Itinerary Tips for summer 2026 with children

Travel to Germany via Brussels to keep the costs down. A reservation on the ICE to Germany is just €3; Paris to Strasbourg starts at €10; Paris to Germany is €19.

Slovenia:

In Slovenia i can recommend the Regionalpark Škocjanske caves an the area arraound them. Unfortunatly a bit harder to reach as it is quite some distance from the nearest train station Divaca.

Slovenia also offers lots of Mountains and places to hike. But it might be more difficult to get those places by public transit (compared to switzerland)

Switzerland:

Switzerland of course has a lot of scenic train rides.

I highly recommend taking the Albula and Bernina Route from Switzerland to Italy. Its pretty scenic. 

The train from Interlaken to Luzern is also nice. (ca. 2h) In case you take that train and have some time Luzern you could visit the Museggmauer (old city wall with some towers to go up including a small museum of old clocks.)

If you happen to Travel close to Interlaken in Switzerland i can recommend going to Lauterbrunnen to see some of the many waterfalls.

Also the cable car going from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp is included in the Interrail pass. Worth a trip if you happen to be in the area.

The same is also true for the BLS ships on lake Brienz and lake Thun (both leaving from interlaken) including the historic steam ones.

Italy:

Near Napoli there is a great train Museum which i can recommend.

In Italy i mostly visited big cities, so i dont have recommendations that quite fit what you are looking for. (Rome, napoli, venice)

But Italy and croatia are your places for coast and beaches.

Croatia: 

My experiences with the trains in croatia was not that good. If you plan to go from Zagreb to split i would recommend the night train over the day trains as it is kind of a long journey otherwise. But that journey also offers some interesting views. My experience in croatia is also not that representative as indid not take that many trains there. But i would avoid tight connections as most routes also dont run that often.

I’m still open for more itinerary suggestions please, even though it appears as ‘solved’!

Thinking of honing the trip down to Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy!

Do you know any specific places you want to stay in Germany or Switzerland as those are places which i have travelled a lot (I live in Germany)

Do you Plan to travel via Bruxelles or Paris? 

If you happen to travel to Hamburg you shoul definitly visit the Miniaturwunderland which is a giant model railway. It is absoluty worth a visit if it even interests you a bit. But it should be reeserved in advanced as it is very popular (for good reasons)

In Schauffhausen ( close to the border between Germany and Switzerland) are the Rhine falls which are impressive and good for a short stop (2-4h) From Schaffhausen you can also take the Black forest line  to Offenburg which is also a somewhat scenic Route. Another location on that line good for a short stop is Triberg, there is a short hike starting from the train station which also has information on the railway line and some nice viewpoints.

Thank you - all these suggestions are wonderful!

I will add more suggestion to this over time. Maybe i will at some point add all these locations together to a separate recommendation post at some point. 

I usually only had short stops in Switzerland as it is a bit expensive. But i have now done most of the scenic Routes there.

The Albula/Bernina line and the Golden Pass line are my favorites. I once did the Scenic Route from Zermatt to Chur on regional trains, but that takes quite a few hours to do. Its also nice, but i would recommend the other 2 Routes more..

Once you have a bit more of a Plan i am also willing to give you tips for your route planning.

The good thing about Germany, Austria and Switzerland is that reservation are nearly all optional. 

Thanks everyone!

okey..i made a list of a route, just so you can experience the most.
Not going to suggest locations for overnights and sightseeing (that is too much work 😅)

Londen - Paris 

Paris - Montreux 

Montreux - Interlaken Ost

Interlaken Ost - Como San Giovanni

Como San Giovanni - Genova Piazza Principe

Genova Piazza Principe - Rome

Rome - Salerno

Salerno - Termoli

Termoli - Perugia

Perugia - Triest

Triest - Divaca - Pula

Pula - Roc - Buzet

Buzet - Rijeka

Rijeka - Zagreb 

Zagreb - Osijek

Osijek - Varazdin

Varazdin - Zabok

Zabok - Ljubljana

Ljubljana - Ptuj

Ptuj - Ormoz

Ormoz - Murska Sobota

Murska Sobota - Maribor

Maribor - Graz

Graz - Wenen

Wenen - Ebensee

Ebensee - Innsbruck

Innsbruck - Bregenz 

Bregenz - St.Gallen

St.Gallen - Rapperswill-Jona

Rapperswill-Jona - Zurich

Zurich - Schaffhausen

Schaffhausen - Freudenstadt

Freudenstadt - Heidelberg

Heidelberg - Neurenberg

Neurenberg - Dresden

Dresden - Fulda

Fulda - Saarbrucken

Saarbrucken - Trier

Trier - Brussel

Brussel - London
 

Wow - thanks Nieke!! 😊

It's ofcourse just an idea to see the most of it all, but in the end, you know what your family likes and needs. There is so much to see and explore. Not everything has to fit in 1 vacation. 

Planning a big trip takes some time, especially with finding sleeping arrangements for 4 people.

Good luck with your planning 🤗

Regarding some of the cities:

Dresden: Great city to visit. There are a couple of narrowgauge railways arround Dresden.

Nürnberg (Neurenberg): The DB Museum is located here and i recommend visiting it. Otherwise i dont know much about this city.

Zürich: Nice city 

Brussel: Great city, lots of stuff to do. Also has a coool train museum (yes i visited a lot of train museums arround europe)

Trier: maybe a good choise for a daytrip or a short stay, not sure if a longer stay makes sense there.

Ljubjana: 2 full days +  daytrips are a good idea to plan for this city.

Do you plan to move more between places or do you prefere staying in a place for a bit longer and doing some day trips arround it?