Venice, Germany, Salzburg, Belgium & Paris trip?

I have done a lot of this drive in late Nov/ early Dec. and loved the road trip. Just be sure of where you pick up and drop off your car as there can be a huge drop fee if you drop it in another country. I always plan my trip so I can drop off in the same country unless the fee is not too much. I also think the Paris market might start a little earlier than most... I suggest you go on a Christmas Market site and plan accordingly. They are really a lot of fun, and all are different.

Many Christmas Markets in Germany opened on Nov 24th this year. That was the Tuesday before the first Sunday of Advent. By that logic it's possible that some markets will open as early as Nov 22nd in 2016, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of catching a few markets on the tail end of your Germany dates. This site is the one I rely on the most when I do Christmas Market research (http://www.germany-christmas-market.org.uk/). Belgium and Paris will also have Christmas markets, but I have never been so I can't offer a comparison to the German markets.

I second the concern above about the additional fees for dropping the car in another country. Brussels is well connected to many German train stations, so it may be better to drop off the car in one of those cities and catch a train to Brussels. You can check out your options at Bahn.com. Frankfurt and Cologne would be good choices, but there are many others if you did not have plans to visit those cities. With that said, if you planned to stop and see anything on your way to Brussels not as accessible by train (such as a trappist monastery) then paying the extra fees to drop off the car in Belgium may be worth it for you. It all depends on what you plan to do.

Hi there, North Valley neighbor!

"...we thought maybe we’d take the overnight train into Munich (or do you suggest a flight?)"
(Hmm.. your schedule has you overnight-training into Austria?)

I'd prefer a flight to an overnight train since real beds in real rooms provide for a real night's sleep IME. But my first choice would be a morning-departure train ride for this very scenic route. You'll arrive around 2 pm and still have time for Munich.

"we thought maybe we’d take the overnight train into Munich (or do you suggest a flight?), and spend about 10 days with a rental car exploring Munich, hopping over to Salzburg, going through the romantic road, Wurzberg, Bavarian Castles/Bavaria."

It looks like you have 2 nights in Munich, 2 in Salzburg, and 6 in "Germany" (which might include the Romantic Road, Castles and Bavaria.) I would not even consider picking up a car until 11/18 or thereafter as it is a liability in Munich and in Salzburg. (If you fly into Munich, just board a train into the center; to reach Salzburg, take one of the direct Meridian trains from Munich on a Guten-Tag Ticket (€26 for two.)

German Castles: The best collection of real castles is on the route between Bavaria and Brussels in the Middle Rhine Valley, where there are 40 castles in 40 miles of river. The Middle Rhine Valley is a UNESCO World Heritage site you can read about HERE. You can book a night or in one of several castle-hotels in the MRV - Auf Schoenburg Castle in the town of OBERWESEL is one of the most popular - and/or tour MARKSBURG CASTLE in the town of BRAUBACH, which as the website says is "unchanged from medieval times" and is open year-round. Nearby you will find a very good Christmas market in Mainz (other good sightseeing options there too) and a market in Rüdesheim too. I would definitely try to hit these markets before entering Belgium.

(The "Bavarian Castle" featured in the glossy brochures and known as Neuschwanstein is very popular with tourists and tour buses but it is not a genuine castle. It's a residential palace built in the late 19th century with a faux castle exterior. You might wish to see Hohensalzburg Castle while in Salzburg.)

The Romantic Road: A catchy moniker, but the road itself is nothing special, and it's also one that lures people away from the more significant UNESCO World Heritage cities of Bamberg and Regensburg, which lie east of the RR. Bamberg is especially fetching and filled with great brew pubs. NUREMBERG is wonderful too.

Germany's train system serves all the locations I've suggested and is likely to cost less as well. For those additional 6 days, it's the way to go, IMO.

We just completed a wonderful three week December holiday trip in southern Germany, Switzerland, Alsace part of France and Austria. Here are my initial thoughts based upon our trip and your desire to visit some Christmas markets.
1. Consider reversing the order of your trip - start in Belgium and Paris, take the high speed rail from Paris to Strasbourg (takes about 2 1/2 hrs.), and then after visiting Strasbourg rent a car to visit southern Germany and Salzburg. By reversing the order, you will be able to visit some of the Christmas markets in Germany and Salzburg which open near the end of November.
2. Although you may love Venice, it is really outside of the areas you will be visiting where there is so much to see. Save Venice for another trip, especially when the weather is better.
3. I recommend using a car to visit southern Germany and even Salzburg (where it is very easy to park in the under the mountain garage and helpful to have for visiting surrounding communities). You could pick it up in Stasbourg and drop it off in Munich following your visit to Salzburg. We found that traveling by car was very fast, flexible and even economical with very reasonable rental rates and gas now much cheaper.
If interested, I can give you more details about our itinerary.