2-Week Germany and Austria Itinerary with Kids

If you’re planning to see the Bavarian Alps, drive the Romantic Road, trace the footsteps of Martin Luther, see the Lake District of Austria, see where the Sound of Music was filmed, and check out a Kinderhotel, this is the trip for you!

At the very end of the itinerary I listed out all the things I would do differently if I knew what I know now, but you don’t know until you do it which areas will really speak to you, and which areas you’re ok never visiting again.

NOTE: This is a long blog post! If you want to skip the blog post and just get the outline, you can sign up for my email list here and receive a free PDF download of my itinerary.

You will need to rent a car for this itinerary, and if you are renting a car you will need an international driver’s license, which my husband and dad got before the trip, and they took turns driving. Also note that when you cross the border from Germany into Austria you will need a vignette, which is a toll sticker you put on the car. I believe they are pretty easy to find at gas stations, so just keep that in mind.

Finally, I’ve included all the hotels we stayed at. Unless otherwise noted, we found quad rooms (that slept 4 people), and had 2 of our kids stay with my parents. Some hotels had rooms that could fit 6 people. If my parents had not been with us, we would have split up into groups of 3: 1 adult and 2 kids per room, OR we would have done more apartments through Airbnb or Booking.com that could fit our entire family.

This is a long blog post, so bookmark it and come back to review each section when you’re planning that part of the trip. Also, stay tuned for more localized blog post on different topics covered in this post.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

2-Week Germany and Austria Itinerary Overview

Day 1: Fly into London, check into our hotel, visit Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and London Eye.

Day 2: Explore London, take a train to Brussels, take an overnight train to Berlin.

Day 3: Arrive in Berlin, see the Brandenberg Gate, pick up a rental car, and drive to Wittenberg to see the

Day 4: Eisleben + Eisenach

Day 5: Start the Romantic Road: Würzburg + Rothenberg Ob Der Tauer

Day 6: Romantic Road: Rothenberg + Dinkelsbühl

Day 7: Romantic Road: Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, + Augsburg

Day 8: Romantic Road: Füssen (Treetop Path + Neuschwanstein Castle)

Day 9: Eibsee + Zugspitze

Day 10: Kinderhotel in Tyrol, Austria

Day 11: Kinderhotel in Tyrol, Austria

Day 12: Hallstatt + Obertraun, Austria

Day 13: Hallstatt + Salzburg

Day 14: Salzburg + Munich

Day 15: Dachau + Munich

Day 16: Fly home

Itinerary Details

Day 1: Fly into London, check into our hotel, visit Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and London Eye.

We knew we wanted to book our flights on points to save money on this trip. Starting about a year out from our trip I started searching for flights on points to anywhere in Europe. I figured once we crossed the ocean I could find a way to get to Germany.

I mainly use my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards. About 10 months before our trip there was a 40% transfer bonus from Chase to Virgin Atlantic, which means if you transfer 1000 Chase Points to Virgin Atlantic, you'll actually have 1,400 to use with Virgin Atlantic.

I transferred 74,000 points from Chase to Virgin Atlantic with a 40% transfer bonus for a total of 103,600 points. Our one way flights from ORD to LHR were 102,000 for a family of 6 + $437.40 in taxes.

Our flight landed around 10:30 a.m. at London Heathrow, but by the time we cleared customs and immigration, changed our outfits, and freshened up, it was close to noon.

As I mentioned, we traveled with my parents on this trip, and my dad is GREAT with details, so he was in charge of figuring out the best way to get from the airport to our hotel so we could drop off our suitcases. Here are his notes:

- The best and easiest way to pay is to pay as you go with a tap to pay credit card. It is the same price as using a visitor Oyster card and both are cheaper than paying cash.

- Children 10 and under ride free and can just come through a wide gate with you as you exit and tap to pay for yourself. For kids over the age of 10, you can tap a second time to pay for their fare. You have a third option to get a Visitor Oyster card there and kids over 10 get half fare as a child but that’ll take time and you have to pay for the card.

- The easiest and cheapest way to get from Heathrow to Gloucester station (which is literally across the street from our hotel) is to hop on the Piccadilly line right from the airport (we are in Terminal 3) which goes DIRECTLY to the Gloucester station which takes 37-38 minutes and costs about 5.80 pounds per person. A new train leaves every 5 minutes.

