Southern Bavaria or Tyrol Base

Just one small comment. If it were me, and my travel companions insisted on seeing Neuschwanstein for the 20-30 minute mandatory guided interior tour, I'd do it on the way to Munich, not as a day trip.

Hi Stan- Valid point. Not sure if we will have a car on the way back to Munich. Too far out to price options but I would imagine the country to country drop off fee would be pretty high. However that is some thing we could explore. We could take the day back and do multiple stops on our way to Munich depending on how that worked out. Last time we were coming from Munich with the car so just did a roundtrip so it wasn't a issue. Thanks for the suggestion.

Where best to stay depends on your plans for day trips. If you plan to stay in the Innsbruck area I recommend Seefeld.

We stayed here already several times: http://www.appartement-tirol.com/

I think the Garmisch area would be best. Innsbruck is about an hour and a half away. Reutte is about an hour. My personal favorite town in this area is Grainau. It is between Garmisch and the Zugspitz and is a lot less touristy than Garmisch and Mittenwald. However, I am not sure about apartments there. We stay at the Hotel Garni Post which is a family run B&B hotel. Most hotels in the area give you a card that allows you to ride the trains for free, so going into to Garmisch is quite easy. We went to Reutte for an afternoon, and it was a very pretty drive. (We didn't to the castles, we went to do the suspension bridge at Ehrenberg. We had visited Ehrenberg in 2001 before there was a bridge. We had the place all do ourselves. Much different now with the bridge)

I personally did not find Innsbruck very interesting, but the area around it is beautiful. You might consider driving down into the Subaital area just south of Innsbruck. The valley itself is beautiful with many lifts to get you up into the alps. There are multiple trails with different levels of difficulty. You don't say what your parents mobility abilities are, but there are some shorter walks to some great huts for meals. If they can't do that, there is a lift at the end of the valley that will deliver you directly onto the Stubaital Glacier (and a restaurant)

You will probably still want to return your car in Innsbruck and train to Munich, but you will have to price that out. I am still hoping to get back to this area in September of 2021...but we shall see. (We had to cancel our trip for September 2020)

I'd stay in Garmish as well. A good central point with ots to see and close to Innsbruck, as others have noted. Another place to visit would be Oberammergau, location of the Passion Play and wood carving center, as well as Ludwig's other castle - Linderhof Palace. These are a little north of Garmish, about a 30 minute drive, and well worth a visit.

Hi Connie- Thank you for your thoughtful response. I had a feeling that the Garmish area was probably the most central but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. We did not get down to Innsbruck last time or anywhere south of Fussen so we will need to try and fit that in this time. My parents are active but I wouldn't say hiking miles and miles. My husband and I do enjoy it and plan on doing some smaller excursions when possible. I agree about returning the car to Innsbruck but yes we will have to price it all out. I took a look and there are some options in Grainau. I will take a look at the town. I believe we drove by it on our way to the zugspitz.

Hi Susan- Thank you as well. We drove by Oberammergau on our last visit but I was just mentioning to my husband that we will need to stop there this next trip to check the town out. I was hoping to visit last time and have lunch at the mexican place in town as we were a bit tired of regional food but timing didn't work out. We visited Linderhof in 2019 and absolutely loved it. I have already told my parents that they will be going even if my husband and I just walk the grounds while they tour the palace. It is such a lovely part of the world.

i would skip Innsbruck. and if considering Interlacken, go up into the nearby mountain towns with incredible mountain views to stay instead of down in this transportation hub. Look at Wengen and Grindelwald. The mountain scenery there is awesome. You have traveled far to see this scenery so do your best to stay up there!!
Of all of the places we have visited on our many European trips, Neuschwanstein is at the top of our list for a waste of time!

You can get to Neuschwanstein by train from Austria, avoiding the drop off fee.

Suki- While I am aware that Switzerland is beautiful we will not be heading there this trip. We will have settle for the mountains of Germany and Austria. Next time! I agree about Neuschwanstein but my parents want to see it. I can’t say that I blame them. Everyone wants to see it at least once.

Rent a car from Autoeurope in Freilassing, Germany, about 15 minutes from Salzburg. At the time of writing, the drop of fee to Munich Airport is about $50 Canadian. With luggage, you will need a large wagon at the least.

There is more than enough for you to see and do for a week, no matter where you base, and it depends on how far you are willing to drive for a day trip (you'll have to research what may be of interest to you). In the past I've found that most places required little or no deposit, which may have changed due to recent circumstances. If in Bavaria, you'll have to book early, as the Passion Play folk will be out in full force. GP is a good central location, if Innsbruck and Füssen/Hohenschwangau are both musts for you. I liked the core of Innsbruck, and the excellent Schloss Ambras is just up the hill.

Oberammergau is prettier than GP, Mittenwald even more so (and prettier than Seefeld): there are lots of rentals in both. Mittenwald to Fussen is about 90 minutes. Less touristy villages, more likely to be more full of regional holiday makers. Krün, just north of Mittenwald, is set in a pretty valley setting. As is Oberau, just north of GP. Bad Bayersoien, which has good, easy walking around a lake and mountain views in the distance, is north of Oberammergau. Murnau is an attractive working town with easy walking by the river and in the moors. Use local tourist websites for information and accommodations. Not Reutte, I don't know why it is mentioned.

https://www.alpenwelt-karwendel.de/

https://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/

https://www.gapa.de/en

https://murnau.de/de/

Gundersen- Thank you for your feedback. These websites are great. Very helpful. So many more options compared to other booking sites. I will look over them in the upcoming months. Thanks again!

The once-per-decade Oberammergau Passion Play is scheduled to run 14 May to 2 October 2022. That may make you want to go there for the play... or stay away from it due to the crowds.

Personally, I would base out of two places after Hallstatt. One near Salzburg in the Salzkammergut or Berchtesgaden/Schönau am Königssee/Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden, then a second in the area of Garmisch-Partenkirchen/Mittenwald/Zugspitz Arena. You could consider driving from Salzburg naehe through Tyrol-Innsbruck staying predominantly in Austria for the drive between the two bases. There are just so many options for what to see. You would have to prioritize and be flexible weather dependent. I always thought there were many Ferienwohnungen in Mittenwald.

Gundersen’s post illustrates that there are better sites to find accommodations rather that the international internet ones. With only 1 exception, we have always found places to stay with local or town sites, which usually list ALL places to stay. They usually have the format www.TOWN NAME.de ( or .at for Austria ), There are exceptions such as the excellent alpenwelt site that covers 3-4 towns. Wikipedia usually lists the town’s site