Munich for one day (with a car to park)

A nice, quiet place you could stay between Salzburg and Munich (where you could leave the car parked and shuttle into the city by direct train) would be Prien, on Lake Chiemsee. It's a scenically-located recreational spot good for walking, biking, water sports too. The large island in the photo below is home to Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee Palace.

Palace info.
Prien accommodations

Leave the car in Salzburg and take the train to Munich. According to ViaMichelin and the Bahn schedule, the train and driving (assuming you don't make any stops or wrong turns) takes exactly the same amount of time, 1H53M. A Bayern-Ticket for two costs 28€ each day; gas each way cost 22,45€, but if you stay outside Munich you will have to add the cost of public transportation into Munich.

Prien, BTW, is only about half way to Munich, and a 28€ Bayern-Ticket for two will still be your least expensive fare into Munich.

Lee's suggestion should work fine as long as you have 4 hours for transport from and back to Salzburg on that one day you plan to visit Munich. From Prien you'll need just 2 hours.

What day of the week would you be traveling? That Bayern ticket offers a big discount, whether from Salzburg or from Prien, over the standard fare. However, if you're going on a weekday it's only good after 9 am (Sat or Sun anytime works.) Leaving after 9 may compromise your time in Munich - especially from Salzburg.

many thanks for the responses. my apologies, I forgot to mention that we will be moving on from Munich, north towards the rhine, so, we need to stay in Munich ( or nearby) we would like to fit in a tour of the BMW factory, if possible? one option 'might' be to stay out of the centre, near the BMW factory area??

any suggestions appreciated

we would like to visit prien on our way between salzburg area and munich, as we have a day to travel between these cities

Twenty years ago, I drove into Munich city center at the start of Oktoberfest, visited the tourist office, then continued on to park near my hotel in a residential neighborhood with no problem. Of course, traffic restrictions and traffic volume could be different now.

If you feel comfortable with city driving you shouldn't find it too difficult to drive in Munich ... especially if you have a GPS. We've done it several times without any problems. My only suggestion would be to make sure you find a hotel that has a confirmed parking space available for you.

I still wonder why you are using a rental car for this trip. Germany, and particularly this part, is one of, if not the richest, place in Europe for effective public transportation. From Munich, with advance reservation, 2 people can go from Munich to the Rhein (Bacharach) in less than 5 hours for 49€. According to ViaMichelin, it will take the same amount of time and cost 20€ more (69,26€) just for fuel. And this doesn't take into account the daily cost of the car rental. And with the train, the seats are more comfortable and your time is much more your own.

"...one option 'might' be to stay out of the centre, near the BMW factory area??"

There's a Sheraton near BMW-Welt.

You're driving from Salzburg to Munich to the Rhine - and from there on to Amsterdam, correct? You might or might not be aware that heavy drop-off fees normally apply when rental cars are returned in countries other than the pick-up country, so I just thought I'd point that out. Also, since you posted concerns about driving on the "wrong" side of the road in Europe, and about driving in cities, specifically, I think it might be wise to consider Lee's suggestion that you use the train. Lee's already mentioned the savings between Munich and Bacharach. The 4-5 hour train trip from Bacharach (or thereabouts) to Amsterdam can be done for €58/2 adults with an advance-sale savings fare, which should spare you not just a pocketful of Euros but also some driving and parking angst. On the Rhine, trains connect the villages on each side of the river morning, afternoon, and night. There's not much need for a car there, either, and inexpensive regional day passes provide good flexibility for getting around.

thanks for the information, we are leasing a car,( already organised) driving from Zurich, around Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium for 1 month. dropping the car off in brussels,doesn't cost any more, as its leased and included. we leased an identical car this year for 35 days and drove around Italy, France, Switzerland., it had GPS fitted but we are still not real happy about big cities, narrow streets and heavy traffic ( if you know what I mean) so we try and find accommodation that is ideally situated for access. when you spend 8-10 weeks travelling we find it less stressful if you can organise it correctly.

I understand the point about public transport, but we like the independence of having a car, and leasing seems to work OK. we try and incorporate public transport where it works for us. eg: leave the car parked at the hotel and bus/train to get around, then back in the car to move to the next place. we leave the car in Brussels and catch the Eurostar to London, then 2 weeks around southern England.

