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Murren to Garmisch Partenkirchen in Winter

Posted by (Portland, OR) on

I have researched the driving and train time between these two destinations and am looking for advice from anyone that has done this trek. In summer we would rent a car without a doubt for this route, but winter in the Alps have me rethinking that idea. We will have three nights in Garmish and were planning to rent a car for this leg of our journey anyway so that we can visit all of the little towns and castles in the area.

So, my question is: do you know of a logical location that would be good to take a train from Murren to this location and then rent a car to complete the trek to GP? Yes, I am aware of drop charges (which is actually ok with us), so if there is a location in Germany that can be suggested to would be even more helpful. My main goal is to have the shortest travel time.

For reference, this will be mid- December.
Thank you!

Posted by
8889 posts

If you want a car in Garmisch, why not take the train to Garmisch and rent there?
Another option is Lindau. This is a lovely town on Bodensee (a lake), which is worth a few hours. Lindau is also the first stop in Germany on the train route from Switzerland, so it is easy to get to by train. And being in Germany you will have no problem with international one-way drop off fees.
Lindau to Garmisch still involves skirting along the foothills of the Alps. Garmisch itself is up against the Alps, with Zugspitze immediately behind the town. This drive could still be "interesting" in Winter. Berner Oberland to Lindau is easier, that is all Autobahn.

P.S., you can't drive from Mürren anyway, it is up a mountain, no roads!

Posted by
1122 posts

Thanks Chris,

Yes, we are aware that we can't drive in Murren and hence the question of a logical place to rent a car. The shortest train I am seeing from Murren to GP (with curren schedule) is 9 hours. So I was just wondering if there was a logical town to train to Murren from to pick up a car and finish the trek via car, since that takes less time according to the rain schedules I am seeing. Sounds like we should just train GP the whole way then?

Thank you.

Posted by
8889 posts

April,
If you want to pick up a car near to Mürren, Interlaken is the logical choice; large and at the exit from the valley. But, driving to Germany you then get the international one-way surcharge. To avoid that, I suggest Lindau as I mentioned above.

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