Traveling to Germany--a few questions

[blisstwins]

We are going to Germany this summer and will be staying with family a lot, but I will be on my own too. Could anyone tell me anything about Legoland? How close is it to Munich or Nuremberg? Is it worth a trip? My children are young (6) and I want to make the trip fun for them by breaking it up with easy, playful daytrips in addition to the history and sightseeing we will do. We are also planning on going to Rothenberg--any recommendations for places to stay or must-to-dos there or nearby? We have 2+ weeks in southern Germany so any info or tips you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[bubbaray]

DH says to go to Passau in the Bavarian Forest. Bodenmais is nice if you like the outdoors, hiking. He says the Neuschwanstein Castle is nice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuschwanstein_Castle

I can post more on the weekend if you bump the thread, the ILs live in that area almost 1/2 the year.

[american_mama]

I went to some of these places when DD was 2 years old - we celebrated her second birthday eating a Spaghetti Eis sundae, in fact! There's a pretty big difference between 2 years and 6 years, but Rothernburg is lovely, small, cute, crowded. We were there in Feb/March, I think, and it was not very full of tourists then, but it gets full. You can walk around the old city wall, which is pretty wide in parts and I thought pretty interesting, climb the tower in the city hall (windy and crowded at the top, kind of exciting), go to the Kriminal Museum (would probably interest your kids), and, best of all, go on a night tour with the Night Watchman. I read about this tour in Rick Steves guidebook, as I recall, where he makes it sound like a hidden treasure with the end result being that it's become very popular and not hidden at all. But it was still great and your kids would dig it.

We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast recommended by Rick Steves, but I don't recall the name. FTR, I kind of detest Rick Steves now, but I still like his lodging advice and value some of his sightseeing advice. Lots of the B&B's have small restaurants on the ground floor, which serve hearty food... good, but very heavy on pork and generally heavy.

I was also in Nuremburg with my 2 year old. There is a toy museum which worked for us at DD's young age and had two model train exhibits that DD liked, but the museum overall was not very interactive, more of history of toys. The upper floor had a play area, nice decor but not lots of toys as I recall from the photo I have. I also went to a Nazi history museum - maybe at the stadium where Nazi rallies were held? don't remember - which was very interesting to me, and DD thankfully fell asleep in her stroller. Don't really think it would interest 6 year olds. In Nuremburg, there is a well-known hill that you can climb up which is a bit of a workout but rewards with a nice overlook. The downtown area is full of interesting shops, lots of pedestrians, nice bridges over the river. Strolling is very pleasant. We stayed in an Ibis hotel, I think, which was bland, small room, chain-like, fine. There was a cool restaurant/wine bar/beer hall near the Ibis with a large room and benches, child-friendly,again heavy but good food. If I can find the name, I'll post back.

[blisstwins]

This is very helpful. So far we will do Neunschwanstein, Passau, Saltzburg, Munich, Rothenburg, and Nuremburg. I have family in Munich and Nuremburg, so that should make things easy.

My children also want to go to Legoland. I know NOTHING about it. Do you know how far it is from Munich or Nuremburg? I cannot tell from the website/internet. Do you think it is worth it to break up the trip a little? TIA.

[ged]

Looks like Legoland is about 1 hour outside of Munich (to the NW), and about 2 hours from Nuremberg. We just moved to Munich but we are still settling in and have not done a lot of visiting yet. I have not heard a ton about Leogland, but I suspect it is fun enough. We moved from San Diego, so we went to that Legoland several times and enjoyed it. I think they are very similar, if not the same, in layout, etc. If your kids really want to go, and if you have time, I think you should do it. In general, Legos seem to be popular here (in all the toys shops, etc.), so I think the Legoland will be legit.