So that’s what we did! It was a very cheap way to get to our hotel, and not too much of a pain if you don’t mind lugging your suitcases on crowded trains and up and down stairs.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at DoubleTree by Hilton London Kensington. I love booking hotels for a big family with Hilton because they are one of the few hotel chains that offer the option to book connecting rooms on the website.

Finding rooms that fit a family of 6 - or even a family of 4 - in Europe is difficult, but we found connecting quad rooms at this hotel which worked our perfectly for our group of 8. I would have done this same thing even if my parents weren’t with us!

The location was also wonderful! We were across the street from a tube station and a few cafes.

Day 1 Activities

After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we took the tube directly to the Tower of London.

We worked with London Pass to put together a quick 24-hour London itinerary, which means we received free 1-Day London Pass Plus for every member of our party. We wanted to fit as many activities as we could in our 1 day!

Tower of London

Our first stop was the Tower of London. I wanted the kids to experience the Yeoman Warder Tour (the Beefeater Tour) that’s included in the cost of admission. The Beefeater tour guides are so funny, but you also learn a lot about the history of the tower. The Tower of London is included on the London Pass, and it’s such a cool and uniquely London experience.

You could easily stay at the Tower of London all day because there’s so much to see there. However, we were on a time crunch, so we left after the Yeoman Warder Tour and walked over to the Tower Bridge which is right next to the Tower of London.

Tower Bridge

The Tower Bridge is also included in the London Pass, and even though I’ve been to London before, I’ve never gone to the top, so we decided to check it out!

You can take stairs or an elevator to the top, then walk across the glass floor to see the Thames River and the double decker busses passing by below your feet. You also learn a lot about how the bridge was constructed, and they even have a kid’s passport that kids can stamp along the way at designated stations.

Uber Boat

Jetlag was starting to hit, so we took the Uber Boat from the Tower Bridge to the London Eye. It’s included in the London Pass Plus, and a relaxing way to get from Point A to Point B if the kids are struggling with all the walking. Plus we got to enjoy the views!

London Eye

The London Eye is also included in the London Pass Plus, and you have to reserve a time slot ahead of time through the London Pass app. We chose the latest time we could, and enjoyed skyline views of the city from the spacious pods on the giant observation wheel.

Day 2: Explore London, take a train to Brussels, take an overnight train to Berlin.

On our second day in London we checked out of our hotel, but were able to store our bags with them while we spent the morning exploring.

We grabbed breakfast from Pret a Manger near our hotel, then hopped on the Big Bus Tour! The kids all wanted to ride on top of a double decker bus in London, so this was a great way to do it. It was a warm sunny day, so we enjoyed sipping our coffee from the open air 2nd level of the bus while listening to narration about the city.

The Big Bus Tour is a hop-on hop-off tour, so we hopped off at Buckingham Palace where we got to see the changing of the guards. Honestly, I would have skipped this in retrospect because it was SO crowded and we couldn’t even see anything.

We grabbed photos across the river from Big Ben, then took the tube back to our hotel. We got lunch at a pub before picking up our bags and taking the tube to the train station.

Train from London to Brussels

We took the Eurostar from King’s Cross station in London to Brussels Midi. Something to note when taking a train from London to somewhere like France or Belgium is that you need to arrive around 90 minutes before your train departs because you have to go through customs and immigration since London is no longer part of the EU.

The train was very comfortable, and an easy journey where we could relax or get some work done.

Overnight Train from Brussels to Berlin

We had about an hour between when our train arrived in Brussels and when our overnight train to Berlin departed.

We were hosted by the European Sleeper train on this journey! They provided us with a private compartment with 6 beds for our family.

A few things to know about taking the European Sleeper train:

Book a private compartment, even if you have fewer people than the occupancy of the compartment. Especially when you’re traveling with kids, it would be difficult to share the space with a stranger when you’re dealing with bedtime routines.
There are compartments that fit both 5 and 6 people, so even bigger families like ours only need to book one compartment!
Food is not included in your ticket, so grab so food at the train station before your board, or have snacks ready to go ahead of time.

Day 3: Arrive in Berlin, see the Brandenberg Gate, pick up a rental car, and drive to Wittenberg to see the

Our sleeper train arrived in Berlin at 6:00 a.m., so we stored our luggage at the Berlin train station in lockers, grabbed some breakfast and coffee from a cafe at the train station, and walked into Berlin to see some of the main sights until our rental car was ready.

It was a short walk from the train station to the Brandenburg Gate. We had this iconic landmark all to ourselves since it was so early in the morning!

