Munich to Salzburg with kids - ideas?

[ZenNudist]

Any suggestions of things to do with 6 and nearly 10yo in this area of Germany and Austria?

Im Staying:

2 nights in Munich, in a hotel with pool next to the big (English) park slightly out of town centre (walkable).

4 or 5 nights a renovated old house with a pool next to a castle located on the german border with Austria. Walks along river into local town.

3 nights in a hotel with indoor and outdoor pools on a lake just outside Salzburg 30mins drive to city.

I want to take day trips to caves and castles as well as seeing the city / town centres.

Would appreciate advice from anyone who has been with kids. Thanks!

The salt mines in Hallstatt

The Triassic Park www.tyrol.com/things-to-do/attractions/all-attractions/a-triassic-park-waidring

@Ricekrispie22 thank you! That's just what I'm looking for. Its only an hour outside Salzburg.

@LizziesTwin Id seen the salt mines but wasn't sure if it would be fun for kids. They have slides inside that the miners used to use. Is that right?

We did something a bit like this a couple of years ago and it was ace. Probably my favourite holiday actually. Would recommend eisreisenwelt ice cave www.eisriesenwelt.at/ and the hellbrunn palace with the water fountains. There is loads of good info online about things to do in the area too. Give yourself a bit of pootling around time too; we kept stopping at things like toboggan runs and cable cars!

Near Munich we went to an a-mazing water park in case you're in the market for one: galaxy erding

Have fun!

Thanks @ThePlantsitter. We are going to Florida in May so dc will be going to loads of waterparks. Id like to avoid them on this holiday but I've put it on my list because DH loves them too.

I really want to go to the ice cave but don't Want to take tonnes of warm gear on a summer holiday. Is a fleece and jeans enough or will we need full on winter gear?

There are a LOT of steps so it depends on how cold you get. I'm quite fast so managed perfectly well with no coat but the kids had coats. We were there in summer too so we can't have had hats/gloves etc with us. They are pretty melodramatic about the need for warm clothing at the bottom though, I tell you. If you are the cold type maybe skip it. It was really amazing and mystical though, carrying your little gas lamp through ice caverns (you don't even really notice the 50 thousand other people there ).

As for the waterpark, I remembered I hate waterslides half way down my first one so I feel you. There's loads of spa stuff there too though if you fancy it (being German, some of it naked ).

'quite fast' should be 'quite fat' sorry

I think we will skip it because dont want to take winter gear in summer. Bah!

Neuschwanstein is probably on yourlist already, but it's definitely worth it if you're castle fans. Most people do it as a day trip from Munich, but depending where you are along the border, it might be more sensible to do it in that segment of the trip. It is absolutely oozing with tourists in summer though.
Salzburg castle is very worth the hike up the hill too.

And I really don't think you need full-on winter gear for one trip underground in summer. The kids will be fine with tights/leggings under jeans and solid shoes (the latter they'd need for the Alps anyway) plus several layers under a zipped-up rain jacket. The only specifically winter thing I'd bring is a wooly hat, maybe.

I would definitely recommend that you make use of some of the summer cable cars to get up on the Alps. One trick we used with our two at that age was to take the cable car up then walk across and down the mountain. So plenty of walking and beautiful scenery but less moaning from the younger generation.

The saltmines are fun and there is a short slide (low key but the kids enjoyed it!) Halstatt is beautiful but very crowded - lots of tours. We do this holiday every year and tbh, once the kids are on a lake there isn't much need to do lots of day tripping. Lake swimming, boating, hotel swimming pool, bike hire, maybe the summer tobogan run or gondolas, these all keep us busy in Austria (we are about 30 mins outside Salzburg also).

Bad Ischl has thermal waters and a lazy river if you want a scaled down but pleasant water park.

Oh and if you like swimming, we also went to the Olympic swimming pool in Munich which is impressive and remarkable if only for its enormously high diving boards which the kids spent longer standing at the end of looking down then actually swimming.

Sorry, more ideas: I love Saalachtal, which is less than an hour from Salzburg, near a lot of ski resorts. There's the Lamprechtshöhle caves, which are quite impressive.

Your DC might like a kids' climbing lesson on beginner crags. We did exactly that when ours were 7 and 11 and both coped fine and enjoyed it. The word to look for is Klettergarten.

The village of Weissbach in Saalachtal seems to be a specialist centre for climbing and you can definitely book a beginners kids climbing course there.

Alpine activities we've done with our two over the years: rafting, canyoning, climbing, via ferrata, wild swimming, high ropes courses, and in winter skating, tobogganing and skiing. We would tend to intersperse an activity day with relaxing by the pool and sightseeing days. It sounds like we're wildly energetic and adventurous from this, but we're really not. Anyone can do this stuff.

Lots of great suggestions so far but a couple that I don't think have been mentioned that are close to Salzburg are:

Dachstein Krippenstein mountain. There are two cable cars to get up the mountain which my DCs, 7 & 12 at the time, loved and amazing views over Hallstattersee. Google '5 Fingers' for pictures of the viewing platform which juts out from the top of the mountain. You can also get off at the first cable car station and walk to the ice caves.

Wolfgangsee and the towns around it. You can swim in the lake, hire a boat, do a horse and carriage ride.

Someone else mention Hellbrunn Palace. We didn't go inside the palace but the water fountains (only accessible on a tour) are great. Prepared to get wet! You can also walk through the park to a great kid's play area via the Sound of Music gazebo. The palace is also next to Salzburg which DD loved.

Have a day in Berchtesgaden on the German / Austrian border. We didn't go up to The Eagle's Nest but you can go into Hitler's bunker / tunnels and explore the area where his holiday home was. There's a really nice but small natural history museum in the town which the kids loved.

If you are driving from Munich to Austria then stop of at Chiemsee for a paddle / swim.

Would you post a link to the restored house with pool?

That should say....The palace is also next to Salzburg Zoo which DD loved.

Altaussee is gorgeous for walks

The main town square in Munich is pretty and has a tower and a mechanical clock. DS loved the Nazi party museum and it's a good choice for younger kids as it focuses mainly on the growth of the Nazi party rather than the atrocities of the war, iyswim.

There's also a brilliant river with surfing! Which is very cool. In the summer most of the parks have little pop-up restaurants with outdoor seating. And of course most of the bier gartens have playparks attached which is a genius idea. You'll while away a couple of days there quite easily doing a river walk, town centre, picnics etc. The BMW museum is also good if you have petrol-heads in the family (I took a book, the cafe is great)

Avoid the museum of industry though (or it might be called the technology museum??) It's a bit dusty and all the info is in German (which is of course fair enough...) but we found it hard going.