Train vs car In Geremany/Austria

" the cost seems equivalent for the car vs. the train"

Possibly, that could be the case if you buy only full fare tickets, but there are so many discount advance purchase tickets and regional passes. For the last five or so trips, I've compared what I actually spent on public transportation with what it would have cost to rent a car, pay for fuel, pay for parking, etc. A car has always been 2 to 3 times more expensive. Part of the time I have been traveling alone, but, except for full fare, rail fares for two are not twice as expensive as for one. Most of your travel is going to be in Bavaria where two people can travel all day on regional trains for 28€.

Not only is a train more relaxing, it's a better use of time (your time is yours; you can read, sleep, write in your journal, read up on the next place you'll visit, etc). And the driver gets to see the scenery, too, not just the road and other cars.

Leki:

You'll find it expensive to pickup a car in Germany and turning it in in Salzburg. You might want to locate a town just west of Salzburg (in Germany) to return the car so you won't get hit with high return charges.
Bacharach is a very small place on the banks of the Rhine River, and it's more of a one night place to spend the night place than a 2 night destination. And you'll be going out of your way to stay there. Bavaria Ben has a great write up on accommodations for Bacharach, however. (I've stayed there three times.)

You might also reconsider staying in Fuessen for 3 nights. I was good seeing Neuschwanstein for a little while and heading for Western Tirol--a short distance south in the Austrian Alps. The roads are easily traveled through Innsbruck and up to Salzburg. The area south of Munich (Southern Bavaria and Tirol) is best seen with a rental car.

You could also make your trip by train, but it won't be nearly as efficient. On the other hand, parking a rental car in a large city can get expensive if your hotel doesn't have parking. You could always rent a car for part of the trip and take a train for the other part.

The train from Frankfurt airport to Bacharach is 11.60 euro per person. The direct trains are every 2 hours at 24 past the odd hours and take 56 minutes. At other times, a change is required at Mainz, and takes 1 hour and 22 minutes. You can buy the tickets from a vending machine or, for a 2 euro fee, buy from the ticket window.

You can advance purchase tickets for 2 from Bacharach to Nuremberg for as low as 58 euro for 2 with a single connection using an ICE train, or as low as 48 euro for 2 taking trains to Mannheim and then the IC bus.

Once in Bavaria, you can travel for 28 euro for 2 any day after 9 am on regional trains, all day on weekends. There are even better deals for some trips like Munich to Salzburg with a GutenTag ticket for 26 euro for 2 on Meridien trains. Again, a 2 euro fee when buying from a ticket window.

Car rental with a very fuel efficient car figure .10 euro per kilometer for fuel. Figure in insurance as well when toting up the cost. Oh, and parking fees in cities.

If the costs of car vs. train are similar or even if they are not, your preferred style of travel is an important consideration. Sometimes train is faster, especially direct trains between larger cities, and sometimes train is slower, if a route requires a few connections. The route you describe is relatively easy by train, most legs with one connection, and Rick's readers do commonly do it that way. But if you spend 3 nights in Fuessen, I assume that was with a plan to drive to some other locations.

"You might want to locate a town just west of Salzburg (in Germany) to return the car"

The town in Germany you are probably thinking of is Freilassing. There are several car return offices in Freilassing. Use Google Maps to find them. The ones I found were a short walk to the Freilassing Bahnhof. All the trains between Salzburg and Munich except the RailJet stop at the Freilassing Bahnhof.

Are you really flying home out of Salzburg, or are you using MUC (Munich airport).

One thing to consider is not just the cost of parking, but the time spent looking for parking spaces and negotiating one-way streets, traffic jams, etc., detracts from your touring time. I am one who has hated dealing with a car and prefers trains in almost all circumstances, because it's like having another person you have to take care of.

We decided to get a car since, except for Munich and Stuttgart, we will be going to places in the mountains. A lot of the advice we have gotten (besides Rick, of course) have said, especially in April when we are going, buses are unreliable because of weather. When we go to Munich and Stuttgart, we will park and ride the train.

I totally understand reluctance for public transportation if you are from a place that has terrible public transportation. We live in the Phoenix, Arizona area and buses here just scare me, besides being super unreliable and taking 5 times as long.

I do understand that Europe has been doing it better than we have for a long time. It is just hard to break the psychology of it.

I don't really see a question in your post, dot... Are you asking whether you've made a good choice?

"We decided to get a car since, except for Munich and Stuttgart, we will be going to places in the mountains."

Trains certainly go into the mountains from Munich. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Innsbruck (both Olympic winter games sites,) Mittenwald, Berchtesgaden, Füssen, and Oberstdorf are some of the better-known Alpine towns you might visit by train.

Just an observation:

While it's (arguably) a good idea to have in your possession an International Driving Permit (essentially a translation of pertinent sections of your driver's license), in Austria an IDP is required. Relatively cheap to get one at AAA.

I'd be advocating a car. Much more flexibility that way.

"A lot of the advice we have gotten ...have said ... buses are unreliable because of weather"

Buses and cars use the same roads. What makes you think cars travel will be any more reliable?

I haven't been in the mountains of Germany in April, but I have been there in November, December, January, March, and May, and I did not find any problems with bus reliability.

I have spent 12½ weeks in Bavaria, 8 weeks along the Alps, including almost all of the Alpenstraße, and I have never needed a car to get where I wanted to go.