We went in 2007 in August/Sept with a 14mth old and a nearly 4 year old for 7 weeks. We are also contemplating going again next year with 3 kids.

We have found that the best thing to do is lease a car through either Peugot or Renault if you are going to be there longer then a couple of weeks. Having the car especially with children represents so much flexibility and freedom. Also leasing the car is cheaper in the long run (ie over 3 weeks or more) then hiring a car and you get a brand new car straight off the showroom floor! Check out Peugot and Renault's websites for more info, you can even look at each individual type of car and how much boot space each car has for luggage etc.

In 2007 we picked up our car in Milan, Italy drove up through the north of Italy through to Croatia (we both have family there) where we stayed for a few weeks. We then drove and spent some time in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland and Italy again.

Having been to the Oktoberfest it isnt the worst thing to do taking a child as there are festival rides, lots of food stalls, parades, lots of people in costume and you could still even take her into a beer hall for a drink and some food.

We just went with the flow a bit in regards to stopping and starting according to the kids needs and every time we saw a park or playground we automatically stopped to give the kids a chance to run around.

Accom wise we stayed in hotels that were usually central to each location we wanted to base ourselves in and were at least 3 star...nothing too flash but something that was comfy and clean.

We had a ball and like I said cant wait to do it agin hopefully () next year.