Next we walked over to the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall Memorial, and Checkpoint Charlie. We wanted to include a free visit to the Reichstag building, but you need to book a time slot ahead of time and we waited too long to do this so there were no time slots available on the day we wanted to visit.

After picking up our rental car and retrieving our bags from the train station, we drove 1 hour and 30 minutes to Wittenberg.

We’re Lutheran, so our purpose for visiting Wittenberg was to see some Martin Luther sights! A few things we did in Wittenberg:

Lutherhaus - former home of Luther, and the largest museum of Reformation history in the world.
Castle Church - where Luther nailed the 95 Theses to the door.
Market Square - great place to grab dinner and sit on a patio
Luther Monument + City Hall
Church Service at City Church of St. Mary’s where Luther + Katherina were married, all of his children baptized. They hold a service on Friday nights in English and you get to sing “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”

Day 4: Eisleben + Eisenach

Hotel: Three Bedroom Apartment Eisenach

Eisleben:

From Wittenberg it’s a 1.5 hour drive to Eisleben, the city where Luther was born and died. This city was very quiet, and we didn’t see many shops or restaurants open during our visit. The only things we did while we were in town:

Luther’s Birth House (open 10-5)
Luther’s Death House (open 10-5)

You can buy tickets in person for both of these sites, and they both offer family rates.

Eisenach:

After lunch we drove 1 hour and 40 minutes from Eisleben to Eisenach. We added this destination to our itinerary because Wartburg Castle in Eisenach is where Martin Luther lived for 10 months and translated the Bible into German during his excommunication from the Catholic Church.

His friend, Elector Friedrich the Wise, staged a kidnapping and brought Luther safely to Wartburg Castle where he disguised himself as Knight George.

We didn’t visit the Wartburg until Day 5, because the Lutherhaus in Eisenach was closed on Mondays, and Day 4 was a Sunday, so we made sure to squeeze it in!

Alternatives to the Lutherhaus (in case you’re all Luthered out like we were), would be the Bachhaus and the Church of St. George.

Eisenach is an adorable town, and a very pleasant place to walk around with kids! We grabbed dinner near the Bachhaus at the B-A-C-H restaurant where I had an incredible chicken schnitzel.

Day 5: Start the Romantic Road: Würzburg + Rothenburg Ob Der Tauer

Hotel: Hotel Markusturm Rothenburg

Day 5 was a busy one! We got up bright and early and grabbed breakfast and coffee at a cafe in town just a short walk from our apartment. We loaded up the car, checked out of our apartment, and hiked from Eisenach up to Wartburg Castle, taking the Luther Experience Trail to get there.

To visit Wartburg Castle you need to join a tour group. They have both English and German options, but there is usually only one English option per day, and it’s in the afternoon. We wanted to get going to our next destination, so we joined a German language tour. They had audio guides in English for us to use.

Wartburg Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it has so much incredible Germany history there, including the room where Martin Luther translated the Bible into German!

After visiting the castle we drove to our next stop: Würzburg. It was just under a 2 hour drive.

Würzburg was the start of the next leg of our journey, driving the Romantic Road. There are 29 towns to visit between Würzburg, the farthest north, and Füssen, the farthest south.

We had originally planned to do quite a lot in Würzburg. A few options we had on the itinerary were:

Würzburg Residence - a palace considered to be the Versailles of Germany
Market Square
Old Main Bridge
Marienburg Fortress - panoramic view of the city. The Main Castle and Inner Castle Courtyard were closed due to construction, but the viewpoints were still open.
Maria Chappel - maybe just a picture outside of it

When we arrived, we realized the kids were tired, and had already spent a considerable amount of time touring a historic building, so we decided to cut out the Würzburg Residence, though we did tour the gardens which are free to wander!

Afterward, we walked to Old Main Bridge, and once we arrived, we decided to do what the rest of the crowd was doing and enjoy some local wine. There are plenty of restaurants nearby that allow you to purchase wine to go, and you just have to bring back the glasses when you’re done to get your deposit back.

Würzburg is one of the main cities in the wine region of Germany and is known for its Franconian wine, so sipping a glass of Riesling on the Old Main Bridge with both tourists and locals seemed to be the thing to do!

After a glass of wine for the adults, we grabbed dinner, then headed to our final stop of the day, Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber.

We absolutely loved our hotel here! It’s one of the few places we were able to find a room to fit our family of 6 with lots of space to spread out, and it was located directly in the Old Town!

