Bus/Van Transport Co Suggestions?

Is the excellent public transport system out of the question? Private service is unfortunately going to seem expensive due to labor costs, work rules related to driver hours, and vehicle related costs, not to mention gas. And you only have 6-10 people to split this cost with. If RS ran a tour for the same number of people, it would probably be even more expensive (not a completely fair comparison, I know, due to the expertise of the tour guide...but still). I would get more quotes for your alternative - that way you'll get a reality check that this option just may be out of budget and it's time to look at other alternatives like train.

Alexandria, €48 per person per day, sounds about right. Less than you will probably be paying for your hotel rooms.
One driver is limited to 8 hours driving per day, with stops every 2-3 hours. You will need 2 drivers.
And the driver either has to go home every night (extra paid hours) or you have to pay overnight expenses.
Minimum wage is €8.50 per hour (I think) x 8 hours x 2 drivers = €136 per day. But drivers are skilled and earn more than this.
Plus cost of the rental for the minibus. Plus fuel. €4800 for 10 days sounds about right.

I would plan out where you actually want to go, and cost this by public transport. For example "Bavaria Länder ticket" at €48 per day for 5 people. See here: https://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/offers/national/regional/laender-tickets/bavaria-ticket.shtml

Thank you for your responses. Yes, I have considered train travel as my husband and I love to travel by train throughout Germany and have done so on numerous occasions. My dilemma is traveling from one town to another and the ease of doing so; some routes require 2 train changes. That, plus most of us will be lugging 25-28" suitcases. Should our group be closer to 6-8 people I'm looking into renting a larger van (my husband and I have also rented cars to travel thru Germany) but hesitate to do so during December, with uncertain weather conditions.

most of us will be lugging 25-28" suitcases

That is your problem! With a normal sized carryon backpack, changing trains twice is not a problem. I've done it many times.

Ha ha, yes I know. But there will be lots of shopping on this trip, I doubt anyone will be coming with just a backpack :)

That luggage is likely to be a "van" killer, too. In Europe, a van is a windowless commercial vehicle used by a tradesman.

The common English language term for what you want is a People Mover, up to 9 seater, and minibus beyond.

A people mover will likely have fold down seats in the last row so you can have either people or luggage, but not both.

6 or 8, 28 inch suitcases won't leave much room for your group to sit.

Can I strongly suggest that before you commit to a rental you carefully check available cargo space.

How many changes of location do you expect for your trip?

Let's rethink this. If you are traveling around Bavaria to sightsee and Christmas shop (hence the large suitcases) you can travel so much more efficiently, quickly and cheaply on a regional Bayern train ticket where up to five people can ride all day anywhere they want to go for 40€ plus about 5€ more per person . Soooooo inexpensive.

Here's what I'd do. Take suitcases no more than 24". Wear your coats and winter bulky clothes flying over--this is what I do and I too live in Southern California. Pack a collapsible lightweight gym/duffle type bag in your suitcase for collecting your shopping finds.

Fly into Munich or Nuremberg-- you should only need hotels in these 2 cities for your 10 day stay. From these 2 bases, in addition to visiting the multitude of christmarkets and other wonderful winter activities in these cities, you can take as many of day trips as you want by train, leaving your big suitcases in the hotel, to cities such as Bamberg, Regensburg, Salzburg, Garmish, Fussen, etc.

Everyone gets to relax and move around on the train taking only their day bags with them. Everyone gets to have a few cups of glüwein to drink at the outdoor festivities.

Of course you haven't said exactly what your agenda is other than tour around Bavaria in these ten days so if I'm leaving something out, please add more information so that we can help you better.

I should also add that I've traveled around Bavaria in December by both coach and train and while they can both be good options, trains are usually faster and distances aren't as great in a region of Germany than you might imagine.

I've also posted this in the Germany forum.... I'm looking for bus/van transport companies for a smallish (6-10 people) group to drive us around Bavaria and Salzburg for 10 days or so in December. I have one quote from Eurolines.de for 4800 Euros for a van and driver. That seems really expensive to me.

I'd suggest to do a detailed (!) inquiry at www.bus-suche.de. This will probably deliver 5-6 replies against which you can compare the price quoted above.

I will check the site. Thanks.
We are mostly likely going to be 7 people total. I've been on 3 guided Christmas market tours (as part of a larger travel group) in the last 10 years and our itinerary will be similar: Frankfurt arrival-Rothenburg (2 days), Bamberg (2 days), Salzburg (2 days), and Munich (3 days), depart Munich. But this trip will be on our own, just friends. I've booked hotels and am now working on transport. Someone put me in contact with a private driver/tour guide service, which I'm also looking at. I love taking the train but was thinking it was a bit complicated from town to town (2 changes at times) and then we'd still have to taxi to our hotel. And with the weather being cold, rainy and possibly snowy, having 2 home bases and taking day trips seems like, IMO, to be more doable when it's not so blistering cold.