Amsterdam to Salzburg

I would fly direct to Salzburg from Amsterdam and only visit Munich on a day trip.
What specific towns are trying to visit?

I'd probably fly to Munich and take the train to Salzburg.
[edit: I too would fly to Salzburg, but only if you can get a direct flight where the timing works out. Otherwise, I'd get a direct flight to Munich then take the train from there.]

Great idea. The destination is really Salzburg not Munich. But from Salzburg on to the Danube, Vienna and Budapest. I'm try to break this down to components like Amsterdam to Salzburg so I can get somewhere planning it. We thought about the train as a way to see the German countryside, but that is a lesser objective and the time we save flying might be more important.

As I investigate the air travel, Munich is only 1hr 20 min flight and $105 on Lufthansa. Salzburg because of layovers is several hours more and much more expensive. So the remaining question is, what about renting a car in Munich using that through the Vienna portion of the trip?

There are currently 4 directs a day from Amsterdam to Salzburg.

If you were buying them for tomorrow they would be about $30 dollars more than if you flew into Munich.

Where specifically are you going so one can see where you need to rent a car?

Thnaks Jazz+Travels. Looking on Momondo, I see no direct flights to Salzburg and the fastest flight is $329 and that is 3.5 hours. Maybe I need to look on other sites. From Salzburg we plan to spend 4 days on the Danube exploring our way to Vienna, two days there, and then on to Budapest for another 4 days. We have to go back to Amsterdam to fly out.

Arriving June 22 in Amsterdam, traveling on June 24 to Salzburg and leaving out of Amsterdam on July 7th
Must hit Danube, Vienna, and Budapest from Salzburg.

Momondo is apparently extremely limited; I would use Google flights you will see all the options and then you book directly with the airline; I see direct flights from Amsterdam to Salzburg as low as $70 one way a month in advance purchase
Just rent the car in Austria if you find the trains restraining

what about this "get back to Amsterdam for our flight"? You didn't book multi-city to save yourself hauling all the way back the way you came? Have you actually bought the tickets yet? Can you fly into Amsterdam and out of Budapest or Vienna?

I must be doing something wrong. The Google Flights flights I could find take 7.25 hours and cost $184 or 3.5 hours and cost $414 each. With 4 of us traveling that is too much. They get more expensive or more lengthy from there.

The Munich flights are all non-stop and only take 80 min at $104.

Thank Nigel. No, I probably screwed up there, but I got a special promotional fare that was round trip only from Atlanta to Amsterdam. It is a great fare and I figured even if I just did one ways once we were there it would be fine. Either way I now have a round trip for all four of us from Atlanta to Amsterdam. Flying to Munich seems like a heck of an idea for only $105 a piece and taking 80 min.

So, from Munich to Salzburg - Salzburg to either Passau or maybe Linz (we want to spend time exploring the Danube) - To Vienna then on to Budapest.

What is certain is that I am going to owe some people some beers or better from the help I am already getting here. :-)

Right, there are no direct flights from Amsterdam to Salzburg on June 22 on Google Flights.

If you can rent the car in Munich and drop one way and get a good price? Maybe that's your best bet. But car rental is always a last resort for me in Europe - only if the train just can't get me there or I'm going to some rural area or something with small towns, where the car adds a lot of convenience. Otherwise, with the great train system in Europe, a car is usually an extra hassle and expense.

Thanks Jazz+Travel. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm on Google Flights and I don't see that available. I'm going to try the airline site directly like you suggest.

Sorry, I meant, no direct flights on June 24 to Salzburg.

I just checked what Andrew H. said and confirm
There are no direct Flights from Amsterdam to Salzburg on June 24th.

Those flights I was looking at were in February
(it is the skying season which explains why there were 4 flights a day)
so I would go with the direct ones to Munich

Thanks Andrew. So once I do the Danube exploring thing we want to do, I think the car would be a hassle in Vienna and Budapest. You seem to agree with that. Maybe the plan should be to rent the car somewhere in Austria, maybe Linz, and return it there. Take train to Vienna and then on to Budapest. Fly back to Amsterdam from Budapest. Come home and plan our next vacation.

Does that sound reasonable or am I missing something vital?

So the air to Munich is down.

Now... Munich to Salzburg. Those who have been there is the train the way to go? It seems my options are rent the car in Munich, or rent the car in Salzburg, or rent the car in Linz. Linz seems the best choice logistically if there is good (quick) trains from Munich to Salzburg and Salzburg to Linz. Although there are lots of rural trips we want to do from Salzburg as well so I suppose if might be a push on whether to rent there or Linz.

Makes sense on the sking Jazz+Travel. It was a good idea.

I have flown into Munich and taken the train to Salzburg. I have been to Vienna and Budapest (separate trip, took the train from Prague to Vienna and then to Budapest) but not been to Linz. But I'm pretty sure without even looking that there is good train service from Salzburg to Linz, so that's how I would surely do it unless I wanted to stop in between.

In any event, I'm used to trains and prefer them, so the Munich-Salzburg connection was a breeze for me. I think (was a few years ago) I took one of the S-Bahn trains into Munich and picked up the train to Salzburg from there. You'd probably do it the same way now.

I always use Bahn's site (German trains) for reference for trains for all of Europe:

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml

The Austrian train site site is here:

https://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp

Check rental car prices for renting in one country and dropping in another - sometimes a steep one-way drop fee (maybe less so between Germany and Austria, definitely true in other countries). Renting in Linz dropping in Vienna may cost a whole lot less. I will say that while I was glad I took the train to Salzburg (I was headed to Graz and then Slovenia on that trip), I thought the scenery in Bavaria from the train was really beautiful, and I made a mental note that driving through that might be fun someday, with some time to stop at little towns etc. But just to get from A to B, the train is surely the easiest way to go.

You may need an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in Germany and/or Austria FYI - not sure, never driven in either country.

Unless you are going to a very remote area, the train system is excellent in Europe and there really is no need to rent a car. If your destinations are near train stations, I would definitely utilize the rail system.
when you arrive, there are always taxis or other ground transport you can use.
Once we went to a tiny village (pop.300) in France to visit the ancestral homestead.
We took the train and then took a taxi 3 miles to the village. When we were finished, the taxi was called back for us. There were 7 in our group. If you go this route, determine the rate with the driver before you get into the vehicle.
Looks like you got an awesome deal on your overseas flight!

As I noted in your other post, take the train from Munich to Salzburg. Here are the instructions - https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Munich.htm#Munich-Salzburg

In Salzburg, I suggest renting a car for visiting the surrounding areas. Only rent the car after you have taken a take to explore Salzburg itself. A car within Salzburg is a real pain. Keep the car until you arrive in Vienna, where you should drop it off immediately. As you will rent the car entirely within one country, you will not have drop off fees of significance.

I would also note that June 20 is a public holiday in Austria and many families will use the weekend of June 20-23 as an opportunity to travel. This will make that weekend quite busy for getting around and for hotels, so make reservations for everything asap.

Thank you Emily. We will do that. I may end up regretting getting the car, but we do love to explore. When in Fairbanks recently we drove almost to the Yukon just to see the countryside.