Itinerary Suggestions Please

3rd Ed in June for 10days, traveling with 2kids who are 11 and 4 years old.
We have been to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, southern part of Germany including famous castles, and paris for 1st & 2nd ED.
We are thinking about two options.

1st option:
June 20:JFK to FRA, ICE to Munich
June 22: Pick up, heading to swiss (maybe Jungflau?, any special destination for kids?)
June 26: Heading to Franfurt
June 27: Drop off the car and take a train to London. My wife wants to go London.
June 30: To JFK

2nd option
June 20:JFK to FRA, ICE to Munich
June 22: Pick up, heading to swiss (maybe Jungflau?, any special destination for kids?)
June 25:Venice
June 27:Nice/Monaco
June 28/29rop off at Nice
June 30: To JFK

Any suggestion will be really appreciated.

I like the second option better.

I have that second itinerary (only Tuscany instead of Venice) planned out to a great detail for an ED we were planning that ended up getting canceled.

I can post, if there's interest.

Not being to either yet, I'd pick the second option. I'm going through Switzerland and although it's beautiful around Lucerne, Interlaken and Jungfrau, they won't be as memorable for "I've been to _____" in option 2. The kids will be bored at both locations but slightly less in option 2.

Originally Posted by zoltrix

I like the second option better.

I have that second itinerary (only Tuscany instead of Venice) planned out to a great detail for an ED we were planning that ended up getting canceled.

I can post, if there's interest.

I agree with Zoltrix on the 2nd iten and would also suggest Tuscany/Firenze instead of Venice.

Venice is nice for a couple days, but Tuscany provides both the awesomeness that is Florence (they call it Firenze), fantastic driving, and lots of wine.

Originally Posted by drkM5

3rd Ed in June for 10days, traveling with 2kids who are 11 and 4 years old.
We have been to Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, southern part of Germany including famous castles, and paris for 1st & 2nd ED.
We are thinking about two options.

1st option:
June 20:JFK to FRA, ICE to Munich
June 22: Pick up, heading to swiss (maybe Jungflau?, any special destination for kids?)
June 26: Heading to Franfurt
June 27: Drop off the car and take a train to London. My wife wants to go London.
June 30: To JFK

2nd option
June 20:JFK to FRA, ICE to Munich
June 22: Pick up, heading to swiss (maybe Jungflau?, any special destination for kids?)
June 25:Venice
June 27:Nice/Monaco
June 28/29rop off at Nice
June 30: To JFK

Any suggestion will be really appreciated.

I am picking up an M5 on June 21, did they confirm you for a Saturday (June 22) delivery?

I can comment on parts of your trip, as I am traveling with a 13 and a 10 y/o heading south and staying three days in Murren before heading for 3 nights in Cinque Terre and 10 days in Provence, deliberately avoiding Nice and Monaco. Never been to the Bernese, but between hopping on the cable cars and going on easy hikes, maybe rent some bikes, there should be plenty of fun stuff for your kids to do. I studied some routes that have stops where you can do chocolate and cheese factory tours, which I am not doing. The second option (and also the first one IMO) has a lot of driving in a short period of time, but that may be your preference. With the first option you have some swiss dropoffs and do not have to drive all the way to Frankfurt, just a suggestion. Finally, with the time you have, I would take the more geographically sensible of your two options, not go to Venice, do the Bernese and then head towards Nice/Monaco. I am dropping off in Nice, but will be spending some time in Provence instead. There are some nice hotels further inland from Nice and Monaco that have pools that would be nice for the children and less snobby than Nice/Monaco, in my opinion sterile, pretentious, and overrated. Check Hotel Le Hameau in St Paul de Vence, which is outside of Nice and with ready access to the dropoff and a few mins cab ride to the airport:

http://www.le-hameau.com

Since you have a car, I would leave London for a future trip and take advantage of your wheels. That is a destination on its own.

Here was my writeup with my initial itinerary which I reviewed after some great feedback I got from other festers, is around your same dates, same potential stops and dropoffs, with two kids, and looks like maybe even the same car:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...59#post7354659

Let us know when you finalize the itinerary. Maybe we coincide and can say hello. Good luck.

Originally Posted by neurom

I am picking up an M5 on June 21, did they confirm you for a Saturday (June 22) delivery?

I can comment on parts of your trip, as I am traveling with a 13 and a 10 y/o heading south and staying three days in Murren before heading for 3 nights in Cinque Terre and 10 days in Provence, deliberately avoiding Nice and Monaco. Never been to the Bernese, but between hopping on the cable cars and going on easy hikes, maybe rent some bikes, there should be plenty of fun stuff for your kids to do. I studied some routes that have stops where you can do chocolate and cheese factory tours, which I am not doing. The second option (and also the first one IMO) has a lot of driving in a short period of time, but that may be your preference. With the first option you have some swiss dropoffs and do not have to drive all the way to Frankfurt, just a suggestion. Finally, with the time you have, I would take the more geographically sensible of your two options, not go to Venice, do the Bernese and then head towards Nice/Monaco. I am dropping off in Nice, but will be spending some time in Provence instead. There are some nice hotels further inland from Nice and Monaco that have pools that would be nice for the children and less snobby than Nice/Monaco, in my opinion sterile, pretentious, and overrated. Check Hotel Le Hameau in St Paul de Vence, which is outside of Nice and with ready access to the dropoff and a few mins cab ride to the airport:

http://www.le-hameau.com

Since you have a car, I would leave London for a future trip and take advantage of your wheels. That is a destination on its own.

Here was my writeup with my initial itinerary which I reviewed after some great feedback I got from other festers, is around your same dates, same potential stops and dropoffs, with two kids, and looks like maybe even the same car:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...59#post7354659

Let us know when you finalize the itinerary. Maybe we coincide and can say hello. Good luck.

Thank you very much for your suggestion. My pick up date is confirmed at 9 am on Saturday. I am picking an 650GC and will look for the M5.