Trip to Germany with an infant - Itinerary suggestions
 

Hello

We (Me, my wife and 7 month old) are traveling to Germany for the 1st time this June. We have been to many other european countries before.

We have the German Rail pass for 5 days for this trip.

Here is our Itinerary - looking for any suggestions and help especially because we are with the 7 month old and I am mainly concerned about traveling from Frankfurt to Cologne with the luggage, stroller etc. on train & on the ferry for river rhine cruise.

Day 1,2 - Frankfurt (city sight seeing)
Day 3 - Day trip to Rothenburg Ob der Tauber via train (Round Trip)
Day 4 - Travel day to Cologne from Frankfurt (Train to Rüdesheim and river cruise to St Goarshausen - then continue on to Cologne via train
Day 5 - Cologne
Day 6 - train to Berlin
Day 7,8,9 - Berlin
Day 10 - Train to Munich
Day 11 - Round trip from Munich to Neuschwanstein castle
Day 12 - Munich
Day 13 - Fly back home

For the river Rhine Cruise - is the train station at Rüdesheim and Goarshausen close to the dock where the ferry departs? I think name of the company is KD.

Appreciate any feedback - thank-you.

Hi N,

Look up Rudesheim at www.maps.google.com

You will see the train station and the ferry docks along the river.

Also www.bahn.de will give you maps

They say it is a 10 min walk from the train to the ferry.

Enjoy your visit.
((I))

It sounds like you have a plan for what you want to see and where you want to be. The critical part is doing it with a baby. You won't add much to their life on the road or your time on the trip. Have you thought of calling Grandma?

I would give some thought to just 2 bases (Frankfurt and Berlin) and doing day trips from there. That will make it easier with luggage. You can do Cologne from Frankfurt so the only part of your itinerary you'd miss out on would be Munich. Save it for another trip, you will come back. There are plenty of day trips from Berlin and you could fit in another day around Frankfurt (Heidelberg comes to mind). You'd also be able to give Berlin more time. Remember everything will be slower and more cumbersome with the munchkin, although at 7 months he will still be quite portable.

About luggage: I don't know if you've already done lots of trips with your baby but we first travelled to Europe with our then 16 month old. We found we got away with 2 rolling suitcases, a cabin bag (which has a flap allowing us to 'thread' it onto the handle of a suitcase, so it sits on top of it) and a cheap ($20) umbrella stroller - v. light and if it got lost or damaged, no biggie. Being so young still, not sure if you want one of those but it worked for us. That way one person (DH) carried all the luggage, leaving the other person to deal with the baby and stroller. We additionally had a small backpack flat inside our luggage as a diaper bag, to be pulled out at our destination, and could also be used just in case we bought so much stuff we couldn't fit it into the suitcases. The person with the stroller (me) wears this - hands free to deal with the baby and other stuff.


Lavandula

Your day trip to Rothenburg is going to be a long one. To make a shorter day, with less train travel, consider going to Buedingen instead. It is only an hour outside of Frankfurt, so easier and cheaper to get to. A day ticket for a group will only be 26 euro.

This is a medieval, walled town that has never burnt down or been bombed, unlike Rothenburg which is about 40% reconstructed.
http://www.buedingen-touristik.de/

On day 4: I would give myself a bit more than 10 min. to get from the train station in Ruedesheim to the boat ferry. Especially with a stroller. Get off of the boat at St. Goar instead of St. Goarshausen, as this puts you on the left hand side of the river, where it will be easier to catch your train to Cologne.

Very helpful suggestions - thank-you. We did consider going to Hieldelberg (as it's closer to Frankfurt) instead of going to Rothenburg Ob der Tauber but we wanted to have experience of a small town as we are going to all big cities like Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Cologne.
We will certainly explore the option of going to Buedingen instead.

Thanks again.

No real comment about your itinerary, except--did you really find enough to do in Frankfurt for 2 days? I lived in Germany for 5 years and the only reason I ever went to Frankfurt was to fly somewhere else.

I will say, however, travelling with a baby as young as yours may seem daunting, but that's the best age to travel with them. They aren't mobile; they sleep anytime and anywhere; and they're happy to go anyplace without giving you any guff! We went to Thailand with our 3 month old and to Australia with our 6 month old. Good times!