I'll be attending the Oberammergau Passion Play next May or June. Our party will include my wife, our 2 kids, my in-laws, and myself. Rather than force our kids (ages 5 and 8, respectively, at the time) to sit through the lengthy play, our plan is for the in-laws to attend the play first, while my wife and I take the kids to Neuschwanstein. A couple of days later, we'll leave the kids in the keeping of the in-laws for the day while my wife and I attend the play.

So I'm loooking for suggestions for how the in-laws could most conveniently and profitably (i.e., entertainment value, not cash profit) spend the day with the kids. My in-laws speak no German and are relative travel novices, so itineraries requiring "find-your-own-way" skills are to be avoided.

Our current best plan is for the kids and in-laws to spend the day at the PlaymobilPark jus outside of Nuremberg. We can drop them off at the hotel that's part of the park the night before, and pick them up the morning after we see the play. This plan is almost ideal; the only problem is that it's about 2 1/2 hours' drive between Oberammergau and Nuremberg.

Any ideas for something closer to Oberammergau?

There are way too many things to do with children. To give a real good answer, a little bit more information would be useful, e.g. what are the main interests for the kids? Boys or girls? How old are your in-laws? Are you driving by car or by train?

Expect looooong lines and a rather small castle in Neuschwanstein. There are more - and by far less crowded - castles in Bavaria, e.g. Schlo� Herrenchiemsee. You could also consider Legoland, the Salzbergwerk Berchtesgaden or the Deutsche Museum in Munich. Pls. keep in mind that the drive from Oberammergau to N�rnberg is more in the 3-hour region - and even more on heavy traffic. Getting around is easy and does not require German - just a good map. Best if you buy them in one of the many gas stations or book shops.

There is also Europa Park theme park, which is in the Black Forest region. The five year old might not be interested, but there is also a film studio around Munich that gives tours. Not sure if that is only in German, but it is something else to investigate.

Though not necessarily kid-oriented, they may enjoy the boat rides on one of the lakes in the area: Starnberger See, Amersee or Tegernsee.
Those are very lively places, when the weather is nice you can even go to the "beach", go to nice outdoor cafes, ice-cream parlors, etc.

If the weather is bad, the Deutsches Museum is great idea... it has some sort of planetarium on the rooftop and an Imax nearby, if you kids are not "that" into musems...

Munich indeed offers a large variety of attractive options to entertain kids.
It really depends, as already mentioned, how old your kids are, boys, girls, their intersts...

Legoland in Guenzburg (near Ulm) is another option for a day-trip. Many hotels nearby.
Oberammergau - Guenzburg is a 2h ride, 200 km.

The town of Garmisch is about 10 miles south. They could take the bahn up to the Zugspitze which is the highest mountain in Germany. They could even ski.

Walking around Garmisch is great too. The town of Mittenwald south of Garmisch is known for violin. I believe they made Mozart's violin.

I saw the passion play in 84. It was a special showing. You will enjoy it.

I spent many of my childhood summers in Bavaria, and there are a few things I always enjoyed.

1. As mentioned, going up to the summit of the Zugspitze on the cog-wheel train. There will be snow at the top, and there's an outdoor observation terrace, etc.

2. The sled track on the Blomberg close to Bad Toelz. Always a highlight - but I can't find an English website.

3. The Alpamare waterpark in Bad Toelz - great for kids.

Bad Toelz is about 60km from Oberammergau.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Sorry I forgot to mention the 5 y.o. is a boy who is interested in all things "Bob the Builder" (not the brand specifically, just construction equipment and machines in general) and obsessed with musical instruments and airplanes. The 8 y.o. is a girl interested in art and (currently, at least) WebKinz World.

Both kids play quite a bit with Playmobil toys, but have very little experience with Legos. However, Legoland is still a good suggestion (I visited the [original?] one in Denmark in the 70s and loved it, though I was a Lego nut at the time), and one I'll look into since it could reduce the schlepping back and forth. From a quick initial look, it's highly valuable to our needs that they seem to have an on-site hotel like the one at PlaymobilPark.

I'm also going to look into the Zugspitze, though my concern would be that it might not consume enough of the day. Maybe throw in a boat ride on the Koenigssee or other nearby lake, as suggested. But I can imagine my wife having a constant anxiety attack thinking of the kids on a lake while she's not there.

Mittenwald is an interesting suggestion. I've been there (and stumbled upon a Beer 'n' Brats hoedown for locals, featuring live American Country-Western music (a German band), of all things! My son would just go nuts to see a shop full of violins. But he'd have to be dragged out screaming when he couldn't play with them all.

I think for the kinds of things that are more rural and closer to Oberammergau, a little navigating might be doable for the in-laws, so Bad Toelz is also worth a look (I drove to Bad Toelz from Oberammergau a couple of years ago to get a sim card, so I know it's close by). But getting them into/out of/around in Munich by remote control would create too much stress for them and too much stress for me worrying that they'd get lost.

I should also have mentioned that I have a reasonable knowledge of the geography of the area, can speak German reasonably well, and am quite confident of my own ability to get around. We'll probably be in 2 cars.

If you're planning on doing a few castles in Bavaria, we found the Bavarian Castles pass very useful.
It's vaid for Neuschwanstein(but not Hohenshwangau), Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee amongst others & is valid for 2 weeks from when you first buy it/use it.
If you go onto the Bavarian castles website it will show you where all the palaces & castles are in the region.
You just buy it from the 1st Palace/Castle you visit.
It cost us �35 for the 2 of us last October, saved a lot of fussing about for change & it paid for itself after seeing 2 castles.

The K�nigsee Salt Mine is both fun and interesting. I went there as a child and thoroughly enjoyed it! It's good fun for the kids because you dress as a minor to visit the mine on... slides! A great family outing.