Driving the German Alpine Road

I've driven the route immediately to it's north between Garmisch and Lindau. To put it mildly, there's some nice scenery along the way. It only takes a few hours to drive, so I'm not sure if there's much point in picking an en-route place to stay.

I always use my trusty Michelin map book, which covers all of Europe. If you stay along the Alpenstrasse, you probably won't need a map with a huge amount of detail to get around. You may need a map of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. If I remember correctly, you can get one at the main train station, which sits squarely in the middle of GaP.

Ditto the recommendation of the Michelin map. Check out Michelin Maps and Products website. Garmische Partinkirchen is a nice little town. We stayed their last year at their Post Hotel.

I have been on all of the rail lines between Friedrichshafen (close to Meersburg) and Garmisch.

I agree that there is no reason to stop along the way, but if you do, I would recommend either Immenstadt im Allgäu (nothing particularly noteworthy, just a delightful town, in my opinion) or go up the Illertal into the Oberallgäu, to Oberstdorf and the Kleinwalsertal.

Definitely plan to stop on the island town of Lindau.

This route could easily be done by rail from Meersburg to Lindau, then to Kempten and via the very scenic Ausserfernbahn route through the Tirol from Kempten through Pfronten and Reutte into Garmisch-Partenkirchen from the Austrian side.

For an even better experience, get off in Immenstadt and take the train to Sontofen, then the bus via Hindelang and Oberjoch to Pfronten, then continue on with the Ausserfernbahn to GaP. That might take a little longer, but is a spectacular ride, well worth the time.

Thank you everyone for the advice.