Need opinions/advices on that itiniary

Firstly I assume you've checked how long the journeys wiill take on bahn.de.

Next I think you are sensible to write off day 1 to jetlag. My question would be whether to do this in Luxembourg city or Trier, and whichever you choose to consider visiting the other city on the return journey - obviously flight arrival and deparyure times may affect this but Trier is less than hour from the airport and has a lot to see.

Cochem / Boppard perhaps depends on what you want to do there, both are nice towns. Both have access to eg. castles, but some would argue the Rhine offers more than the Mosel, and you might find it easier to get to more places from Boppard, and from memory the boat service is better on the Rhine too which mightbe more enjoyable for juniors.

Berlin - there's enough there for your full 4 weeks, so don't underestimate the time there. It is a good base for day or half day trips and publictransport is good and cheap - get to grips with tickets and maps on www.bvg.de, and look at some of tbe outer suburbs. Taking the s-bahn plus a tram out to Woltersdorf or Muggelsee ought to be both fun and on a nice afternoon an opportunity for a dip in the lake. Potsdam should take a dayvtoo, and all these are within zone C tickets.

I would have thought 2 nights in Dresden was a bare minimum, but it depends what you want to do there. The better known attractions are not aimed at young children, but I guess another boat trip to perhaps Pillnitz would be fun. Is Saxon Switzerland too outdoorsy for children . your age?

Do you have an itinerary to fill 8 or 9 nighrs in Bavaria? You seem to be spending a relatively long time in the south - for me 2 or 3 nights in Nuremburg would be enough. Prien is really relaxing down by the lake, with boat trips out to the island with the castle and a little old steam train between the lake and the station - a good spot for a family. Local trains run hourly and take an hour to both Munich and Salzburg

Finally, investigate Länderkarte, or regional day tickets, on the bahn.de site. They often include eg. regional buses too.

mike9 has good advice. The regional tickets are good for a full day's travel for a group, I think after 9 a.m. Also, be aware that on tickets purchased through bahn.com one child 14 and under travels for free with an adult. With advance purchase first class tickets are only a bit more than second class, so this makes first class a very affordable luxury. Children get along better if they have lots of room and don't touch.

Just south of Cologne is a great amusement park called Phantasialand. If you pay up to stay at their hotel you can walk right out of the hotel into the park. Cologne is only about an hour by train from Koblenz and is worth a visit to see the cathedral and has great transportation options.

Dresden-Nuremberg 3-4 nights Nuremberg (or a small town not too far from Nuremberg)
-->Bamberg

Be aware that Cochem is probably the most overcrowded little town on the Moselle. The castle uphill (and the panorama) though are beautiful. Good alternative will be Bernkastel-Küs.

IMO ther are nicer destin ations on the Rhine than Boppard. For instance Bacharach.
But if Boppard, I recommend the Hunsrück railway

Thanks to all of you, your suggestions are always welcome !

''IMO ther are nicer destin ations on the Rhine than Boppard. For instance Bacharach.''

Boppard is not, of course, manmdatory. I was just looking at a place easily derved by train and that would allow us to do daytrip without having to change train to many times. Kobenz is another idea since many trains seems to go here first.

if you opt for two bases in the South (Franconia/Bavaria), you might consider putting Munich before Nuremberg/Bamberg - the overall travel time wouldn't change much, but would be more evenly distributed once taking into account that final trip back to Luxembourg.

the Rhine valley is notorious for freight trains - if you book, check whether your hotel mentions special precautions (e.g. sound proof windows).

@arizona : careful, though you can replace an ä, ö or ü with an ae, oe or ue, this doesn't work the other way round, so it stays Bernkastel-Kues at all times (it's a 'lengthening-e', thus pronounced 'Kuus/Kuhs'). to make it even meaner, Moers gets pronounced like an umlaut 'Möhrs', whereas in Buchloe the 'e' makes a third syllable Buchlo-é... :-)

@5: Koblenz is a good idea, this might be interesting (esp for the young ones:
http://www.seilbahn-koblenz.de/home-page.html

(PS re @5, Merci Nautiker, interesting to know.
Grüß and ... kus (and that's my mother tongue, i.e. miijn moers taal)

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