Bavaria runs on the happy coincidence that what looks like a fairy tale to a six-year-old reads as history to everyone older. Neuschwanstein is the obvious case, a castle so improbably perfect that Disney borrowed it, with Hohenschwangau and the gilded Linderhof close enough to fold into a single castle day. Behind them rise the Bavarian Alps and the Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak, where Garmisch-Partenkirchen handles winter skiing and ski schools and summer swaps in hiking and biking for every level. When the family wants flat water, Lake Chiemsee supplies beaches and boat rides, and the Bavarian Forest hangs the Baumwipfelpfad treetop walk above the canopy, the rare viewpoint that thrills the kids more than the parents.

Munich gives the region its city day, and it is built for short attention spans: the Deutsches Museum is one of the world's great hands-on science halls, Hellabrunn is among Germany's oldest zoos, and the Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz turn lunch into a wander. The food is famously easygoing, pretzels and sausages and schnitzel, and the beer gardens deserve a mention of their own, since they are genuinely set up for families, gravel for the kids to tear around in while the adults finally sit. The hotels run from luxury alpine resorts with kids' clubs and indoor play floors down to traditional guesthouses in the countryside, so a family can aim the trip at castles, mountains, or city and still find a base that fits without compromise.