Italy/Austria Itinerary Feedback/Recommendations

You are definitely going to be seeing some incredible mountain views. They just don't get much better than what you have planned.

We find it very important when traveling The Alps to have a car--everyday. I suggest finding a place you can return the car in Italy where you can catch a train thru the Brenner Pass into Austria. We love to get up on the mountainsides and going from village to village in Tirol. And we too love driving the Grossglockner High Alpine Highway too.

I think it looks great
Plenty of time in each location

If you rent car in Italy, drop it in Italy or you will be charged pretty high drop off fee-up to or over 1000 euros is possible

You could drop the car in Bolzano, take the train straight to Innsbruck, and pick up another car there for Austria and Germany, returning it at Salzburg.

Oh my goodness, I just created a dummy reservation for a rental car and WOW you all are right - the price difference for the international drop is INSANE!! $192/day to pick up in Italy and drop in Austria compared to $40/day to pick up in Italy/drop in Italy and then $70/day to pick up again in Austria and drop in Austria! We will DEFINITELY be going that route - thanks so much for your advice!!

hey hey brittanymilliron
you will definitley need to get an IDP (international driving permit) for italy. AAA.com/ IDP. check if one is needed for austria. apply online or go to AAA, $25 for each driver, 2 passport size photos, receive same day, good for 1 year.
read up about driving rules, laws and road signs, staying out ZTL zones, where to park car and how far from hotel/apt
friends of mine had no idea about dropping off fee in another country, drove from french basque towns to barcelona spain and had to pay 900E, a WOW moment and really shocked. paid it and will never do that again. do your homework, pays off in the end
have a great trip. been to lake garda, bardolino, for their annual wine festival on the lake drinking lots of wine from that area. it's a beautiful lake with many small villages around. you will be traveling during high season with crowds all wanting to see the same things you want. be prepared with lots of patience, pack light, book early and check cancellation policies. once you have all your plans completed you'll enjoy yourselves.
aloha

What an epic trip! Since you are wine lovers consider traveling along the South Tyrolean Wine Road on the way from Malcesine to Ortisei. It is the oldest in Italy and is dotted with incredible wineries and ancient wine villages. One of my favorite to visit is Tramin: https://throneandvine.com/exploring-tramin-italy/. You can park in the center and walk to the Elena Walch and J. Hofstatter estates for a wonderful tasting experience.

@Kate that’s a fantastic suggestion!! We’ll make a point to do just that! Thank you for the tip!

@miuccia Yes I have been to Verona, and I agree, it's absolutely amazing!! I loved allllll the Roman sites there! I will absolutely visit there again on another trip, but not this one. A future trip will be focusing just on the Veneto and Emilia-Romagna regions and I will absolutely be spending more time in lovely Verona! Thank you for the suggestion!!

I like the 4 nights in Ortesei. The hiking is truly spectacular. Here are some spectacular hikes:

Seceda: take the lift up to seceda and hike to Refugio Firenze and down to Col Raiser. At this point you can hike back up to Seceda or all the back down to Ortesei.
Sassolungo circuit: 12.5 miles with plenty of elevation gain. If you are interested, PM me and I can get more info. This was a spectacular day.

Ali di Suisi: I did a small hike of 5 miles because we were driving to Verona in this day, but longer., more challenging hikes are out there. We just ran out of time.