Munich, Fusson, Salzburg, Prague

The train lines in Bavaria radiate out from Munich, so Fuessen to Salzburg would have to go through Munich. With a car you can cut across the state and save an hour, but with the train you can use a €29 Bayern-Ticket. That's a lot less than the cost of fuel and a day's rental. Again, Salzburg to Hallstatt is faster with a car because the train line goes toward Vienna before turning south towards Hallstatt. In 2009, I took the bus to Hallstatt. It took longer but I got a good view of the lakes in the Salzkammergut. Leaving Hallstatt you are headed north to Prague anyway. If I can get where I want to go, I always like to take the train because it's usually less expensive, and the time's my own - I don't have to watch the road and traffic.

I am planning a similar tour to these towns in May and trying to sort out transportation between the various locations. I was considering driving but looking into it further I've been told by several car rental companies they don't allow their rentals to go into the Czesk Republic. I stopped contacting companies after hearing this from several, but would be interested to hear if others were able to do this or if you decide to look into it further and fine one. The other downside if you did find an agency allowing it, would be the high drop off charges in a different country.

Several years ago I could not find a car I could take to Prague with the usual discount brokers. However, I just checked Hertz and for a major expenditure, you can rent with a major agency. I checked rates for a week long rental, picking up at the main Rail station in Munich and dropping off in downtown Prague. An Opel Opel Insignia SW or similar ( Intermediate) Estate, Manual, Aircon, would hold 5 Passengers ( cozily!!!!) plus 2 Large Suitcases, 2 Small Suitcase .Manual Transmission & Air Conditioning , 1750 Free Kilometers Included 0.21 EUR Each Extra Kilometer Total Estimate Charge includes Collision Damage Waiver / Theft Protection / Estimated mileage / Location Service Charge Registration fee / Tax and other charges Vehicle Subtotal 701.02 EUR - PLUS: ****Drop fee (Paid at counter) ** yikes!
You can go to their website and insert some dates and sizes, but this gives you an idea. Would not want a car in Munich or Prague, so perhaps you rent a car for the shortest time possible and then train between the others? Think you will need to get an estimate of the train costs and the car costs, and consider how many people are traveling. We paid about a thousand dollars as I recall for a weekly VW passat in Prague roundtrip rental, with all the insurance we could buy.

If you rent a car in Germany and drop it in the Czech Republic, you could face a hefty dropoff fee. Be sure to check this out. The additional cost might make your decision for you.

We just got back from the area and like Lee recommended, and made full use of the Bavaria ticket (or Bayern-ticket if you are using the ticket machine in German, altho ticket is borrowed from English rather than using the German KARTE). I believe there are special fares from Germany to Prague so I would look at bahn.de for information. With the Bavaria ticket, you have to take trains after 9:00 AM. If you are going on a weekend, you could use the slightly more expensive (40 euro vs 29) Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket which would allow you travel earlier. Make a tour reservation to the Royal castles in Füssen. Even last month the line at the ticket office was way out the door by noon.

Thanks all, the info is so helpful. I think we will use the trains, we will day trip to Fusson. Thanks Stephen for the tip about reserving tickets for the castles. Then back to Munich for the night. Off to Salzburg the next day. Then train to Prague after 2 or 3 nights in Salzburg. We will skip Hallstatt this time. We will have 3 nights in Prague before joining the bike tour and 3 nights in Vienna after we are done biking. How does that all sound? When can I make our train reservations from Salzburg to Prague? On longer train trips like that we prefer first class so doing it ahead will yield better prices, right? Thanks again and again!

Amy Just to help when you are trying to make reservations, etc., the spelling of the town near Neuschwanstein is Füssen. That is with an umlaut over the "u" and an "e" at the end. If making an "ü" it is perfectly correct to form the same character by putting an "e" after the "u", as in Fuessen. Either will work...

We did a similar trip a few years ago and used the trains. From Salzburg we did Halstatt as a daytrip with a tour. It was nice not having to worry about a thing .

Actually, Stephen, the Bayern-Ticket is valid all day on weekends (not just after 9). The advantage of the Schönes-Wochenende Ticket is that it is good for the entire country, not just in one state. There is now a direct bus from Munich Hbf to Prague. You can get discounted Europa-Spezial tickets with advance purchase for as low as €29/p. These are train specific tickets with limited refundability. There is also a slightly slower regional train that you can take with a €34 Bayern-Böhmen ticket to Pilsen and a €6/p Czech Rail ticket from Pilsen to Prague.

Thanks everyone!