We would like to start in Munich and go to either Austria and Italy and fly out of Italy or Munich and Italy or Munich, Switzerland and Italy. We want to go to Stuttgart and Venice. We have already been to Germany. We have 10 days. We would like to travel by car.
We have been to Newschwanstein, Rothenburg O.D. Tauber, Heidelberg, Rhein Valley, Nurburgring, Kassel, Goslar, and Hamburg.
Does anyone have any suggestions on an itinerary?
Thank you.
First, I would say with only ten days, you do not have time for three countries. In fact, if you've already been to a lot of Germany, is there any reason you want to start in Munich?
If it were me, I would probably fly into Vienna, spend three days there and then head to Salzburg for another couple of days. From Salzburg, you could head south to Italy for the remaining five days. But if you add anything more to that, you will be spending all of your time traveling from place to place.
That said, if you really want to spend some time in Munich and start there, that's fine. I would head from Munich to Salzburg and spend a couple of days there, then spend the remaining time in either Germany or Austria and leave Italy out of it. You could always hop over the border to Switzerland if you wanted for a day or two
I would also suggest traveling by train instead of car. Unless you are traveling to some out-of-the-way places, trains will get you from place to place much more efficiently than a car would. And traveling by car in Italy can be problematic. You will find countless threads here on this forum about people who have gotten ticket after ticket in Italy and didn't find out about it till months or even a year or more later and wound up having to pay exorbitant fines.
We have 10 days.
For Germany alone? Or for the entire multi-country itinerary?
If using MUC airport, and if you have only seen Bavaria's two most touristy places, then you owe it to yourselves to see some of the following destinations:
Nuremberg
Bamberg
Regensburg
Garmisch-Partenkirchen / Mittenwald
This is great advice. Thank you so much. We are meeting family in Munich. So we thought we would use Munich as a starting place. With having a lot of luggage, we thought traveling by car might be easier. Thank you for the information on driving in Italy. We have been to Rome before; however, we did not drive. We have only driven in Germany. So many things to consider and not a whole lot of time when you think about it.
We are meeting family in Munich. So we thought we would use Munich as
a starting place. With having a lot of luggage, we thought traveling
by car might be easier.
When you land at MUC airport, you will be WAY outside Munich, a healthy distance to the northeast. See map below - The airport is next door to FREISING.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/c7/f9/3d/c7f93d7d3b133730ca72a07741792c2e.jpg
https://www.kreis-freising.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Landkreis_Freising_Uebersicht_Hochformat.jpg
Not sure what "meeting family" means... family members... who live in Munich, and who will show you around the town for a few days? Or who will travel with you on this trip?
If your goal is to STAY in the city of Munich for maybe 2-3 nights, then you should postpone the car rental until you leave Munich. The car is useless within the city. There are direct trains from the airport to the city center (45 minutes away) for a low price. OR you can take a very expensive taxi ride. But either choice will be less trouble and expense than renting the car on Day 1 and keeping it in Munich. (Or perhaps your family members are able to pick you up at the airport??)
Another alternative, if staying the city of Munich isn't important: Stay at an airport hotel or in nearby FREISING, a really nice town right next door. You could either 1) pick up the car at the airport and drive to a hotel in Freising, or 2) you could take the train there in 10 minutes. Your family members could meet you at the airport or in Freising easily enough. Freising information:
https://tourismus.freising.de/en/
From the airport/Freising location you are already much closer to places I suggested you visit (Regensburg, Nuremberg, etc.) than central Munich would be.
Your family members could then meet you either at the airport or in Freising, if they will be traveling with you. It's a direct train ride.
