Car rental in Munich - What type?

I don't go for the smallest, most inexpensive rental car, as it's likely going to be the size of a Smartcar. But the next size up will be a Ford Fiesta comparable car, and they'll be okay.
If you want something with serious power, be prepared to pay dearly for the rental and at the pump.

horn,

As you plan on driving in both Austria and Switzerland, note that you'll need the compulsory highway tax vignette for driving in each country. If you're caught without it, hefty fines will likely result and those will be collected on the spot! Although it may not be compulsory, it would probably be a good idea to have an International Driver's Permit also. Those are used in conjunction with your home D.L., and are valid for one year.

One other point to note is that you may end up with a manual transmission vehicle, even if an automatic was requested. If you're prepared to drive either type, then you shouldn't have a problem.

I'm a bit curious on why you're using a rental car for such a short time frame and for one person. That's not generally the most cost effective method, and will be use more time in travel than travel by train (especially the fast trains). I tend to use rental cars strategically to get to places that aren't well served by public transit, but trains are a much better more efficient use of valuable holiday time.

In terms of what type of car to rent, look at the rental websites as they always have examples of what type of car they use in each price class. You might find it helpful to have a look at the www.gemut.com website. Give them a call on their toll free number, and I'm sure they'll be able to answer all your questions.

We spent three weeks in December with a rental car in those three countries and had a great time. We rented through Auto Europe. Make sure you get a GPS unit either built into the car or as a separate unit. Gas is now relatively inexpensive, especially if you get a diesel car. The vignette for Switzerland is unfortunately expensive, about 50 euros; the vignette for Austria is cheap, about 12 euros. Germany does not have any vignette charges. You don't need a real powerful car to travel unless you are into expensive power cars, such as a BMW. Just get a good small to midsized car and you should be fine.

Try to get a VW Golf with either the 1,4l petrol or the 2.0l diesel engine. Or something similar. Europeans call cars of that size "Golf class". Spacious inside but compact enough for the narrow streets of European towns, and in case of the Golf very stable and quiet at high speeds.

Thanks. I plan to drive to some larger cities, but also some smaller ones that aren't well served by rail. I'd also like to at least say I've driven on the Autobahn. sixt.com shows a "Mercedes-Benz CLA or similar" for about $28 a day, which I think is pretty reasonable (I just paid more than than for a Toyota Camry rental in Chicago).

I second the VW Golf. Our first rental from Munich for exactly the itinerary you are talking about was a VW polo, which we thought was a great peppy car for us. But we were upgraded to a BMW 1 series once and my husband LOVED it for exactly the things you ask about - this was far and away the most memorable rental car we have had.

Make sure you check your rental car to see if it already has a valid vignette for Austria or Switzerland before you buy one. On our first trip into Austria we didn't realize we already had a valid one until we had already bought the new one.

Hi,

You don't usually get a specific car make and model, but a "class". Lego for the economy car every trip. Once it was a Golf, another time a small hatchback Benz, and most recently a Ford Fiesta. Most were 1.4 engines. All were fine for driving the Alpine Passes in Bavaria, Austria and the Italian Dolomites. If you can drive one, get a manual transmission if you plan on a few alpine pass drives.