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Help with Germany, Austria, France Sep-Oct itinerary

Posted by (Sydney, Australia) on

We are a family of 4 (parents and children aged 9 and 12) from Australia and would like to visit Austria, Germany and a bit of France in September/October. We love small picturesque towns, hiking, museums, swimming if possible (I understand that it’ll be autumn but if there’s a heated pool in the area we’ll probably be visiting it).

A few years ago we went to Germany (Heidelberg, Gengenbach and Europa Park), Switzerland (3 days in Wengen) and Italy (Cinque Terre, Florence, Siena, Trento and day trips from all the above) and loved our experience. It was a perfect mix of history, beautiful towns, nature, touristy and less touristy experiences.

What do you think about the below itinerary? We are especially hazy on the Austria / Dolomites part of it. Does it seem like too much time in some of the areas? Are any specific places must-see? Anything glaringly obvious we're not taking into account? Our flights are booked but other parts of this are flexible. E.g. this version doesn’t include Salzburg as it’s further along the route and there’s already so much driving, but perhaps it’s doable?

We probably want to avoid Switzerland this time because of how expensive it was last time.

The reason for stopping at Strasbourg (that’s where the car pick up and drop off will be) is because my sister lives there and we’re hoping to spend some time with family there.

Our plan is as follows:

  • Day 1. Fly into Paris and take a train to Reims
  • Day 2. Explore Reims
  • Day 3. Train Reims - Strasbourg; pick up rental car and drive Strasbourg to ? Freiburg? Hausach? - and stay the night
  • Day 4. Drive to Lindau or Meersburg or ?
  • Day 5. Explore Lindau Meersburg/?
  • Day 6. Drive Linday/Meersburg/? - Innsbruck
  • Day 7. Drive Innsbruck - Dolomites (e.g. Ortisei)
  • Days 8,9,10. Explore Dolomites
  • Day 11. Drive Dolomites - Innsbruck or another town in the Austrian Alps
  • Days 12, 13, 14, 15, 16. Explore Austrian Alps
  • Day 17. Drive from the Alps to a town on the way to Strasbourg (e.g. Konstanz?), stay overnight
  • Day 18. Drive from the town - Strasbourg
  • Days 19, 20, 21, 22. Strasbourg, Colmar, Europa Park
  • Day 23. Train Strasbourg - Paris
  • Days 24-25. Paris
  • Day 26. Fly out of Paris.

Thank you.

Posted by
2 posts

If you can get to Hallstatt, do it! We went based on RS recommendation in a program. We loved it so much, we stayed an additional day, just so we could relax and drink in the beauty.

Posted by
1633 posts

First, you're going to have to make sure you can rent a car that will be allowed to go everywhere you want to drive. That may not be easy.

It may be better to take the train from Reims straight to Konstanz unless there's something you really want to see around Strasbourg. Then you can see Mainau, which is much better than Lindau, and there's a nice ferry that will take you right to Meersburg, so you don't have to drive there and fight looking for parking. It drops you off right in the lower town. Or, you can take the car, and then drive down to the south end of the lake and into Austria, and avoid driving half way around the lake at 15 mph.

I'm not sure why you're planning on returning the same route (through Strasbourg); I wouldn't. I'd head for Basel from Innsbruck, and then head north via Nancy. A much more scenic route.

Posted by
7157 posts

Hi, sounds like you might be looking once again for "a perfect mix of history, beautiful towns, nature, touristy and less touristy experiences."

Your "Explore Austrian Alps" does lack specifics. IMO your interest in visiting Salzburg is not wrong. It's by no means a "backdoor" destination, and September will still mean plenty of fellow tourists, but you sound like perfect candidates. And if it turns out to be pricey, or booked up, no worries, as there are other places nearby where family accommodations should be available. I won't bore you with Salzburg's offerings, but I will point out some ideas for family-oriented sightseeing within the general area.

I am a little puzzled by your choice to do so much driving on this trip. Take Day 4, for example... Strasbourg > Lake Constance can be done by train, and the trip uses one of Germany's most scenic railways, the Black Forest Railway, to get there. Starting from Kehl or Offenburg, Germany instead of Strasbourg, the cost for this regional train trip to a lakefront town like Lindau is €36 with a day pass. The train journey from there to Salzburg, again by day pass, is €42. That said... your itinerary seems quite short on German destinations... A train trip from Lindau to the precious alpine town of Mittenwald would break up that trip and also costs just €42 for the family on a day pass.

Mittenwald... https://hastingshouse.typepad.com/hastings_house_us/2007/04/mittenwald_germ.html

Then make the train trip from there to Salzburg on another day pass.

Alternatively, you might hit Mittenwald on your long journey back to France from Austria... It is not far at all from Innsbruck by train.

Posted by
2623 posts

If you can spend 5 nights in the Salzburg area, I recommend the farm apartment here - www.neuwirtgut.at. It is just outside Salzburgnand has parking

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