Munich Germany to Italy

Why not rent a car instead? The Dolomites are wonderful (just remember these are NOT the Rockies). Great great scenery and the driving is easy. A car will give you great flexibility for photo ops and picnics, B&Bs and local resturants. You can park the car outside of Venice at a hotel in a nearby town and train in (or there is a car park just outside Venice proper). Siena will be a snap with a car. You can turn your rental car in at the port. If you are staying in Rome for a couple days prior to the cruise ditch the car in town (cheaper than at the airport) and take the train to the cruise port from Rome Termini. I think the train to the port was o/a $20 or $28. Turn right out of the train station and walk o/a 5 blocks. Entrance to the cruise terminal on the water side of the street where it turns a sharp right and uphill. There is free bus transportation from the entrance to your ship.

Thanks Marie it does sound like a good way to go, we never rented a car in Europe before but I bet we would enjoy....something to look into

Before you jump to rent a car, look at all the aspects. Renting a car in Germany and dropping it in Italy comes with high dropoff fees. On the other hand, the train from Munich to Bolzano can be as low at €39/P. If you have to do it by car, rent it in Bolzano.

After talking with my husband the train will be our thing. It sounds to me like Fussen would be a good hub and not too far from the airport. We're looking for something reasonable which may be impossible during Oct in Munich. My husband was stationed in Germany and loves the food. I'm thinking we could check out Munich but then move to a cheaper area to sleep. We have a year to work on this but its fun. I did order RS Germany, should be here soon. Thanks, Jo

"It sounds to me like Fussen would be a good hub and not too far from the airport. We're looking for something reasonable which may be impossible during Oct in Munich." Füssen is actually pretty weak as a train hub for outings. It's at the very south end of a trunk line. Garmisch-Partenkirchen or its adorable neighbor, Mittenwald, would make getting places easier, as the train line they lie on starts in Munich and continues to Innsbruck and south into Italy's Dolomites. You can get from Munich's airport to either town with just one train connection; Füssen requires 2 or 3. And the Garmisch area is full of things to do - the Zugspitze, Germany's tallest Alp, the Partnach gorge, the Karwendelbahn cable car ride, the Fraundorfer Inn's Bavarian Evening, Mittenwald itself, the scenic train ride from Garmisch through Tyrolean Switzerland toward Reutte. http://www.karwendelbahn.de/english/summer http://www.gasthof-fraundorfer.de/english/index.php http://www.mittenwald.de/index.shtml?en_mittenwald And prices in this area are good. You can stay in a simple B&B like this one in Mittenwald w/ a view of the Karwendel mountains for 42 Euros/night double: http://www.haus-maller.de (click on Zimmer near top to see room.)

Thanks soooo much Russ......