So I posted another thread about Bavaria, Oktoberfest, and some surroundings.. I've come up with a bit more of a potential itinerary and was wondering about advice, especially about leaving Germany and which way I may go. Apologize for my spelling of cities.
So leaving Sept 19th 2022 from Vancouver to Frankfurt
First day Frankfurt to Rothenburg/Wurzburg/Dinkehsphul. We plan to stay in this area for 4-5 days
We then go to Munich for Oktoberfest for 4 nights, Sept 26 to 30th
Munich - Dublin for a wedding, 3-4 days
Dublin to Munich
Now from Munich we are planning to rent a car right away and drive south, spend 4-5 days in Berches-Gaden, Garmisch, Lindau, etc. check out some of the castles, these places can be done in any order.
Now.. we are considering 2 options from here, We loop back to Munich, drop off the car and take a train to Colmar and go through Dijon, Beaune, and around Burgundy, then to Lyon and the surrounding areas, Chamonix in early to late October
The other option is rent/lease a car long term, and from southern Germany we drive through Austria, into Slovenia, and down into Croatia, drive to southern Croatia and Maybe Serbia. We are going to Croatia because A) My wife is Croatian she has been, I have yet to, and B) We are looking to stay in Croatia and the non-schengen zone countries for at least 2 weeks or more to extend our time back in the Schengen zone.
My main concern is when we should be in France. I want to enjoy that time and go on wine tours etc. I don't need sun and heat but id like to be walking around comfortably and not in the rain etc. If we were to go that France, Dijon, Lyon etc. way first, we'd likely fly from Lyon to Zagreb after.
The France route would seem to make sense given the seasons and weather but I'm also tempted to have a car through Croatia and go to Zagreb etc. which I may not if I was to fly Lyon - Split or somewhere in the south
Sorry for the drawn out post