Want to head out early evening from Konigssee towards Interlaken, Switzerland. Trying to find the fastest route and the best place to stay a little more than half way, to get up the next morning to continue the rest of the way. We are driving a rental ;) Thanks!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33859 posts
Be careful if you are driving in Austria and/or Switzerland with a German car.
If you drive on any motorways in either country you must apply a toll Vignette to the windshield before driving there. In Switzerland any road - even a single lane road - which has a green sign of a car indicating a road is covered by a Vignette.
A ten day vignette in Austria for a passenger car runs around €8 and is available at service areas and filling stations before the border.
A one year Swiss Vignette (nothing smaller is available) is available at or before the border and costs CHF40.
Failure to have it in the right place will result in high fines, either in the mail from the automated cameras or on the spot from officers parked up just beyond the border - those officers are particularly notorious in Austria, while Switzerland has officers right at the border and those cameras I mentioned.
Posted by
OP
21 posts
Thanks for that warning!!
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
The faster route is probably to drive through Tyrol and Vorarlberg, rather than through Bavaria. Head south to Bischofshofen, drive in the direction of Leogang and Ellmau, and basically follow the signs to Innsbruck and the A12 Autobahn. If you can make Lech am Arlberg by a reasonable hour, I would shoot for this lovely little high-altitude town for an overnight stay, but if not, Innsbruck is probably more realistic. You're surrounded by the Alps along this route, so you'll not want for impressive scenery.
You could drive through Bavaria, but there's no one major route that gets you to where you need to go. Plus, you'd have to drive on A8 for part of the way. The scenery may be impressive (at least on the driver's side), but this particular stretch of Autobahn is extremely Stau-prone.
PS: Another driving tip... if you've never driven in Austria before, be very careful about strictly obeying the speed limits. The Austrian Polizei allow very little leniency.