Day 6: Romantic Road - Rothenburg and Dinkelsbühl

Hotel: Meiser Altstadt Hotel in Dinkelsbühl

Rothenburg was one of our favorite stops in Germany. There is surprisingly quite a lot to do in such a small town!

We got up early to get photos at the picturesque Plönline, the iconic spot in Rothenburg where a yellow half-timbered house sits between two towers.

Other activities in Rothenburg include walking the city wall, playing on a playground, visiting the Medieval Crime Museum, eating Schneeballen (snowballs - a local treat consisting of a deep-fried ball-shaped pastry covered in powdered sugar), shopping in the local shops, and sipping coffee in the town square.

In the late afternoon we made our way to Dinkelsbühl and made it just in time to check into our hotel before it started pouring. By that time of day most everything was closed, so we picked up some groceries and played some card games in our hotel room.

Day 7: Romantic Road - Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen, and Augsburg

Hotel: Best Western Augusta in Augsburg

I’ll be honest: at this point in our trip we were kind of hitting a wall. We had seen our share of cute towns and historic sites, and just kind of needed a break.

And to be honest, Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen didn’t have much to offer. They weren’t nearly as lively as Rothenburg. There weren’t many shops, and just a few restaurants open in the town square. We did a quick lap of each town, and ended up in Augsburg by mid-afternoon.

We were able to check into our hotel right away, and our hotel room was SO spacious. We took a little nap before heading out for ice cream and dinner.

There’s a lot more to do in Augsburg than the other 2 towns we visited, as it’s a slightly bigger city. However, we took our time in Augsburg to rest and hang out so we would be ready for our next adventure!

Day 8: Romantic Road: Füssen (Treetop Path + Neuschwanstein Castle)

Hotel: Hotel Schlosskrone

We got an early start and drove straight to Füssen after grabbing breakfast in Augsburg. Füssen is the last stop on the Romantic Road, and sits right on the border of Germany and Austria. It’s also nestled in the Bavarian Alps, which means the scenery was starting to get more exciting on this portion of our drive!

It was too early to check into our hotel, and we had tickets for Neuschwanstein at 1:30 p.m., so we decided to stop at the Forest Experience Center (Walderlebniszentrum) in Füssen. They have multiple hiking trails, but the one we were most interested in was the Treetop Trail. The walking path rises above the treetops with the mountains looming in the distance. It’s a truly spectacular sight!

The trail stretches into Austria so you can stand in two countries at once! During our visit, the trail was partially under construction, so we didn’t get to see the whole thing. In addition, it was rainy and cloudy, so the views weren’t as impressive as they could have been, but it was still incredible.

Neuschwanstein Castle

We booked tickets for Neuschwanstein Castle a few weeks ahead of time. Our tour time was 1:30, and it’s important to note that there is a 30-45 minute walk uphill from the parking lot to the castle, so you need to factor that in when you’re planning out your day.

You can also pay for a shuttle or a carriage ride to the top, but that costs extra, so we made the kids walk uphill in the rain. It was a character building experience.

You need to make sure to arrive on time for your tour since you’re only allowed in the castle with a tour group. The tours are only 30 minutes long, and you have an audio guide in your native language. No pictures or videos are allowed inside the castle, but the throne room was one of the most striking sights I’ve ever seen in my life.

It was fascinating to learn about King Ludwig II, and his story is truly quite sad. However, he left this incredible legacy that people are still visiting today, and the castle even inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland when Walt Disney himself visited Neuschwanstein.

Be sure to walk another 30 minutes to the Marienbrücke (Mary’s Bridge), which is a suspension bridge that has an incredible view of the castle.

Füssen

After our time at Neuschwanstein was done, we checked into our hotel and wandered around Füssen, another charming small town. We had one of our favorite dinners of the trip at Restaurant Ludwigs where we had some delicious traditional German food.

Day 9: Eibsee + Zugspitze

Hotel: Hotel Schlosskrone

This was one of my favorite days of the entire trip!

We drove the hour from Füssen to Eibsee, one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Germany. Eibsee shares a parking lot with Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany, so there is plenty of parking.

We followed the hiking trail around Eibsee for a bit until we came to the bridge, and there was a small clearing there with excellent views of the lake and the mountain. If it’s a warm day bring a swimsuit and towel so you can take a dip in the lake! We just waded in with our bare feet and admired the families of ducks swimming by.

