Final details for 4 adults to Heidelberg, Colmar, Lucerne, Salzburg

You might want to reconsider driving upon arrival. You will be tired, sleepy, jet lagged, and on unfamilar ground. Some people are not bothered by those things, but many people (myself included) shouldn't be allowed to handle sharp tools, much less drive. A minor fender bender on arrival day will put a damper on the whole trip. I'm sure you'll be able to take a train to Heidelberg from the main depot in Frankfurt -- perhaps even from the airport. Just something to think about.

You have a few different posts about the same trip.

You have limited time in each destination.

"take the train to Colmar vs take Swiss rental over to France?????? " - I presume this is a typo, as you mention renting a vehicle in Frankfurt?

You don't really need a car, apart from Ehningen, even for Stuttgart. Just leave early enough.

There are a few good destinations easily reachable by public transit from Heidelberg, my top choice being Bad Wimpfen.

Triberg Falls are OK, the town itself not so much. It would double your travel time to Colmar. Take a train instead.

Three nights in Colmar without a car is fine. The paintings at the Unterlinedn Museum are something to see.

Bike to Eguisheim and Kaysersberg. Take a bus to Riquewihr, a nice hike from there to Ribeauville with its three castle ruins and pretty streets (or reverse).

I have not taken it but the train ride from Lucerne to Interlaken is supposed to be very scenic. Lucerne is very nice from a foggy memory.

In Salzburg old town include Mirabel, Festung Hohensalzburg, St Peter's and Nonnberg Abbeys, meal/drinks at Augustiner. A walk by the river. I really liked Hellbrunn.

Day trip to Zugspitze, no. For me, more preferrable day trips than the Eagle's Nest: St Gilgen/Wolfgangsee, Konigssee or Chiemsee.

Munich good for two full days. If you leave early enough from Salzburg you may be able to visit Chiemsee. Don't know about train station lockers at Prien.

I posted my initial plan back in March but updated with a more finalized plan and now trying to sort travelling between the countries - still needing help with logistics Heidelberg to Colmar.

It wasn’t a typo there are a few options I’m trying to sort - rent car and keep til Colmar (or keep til Freiburg and train to Colmar from there) plus either pick up that car at airport in Frankfurt or wait until we get til Heidelberg. Sorry I guess that was confusing.

Thanks for the other input. Much appreciated!

If you really want to drive from Heidelberg to Colmar, choose Gengenbach over Triberg as a stop-off for half a day.

Oh thanks for the catch! I corrected to “German”. Thanks again for the pointers!

Well, if you have to have a car, why not just get it in Heidelberg? The train from the airport is just as fast as driving (there's a lot of roadwork on that route (A5) right now). And if you just rent to use locally (Stuttgart is less than 2 hours drive from there) you can easily take a train from Heidelberg to Colmar.

And, if you do drive south, while it might be nice to see the waterfall at Triberg, you're looking at adding a couple hours driving to your trip. IMHO you'd do better to spend that time looking around Freiburg, which is a very nice town, or just dropping the car in Colmar.

If your husband is a real Porsche fan, let him know they have cars to drive, and the behind the scenes tour is worth the cost. (You may want to do this on Sunday, as they are open then and many other places are closed.) Also, Stuttgart is not an easy city to drive in, lot's of construction and road work, and many, many, traffic cameras.

At Vetter's try to go early (before 1300) and get the Weissewurst. And you can do the bridge, the Monkey, the whole of the old town in an afternoon on the first day.

Don't even think about doing the Zugspitze from Salzburg, and in OCT it's questionable if the Eagle's Nest will be open. If you need a hotel there I recommend the Boutique Hotel am Dom. Remember most everything will be closed on Sunday, especially that late in the year.