Sharing a few pics from my family trip in late August.
We spend two weeks, split in the middle between small(ish) towns in Germany (half timber vibe + castles) and Swiss Alps.
The itinerary was roughly: Heidelberg, Lucerne, Lauternbrunner/Wengen, Lake Constance.
In Germany we focused on small towns, my rule of thumb was old towns you can walk side to side in 20 minutes or less, so we can spend more time soaking in what is there instead of rushing from one attraction to the next. Loved Oppenheim, Spyer, Meersburg, Lindau, Bacharach and our short detour in France to Colmar. Heidelber was nice, especially the castle, and worked well as a base for exploration.
The Swiss Alps were the highlight of the trip. Stayed in Lauterbrunner for a couple days and Wengen for 3 more days. I used to spend my summers in the Dolomites as a kid and have incredible memories from those places. The Swiss Alps delivered for sure. The nature is amazing. I live around Seattle where we have mountains on one side and the Pacific ocean on the other, but the Alps are another level. Wengen was delightful. Just the right balance of an authetinc experience (at least, it was for me) and more touristy stuff (nice restaurants, groceries, lifts,...).
One thing I noticed is that while all of these were touristy spots, and could get very crowded in the middle of the day, there was pretty much nobody around earlier and later in the day. I was suprised I could go around Meersburg up until 9AM and not see more than a handful of turists. This struck me because I'm used to places like US national parks, or Banff where at 6AM the parking lots are full and trails already crowded. Even Lauternbrunner, which is a zoo around 4PM, was very quiet until mid morning.
Thanks to all of you who helped with feedback and ideas on the itinerary as I was building it!