Should we rent a car to explore Germany (Bavaria region) and Austria?

I really love the freedom of having a car to explore Bavaria. Driving is easy and scenic. I would pick up a car when I left Munich because you really don't need it in the city and parking is expensive. Car rentals in Germany are relatively inexpensive. I've had good experiences renting from gamut.com. If you can pick up the car in Munich itself, not at the airport, you can also avoid the significant surcharge for renting at an airport. Not sure how much it is in Munich, but in Frankfurt that tax can add about 20% to the entire rental.

My husband and I rented in the summer of 2012 for ten days. We picked up the car in Berlin and dropped off in Munich. We had the car for ten days and went through auto-Europe and the car was from hertz. We paid about $375. (It had GPS and was an automatic) It was one of our best trips. We drove to small towns only such as weinhein, wurzburg, rothenburg, garmish, fussen. Just make sure you read the contract about filling the gas tank before returning the car. You could get stuck for a high fee. My husband did all the driving and I was on sign duty. We had no trouble, just a great trip.

I usually start by quickly checking at orbitz for a baseline. 2 weeks from MUC shows $450 from the biggies. Don't forget to pick up an Austrian vignette as soon as you enter Austria. Figure $100 every time you fill up the tank.

Hi Sandy,

We've rented our cars through Andy Bestor at www.gemut.com for our last 4 trips to Germany and Austria, picking up and returning at Munich airport. Very reasonable. (In fact, I have a price/reservation of $240 for 8 days, unlimited km and airport pick up for this Sept.) Driving is easy in both countries. Road signs are posted with the city/town the road is heading towards, not, as an ex. Rt. 80 west, etc. Makes perfect sense to me. Buy the Austrian Vignette (highway toll sticker) BEFORE you get to the Austrian border. Cost is 8.50 Euro for a sticker good for 10 consecutive days (cheapest version). You can get these at highway rest stops, gas stations, convenience stores etc. as soon as you leave Munich. For CDW Ins., if you have an AmEx card, get their "Premium Rental Car Protection Plan" for the CDW, as the total cost is under $30 for coverage for your entire rental period, up to 42 consecutive days. Visa and Master Card also offer coverage, but we use our AmEx. Never filed a claim, so can't comment on which is better.

Paul

A car gives you greater flexibility, but it isn't absolutely necessary if you're hitting only the well-known tourist sites. Inevitably, though, you're going to see something that's not in your guide book (particularly the fairly limited number of sites highlighted in the RS book). Or, you'll pass one of those brown tourist boards that will pique your interest. A car will make it much easier to adjust on the fly.

Once you understand the rules of the road and the signage, driving in Germany is surprisingly easy, even in cities. But Munich is a big exception. I agree with the previous poster, if Munich is on your schedule, pick up the car as you leave the city.

Not sure if it was mentioned yet, but you will need to purchase a vignette at the border to drive on the Austrian Autobahn network.

Germany has the most extensive rail system in Europe and the second most dense (km of track per square km), behind Switzerland by 1%. The German rail system is almost twice as dense as that of Italy. In the mountainous SE corner of Bavaria, the rail system is augmented by the RVO bus system (a Bahn subsidiary) with almost 7000 miles of bus routes.

It takes some planning, but you can do it for a lot less without a car. If I found a place I couldn't get to by public transportation, I would rent a car just for that part, but so far it hasn't happened.

Since 2000, I've spent almost 3 months in Bavaria and never needed a car. And it hasn't all been in big cities. I've stayed in 20 towns in Bavaria and visited at least 14 others. 50% of those towns have had less than 10,000 population; only 15% have been over 50,000. I've traveled most of the Romantic and Alpine Roads by public transportation.

I like the freedom public transportation gives me. While going from point A to point B, I don't have to watch the road. The time is my own. I can choose to watch the scenery, sleep, read, write in my journal - whatever I want.

Lee, there were times I wished we had a car. Sometimes the train connection times were limiting, or last train from X was packed to capacity. Definitely in cities I prefer public transport, but to get out of town sometimes can be a hassle.

Thanks so much everyone for your very helpful responses! I really appreciate it =) We decided that it would be best for us to rent a car. I think what Tom says about being able to see places that pique our interest (besides the touristy places) is more convenient if we rent a car.
I've already emailed the folks at www.gemut.com for an estimate. They mentioned that insurance is covered most times by American credit cards. I'm hoping that this would include Visa cards by Chase and that this insurance would be sufficient for our stay there. Please let me know if there are any other resources that you recommend.
Also, I'm guessing our American drivers license would work there. Please let me know if this is not the case. Thanks!

Hi again Sandy,

It's always wise to check your credit cards coverage. Ask the cc company yourself. Once you decide which cc to use, be sure to pay all costs related to the car with that card, even local road taxes from the rental co. at pickup desk. You should also get an IDP (International Drivers Permit) from AAA. It translates your license and is required in Austria. We always get one, never been asked for it. Better safe than sorry.

Excellent info, reading from the gemut website:

http://www.gemut.com/images/stories/report/carrentalbrochure14a.pdf

Picking up, driving out of the airport and returning the car to the airport in Munich is a breeze. Very well sign posted in German and English.

