Munich to Innsbruck or Salzburg?

I can't address driving, but I can strongly recommend Salzburg but with the understanding that it will be very crowded in the old section (read tourist section) of town! Just know that going in...I also haven't been to the Werfen ice caves, but they (and some others) get rave reviews on the Helpline from those that have.

That is a toughie. Any way you go will offer many great sites so you really cannot go wrong. If you should go to Hallstatt there are some ice caves (Dachstein) located about 3 or 4 miles from Hallstatt. You get a beautiful overhead view of Hallstatt as you take the cable car up and then walk about 15-20 minutes to the caves. Also, the salt mine tour there is a lot of fun. Another route to consider is to Zell am See and take the Grossglockner road and visit the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Hohe and enjoy a nice meal at the Panorama Restaurant while soaking in the beauty of the Grossglockner peak (Austria's highest) and the Pasterze glacier. You could then drive on down to the little town of Heiligenblut and spend a quiet and relaxing night with a view of the Grossglockner. Heiligenblut has a beautiful little church waiting to be photographed. From there you could drive on to the Dolomites with some more incredible scenery. Start in Cortina d'Ampezzo and take the Great Dolomite road to Bolzano. From there you could drive on to Venice. All of this would require some time so it may not fit into your schedule. It is well worth the time but you might want to spend a couple of days as you drive through the Dolomites. I believe you may be pushed for time to do this since you are going on to Rome from Venice but just passing along for your info.

Wow! The Dolomites do look incredible! Thanks so much for the great info. Yes, I do have to think about timing, I don't want to feel too rushed, we can always save Rome for another time :) There seems like just so much to explore in this area. Hmmmm, you have given me some new things to think about.

Jennifer, while in Hallstatt be sure to also take in the salt mines which is a fun tour. We enjoyed both the ice caves and the salt mine tour. If I had to rank them I would put the salt mine tour first. During the tour you have the option of sliding down the wood bannisters or walking down the steps. Take the bannister. It is quicker and more fun. When I was a child we would visit my grandmothers house which was a big farm house with two stories and we were not allowed to slide down the bannister. Being kids however we did anyway and when we got caught it was big trouble for us. I felt a sense of revenge when sliding down the ones in the salt mine. No grownups to catch us violating the bannister rule although my car keys, cell phone and hotel room keys came out of my pocket and I did not know it until we finished our tour. I guess I was still being punished for all the times I did not get caught at my grandparents house. Luckily the following two tours found all of my lost items.

Salzburg is great. It's one of the most beautiful small cities anywhere, has lots of sights to choose from, and all very walkable. From there you may also want to stop in Hall in Tyrol, just down the road from Innsbruck, for a look around. Innsbruck itself isn't really a destination, as you will see when you drive through. Along the way, there are some possibilities. You can see the "Ice Man" they found in the area north of Verona. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi_the_Iceman We chose to go through Verona rather than through the Dolomites (we were also there in October, which isn't the best time to see the Dolomites). Verona is a great visit. Be sure to see the Ampitheater. It's the third largest and still used for Opera (during the season, which ends a little before you arrive). Last bit of advice. When we visited Venice, we drove in and parked at Rick's recommended parking spot rather than the main parking lot. It was expensive and took about 1 to 1 1/2 hours getting in and getting out - but was safe. If I did it again. I would park on the mainland (probably free or very cheap) and catch a train into Venice for your stay. Once you're in Venice a car does you no good anyway. We kept the car until we got to Rome so we could do some driving through Tuscany. You probably don't have time for that so losing the car in, say, Verona, Vicenza, Padua or Mestre or even in Venice (rather than parking) is probably your best bet.

Thanks for the advice on the car, I certainly don't want the hassle of bringing it into Venice. So, I think it's settled, we are going to do Salzburg and Hallstatt from Munich. We are definetely are looking for a charming walkable small city with a decent amount of sites and Salzburg looks beautiful. The ice caves near Hallstatt seem incredible. Verona looks very nice and the perfect place to leave the car off and catch the train to Venice. Thank you for all the great advice!

