Bavaria trip getting closer

Anyway you can jigger this to do the Munich/Dachau visit when you arrive, so as to avoid the backtracking? Drop the car before Salzburg, somewhere down south, and take the train to Salzburg. Maybe take the train from Munich to Reutte or Schwangau, and rent a car there for all the local trips there.

Stay the first night in/near Munich and rent the car and visit Dachau next day seems to be the better option. You could return the car in Freilassing (close to Salzburg on the other side of river Salzach in Germany) and go by bus or train to Salzburg.

Traffic warning: August is high holiday season that will result in heavy car traffic on Friday afternoon and Saturdays when people move to or return from their holiday destination.
Specifically on following routes you may expect long delays:
Füssen – Reutte – Lermoos – Nassereith
A8 Munich – Salzburg
A13 Innsbruck – Brenner (border to Italy)

You may watch the traffic situation today and tomorrow on google maps. For that reason Reutte might not be the right choise for 6 nights.

We just got back from the area.

My two cents: if your arrival time is 1:00 p.m., your first afternoon is already shot. You'll be lucky to get out of the airport before 3:00. Get a hotel near the Hauptbahnhof and try keeping yourself awake until 9 or 10 by walking and visiting the sights in central Munich. That way, the next morning you can visit Dachau without making an extra trip into Munich: Radius Tours has a 9:00 a.m. tour that starts a block from the Hauptbahnhof. We were back at the station by 2:00 (ish). From there you can rent a car (SiXT has a location in a building 1/2 block away) and head to your Alps location.

Not sure what you're planning on seeing in the alps, but if you're looking for a single central location and are not planning on going west of Fussen, I'd consider Garmische-Partenkirken or Grainau instead of Fussen - I enjoyed GaP much more than Fussen as a location to stay. (Note I'd prefer spending an extra hour in the car than packing/checking-out/checking-in) One possible day trip I would suggest is Chiemsee - both Herreninsel and Fraueninsel were fun to visit. From their you can take the car to Salzburg and return it there (just stay off the A-1 and you won't need a toll sticker)

From their you can take the car to Salzburg and return it there

That would result in an hefty surcharge for turning in the car in a foreign country. Rather follow the advice given above and return the car in Freilassing, just a couple of miles outside Salzburg. From there take the bus into S.

Although Munich is my favorite city in Germany, it doesn't look like, other than seeing Dachau, you are planning to spend any time there. So, according to your wishes, I, too, would suggest that you see it on your first full day in Germany, then forget about Munich. It's probably not a good idea to get off an all-night, trans-Atlantic flight and immediately jump into a car and drive on unfamiliar roads to Füssen.

Re the Radius tour, I see they want $35/person; that's $140 for your group. IMO, the most significant thing they do is to take you out to the Memorial via the S-Bahn and bus, so you don't have to figure it out yourself. Your group can do that, round trip, for17€ with an MVV M-1 group Day Ticket. The 2½ hour tour, led by a guide trained by the Memorial, costs 4€/P.

Here is the website for the Memorial.

Since you are going in August, and the 9€ one-month per person fares will still be in effect, I can see no reason to use a car to get to Füssen. There are plenty of buses and trains in the area to get you to the castles, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Reute, Oberammergau, etc.

If you've never been to Berchtesgaden, it's a one hour bus or train ride from Salzburg. The boat ride across the Konigsee was spectacular the day we were there (you may need to take a taxi to get there from the Berchtesgaden train station).

There is a bus between the Berchtesgaden Hbf and Königssee. You can catch it at the bus stop in front of the Berchtesgaden Hbf. The bus lets you off at the parking lot above Schönau, about a ½ km walk from the Königssee boat dock.

A number of day tickets (Bayern-Ticket, RVO Tagesticket, BGL Tagesticket Bus & Bahn) cover transportation from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden and most of the bus lines in Berchtesgaden.

Devil’s advocate here and I hope this doesn’t come off too “scoldy” but... Dachau isn’t something you “check off” a sightseeing list. It isn’t something to cram in after a long transatlantic flight.

I needed time to decompress afterward. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.

Chris, thank you for your comment. I by no means consider this something to “check off my list “. I’m sorry if it seems that way from my posts.

I appreciate that. It’s hard to do nuance online and I’m glad that you took my post in the spirit that it was intended. Be well

Per all the excellent advice, I have reworked the trip so that we are spending our first night in Munich (walking tour?), going to Dachau the next day, (more time in Munich?) before train or driving to Reutte for 5 nights, as our base for: castles and ruins, Fussen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberammergau and the Passion Play (yes, we have tickets), maybe Mittenwald. As was suggested, we will turn in our rental car in Freilassing, Germany on the way to Salzburg on Tues or Wed. Still working out details of when to leave Reutte, whether to stay somewhere along the way (Chiemsee?) and how to arrange our time in the Salzburg area.

We have 4-5 days in and around Salzburg. 1/2 day SOM bicycle tour, Hohensalzburg Fortress, old town, Mirabell gardens, Hellbrun Palace, Mozart sights. I'm guessing that these will take up 2-3 days.

I want to make sure to fit in some time for nature during the second half of this trip, but there are so many beautiful places to consider: Staying a night in Hallstatt? Taking a day trip to Berchtesgaden/Konigsee? Or, stopping in the Innsbruck area for a night, on our way to Zurich? What makes the most sense to you?

Thanks!!! Tina

In contrast, I have also considered Werfen/Hohenwerfen.
And last, we've also considered doing a salt mine as a day trip.

Not sure how to fit these things into a cohesive trip. I currently have Salzburg reservations for Tues-Sun. Flight leaves Zurich the following Tues at 2 PM.

I might not do Hallstatt as a single day. It’s worth a full day and 2 nights and, while there are cool sights, the big attraction is “lowering your blood pressure” in a beautiful setting. Personally, that doesn’t happen w an overnight. YMMV, though.

Alternatively, a day trip south from Salzburg… salt mine early, JennerBahn hike and lunch, Königsee boat in the late afternoon would be a great alternative.

Lots of great hikes in that area, too, if that’s a thing you’re into.

On a beautiful day, or some sun with a good rain shower in between (in this heat), the Königssee in Nationalpark Berchtesgaden will not disappoint. If you have the time and the will, take the boat further and hike to the Obersee. Hermann Göring had a hunting lodge/cabin on the Roth above the Obersee (since torn down and the site is difficult to reach).