When the kids got tired of hiking we walked back, and just past the parking lot there is a beer garden near the hotel. We grabbed fries, water, and a Radler for the grownups (a Radler is like a shandy - beer mixed with lemonade).

Afterward, instead of taking the cable car up the Zugspitze, which would have cost around €200 for our whole family, we drove a little bit to Mount Wank which was about half the price with no crowds. We took the cable car to the top of the mountain where there was an alpine playground, a restaurant, and a cafe. Running around and playing on the playground at the top of the mountain with no one else around was exactly what my kids needed at that point in the trip!

We drove back and slept at our hotel in Füssen that night.

Days 10 and 11: Kinderhotel in Tyrol, Austria

From Füssen we made the hour and a half drive to Arzl im Pitzal in the Tyrol region of Austria. We had booked a Kinderhotel in the Tyrolean Alps for the next 2 nights, and we were so excited for some rest and relaxation.

Just be aware that the drive may include winding mountain roads with hairpin turns and switchbacks. I’m wondering if there would be a better route that wouldn’t be so harrowing, even if it meant adding some extra time to the drive. Regardless, be sure to take your motion sickness medication, and to have some crackers, mints, and soda handy to calm an upset stomach.

We checked into Pitzis Kinderhotel which had a room that fit our family of six with a connecting room for my parents. It was the perfect setup, and you can tell every detail of these hotels are made with families in mind. In fact, you can’t even book this hotel without children on your reservation.

Kinderhotels are a chain of hotels in Austria, Germany, and Italy that are made for families to enjoy relaxing vacations together. They are all inclusive including 3 meals, an afternoon snack, all non-alcoholic beverages, plus beer, wine, and espresso drinks for parents. Any baby or toddler gear you can think of are also provided (cribs, strollers, high chairs, baby bouncers, and even childcare so parents can get a break).

There are endless activities for kids. At PItzis we had an indoor and outdoor pool (although both were smaller and geared toward younger children), goats, llamas, ponies, and other animals, a trampoline, a playground, a zipline, mini golf, ping pong, and more. In addition, the Kinderhotel suggests family-friendly hikes and bike routes.

We took an awesome hike to a suspension bridge, and once we crossed the bridge there was a beer garden perched on the edge of a cliff. Behind the beer garden was an alpine playground for the kids. That means we got to sip an Aperol spritz while the kids were occupied on the playground. It was heaven!

This particular Kinderhotel was definitely geared more toward younger children, but there are several Kinderhotels that are better for tweens and teens.

Day 12: Hallstatt + Obertraun, Austria

Hotel: Seehotel am Hallstattersee

We spent the morning at the Kinderhotel until it was time to check out, and even after we checked out they let us know that we could stay for one more lunch, so we took them up on that.

We made sure to look up a route to Hallstatt that didn’t involve mountain roads this time, so we made the long drive (almost 4 hours) to Hallstatt, Austria.

By the time we arrived it was almost dinner time, and our hotel was actually just outside of Hallstatt in a town called Obertraun, so we checked into our hotel, and walked to a nearby restaurant for dinner. There was a playground and a bouncy castle next to the patio seating, so the kids got another opportunity to just be kids while we waited for our meal.

We walked around the lake the found more playgrounds before heading to bed at our hotel in Obertraun for the night.

*Note: knowing what we know now, I think it would have been worthwhile to head into Hallstatt that evening after all the daytrippers had gone home. The tour busses arrive early in Hallstatt, and I underestimated how early we would need to get into Hallstatt to avoid the crowds.

Day 13: Hallstatt + Salzburg

We headed into Hallstatt around 8:30 a.m. which was not nearly early enough to beat the crowds. We had high hopes of being there bright and early, but when you factor in packing up and checking out of a hotel with 4 kids, plus eating breakfast there (because it was free! I’m not passing up a free breakfast), we didn’t get going quite as early as I would have liked.

Hallstatt is as beautiful as the pictures and videos make it seem, but it is crowded. Now, I don’t mind crowds if everyone is being considerate. In Rome, for example, around the Trevi Fountain we were shoulder to shoulder, but everyone was quickly taking a picture, then making room for other parties.

For some reason, maybe it was just the day we happened to be there, the tourists in Hallstatt were absolute menaces. What you need to realize is that Hallstatt is basically one main road along the lake for cars, bikes, and pedestrians, and it gets really tight. People were stopping in the middle of the ONE road to take photos in front of each and every house or building. No one had spacial awareness and they would push or shove my kids to get the photo or video they needed. I think it would have been a magical experience before or after the crowds, so learn from my mistakes.