Funny, Lane! Jennifer, it looks like you're renting the car in Munich, and planning to drop it off in Verona? Check on the drop-off charges for leaving it in another country; they're probably pretty high :-(
It may be cheaper to take the train from Munich to Verona/Venice...To Verona, it's a direct train taking 5h30m, and as little as €39,00 per person with an advance ticket purchase. Then, €7,40-21,50 (depending on the train and how early you buy your tickets) for a 1h11m-2h16m (depending on the train) trip b/n Verona and Venice. Just a thought... Sounds like a great trip; some of my most favorite places...!

Thanks Lane, wow, the salt mine does seem fascinating and the wooden slides look like a lot of fun! We will definitely put them on the agenda at Hallstatt. I was also researching going to a concert in Salzburg, the concerts at the Salzburg palace in the marble ballroom seem like quite an experience. I am really happy to have gotten all this info, thank you :)

Salzburg is just a short drive west of Munich, and it's a great place to spend a couple of nights. The people are the nicest I've ever found, and an evening at the Augusteiner Brewery is not to be missed. Then, drop down to visit Innsbruck for a night. (I went to college at the University, and love the place and the region.) I love to drive from village to village up on the mountain. If weather permits, go east of Innsbruck to Zell-Am-See where you turn south to drive over the Grossglockner Highway. It's simply the most incredible scenery I've ever seen. The road will bring you into Udine, Italyabout an hour north of Venice. We were in Venice, Florence and Rome recently staying at agritursimos. Rome is quite a place, but there's as much to see in the suburbs as there is to see in town.
We hiked 1500 ft. from the top of a mountain into the pagan temple of Palestinagreat hike on a beautiful day.

"Salzburg is just a short drive west of Munich" Salzburg, Austria, is a 90 mile (short?) drive east of Munich.

Don't miss Salzburg. Beautiful at night too.

Thanks Eileen, I did notice the other day that dropping the car of in Italy does cost a pretty penny! And we are already spending a lot more than we anticipated on our hotel in Munich because it happens to be the last weekend of the Oktoberfest. So, not sure what we are going to do, it may be easier to just take the train, but it seems tricky getting from Hallstatt to Venice, so I have to figure that one out :)

jennifer, I haven't read through all of your travel plans, but you could consider something along these lines..... > Munch to Salzburg - travel by train > Salzburg to Hallstatt - rent car in Salzburg and drive to Hallstatt (I can't remember what the parking details are - you can't drive into the main part of town). > Hallstatt to Venice - drop rental car in Villach and take Bus to Venice. Travel time for the direct Bus is 3H:59M. The Bus stops at Venezia Tronchetto and from there to Venezia S.L. is apparently by "People Mover" (I've never used it but I'm sure one of the others can provide details). BTW, you can easily visit Neuschwanstein as a day trip while you're staying in Munich, either on your own or with Radius Tours. Happy travels!

Saltzburg is not west of Munich. It is 2 hours plus or minus southeast. It is 139 km but don't be fooled by that.

I know Salzburg is East of and not west of Munich :) The train has actually turned out to be a lot easier to Hallstatt than I thought, so we are going to ditch the car and I have never rented a car in Europe before and it seems so complicated and fussy. Train to Salzburg is only an hour and a half, train to Hallstatt is 2 hours, transferring in Attnang Puchheim and then ferry across the lake. Train to Venice is going to have to be an overnight one, leaving Hallstatt to transfer in Attnang Puchheim and then a 9hr overnight train to Venezia S Lucia train station. I am so excited about Salzburg and Hallstatt!! I really appreciate all the great info everyone has given me! Thank you

Salzburg is a wonderful little city. It captured my heart but then I'm a Sound Of Music super fan. We wer lucky enought to be there during Mozart,s 250 birthday celebration year so concerts were everywhere in Salzburg & Austria. If you have the opportunity, try to catch one as they are special in the area where the music was created. We rented car in Munich driving south and staying a couple of nights on Austria border while visiting all 3 of Mad King Ludwig's castles. To really get an idea of this fellow Linderhoff is a must see. It is completely different than Neuschwanstein but beautiful and even has its own manmade cave for music performances. Hallstatt was a day trip from Salzburg for us and that worked great. Have a great time and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and sights you'll see in Germany and Austria.