Rent Car In Salzburg or Munich?

You have a big problem. Renting a car on one country and returning it in another either results in a huge surcharge or will not be allowed. I very much doubt you will be able to hire a car in either Salzburg or Munich and return it in Calais.

Point 2 (somewhat academic after point 1), Calais is not a good place to catch a train to London. It has very few trains (2 per day) which stop at a small station (Calais Fréthun) in the countryside outside the town. A much better place is Lille which has trains every 1-2 hours to London and car hire offices near the station.

Point 3, when you are looking up places, especially on the Internet, you need to spell them correctly and use the full name, not a shortened version, or you will not get the answer you want: Hallstatt, Rothenburg ob der Tauber

What is the rest of your itinerary for the trip? Do you need a car for just a period of time or do you need a car at all? What is the family make-up, as in ages?

Thanks, Chris and Sam. I am in the beginning stages of planning and will work on improving my spelling! Our family is two adults, a 17 year-old, and a 13 year-old. I have driven in Germany before with no problem on a previous trip, and was influenced by Rick Steves noting that car travel may be cheaper for a family instead of buying train tickets for everyone. Rough itinerary: we are starting in Prague and travelling across Europe, leaving from London. We want to see Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Hallstatt, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bacharach, Bruges, various Normandy sites, then London. I did not know that there would be high surchanges for a one-way car rental, that certainly changes the picture. Thanks for the hint about catching a London train from Lille. I am also considering taking the ferry from Calais. Again, any advice welcome, and thank you for responding!

Kim, yes the one way car hire catch is a "bummer".
Normandy is easier with a car, you just have to work out a plan that involves picking up and returning the car in France. One way car hire within a country is OK, as is taking it to another country, it is just returning it in another country that costs.
For example, Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Hallstatt, Train: Rothenburg ob der Tauber --> Bacharach --> Strasbourg (nice city), pick up car, --> Brugge --> Normandy. Do you have enough nights for this?

Ferries from Calais to Dover do exist, but since the Channel Tunnel opened they are they only exist by undercutting the faster Channel Tunnel car transporter, and have minimal facilities. They either don't accept foot passengers, or it if they accept them it is not a comfortable trip, you have to make your own way to and from the ports, and walk though the docks onto and off the ferries.

Another option, if you are visiting Normandy, is to take a ferry direct from (Normandy. Cherbourg, Caen or Le Havre) to Portsmouth. Drop off your car and catch the ferry. Portsmouth has things to see, and a good train service to London. These ferries are a longer journey, and more up-market than the Calais ones.
Details here: http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ferry-routes/ferries-to-france

If you want to rent a car for Germany, you could rent it in Freilassing, Germany, which is just over the border from Salzburg. All the biggies, Avis, Hertz, Sixt, National, Europecar have locations within a 10 or 15 minute walk from Feilassing train station. You could turn it in at Cologne Hbf, then go by train to Bruges, then to Lille, France and get another car for Normandy. That way you avoid any cross border drop fees.

These are incredibly helpful suggestions! Thank you both! Now I need to do more planning....

How many days would you use a car? If you go over 17, look at a lease. They charge a pick-up, drop-off if it's outside of France but not nearly as bad as a rental. I picked up in Amsterdam (I think $100) and dropped in Rome ($150). If either end is anywhere in France, there is no charge - or wasn't when I leased. I find renting is good for short trips and small cars. As you change countries or want a larger car, rental cars become less appealing and leases become more appealing. With four people, you will want something bigger than the base model. The lease rate includes full CDW, which was a good thing when I leased but not so much now that I use Amex CDW coverage.

If you want to do some price comparisons, ViaMichelin will give you suggested routes and display both tolls and estimated fuel costs. Exceptionally scenic roads are marked in green; you'll probably have to zoom in to see the color. VM's driving times don't allow for any stops, getting lost, looking for parking, etc.; even aside from that, a lot of people say they are a bit optimistic. Still probably better than other sources.

A few other things to consider when you weigh car vs. rail:

• Four people with four people's luggage means not a tiny car. When you stop for lunch or mid-day sightseeing on your way to a new hotel, it is critical that there be nothing visible inside your car. How large a vehicle will you have to rent to be sure of enough trunk space? There are lots of narrow streets in European towns where you'll wish you were in a Mini Cooper. Travel light!

• Germany, in particular, has some great deals on regional day-tickets. There's often a further price advantage when several people are ticketed together. When you have more details about your time in Germany, there are folks on the forum who can tell you what kind of tickets will work for each leg. I'm pretty sure that not all the best deals show up when you price tickets on the Deutsche Bahn website. (I trust that someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

• In many situations you will pay for parking.

• If you rent a car in a different country and cross into Austria or Switzerland, you'll need to buy a highway vignette.

• For long trips between major cities, trains are sometimes much faster than cars.

• If you take a train, everyone (including the driver) can eat on the way. And the driver gets to enjoy the scenery, vs. keeping his eyes glued to the road when surrounded by glorious mountain vistas.

• There are some tremendous bargains to be had if you buy long-distance express train tickets right after they go on sale. Most of your travel legs will probably not fall in that category, but for the ones that do, you can save a lot by locking down the date and departure time. But don't do it until you're sure; the best deals are on non-refundable/non-changeable tickets.

I spent some time in Normandy this summer, using trains and buses, but I agree that it would be really nice to have a car there. There are lots of attractive small towns that you can reach faster if you have a car. In most places, if your guide book is talking about buses, you'll get around faster if you rent a car. However, I don't think it's worth doing that just to avoid one bus trip. Dealing with car-rental agencies takes time.

I'm with ChrisF on the ferry from the Normandy area. If you're going to be in Normandy then it makes sense to take the ferry from Cherbourg, Le Havre, Caen or St. Malo. You can take a 6 hour daytime crossing or an 11 hour overnight one or the fastcat from Cherbourg to Portsmouth takes 3 hours.

There's plenty to see in Portsmouth or you can simply take the train or coach and go elsewhere. The train from Portsmouth Harbour to London Waterloo takes roughly the same time as the train from Dover. For me I would save the 4+ hours drive from Normandy to Calais and take the fastcat from Cherbourg (or the overnight ferry for a bit of fun, there's a disco on board, an area geared up for teenagers etc) and take the train from Portsmouth.

'm pretty sure that not all the best deals show up when you price tickets on the Deutsche Bahn website. (I trust that someone will correct me if I'm wrong about that.)

I'm sorry to contradict you, but that's wrong; for connections within Germany, there is no better source of information (only exception: combining tickets of adjacent Verkehrsverbünde to undercut the price of a regular DB ticket, which is a matter of experience but won't save large sums). For connections abroad this can be different, because the DB website here sometimes offers either no price at all or the standard fare only (best example: Munich - Prague, where bargain tickets are available at the website of Czech Railways but not on DB's). In that cases sites like trainline.eu should be compared.