburg is one of my favorites but it is overrun with tourists during the day. The town is delightful in the evening when the tour bus crowds clear out. The Nightwatchmen's tour, which takes place at 8pm (I think) in English, would be a hit with you family. What time is your flight home from Munich? If you need to be at the airport in the early am, then I don't think it is worth it to take a train that far. The other things to do in Rothenburg include walking the top of the wall around the city, visiting the torture museum, and shopping.

Otherwise, I'd stay in Munich and see the Deutsch Museum, visit the Olympic Park, and/or take train out to Dachau. If any of your teens play/love soccer, the Allianz Arena (Bayern Munich's stadium) has tours.

lindy27

I think your kids would love the Deutsch Museum on Saturday. I wouldn't do Dachau and that museum in the same day though. I'd personally stay in Munich and do that musuem, maybe the Englisher Garten, and/or Olympic Park. After all those days of traveling I'd enjoy a day of relaxing in Munich. Also if your boys like cars the BMW Welt is right by the Olympic Park and has a museum with lots of their cars.

Woyzeck

I agree with Lindy. There's lots to see in Munich so you have to balance your daytripping with just seeing the sights in town. BMW Museum is a great suggestion and it's right up there by Olympic Park. Deutsches Museum is huge and spectacular and could take several hours to fully enjoy.

I always advise people to do Dachau in the afternoon. It has the potential to drain you emotionally, so it's hard to visit in the morning and then move on with normal sightseeing in the afternoon.

Rothenburg is great, but I wouldn't force it and I agree with padams421 that it makes a better overnight than day trip. Given your time constraints (2 nights in Salzburg, 3 in Munich), you might consider saving it for another time. If you add it to your last day as a day trip after going to the castles the day before, you are definitely selling Munich very short and potentially adding a lot of travel time to your daily schedule.

zwho

We spent a week in a resort town about 30 miles from Salzburg. Everyday we did a fantastic day trip. There is a wonderful gorge 30 mins. ouside of Salzburg called Leictchtenstein (I'm sure the spelling is wrong). There is the Grossglockner road, (again, spelling is probably wrong) which is a fantastic drive to the top of the Austrian Alps. We spent a day in Salzburg and a day in Munich and a day in Bertchgarten and eagles nest. We even drove to Vienna on a Saturday morning and it only took us 2 and a half hours to get there, no traffic! You can stop at Melk on the way. Have a great time. It's just a wonderful part of Europe. I would overnight in Munich so you can take advantage of everything there and the surrounding area.

allib123

Thanks everyone! I needed a reality check.
Last summer I was too tired the last day to go to Pompeii from Rome, and I didn't want to create another regret planning, then not going, to Rothenburg. That being said, I have to face the fact that Rothenburg is really too far without an overnight, and it will have to be seen another time. A second day in Munich to begin in the Deutsches Museum will be good and then, shop, maybe head to Dachau, Olympic Park, all sounds good! I appreciate the help!

joannyc

Your kids would probably enjoy seeing the river surfing in Munich...

www.youtube.com/watch?v=01amfGFDyT8

allib123

Joannyc, that was a cool video! I had heard there was river surfing, but after watching that, we will see it in person! THanks.

T4TX

My daughter (12 at the time) and I did a bike tour while in Munich and it is one of the things she actually remembers about the trip (she is 17 now). It was a school tour, one of those 12 days/ 5 cities so something had to really stand out!

The bike ride did. After touring the old town we rode to the English Garden and we rode around some there, stopping to watch the surfers, and then riding over to the pagoda. The adults sat and had a beer, listened to the band, and visited with the guide while the kids ran around.

You could go to Dachau in the a.m. and bike tour afternoon. That is what we did and it worked well.

Something that we really enjoyed was Augustiner Keller

http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/g...iew-46470.html

the roast chicken was excellent.

Have fun!