Rental Cars and International Fees

You can try very easy on the booking pages (e.g. Sixt, Europcar, Avis) the differences in prices for different options. A possible option you named already: Get by Bayern ticket (rail) to Salzburg and start the car rental there.

Additional tips:
- I also want to make you familiar with a scenic route in Bavaria: the German Alpine Road.
- For the time in Munich avoind to have a car. Public transport is excellent.
- If you rent a car in Germany they are cheaper if you rent at stations which are not located at airports or main stations.
- Be aware that you will need an Austrian Autobahn sticker (Pickerl) to use them.
- Make sure you have all documents to assure driving permits in both countries (not for rental car but for official checks, e.g. in case of accident)

Also look into taking the train to Innsbruck (2 hours) and picking up a car there, even if you'll drive it straight back across the border.

One-way fees will depend on the company. In a test booking with AutoEurope.com, and selecting Avis, I was quoted about $250 extra (which was less than I expected).

@MarkK That website is awesome! That will be so helpful in planning the drives.

With the Austria Autobahn sticker... is that something that covers both Austria and Germany? Is that something you just tell the rental car company you need or is that something you have to apply for?

You can drop the car at Freilassing on the outskirts of Salzburg but on the German side and take a city bus into Salzburg.

Your trip also sounds well made for train and not car but always your choice.

If you do not want to drive around Austria after you reach Salzburg (parking in Salzburg is very expensive, parking and driving in Munich is difficult) there is a back way to Freilassing by leaving the autobahn one exit before the border and then you wouldn't need a Vignette (I don't know the term Pickerl used by MarkK from Berlin - I didn't know the name of the Vignette had been changed) and if you do no driving at all in Austria you won't need an IDP. But if you decide to drive cross-country to Salzburg from Füssen you will be driving in Austria and all drivers will need an IDP.

As far as the drop charge, I haven't checked - I drive my own car from England each year so I don't rent cars - but figures usually quoted are around €500 to €1000.

The Austian Highway Toll Sticker is called a "Vignette". You need this before driving on a highway in Austria. You buy it and put it on the car windshield. Buy it in Germany before getting to Austria. For the cost, 9.20, it so worth having even if you don't PLAN on driving on a highway.

https://www.asfinag.at/toll/vignette/

file:///C:/Users/Shipping/Downloads/Info%20flyer%20Vignette%20and%20Section%20Toll%202019.pdf

The Vignette is purchased from service areas on the Autobahn as you approach the Austrian border. Last year it was around €10 for 7 days - I don't know about 2019.

You don't need one for German Autobahns. It is unlikely that your rental would already have one. You need to stick it in the correct place on the windscreen - instructions are printed in several languages on the back including English - or it is not valid and once you start sticking it don't try to move it or it is designed to come apart.

If you rent in Austria then you won't be able to drive into Munich because your car is unlikely to have a green German Umweltplakette. I don't know if it is yet required in Ga-P.

We were given the option paying a 1000Euro fee for taking a car from Lisbon to Barcelona to drop it off. So instead, we took a taxi across the border into Galicia, Spain and picked up a new car in Spain, no drop fees in same country. I imagine the fee varies by distance. You can find where the cars are available by using AutoEurope's website.

Hi Laura-

Here is another option which minimizes backtracking, cross-border fees, and allows the flexibility of car rental.
Arrive MUC, spend 2-3 nights. Catch train to Garmisch for 3 nights. Rent car in Garmisch to drive to small towns around Garmisch. (Mittenwald, Ettal, Oberamergau, Wieskirche, Schloss Linderhof). You could rent the car when you leave Munich and drive to Garmisch if that is easier, but try to minimize driving in or through Munich . Drop car off in Garmisch and catch train to Innsbruck (1.5 hours). Rent car and drive around Innsbruck 1-2 nights, then to Salzburg and environs 2-3 nights (Berchtesgaden, Hallstatt, etc) , then drive on to Vienna. You could trade 1 night around Innsbruck for 1 night in Melk on the way to Vienna. This gives you 4 nights in Vienna. You could keep the car for a day or so in Vienna before dropping it off if you want to see some of the sights in the outskirts of Vienna, but public buses are pretty good in Vienna.

No cross border drop fees, flexibility of a car for small towns, car rental in Innsbruck should already have Vignette , etc. You could drop the car in Salzburg and train to Vienna if you are tired of driving in small towns...

Have a great trip!!!

Vignette (I don't know the term Pickerl used by MarkK from Berlin - I didn't know the name of the Vignette had been changed)

I hasn't. Pickerl is a colloquial expression (from Austrian picken = Bavarian pichen "to glue, to stick", derived from "Pech", engl. pitch). Those Pickerl are dissapearing rapidly. Instead, you just register your car and pass through an electronic check just after the border. So write down the plate # of your rental car before buying.

Something I was thinking about recently, can ANPR (Automatic Number Plate Recognition) systems cope with non-English characters?
In the UK at least, it is becoming more common that in car parks, you pay your fee and type in your vehicle number. It then records all vehicles entering or leaving, and charges any that didn't pay. But the keypad only has 0-9, A-Z on it. ANPR is also used, e.g., London Congestion Charge, speeding cameras, and tolls (as on Austrian Autobahn).

In Germany at least, you can have the extra letters on your numberplate. The first part of the number is the Kreis (county) or city the car is registered in, for example near here numbers are "LÖ ABC 123", for County Lörrach.
I guess an Austrian system can cope, as they speak German, even though AFAIK there are no umlauted number plates in Austria. I can imagine having an LÖ plate could confuse speeding cameras in other countries.

Thank you for the replies everyone! From your advice, dropping a car somewhere on the German side and then picking up a car on the Austrian side for the second half of the journey seems to be the the most workable option while avoiding exorbitant fees. @Nigel, your idea of dropping off in Freilassing intrigues me, especially now that I'm entertaining the idea of doing the German Alpine Road. Seems easy enough to get a bus or taxi into Salzburg after that. Then we will train or car the rest of the way across Austria. @Kenneth, I also liked your idea of possibly training to Innsbruck instead since we were considering it as a potential way stop anyways.

I'm going to assume there isn't too much of an issue driving to both local Austrian and German sites around Salzsburg? I'm thinking of stuff like crossing back over the border in an Austrian rental car to go to Bertchesgaden. Though I do know public transport to there is fairly easy. Like I said, loose planning stage at this point, but I feel like getting a good feel on transportations will help the most.

I'm going to assume there isn't too much of an issue driving to both local Austrian and German sites around Salzsburg? I'm thinking of stuff like crossing back over the border in an Austrian rental car to go to Bertchesgaden.

On back roads you will not even notice when you cross the border. And no one in Bavaria cares whether your car has an Austrian plate and vice versa.

Seems easy enough to get a bus or taxi into Salzburg after that.

Indeed it is. Three of the big car rental companies are near the stop(s) of bus #24 from Freilassing into Salzburg. Avis and Sixt are near the "Sonnenfeld" stop (the terminus of the bus coming in from Salzburg), Europcar is right at the stop "Salzburger Platz".