2020 Germany/Austria/Switzerland - when to get a car?

Probably best to rent a car at Frankfurt airport, largest selection.

Almost everywhere in Germany is satisfying to drive. Driving standards are good, other drivers are mostly polite, roads are of a good standard and the more rural areas, particularly in the Black Forest, are often quiet.

Personally I don't see what all the fuss is about the Autobahn. Yes you can drive fast but you can guarantee that there will be someone else driving faster and bearing down on you, whilst not as annoying as driving in southern Europe or the US it simply becomes less tolerable than driving somewhere where there is a speed limit and most people stick to it. I much preferred driving on the country roads than the Autobahn.

I can add: renting cars in one country and returning in another has a ~$500 surcharge; and I'm told trains are great in all three countries. I'm opting for a car in Austria as I want to be flexible, and getting to Hallstatt seemed complicated.

Next year is a long time off. Germany HAS speed limits on the Autobahns Not everywhere - some sections have no restrictions - but Germany is looking seriously at speed limits on those now. A majority of Germans appears supportive of the move.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-autobahn/not-so-fast-most-germans-favor-speed-limits-on-the-autobahn-idUSKCN1PK0T7

I would seriously consult some additional guidebooks so that you aren't hunkered down in every last Rick Steves tourist bee hive. There are many places you are traveling past that are more worthwhile than the average of the places you have on your list.

I guess my thinking about taking a chance and renting a car was to simplify the public transportation pieces particularly between frankfurt and bavaria. I'm not wed to driving, or the autobahn, but I was open to trying it for my first time renting a car. Definitely not going to rent in 1 country and return in another-- at that price I'd take the multi city flight price!

As for the touristy piece- I've actually been to most of these places before but it's DH's first time in this part of Europe. My parents were stationed in Germany so some of the places are definitely the more "Americanized" parts of Germany and I'm not afraid to say we enjoy being tourists on vacation sometimes. We also try to incorporate some of the natural beauty of the surrounding area and my memories of this area were feeling welcome, being surrounded by beauty, and enjoying meat and cheese at every meal including free breakfast at the guesthouse (which as broke college students was particularly endearing). We are planning another trip back to Germany and Eastern europe in a few years so hopefully we'll catch some of the less touristy parts during that trip but if there are particular standouts along the way you'd like to recommend I'm open to considering them. The nice part about several days in one place is that we can sometimes sub one activity for another especially depending on weather, how we're feeling or what's going on in the area. RUSS, are there particular places you would suggest to consider in lieu of these along a similar route? Or just more broadly speaking reconsider the itinerary for hitting too many touristy spots in 1 trip?

If you skim through the German forum here, you will find quite a lot of threads in which Russ and several other highly knowledgeable posters have suggested many German destinations that are not on the typical American tourist's radar. I will be returning to those posts when I next plan a trip through Germany.

Perhaps Russ or one of the other contributors could suggest a few geographical names you could try using in the Search box here, to find useful posts. I've had such bad luck with the forum's Search function that I prefer to scan thread titles instead.

Most folks here seem to agree that Interlaken is not the best place to stay in the Berner Oberland, because it's down in the valley. Two common suggestions are Muerren or--if you prefer a place with easy access to the mountains on both sides of the valley--Lauterbrunnen.

Thanks for the suggestion acraven. not wed to interlaken as a town-- just a transit hub. totally open to finding other towns in the area to stay in and enjoy areas but sometimes when taking public transportation as a primary route, maybe that's why we end up travelling along a tourist itinerary? will surely look at murren and and lauterbrunnen valley for finding a place to sleep and settle down. Thank you again.

I’d consider getting the car at FRA and keeping it til Munich. I would visit Salzburg before Munich. Then train or fly/train to Switzerland and fly/train to FRA to come home.

"RUSS, are there particular places you would suggest to consider in lieu of these?" Sure. Keep in mind that these ideas are just mine - not gospel.

The Rhine/Mosel region is not too bad as far as tourism goes; small towns are spread out enough that there are many towns which are completely "untouristy" as well as "more-touristy" towns that are not overrun (like tour-bus stop Rothenburg tends to be.) The "worst" on the Rhine is Rüdesheim - a big tour bus stop that - but I still like the place to a degree as a place to visit. Cochem on the Mosel, travel base, gets very busy with tourists at times, but I still adore it and have stayed there often. In the Rhine/Mosel region, most current residents have family names that have persisted there for many generations as wineries and other family-run enterprises are passed on from generation to generation. Rothenburg OTOH is so completely given over to tourism that there is no other reason for its existence. (Rick himself admits it's becoming a "medieval theme park" in one of his articles.) Bacharach is very big among Rick Steves fans. Rick has had a big impact on the very attractive town with his thumbs up to the English-speaking world to stay there for a night or two. It has the best set of half-timbered buildings on the Rhine, probably, and is worth seeing. If you stay there though, you can expect to rub elbows there with lots of North Americans, and expect the hotels to address you in English off the bat. Not a bad thing, just something to know. I tend to recommend Boppard and St. Goar as overnight bases instead. These towns are NOT "untouristy" but still very "local" as well as logistically convenient in a large number of ways. Sadly, many visitors arrange only one night in Bacharach, take half a Rhine cruise, then leave. The area offers so much more than that. If you want a totally untouristy base town, it's hard to beat Bullay on the Mosel River. I don't think you could find a souvenir there if you wanted to, but it's a great location. Its parallel town on the Rhine might be Osterspai, not far from Braubach and Marksburg castle. Both towns have outdoor recreation at your doorstep and easy access to other places. Their townsfolk see mostly German visitors and small-time innkeepers may know little if any English. But they will still rent you a room and serve you a nice German breakfast.

Rothenburg /Würzburg / Nuremberg area... look into these pleasantly touristy places:
Iphofen - Iphofen photos
Marktbreit
Sommerhausen photos
Bad Windsheim (town and open air museum)
Bayreuth
Bamberg (UNESCO World Heritage city) and beer heaven.
Neustadt-an-der-Aisch, near Iphofen and Nuremberg. Nice base town on the railway. See photos here.
Nuremberg (big - but loveable.)

(cont.)

I mentioned "Osterspai" on the Rhine above. Love this video, which includes some aerial shots of Boppard.

Have a look at some other UNESCO sites in Bavaria.

Ludwig's "castles" actually are more modern palaces and swarming with tourist and tour b uses. N'stein's exterior is faux - and the expensive tour might last all of 30 minutes.. The Rhine is best for authentic castles. But you may want to visit the castle right in Füssen if you go there. It's often overlooked.

Pappenheim is a fab little untouristy place I stumbled onto once. It's in the Altmühl River Valley.

Anyway... my point is just that other guidebooks will address places like these that Rick overlooks and that they are worth the trouble to check out at the library.

One particularly good resource I've used is "Daytrips in Germany" By Earl Steinbicker. Hotel info will be dated but the core information is very good. Some excerpts are available online. Mittenwald and Berchtesgaden info. is at this page.

THANK YOU RUSS! Will look into these for this trip and the next.

Bamberg/Wurzburg/Nuremberg are already slated onto that next trip along with Berlin/Leipzig and more of eastern europe most likely.