A few things to do in Hallstatt: take a photo at the iconic panoramic viewpoint at the top of the hill with views of the entire city, shop, eat at local cafes, check out the town square, then end up at the Spielplatz Hallstättersee which is a playground at the opposite end of town from the panoramic viewpoint. It’s quiet, and it has a great view of the town without all the pushing and shoving crowds.

Salzburg

Hotel: Meininger Hotel Salzburg (would not necessarily recommend this hotel)

After lunch we drove to Salzburg and checked into our hotel there. We stayed at a Meininger Hotel which is also connected to a hostel. We didn’t have a bad experience there - the hotel fit our needs just fine with bunk beds for the kids and free breakfast, BUT there was a large group of students staying there at the same time as us and they were loud, and it was hard to get any food at breakfast time.

I had other people on social media say they liked the hotel, so I’m guessing we just had a crazy group there, which was not the hotel’s fault.

After checking in we walked to Old Town Salzburg and wandered around. There is a pedestrian-only area which was really cute.

We also saw Mozart’s Home (Mozart Wohnhaus) and walked through Mirabell Gardens outside of Mirabell Palace.

Day 14: Salzburg + Munich

On our one and only morning in Salzburg, Austria we checked out of our hotel room met our tour guide for a private half day Sound of Music Tour. We booked the tour through GetYourGuide and had the best time seeing the Sound of Music filming sites around Salzburg and in the nearby Lake District!

The tour guide was knowledgeable about Austria and of course, shared fun facts about the movie. The vehicle could fit up to 8 passengers, perfect for our family of 6 plus my parents! The tour guide also provided car seats for the younger children, so if you’re not renting a car or bringing your own car seats, no need to worry about that!

The tour went until 1 p.m., so once we made it back to our hotel parking lot, we stopped for lunch on the way out of Salzburg and made our way back to Germany. We were staying outside of Munich for the last 2 nights of our trip in a town called Emmering.
We checked into our Airbnb, went grocery shopping, and went to bed.

Day 15: Dachau + Munich

On our last day of the trip, we didn’t really have a chance to explore Munich at all. Instead, we took turns visiting the concentration camp in Dachau, which is pretty close to Emmering. We took turns because we didn’t think the experience would be worthwhile if we had our 5- and 8-year-old along since they wouldn’t understand the gravity of the site.

We wanted to be able to read the plaques and really soak it in, so we let my parents take the early shift, then when they got back to watch the younger 2 kids, we took our older 2 kids (ages (almost) 10 and 12).

I would highly recommend visiting Dachau if you have older kids who are interested in history. There’s so much about the Holocaust that you know, but don’t really understand until you see it in person.

After Dachau, we got a pizza and packed up to get ready for our early flight home from Munich to Chicago the next day.

Things I Would Change About our Itinerary

Listen. I know we were trying to cram 3 different trips into one trip. 2 weeks was NOT enough time to see everything we wanted to see. But every time I tried to cut something out, someone in our group convinced me to keep it in.

That’s another thing to consider. We had 4 adults and 4 kids on this trip, each with different interests and priorities.

We certainly made the most of our time, and now I know which areas I would like to go back and explore on a deeper level. Here are some specific things I would change:

If you’re not interested in Martin Luther, I would cut out the entire first 4-5 days of our itinerary and fly into Munich.
I would cut out ALL of the spots on the Romantic Road EXCEPT Rothenburg and Füssen in order to spend more time in Austria. If you like bigger cities, you may want to also keep Würzburg and/or Augsburg.
I would spend an extra night in Obertraun near Hallstatt, and only go into Hallstatt in the evening or early morning. During the day I would find a nearby day trip, or enjoy the lake or pool near our hotel in Obertraun.
I would spend an extra night or 2 in Salzburg to explore the city more AND/OR visit more of the Lake District in Austria. So much of the charm of Austria is the small towns and the mountains and lakes, so it would be fun to go back and just road trip through Austria someday.
I liked the Pitzis Kinderhotel, but I think I would choose a more sleek and modern option next time, especially taking into consideration which Kinderhotels are geared more toward older families instead of baby and toddler families, since that’s the stage we are in.

So that’s our Germany and Austria 2-week Itinerary with Kids! I know this is A LOT of information, but this trip took me MONTHS of research and planning to put together. I hope this helps you plan your next family trip!