Here's a general rule about driving in Germany cities- it's easy, signage is excellent, parking is readily available, very well displayed and not usually cheaper than in most US cities. They even have electronic signs that tell you how many spots remain well before you need to decide which garage to park in.

Now, the one huge exception to this general rule- Munich! It's narrow winding streets are difficult to navigate even with a GPS, traffic is usually very heavy and parking in the center is very scarce. Only the business class hotels can guarantee you a parking space, and you'll pay extra for that privilege. Also, much of the outer ring and feeder roads are currently undergoing a large-scale rebuilding, making a generally bad and confusing traffic situation even worse.

If money is no object, then go for Hotel Bayerischer Hof. It's an excellent hotel and they provide valet service.

If you don't want to deal with that mess, I like Erding as a place to stay outside the city. It's a nice enough town, if not spectacular, and it has a good Sbahn connection to the city. However, the reason I stay there is because it's the location of the fabulous Therme Erding, by far the best therme I have ever visited.

We've always chosen to rent car as well, for similar reasons. We've never leased, though I've considered it for one or two of our longer trips. Glad to hear you have had good experiences.

A word of caution on your Munich-Rhein route. We drove this route in October and got stuck in one of the legendary traffic jams you hear about on the Autobahn. What should have been a 5-hour drive took us 9-hours. We were driving on a Friday and the trouble all started around Stuttgart. Getting off the autobahn didn't help because everyone else seemed to have the same idea. We've driven this route on several other trips with no problem, though. Just make sure you build in extra time in this area just to be on the safe side.

I lived in Herrsching, to the south of Munich for a year. It is at the end of one of the S-Bahn commuter lines, so the trip into the city takes 45-50 mins but the town is very pretty, directly on the Ammersee (lake) and you could easily walk or drive to Andechs Monastery. It's on your route, if a little further outside the city than some of the other suggestions.

Note, if you stay in Erding (or several other end-of-line towns, you can add at least 20,30€ for S-Bahn tickets (Gesamtnetz Partner Tageskarte) to get into Munich (RT).

Can you return the car in Salzburg?

thanks everyone for the great info, it has been very good, particularly the Munich traffic 'issues'.
to answer the question about leasing, we had no problems, not sure if we were just lucky but the features and price are worth considering, if you get in early. this time because we booked early the drop off in a different country cost was included at no cost. driving a brand new car in foreign cities can be a little daunting, so we pick them up/drop off at the airports, we get away from the large city, generally using the larger roads.

"We were driving on a Friday and the trouble all started around Stuttgart."

Ah, that would be the A8! From Karlsruhe to Salzburg, even without road construction, this is one of the worst portions of the Autobahn network for traffic congestion. But at least the scenery is some of the best... you drive slow enough to appreciate it as well.

PS- Taking A9 to A3 to get from Munich to the Rhine won't help you much either. Much of A9 north to Ingolstadt is under construction, and a large portion of A3 as is winds through the Spessart mountains between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg is being expanded from 4 lanes to 6. Expect slow going. Scenery's nice, at least.

I also prefer not to drive into a city. However, my previous visits to Munich I have driven into stadtmitte (parked at the Deutsche Museum) which was easier than other cities and I have also stayed on the outskirts and taken the S-bahn into the city. For stays on the outskirts, there are many possibilities along the S-bahn route. I've stayed in the town of Gauting, south of the city. Here's a property that I saw listed on the town's website. I have not stayed here. http://www.gauting.de/index.php?id=905 To access other town websites in Germany (preferably close to the S-bahn) enter www.townname.de Example would be: www.gauting.de Once on the website look under "tourismos" and then "pension" "zimmer".

http://www.accorhotels.com/gb/hotel-3280-novotel-munich-city/index.shtml

Glenn, I stayed at the above hotel in June last year and it had parking (we used it but I cannot remember the exact cost). We had a double bed room with a sofa bed for 4 people (2 adults and 2 children) with a very good breakfast included. It is an easy 15minute walk into Marienplatz, the city centre. We booked directly at the above website as i could not get booking.com to accept a booking for a room for 2 adults and 2 children. It kept wanting to book two rooms.