Germany

In the summer of 2015, my husband got an opportunity to travel to Munich, Germany for a month-long work training. We excitedly jumped at the opportunity to tag along and prepared to explore all that Germany had to offer. We spent most of our month in Germany in the southern state of Bavaria, opting to reduce travel time in favor of spending the short time we had at the attractions visited. All our trips were daytrips, opting to reduce hoteling costs, since we were already paying for an accommodation in Munich. There was a lot to see in and around Bavaria, so we did not feel as if we were missing out. My husband worked on weekdays, on many occasions late into the night, so we only had weekends to travel as a family. I did take the kids on day trips on weekdays, as you will see below.

Here are some practical information we learned during our month-long stay in Germany (as of June 2015).
Most grocery stores in Munich close on Sundays. If you are in a bind, convenience grocery marts in train stations tend to be open on Sundays, albeit, at a higher price.

The trains in Germany are a great and economical way to travel. It was a nice break from driving and navigating, being able to enjoy fully the vast expanse of green open space every time we pulled out of city center. The D-Bahn (DeutschBahn) travels long distances outside of the city. D-Bahn offers many different types of tickets. The one we used most often was the unlimited one day intra-state travel (ex: Bayern or Bavaria Ticket) for 23 EU first person over age 15, add 5 EU for every additional person over 15 years old (to a max of 5 persons). Kids younger than 15 years old of the 1st person travel free. It took me a while to figure this out, but with a pass such as this, even if you had purchased and set the itinerary online, you could change your destination; the tickets would still be valid, if travel was still on the day it was purchased for and travel is still within the state. Machines in train stations sell these passes, so you don't have to pre-purchase to get the great prices. This pass also included travel on local public buses and trains, both at the city that you start your trip and at your destination. Our family of 4 (sans husband) to 5 (when husband had the day off) traveled often on these 23 EU to 28 EU train tickets (that is 23-28 EU for the entire family, not per person). There are also tickets allowing unlimited nationwide train travel for a weekend for under 50 EU for the 1st person, with a nominal amount added for additional persons.

Within Munich there are two train lines. The S-Bahn that run to the suburbs and the U-Bahn that serves only the urban center. In city center, there tends to be both train lines. We purchased monthly passes at the airport. There are different monthly passes, some with time limitations on when you can travel. For example, the pass that only allows weekday travel after 9am (and weekend travel for the entire 24 hours each day) was the lowest price. Be sure to explore all the ticket options available, especially if you will be in the city for more than a day or two, or if you're traveling with kids. Kids under 15 ride free with a parent holding a monthly pass. Train tickets are valid on public buses and trams as well and vice versa. If you can, ride Tram# 17 within Munich, it takes you past many sculptures and beautiful buildings in Munich.

Here are our family travels in Germany: