Renting a Car in Munich

A reasonable option is to pick up the rental from one of the agencies at the Munich Hauptbahnhof and just drive it out of the city from there. Leaving the city by car isn't that bad of an experience, it's trying to drive through it and find parking that provides an endless amount of frustration.

I had no trouble finding parking in Salzburg's Altstadt, although it helps if you already have a good deal of familiarity with how European cities direct you to the parking garages.

If you rent the car in Austria and return it in Germany, you'll accrue a rather steep foreign drop-off fee.

Your itinerary contains a pretty standard list of destinations. It could likely be easily done via rail, but I'll let the rail gurus on this website try to convince you.

I am pretty sure from Rothenburg back to Munich should be via car.

I've gone from Rothenburg to Munich via train. It was really easy. Did it with a Bayern-Ticket, which today would be 31,-€ for two people (actually, we had lunch in Munich, then went on to Berchtesgaden, all on the same Bayern-Ticket).

The fastest way by car, according to ViaMichelin, takes 2h35, assuming no traffic tie-ups or wrong turns, and fuel alone would cost over 25€. The train via Treuchtlingen would take 3h15 (only 40 min longer), cost 31€ for two, and be less stressful.

You can also pick up a rental car at Freilassing, Germany, just about 10 minutes by regional train or S-Bahn from Salzburg, when you're ready to leave there.

Hi,

I think 4 nights for Salzburg is overkill unless you're doing day trips from there. We have always stayed outside Salzburg in the Berchtesgaden area for our trips that included cisits to Salzburg. Berchtesgaden is less than a 30 minute drive from Salzburg. We never have trouble parking in Salzburg. We park under the mountain in the Monchburg Garages. Easy walk to the pedestrian zone. The drive from Hallstatt to Rothenburg is really a long day. On a similar note, my opinion is 3 nights in Hallstatt is too much. All total that's 7 nights in 2 places that are less than 1:30 apart.

For your itinerary as is, pick up the car in Freilassing, Germany (a suburb of Salzburg) and return it in Garmisch after your stay in either Fuessen or Pinswang. Easy and then get the train to Munich from Garmisch.

Hi. I had a lot of anxiety about driving in Germany, too, but found it to be pretty easy. On the Autobahn, you just need to look a little farther behind you than normal when changing lanes. You'll find that driving 124 miles/hr is pretty fun (maybe not on this trip, but the next one!). I would definitely train from Munich to Salzburg and from Salzburg to Hallstatt. I don't know the smaller towns you are visiting during the Germany leg of the trip well enough to comment, so I will defer to the others.

I will respectfully disagree with 4 nights in Salzburg being overkill --> My first trip to Europe in 2014 included 6 nights in Salzburg. My travel partner and I made very good use of the 72-hour Salzburg Card and traveled outside the city, too, with a Sound of Music bus tour and a day trip to Eagle's Nest/Berchtesgaden. We also took a day trip to a nearby small town (Sankt Georgen) where we wandered around the town, had a picnic lunch at the lake (Attersee) outside town, and attended a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir in the town church. I love Salzburg. So, I think you can find plenty to do in and around the city to fill 4 nights there.

Enjoy your trip!

Dave, I respectfully ask you to read what I wrote... I think 4 nights for Salzburg is overkill unless you're doing day trips from there. The word "unless" is important here. LOL. All good.

Driving in Germany and Austria is as easy as here in the U.S. Actually, people on the highways actually stay to the right unless passing! So do trucks! What an idea.

A few comments on your itinerary:

Except for your stay in Munich I would do all my travel by car. I have done variations of this itinerary on two separate occasions and all of the places you plan to visit are perfect for access by car and not everywhere is easily visited by train.

You will find driving in Germany is much easier than the US if you remember one very important rule - keep in the right lane except to pass. And, as Dave says, "look a little farther behind you than normal when changing lanes" - when someone is driving 100 mph faster than you the closing time is just more than a blink. German drivers are generally very disciplined so once you get accustomed to the higher speeds it will be a lot easier than you anticipate.

I would not spend four nights in Salzburg and three nights in Hallstatt. You could certainly occupy four nights in Salzburg if you do day trips to Hallstatt and Berchtesgaden, but I would use the three nights that you plan for Hallstatt elsewhere.

So where to spend the extra nights? I would spend two in Nuremberg. If you are the least bit interested in WWII you will find you can spend a full day exploring the Nazi Rally Grounds, the Documentation Center, theCourt House where Nazi bigwigs were tried, the medieval castle and the old town.

I would add the other night to Fussen or Pinswang. In addition to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau I would add Linderhof Palace and Wieskirche to your list of places to visit. Linderhof was Ludwig's hunting "cabin" and sits in a beautiful setting. Wieskirche is underwhelming from the outside but spectacular inside. Although it is not the most direct route from Fussen to Munich I would spend a long day driving parts of the Alpenstrasse that connects Fussen to Berchtesgaden - the Alpenstrasse passes through cute little towns and past beautiful lakes while the Alpine scenery is awesome. Or you could use that day connecting Salzburg to Fussen if you shuffle your intinerary by putting Freiberg after Fussen.

Leslie,

Driving in Germany is not really a difficult thing. Quite frankly I find it much more civilized than driving in southern california!. That said, you just need to familiarize yourself with general German driving rules (which are just good driving anyway) such as staying out of the left lanes unless you are passing and never pass on the right. Other than that it is no big deal...

I would however avoid driving into inner Munich, it will just be a headache as are most larger European cities.. It is much easier than it was just a few years ago with a decent GPS.. , but it is still stressful.

I'd recommend picking up your car as you leave munich. You can take the S-Bahn (super easy) form the airport on arrival to you hotel assuming you are staying in central Munich. And then take it back out to the airport when you leave. (I've done this numerous times). Or arrange your Munich visit so that it is fully at the end of your trip.

An alternative is to stay on the outskirts of Munich near one of the S-Bahn lines and use the S-Bahn for your daily sightseeing. I've done both. Personally I like staying downtown so prefer just getting my car on the way out of town.

In general I've found minimize your rental of the car (and parking headaches). I've come to the conclusion after years of travel (business and personal) that I take a train anytime I can over driving. They are fast and efficient and minimize the parking hassle.

As a Californian, it took me a long time to get the idea that it was easier to use public transportation in Europe. The cities are much more built for it than on the west coast.