How I Accidentally Planned a Trip to Germany With Two Little Kids

An inside look at my slightly absurd travel planning style.

We’re about to fly to Germany for two weeks with our kids, ages two and five. When I started planning our annual family trip three months ago, the country wasn’t even on my radar.

We wanted to go to Lisbon, but flights from San Diego were expensive, with arduous connections, and I couldn’t find a good home exchange. So I expanded my search to flights across Europe and came across a well-priced flight to Frankfurt with a quick domestic layover.

While Frankfurt didn’t seem like the ideal destination for an extended family trip, I’d heard Munich, just three hours away by train, was particularly kid-friendly. It also turns out that the home exchange options in Munich are plentiful. And the Bavarian Alps are nearby. I was sold!

I booked our basic economy tickets and confirmed a home exchange near Nymphenburg Palace: a ground-floor apartment with bunk beds, bikes, and a leafy patio.

But soon I realized that the train journey to Munich was more expensive and longer than it first appeared. And logistically, we’d need to stay a couple of nights in Frankfurt and rent a car to explore greater Bavaria, where home exchange opportunities are sparse. Suddenly, this trip felt a little more complicated.

After much searching, I found a second home exchange in the medieval town of Bad Tölz at the foot of the Alps. I lined up the train, car, and hotel.

Then came the fun part. I booked tickets to a marionette show and a production of Pippi Longstocking (my childhood favorite!) at Munich’s acclaimed children’s theater. I mapped out top-rated biergartens with adjacent forest-inspired playgrounds and saved the best family museum days to our itinerary. I read about a quaint Brothers Grimm–themed amusement park and a world-class science museum with an entire area devoted to kids under six. I made plans to ride a gondola up a mountain and spend a day in the nearby lake district for some easy hiking and boating. We might even visit the castle that inspired Disneyland’s.

In the weeks leading up to our departure, I’ve ordered books on Germany from the library and have been reading from our Grimm’s Fairy Tales treasury. (So far, my oldest is still most excited about watching movies on the plane.)

The purpose of our trips isn’t to check off churches, museums, and Michelin-starred restaurants. For me, travel is about seeing beautiful and interesting things and satisfying my cravings for novelty and adventure. I’m also looking for inspiration in an unapologetically environmentally conscious country that values a childhood defined by nature and play. I’m curious to experience how German families live and open our eyes to new possibilities.

In a few weeks, I’ll report back on how it all went. Here we go!

Want the full itinerary, tips on traveling with little kids, or home swapping strategies? Let me know in the comments.