My wife and I will be in Switzerland in mid September visiting Interlaken and Gimmerwald. We fly into Zurich to begin that 3 1/2 day adventure and plan to take trains to do so. We then planned to go back to Zurich to rent a car in which we'd take the next 5 days to drive through Bavaria in Germany and ending in Munich. I think our first stop will be Neuschwanstien Castle however we aren't sure of the route to take from Zurich to get there and wondered if anyone had suggestions of a route that brought anything cool to do or see along the way? Any help in planning this would be appreciated!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33818 posts
Unless you stop at Lindau (which very close to Zurich and easily done as less than a day trip), I wouldn't expect much special scenery, although it will be pleasant.
Are you prepared for the huge drop off fee to leave a Swiss car in Munich? Cars are much much cheaper if they are returned to the country in which they are rented.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8879 posts
I think Nigel has a great point. I would take the train to Germany and then get the rental car.
Posted by
Alabama, USA
271 posts
I would rent the car in ZRH, drive around, head to Germany and drop off. We LOVE driving in Switzerland. :)
The freedom of a) driving the car where you want to, b) having a rolling luggage wagon (also called a trunk) to keep all of your stuff in repacking every couple of days into a smaller daypack for hotels/hikes, c) not worrying about whether or not you have missed the train/is it the right train/etc., and d) being able to really go off the beaten path is freeing. It is the difference between Zermatt and Saas Fee (minus the Matterhorn) in an obvious way, but there are a lot of smaller places like this that are priceless. And that is with Switzerland's second-to-none transport system which is truly amazing (read on Postbuses, good stuff to know, esp. if you use the trains while there and want to get to out of the way places).
Otherwise...& Important Note:
Rent the car in Germany. The companies are separate 'companies' (Swiss and German) and if you rent a car in Switzerland, and damage it (say, while in Germany), it will have to go BACK to Switzerland for service/exchange. Yeah. Good stuff. Ask me how I know... Keep in mind that renting in one country and dropping off in another will surely incur a dropoff fee. This is not a myth. That being said, sometimes it is the price you pay.
Make sure to stop at the Rodelbahn @ Tegelbergbahn (http://www.tegelbergbahn.de/sommer/rodelbahn.html). It is RIGHT PAST the turn to go to the castle. If you turn RIGHT to go to the castle then instead of turning right keep going straight, like 1/4 mile past the turn, and it is up on the right. It isn't a mountain or castle, but a good place to stop, eat, enjoy a run or two (which is cheap and fun, really). We stayed in Austria, right around the corner from the castle. There is a grocery on the right on the way BACK FROM the castle to get some supplies (which we picked up on the way in from Austria, like 2km from the castle).
If driving from Switzerland to Fuessen, you can go through Appenzell (I strongly suggest you spend a couple of days there in Ebenalp). A trip from ZRH>Fuessen is about 2hr45min while going ZRH>Appenzell (Ebenalp)>Fuessen is about 3hr15min.
Lindau, Germany is a beautiful place. Bad Schachen is right there on the Bodensee/Lake Constance. A regal place to stay :)
Posted by
Buchs SG, Switzerland
60 posts
My GF and I went to Bavaria this year on more or less the same route so here are some suggestions:
- Book Neuschwanstein Castle ahead of time. Way ahead. No, more than that.
- The other castle right next to it is also pretty nice.
- And there is a third castle a little further away. You can get a I think something like a 3-for-2 ticket.
For the way there here are some things that come to mind:
- Island of Mainau - A botanical garden. September should be time for dahlias and summer flower (according to their website) they also have a small butterfly house, some castles and it's just generally a nice place.
- Rhine falls, Schaffhausen, Stein am Rhein
- Lake Dwellings Unteruhldingen - A museeum / reconstruction of bronze age stilted lake dwellings
- The zeppelin museeum in Friedrichshafen
- Old town and abbey of St. Gallen
Once you're past Neuschwanstein, I recommend stopping by the Wieskirche. And if you're up for a little detour, my GF and I both greatly enjoyed the Partnachklamm gorge near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.