Itinerary advice? Switzerland/Austria + Colmar?

Hi milendamcg. Your trip sounds great. I have several thoughts; I'll start with a couple... 1. In October, be prepared for some possible cold weather in the mountain areas. 2. Check rental cars - renting and dropping in different countries can be very expensive. Enjoy your trip!

Much of Colmar's appeal is related to its German look and feel, with its half-timbered houses and German cuisine. As such, I think your time would be better spent in Austria or Bavaria, on the way to Switzerland. Colmar has a quaint inner core, but it is enclosed within a larger, much less quaint urban area. In Austria or Bavaria, you can experience the real thing. For a two day visit, the eight hour drive from Halstatt to Colmar is not worth it.

Also, as the previous poster noted, the cost of dropping a car off in a country other than the one in which you got it is high. Add to that the cost of required vignettes in both Austria and Switzerland, and it may be worth it to rent separately in Italy and Austria, and taking a train or bus between them.

We visited Austria, Bavaria, northern Switzerland and Alsace France last year, using a rental car, and enjoyed all of those areas. Based upon our trip, I have the following comments re your trip:
We really enjoyed the Alsace area, not only Colmar, but more importantly the quaint near by villages, such as Riquewhir. If you like small, picturesque villages and countryside, this is a great place to visit. But your currently planned itinerary does not really lend itself to driving from Hallstatt to Alsace France - its a long drive. A couple of suggested alternatives. First, eliminate Hallstatt from your trip since it is far away from the rest of the places you are visiting - save it for another trip where you can visit all the great villages and areas in Bavaria and Austria. That will give you enough time to visit Alsace by car from Lucerne or Interlaken. Second, change your itinerary so that you arrive and stay in the Berner Oberland area starting on October 3rd and then use 3 to 4 of the last days to drive to Alsace. With this alternative, you would keep your rental car while in Switzerland (which we did and allowed us to visit many quaint areas) and then drive to Alsace and return the car either in Switzerland or drive to Milan and return it there. Also, I think that spending 4 days in Murren is too long - its a very small village and there are a lot of other great places in the Berner Oberland area to visit which you will miss if you spend your whole time in Murren. Hope this helps.

Also, I think that spending 4 days in Murren is too long - its a very small village and there are a lot of other great places in the Berner Oberland area to visit which you will miss if you spend your whole time in Murren.

I disagree, unless your goal is to only see Mürren. Most people, however, use it as a base to hike and explore other parts of the Berner Oberland. In this case, I think 4 days is perfect. The thing to always remember about the Alps is that you may lose entire days to bad weather. Unless you can plan your trip with the benefit of a short-term weather forecast, you need to hedge your bets when planning an Alpine trip. 4 days provides a nice cushion. Particularly because you will be visiting near the time that the weather begins to transition from the drier to the wetter season.

And I agree with the others... Colmar doesn't make sense on your itinerary. It's going too far out of your way.

I don't know anyone how has gone to Murren and confined themselves only to the town for their duration. Murren beckons you out onto the paths and trails that lead to Myriads of wonderful place. There are 2 modes of transport that will whisk you to the valley floor in no time at all. The gondolas and funiculars and trains are dotted all over this region so you're never confined (unless you just want to be). We love Murren!

My point re 4 days in Murren is that there are a lot of other beautiful nearby places to visit for a day or two unless you just want to hike around and visit mountain peaks and areas in and near Murren which of course you can do. For example, we really enjoyed visiting Thun and driving around the two lakes near Interlaken and found many interesting spots to visit, such as the pretty and picturesque church, castle ruin and beautiful view at Riggenburg. I just wanted to make the point that there is a lot to see and enjoy in that beautiful area of Switzerland that you may not want to miss while you are there, especially if you have a rental car which gives you the ability to drive around the area.