May Itinerary for 11-Day Germany/Austria Trip

Do not plan to rent a car in Austria and drop it off in Germany. That will mean a very large international drop fee.

Can't comment on the itinerary details, but we have several folks who are extremely knowledgeable about Germany. They'll provide good advice.

Madness? Not at all. You're familiar with Germany, and it's certainly do-able. I would stay in Innsbruck rather than going up to Garmisch, however.
You might want to see if you can find a rental car in Germany just outside of Salzburg. If rental cars are not returned to their home country, drop off fees will be charged to return the car. And don't forget about the vignette sticker required on windshields to travel the good roads of Austria.

My advice... pick up the car in Munich and drive to Berchtesgaden and stay here or immediate area for 3 nights. Salzburg is an easy 30 minute drive from here. Park in the Monchsburg Parking Garage.

http://www.contipark.at/en/find-parking/salzburg-tiefgarage-altstadtgarage-a/

Our favorite places to stay in the area.
www.mayringerlehen.de
www.friedwiese.de/enska/isl.htm
www.grubenlehen.de

Paul

The only reason I'd call this trip "madness" is because it's entirely 1 night stays. That's really tiring to some people (including me) who prefer to 'base' out of an area. However with the exception of Fuessen to Heidelberg you don't have any super long travel times so if you're happy to live entirely out of a suitcase and be committed to driving every day on this trip, I don't see why it's not workable.

From Trier I'd prefer to stay in Cochem, visit Burg Eltz, etc.

I don't like your plan. You don't spend enough time in Munich. All these one day stays would drive me crazy.

Why stop in Ramstein? Military connection? Too much on your plate with this itinerary. Too much time in traffic and sightseeing is of the rear end of trucks.

St Goar or Goarhausen instead of Rudesheim.

Thank you all for your thoughtful advice! I didn't know about the drop off fee for rental cars between 2 countries, so will definitely rent in Germany and not Austria. I also keep telling myself we can (and will) visit again and it would be best to slim down our schedule. This will be our first trip away from our one year old son, so a little relaxation would be nice, too! And yes, I'm a military kid, hence the trip to the Ramstein area!

If you wanted to get some rest, I wouldn't do this trip, but rather split between a couple of bases: One in Bavaria and one close enough for the Ramstein visit (Trier, Cochem or other Mosel or Rhine location).

Here's how i'd rework it:

May 1 - Munich, sightseeing and dealing with jet lag. Overnight Munich.
May 2 - Pick up rental car in Munich, drive to Salzburg. Sightsee and overnight Salzburg.
May 3 - Sightsee Berchdesgaden area. Overnight Salzburg.

May 4 - Drive to new base in Fussen/Garmish area. Overnight.
May 5 - Castles/sightseeing. Overnight in new base.
May 6 - Here you could spend one more day in the region or go north. Assuming you still want a pretty busy schedule, head to Rammstein, leaving your previous base very early, and spend a few hours in Heidelberg for lunch/sightseeing then continue on to Rammstein, overnight there.
May 7 - 10 - Stay in new base, using it for daytrips. Again, I'd recommend Cochem on the Mosel, it's about an hour from Trier, it's beautiful, full of wine, castles, and relatively easy drive to Frankfurt for your flight out.

Sarah, this schedule rework looks wonderful! You’ve given me a whole new set of eyes on the planning! Do you have a travel blog? If not, you should!