Germany/Austria

Side issue, does your Mum have a valid passport? How do you find out, and if necessary renew it, without tipping her off?

She does have a valid passport, no worries. My parents travel to France on a fairly regular basis (Dad works for a French bank) so she is thankfully up to date.

(and on that note, is it feasible to fit Ettal Monastery, Wieskirche, Liderhof in an afternoon?)

Absolutely yes in my opinion. We did just that last fall. We had a car with a good GPS (mandatory!!) And probably spent about an hour or so at each. More so at Linderhof, as we loved the grounds. So pretty and so much to see!!

Happy travels!

Is this enough time for the Bavarian area?

5 days enough for Bavaria? This map shows all of Bavaria. Your plans put you only in one tiny part of Oberbayern (Upper Bavaria) which is only one of the 7 different regions of Bavaria.

"I'm a castle nerd but we certainly don't have to see every castle out there... Any castles/cool things I am missing that are musts?"

Before making any firm itinerary plans I would urge you NOT to copy Rick's tour but to put together your own independent itinerary based on your own interests and your mom's. What makes for good business in Rick's eyes is not necessarily a good trip for you two. Why accept his fixed itinerary when there are dozens and dozens of great places and sights that might suit you better?? With that in mind, I would shed the idea that you have to hit all the "musts" as there are in fact hundreds of cool things to see and do (depending on your interests) in Bavaria. Maybe Rick's tour plan is a good back-up plan if you don't have time or interest in planning, but you clearly do have some time.

As a castle nerd, you probably want to know that, while Germany has dozens and dozens of genuine castles you can visit, all the King's "castles" you have in your sights are actually relatively modern palaces, not what Germans call castles. That's something you probably want to research a bit more for sure.

"The next day, we'd be going down the Reutte area and exploring the Austria/Germany border..."
There's actually very little to Reutte at all. I'm not sure why it's in Rick's book, though I suspect it's because Reutte is a convenient base town for visiting multiple places. Again, I suggest some more research on other places before firming up any plans.

Please take a minute for the local culture and enjoy where you are other than just the worn tourist sites. Maybe a nice Bavarian hotel for overnight and a good lunch/ Mittagesessen with some locals.

I appreciate your reply Russ. I guess I should have been more clear... I am not specifically following the Rick Steves Itinerary, just the general flow of the journey. I generally use the Rick Steves books as a base and then customize, sometimes following some of his stuff, sometimes not. It's worked well for me for two trips to France, the Netherlands, and Italy. Part of the reason I don't do the official RS tours is because I hate the idea of not having flexibility to see what I want.

I did know the King's Castles are modern already... but I'm also a Disney nerd, so I do wish to see the castle that inspired another castle at one of my favorite places in the world. I am up for any recommendations of 'true' castles you might have too. We did the Loire Valley chateaus in France in May and it was a blast. Or just any cool things you might have really enjoyed. I know I want to do at least a cable car somewhere.

Like I said, I do have some flexibility, and based on your post, it sounds like I should give at least one extra day to Bavaria. Anything you particularly like? I am truly in the beginning stages of planning but I know I do want to do both countries, so I know I won't be able to see everything. And yeah, I gathered there isn't much to Ruette. More just would like to see the ruins there for an hour or so and then off we go to explore elsewhere. :)

"Part of the reason I don't do the official RS tours is because I hate the idea of not having flexibility to see what I want."

Yes - that's the spirit.

"Anything you particularly like?"

In Bavaria? Dozens of things, most of which my edition of GAS doesn't list in the index. Pappenheim. The Bad Windsheim open-air museum. Every square inch of Iphofen. Nuremberg's old town. Bamberg's pubs. Mittenwald and its alpine setting... but I will stop there because going on about MY likes and loves is almost pointless. Rick's books may or may not be good for France - I don't know - but his tips for Germany are very limited and narrowly focused, and some of his recommendations for Bavaria were absolutely not a good fit for me. Munich - meh on the whole. Neuschwanstein - a lot of fuss and expense for a 30-minute overcrowded tour of a place where nothing much ever happened. (That sort of fun took me back to the gas lines of the Carter presidency.) But you are clearly a person with different tastes from mine. What I like - or what one or two others like - just isn't a reliable indication of what you might like. So my suggestion was that to guide your planning you might consult some more comprehensive sources of advice - not hit-and-miss personal experiences like you'll find here. Other guidebooks and online sites like Tripadvisor (where you can also find much more helpful compilations of reviews for sights and destinations) can be good resources if you want to customize your trip. You seem interesting in buildings and historical sights... the UNESCO World Heritage list is a very good source of information on historical and cultural sights and buildings.

If you don't like traveling as a "member of the pack", remember that if you go independently to certain over-visited places, you will still be surrounded by a pack of tourists, largely international tourists in some cases. That may be just fine with some travelers or even what they seek out. I sort of prefer being around Germans in Germany, around Italians in Italy, etc., rather than around my own countrymen. But we all have different sensibilities and preferences in this regard.

