Lucerne to Germany

Hi Billy. Simplest way I can think of is to train from Lucerne to Munich. Not sure what you mean by 'getting to Munich is very complicated and long'. It'll be be about 5 hours with one change in Zurich. Then rent your car when you leave Munich. Enjoy your trip!

Instead of Google, use the German Rail (Bahn) website. If you book as soon as the tickets come out, 92 days before the travel date, you might be able to get a fare of €39/p. However, that seems to be a popular route, and the best fare I could find, on the first day of availability, was €59/p. The fare will be the same to any point in Bavaria, so you might as well go all the way to Munich. Germany has the second most dense network of track in Europe (1% less than Switzerland's). You can get almost everywhere you want to go in Germany, particularly in Bavaria, which has 1000 stations (one for every 64 sq km). Plus Upper Bavaria has an excellent network of buses with the RVO (Regional Verkehr Oberbayern). A lot of where people go in Bavaria is accessible by regional trains or buses, and you can get a Bayern-Ticket for €29 that gives you unlimited use of regional trains and buses for a day. Learn to find connections on the Bahn, and you won't need a car.

Billy, The others have provided great advice on the route from Lucerne to Munich. It's a very easy trip, but if you're not familiar with "changes" during rail trips, you might find it helpful to have a look at This Video. Where else will you be travelling in Germany (with the rental car)? Cheers!

Lindau or Konstanz (Constance) are your best bet for car rental closest to Luzern in the direction of Munich.

"Our goal is to visit Munich and perhaps rent a car to check out south Germany.... Where would be a good point to rent a car in Germany that's close to Switzerland?" Train service in Germany is so thorough, efficient, and inexpensive that I think your first question should be, "Am I going somewhere I can't reach by train?" The map of Bavarian rail lines should help you answer that question: http://www.bahnland-bayern.de/content-startseite/streckennetzplan-pdf From Lindau, Germany, near the Swiss border, you and Janet can use the train to reach Munich for 29€ (Bayern ticket): http://www.munich-touristinfo.de/Bavaria-Ticket.htm The same ticket gets you around the entire web of train lines (and regional buses) in the link above and also on all public transport within Munich.