Car or train for Austria/ Italy?

Of your list of destinations, except for Vienna and Lake Como (where a car is a negative and should be parked), in the other areas you mentioned a rental car gives you the flexibility you cannot get from travel by train. Driving and route finding in Germany and Austria are easier than in some other western European countries. Driving in some areas of Italy is distinctly different than driving in Germany and thus you may want to turn the car in before going to Italy. Or not. Picking the car up at the Munich airport is a convenient option, you may pay a little more but if it simplifies the trip it's probably worth the relatively small extra cost. Try to avoid arriving at the airport at a time when you are forced to do your first driving and route finding after dark. And get a GPS and think specifically about how much exposure to vehicle damage you are exposed to, you may want to buy CDW to reduce your exposure. A rental car in Germany and Austria gives you more flexibility and can be less costly than buying trainfare for more than two people.

Hi Susan,

We always travel by car so I'd have to suggest that. The places you want to go to are ideal to have a car. We've rented a car in Munich a number of times recently to do very similar trips, including the Dolomites. My only suugestion would be to stay in the Berchtesgaden area to see Salzburg (about 20 min. drive) and Hallstatt (less than 1:30 min drive). Both are very easy from here and a car is kind of useless staying in Salzburg. To get to the Dolomites from Salzburg/Berchtesgaden you could go to Zell am See and over the Grossglocker Pass (amazing scenery!) or via Innsbruck and the Brenner Pass.

Oh, are you flying out of Munich? If not and you need to return the car outside of Germany, there's hefty drop off charges.

Paul