Paul

Thanks, again, to the advisors. Although public transport would take Sandy to all the stops mentioned, I'm sure she'll enjoy the freedom of driving and stopping for photo ops, picnics, and anything that looks interesting.

Granted...public transport in Europe is AMAZING and in more populated areas it is well worth using it. For going between cities it's also great.
If you are visiting less populated, more rural areas I always think it's better to rent a car. You can use your time more efficiently, get to places more quickly, and stop whenever you want. I would definitely rent a car for the areas you listed - you'll see a lot more and not have to wait around for public transport.

We just spent five days doing close to this- pick up the car at the airport, drop it off downtown near the train station. It's not 100% necessary, but is nice to have and not be at the mercy of the bus schedule in smaller areas. And if you've got a gearhead in the family, the autobahn is a fun road to drive on, even with a fair number of construction zones. (right lane traffic goes about 100kph/62mph, left lane is the chance to really open it up- I'd go with a car that's got some engine power instead of the cheap Fiat option just to have a little legal fun on the road)

Pay parking is pretty easy- either a ticket at the entry gate and then pay at a vending machine on the way out instead of at the exit gate, or surface lots that had a ticket kiosk where you paid 2-4 Euros cash and put your receipt on the dashboard as proof you paid. Munich isn't the worst big city in the world to drive in, but the mass transit is so comprehensive there's no reason to pay for a rental car while you're in the city.

Keep an eye on Amazon.com or other preferred shopping sites for a moderately priced GPS that has a European map set- we paid about $120 for a factory refurbished Garmin with both USA and European maps. Our rental car did come with a navi system, but the owner's manual was entirely in German so we only really used it to know about restricted speed zones on the autobahn.

Just returned from a 14 day driving trip of Bavaria, Switzerland and the Salzburg area - we were very happy with having a car available I think you'll be happy with your choice.

We made our reservation through Gemut, their price was right and they gave us a feeling of security, but I suspect you'd be fine dealing with any of the larger companies in Europe directly. We rented an standard shift, "intermediate wagon" which was advertised as a VW Passat, but turned out to be an Opel Zafira. The car only had 200 km on it when we got it so it might have been brand-new. It handled 4 adults and their luggage quite nicely and was comfortable. The price for the car including the 'road tax' (added separately at the rental agency) was right at $375 (including the other taxes as well). We actually picked up the car off of the airport to avoid the 20% 'surcharge' so I guess to be 'honest' I should add a $20 taxi ride onto the cost. One nice thing - the car had a GPS built-in so that was included at no additional charge - we did have to change the language to English, but that was easy. The car was fuel efficient - even at 80mph it was getting over 30mpg - which was good because as mentioned gas is more highly taxed and is expensive. We took pictures of the car when we rented it and when we turned it in at Stuttgart airport - just in case. I had called VISA before the trip and they had confirmed the insurance coverage. Everywhere we stayed except the hotel in Salzburg had free parking available.

First thing I noticed as I drove - I was the weakest link on the road :-) - you should prepare for driving by printing out a set of international signs and reviewing them. Also read the online advice from folks - it was helpful. I was stationed in Germany years ago so I had previous experience, but reviewing the signage and the 'European' rules of the road was very helpful. Make sure you know how to identify if you have the right of way and what the 'standard' speed limits are for example.

The convenience of being able to turn off to see something (keep your eyes open for the little 'brown' signs that indicate a sight) or just stop to take a picture was very handy, as was the flexibility of traveling whenever/wherever we felt like it.

Have Fun! We certainly did.

I've rented a car many times to tour the region you're wanting to see, and I certainly agree about starting the car rental as you're leaving Munich--at a city rental location.
Bavaria and Austria is a great place to do a circle trip through. Start in Munich and go southwest toward Fuessen. Drop south into Western Tyrol and come east into Innsbruck. Then go northeast toward Salzburg and east to Hallstadt.

Or, you could go thru the Brenner Pass to Cortina, Italy, to northeast to Lienz, Austria and north through the incredible Grossglockner High Alpine Highway--weather pending. It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen. Eventually end back in Munich Airport for car drop off.
The roads are great, and I always feel comfortable traveling in this region. Just don't forget to stop and buy a window toll sticker for the Austrian highway system on the border.

We rented a car 2 years ago and it worked great for us (family of 4). We did not have to worry about 4 people trying to catch the train. I made reservations at places that had parking available. Some places were free and others were about 10 euros per night at a garage. We also got the travel insurance Rick suggests through Travel Guard but the agent told us that if anything happened we would have to deal with TG to settle a claim instead of the rental company. I'm guessing that it might be the same if you rely on Visa insurance. We made a reservation through National as Rick suggested but ended up picking the car from Europcar.

I almost always rent and one of the most fun things about a road trip through Germany is being able to stop at many beautiful locations and have a car picnic. I always make a stop at the market and get breads, cheese, salami, paprika chips, German pickles, Mezzo mix , fruit and whatever else looks good at the moment.... Have fun! You will be happy to have a car and the freedom it allows you...no schedules to have to follow. I have seen so many beautiful sunrises while on the road.