my germany plan

You might set aside some time to visit and tour both Mainz and Frankfurt, 2 of Germanys' very historic cities, and both offer some great sights.

The drive from Freiburg to Fussen is not that bad. I've done it. We stopped at Lake Constance (Bodensee) for lunch and to look around. It is very pretty there. Do you already have your airline ticket? If you don't, you might consider flying home from Munich. The night you stay in Rothenburg, be sure to take the Night Watchman's tour. It is a lot of fun and informative at the same time. You plan seems very well thought out. I hope you have a great trip!

As mentioned, if you don't already have airline tickets, fly into FRA and return from MUC to save a day. I've driven from Freiburg to both Rothenburg & Füssen so am familiar with the area. Coming from Mainz, you could save some driving time by first going to Rotherburg and then to Freiburg. This would also give you the opportunity, as Andrea mentioned, of continuing on to Füssen via the scenic route of Lake Constance (lunch in Lindau). There are great views of the Swiss Alps across the lake. Ruette is one of Rick's favorite places, but I think Füssen or a village even closer to the castles (like Schwangau) is a better location to stay. After your 2nd night in Berchtesgaden I'd suggest that you visit Salzburg and then continue on to the lake district (Salzkammergut) to spend the next 2 nights. You'd be closer to Hallstatt for the next day's visit. One of the towns on the Wolfgangsee; St. Wolfgang or St. Gilgen, are nice places to stay. Then, of course, you'd want to drive back into Germany to return your car to avoid a big dropoff fee. Have a great trip!

Hi Gordon, Quick question... you say pick up car in Mainz, drive to all your stays, but then you say train from Berchtesgaden to Munich. Where are you dropping the car before heading to Miunich? Just wondering. I can only comment on the Rothenburg, Fuessen and Berchtesgaden parts of your trip as I've never been to the Black Forest area. Your plan looks very good to me. Staying the night in Rothenburg gives you the chance to go on the Nightwatchman's Tour (at 8pm) and see the town after the tour buses have left. 2 nights in Fuessen (area) is also good enough. See the castles, ride the luge (Sommerrodelbahn) and cable car at Tegelberg (1 mile or so from the castles), plus the Zugspitze trip is nearby in Ehrwald, Austria. I think the 4 nights in the Berchtesgaden area is good. We did the same a few times. Salzburg is close and easy to visit from here. Some nights we'd do the 20 min. or so drive just to visit Salzburg during the evenings. We also visited Hallstatt, which is a 1:30 min. drive, during our stay in Berchtesgaden area. Overall I think you have a good plan. Paul

Thanks Tim, Paul and Andrea I intend to return the car at Berchtesgaden then take a train via Salzburg and get to Munich. After Munich , I plan to take a regional train to Wurzburg as a short stopover to see the residenz and have lunch before getting to frankfurt on the day of my flight which is late in the night. I am using this rental car agency website called
www.https://auto-hire-online.com/ They seem to be the only one that is able to allow me to get a car in Mainz and then return it at berchtesgaden. I have tried avis, hertz and europ car but they don't seem to allow the return of the car at berchtesgaden. They also seem to give quite good deals. anybody here knows how reliable they are? Are there any any other rental agencies I can consider? Yes I have considered driving from Freiburg to Fussen/Ruette via lake constance but doing that would mean I miss out on the drive from Rothenburg to Fussen/Ruette. I take comfort that I would see just as good scenery I hope when I drive the shorter distance from berchtesgaden to hallstatt . Am I right here? BTW when I drive to Hallstatt must I buy a Austria pass which allows one to drive on Austrian autobahn to drive there? Thanks everybody for your kind advice.

"must I buy a Austria pass" Yes, if you are going to drive in Austria you must do this.

Hi, You can buy a 10 day Austrian "Vignette" (toll sticker for highways) for 7.90 Euro at gas stations, etc. In Germany and Austria. Have you tried contacting www.gemut.com? We rented a car through them for our last 3 trips. Good rates and service. Paul

If driving from the Munich area towards Salzburg and you don't want to spring under €8 for a 10 day Vignette you should leave the German Autobahn at or before Junction 115 for Bad Reichenhall and take surface streets. A (?Bonus?) for that is a stop could be made at the outlet mall.

Hi Gordon, You don't need to use a rental co. that will allow you to return the car in Berchtesgaden. Freilassing, Germany is a 45 minute drive from Berchtesgaden and you'll find you can drop off Avis, National, Europcar, Kemwel, etc. cars there. I'd still recommend getting a quote from www.gemut.com. Paul

I have not used a GPS before and plan to use one in germany but how do I use in to make sure I take the more scenic route from Reutte/Fussen to Berchtesgaden(as I notice there are quite a few route there.) Sorry if this is a silly question. thanks.

Hi again Gordon, Previously you wrote: "Yes I have considered driving from Freiburg to Fussen/Ruette via lake constance but doing that would mean I miss out on the drive from Rothenburg to Fussen/Ruette." The drive from Rothenburg to Fuessen is nothing special. In fact, the Romantic Road is nothing special. It's simply a non- descript 2 lane road with a couple of charming old towns along the way. As for "scenic" roads, they're practically everywhere. The Fussen area, the Berchtesgaden area, Hallstatt area, you name it. The scenery in general is gorgeous. Here's a link to our photo's of these area's: www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html Paul

The drive from the Bodensee (Lake Constace) to Füssen is much more scenic than the Romatic Road south to Füssen. Much of the former is within sight of the Alps. Other than about the last hour of the latter, when the Alps pop up on the horizon, the drive along the Romantic Road is no more special than any other secondary route in Germany.

You're not going to Berlin? That's too bad.

OK - I've just gotta post; I've wanted to post for two days now, but I'm definitely in the minority... This itinerary exhausts me!!! And I like to Go! Go! Go! You aren't 'staying' anywhere, except the last day in Munich (with the possible exception of RodT if you eliminate Freiburg and spend time IN RodT). Unless you leave very early every day, you'll arrive at your next destination in time for dinner. Then the next day, you either leave for the next town, or you spend the day driving around on a day trip. I don't think the trip is not doable, just awfully busy. Maybe it's just me; it wouldn't be the first time ;-)