On planning for the Germany half of the trip, how about skipping Bavaria and focus on Berlin and North Germany or parts of eastern Germany. Culturally, these towns/cities are more significant than those in Bavaria, other than Munich. I would suggest Weimar, Leipzig, Hamburg, Soest, Potsdam, Lübeck, Frankfurt, Celle, Dresden, Naumburg, Meissen, etc among other choices.

@Fred. I actually thought about doing that but looking at what there is to do in Berlin, along with what I want to do in Austria, I decided to save Berlin for another trip. As Russ guessed, I am big into the historical/cultural sites and Museum Island alone would be a place that could occupy me for days. At some point in the future, a Northern Germany/Poland trip will happen. I don't want to get too far north of Munich but I will definitely check out some of the towns you suggested in Eastern Germany.

@Russ. Thanks for the suggestions. I'll still check out some of the things you suggested, even if we might have different tastes. I don't generally have problems with being "part of the pack" and visiting the "tourist sites." What would going to Paris be without visiting Notre Dame? Or Rome without stopping to see the Colosseum? But I also go off the beaten path as well. It's honestly usually a mix. The only place I felt truly part of herd was the first time I was ever in the Vatican Museums (note to self forever, never go on a weekend day again). I think RS has some very good tips on France, if you're ever inclined to visit.

From this conversation, I've gathered I should give one of my extra days to Germany. Thank you both. :)

@ Laura...This is a note for your future trip to eastern and North Germany.

Since you have an interest in presumably cultural history, and maybe, even the wars, etc, eastern and North Germany are absolutely places for you to visit... to be sure, as related to literature, architecture, universities, music, palaces (Schlösser), churches, etc.

Russ has given you some very good suggestions and, reading into your input further, one that I'd offer would be to forego Reutte and stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. this would give you a nicer town to roam and the opportunity to take the aerial tram to the top of the Zugspitz. Plus, if you use G-P as your base for the castles, you can stay there instead of Fussen (which is how I would do it.)

You can easily see Linderhof and Ettal in an afternoon, and frankly there's not much to do outside of tourist shops in Oberamergau. You can see the murals just driving the streets. And, as an aside, I found Linderhof much nicer than Neuschwanstein or Hohenschwangau. Admittedly it's a Schloss vs. a "Castle", but it's worth the visit.

As for another day in Halstadt and/or Vienna, I'd take one of those and spend a day in Innsbruck. It's a short drive from Garmish, and a very nice city to walk around. Then head over to Salzburg and Vienna. That way you would get both the German and Austrian side of the Alps in places much more interesting than Fussen and Reutte.

@KGC. I really like your ideas. I’ll definitely research G-P. I’ve seen it mentioned in quite a few other threads. I’m quite flexible on the town we actually stay in within the region, so long as it’s accesible to a majority of the sites we will want to see. I was trying to figure out how we might fit in Zugspitz so your idea is quite appealing.

Is Innsbruck a ‘spend a few hours’ place or a full day place? Just curious. I’ll take a look!

You may like the Hohenwerfen fortress in Werfen, Austria, just south of Salzburg. They have falconry demonstrations on certain days. The surrounding area is gorgeous. There is a cable car in Werfen, and ice caves nearby.

Fussen is one of my favorite places that I've been. I went to Berlin once on a tour and enjoyed it, but have no desire to go back. Big city versus cute little town.

Going go weigh in a little as I've visited all the places you've mentioned.

I don't think I'd want to try to do the king's castles in the morning, then do Etta, Wieskirche, and Linderohof palace in one day. It's not that it's not technically feasible, but it would be a lot, and exhausting. My advice is to skip Reutte, there's no reason to go down there. My itinerary would be something like:

Day "1": Depart Munich late morning. Drive to Andechs monastery for lunch and beer and views OR drive to Schongau for late lunch and walking around old city.

Arrive Fussen late afternoon/early evening. Walk around Fussen's castle and have dinner. Sleep in Fussen.

Day 2: Wittlesbach castles, taking your time to enjoy the view from the Marienbruke and the Wittlesbach museum as well as the castles.

Day 3: Drive to Wieskirche, then Ettal valley, tour Ettal monestary, have lunch in Oberammergau, then tour Linderhof palace and grounds.. If this is too "relaxed" a schedule for you, squeeze in a trip to Garmisch or the Zugspitze. Sleep in Fussen.

Day 4: Up early to drive to Salzburg, stopping in Berchesgadenerland for Eagle's Nest, Koeningsee, all that stuff...

Halstatt is lovely, but also very touristy. The scenery is similar to the Koeningsee, but the latter is on your way to Salzburg. If you were going to cut a destination, that would be the one to cut, IMO (aside from Reutte as already discussed).

Just one quick note, as I notice nobody has mentioned it up thread. You state that you’ll be driving a rental car — are you aware that renting in Germany and returning in Austria will incur a heavy drop-off fee?

@Patricia. Yes, I am aware. Based on what we think we want to do, I do think a rental care still works best. But we might look into a train, depending on what the finalized version of the trip looks like. I haven't looked in depth at which cities might have rental drop off places.