I'd stay south and include lake constance (Konstanz) in the trip so itin 1.

We lived in Stuttgart for a few years and traveled to many of the places in both itineraries. Personally, I find the Alsace region neither interesting nor scenic, especially compared to Hallstatt, Melk and Vienna. In fact, I think Hallstatt is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen with its lake, mountains, forest--what a combo!

Longhorn55 - thanks for your suggestions. I've read other reviews that also think Hallstatt is one of the most beautiful places. Do you think I've allocated the correct amount of time in my stops on itinerary #2?

If you do #1, I'd recommend staying in Colmar and doing Strasbourg as a day trip.

I'd vote for #2. Fewer long drives and more time in each place. My first trip to Europe was as a student and I spent several weeks studying in Salzburg. Loved it! Saw a bit of Vienna and wanted more. Loved Hallstatt. Saw some of Munich and later came back to Munich and explored parts of Bavaria all of which I enjoyed.

Hi,

After visitng Fuessen (twice), Mittenwald (3 times), Salzburg (4 times) and Hallstatt once, I like #2. Shocking!

I'd drop a night from Munich and add it to Salzburg. Not that Salzburg itself needs the extra time, but the nearby (less than 30 min away) Berchtesgaden area could use at least a day. Me, I'd drop 2 Munich nights (leaving a total of 3) OR drop a Vienna night and add another to Mittenwald. While Mittenwald itself also doesn't need 3 days, you could easily visit Garmisch (and the Zugspitze trip), Seefeld, Ettal, Linderhof Palace, Oberammergau and even Innsbruck, as they are all pretty close by. We've spent a total of 7 nights in Mittenwald so far. Still love it. We've spent 14 nights in the Berchtesgaden area and are planning to go back next year.

Never been to Vienna or Melk, so I can't comment.

If interested, we have photo's (on 3 pages) of all these at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

Paul

Irishface & pja1,

Thank you for your advice. Looks like we're getting more votes for #1. We're going to rework it, take into consideration pja1'a ideas and we'll put the revised one back up for comments.

"I find the Alsace region neither interesting nor scenic" cor, ah well we all see different things in different places. I've visited the area 5 times over the last few years. I think the top of the Vosges (the mountain range to the West) is a great place for a hike, you follow the cross country ski runs with a final position on the Ballon d'alsace, a large meadow with fine views towards Mnt Blanc.

The towns of Alsace are mainly painted in pastels and while northern Alsace (Bas) are a little plain, they get more pretty as you head south (Haut). I've bicycled through a fair number of the towns and wine tasted along the best sections of the wine route (south of Colmar) 4 times. I cannot think of a better area to hang out in the september sunshine.

If cost is an issue you might want to start in Munich and end in Munich after going to Austria. The round trip does not need to be repetitive as you could go from Munich to Füssen to Innsbruck and then stay close to the Alps as you visit Salzburg and Halstatt and on to Vienna and return to Munich via the Danube valley (Melk, the Wachau valley, Mauthausen, Wilhering, etc.). This would avoid the cross-border drop-off fee on the car rental.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157622926792957/

Bilboburgler:
Thanks for your advice. Definitely gives us something to think about.

Michael: Thanks for suggesting an alternative to avoid the cross border fee. We were just talking about that. I'll need to check on how much that fee is.

I've done a bit more research and have re-worked our itinerary as follows: Does this sound reasonable:

3 nights Munich (side trip to Dachau)
1 night Fussen (see castles in AM next day)
3 nights Mittenwald (side trips Oberammergau, Garmisch, Zugsptize, Linderhof Palace, Ettal, Wieskirche)
3 nights Salzburg
2 nights Hallstatt (side trips to Bad Ischl, Gosau am Dachstein, Bad Aussee)
2 nights Cesky Krumlov
3 nights Vienna (stop at Durnstein on way to Vienna from CK)

Hi winnick,

You did consider the drop off fees renting a car in Germany and returning in Austria?

You can plan your drive from Munich to Fuessen to stop at the Wieskirche on the way. You may also include a stop at Andechs Monestary near the Ammersee on this drive also. Both are on the way from Munich to Fuessen.

About a mile or so from Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castle's, the Tegelberg Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride) is a lot of fun. 3 Euro per ride (adult) or 13 Euro for 6 rides. I think the 6 ride tickets can be shared... meaning splitting them up for say 3 rides per adult. There's also an ok cable car trip here, but if you plan on going to the top of the Zugspitze, I probably wouldn't bother.

You can also plan your drive from Fuessen to Mittenwald to include passin/stopping at either Linderhof Palace via Plansee OR if the weathers good, the trip to the top of the Zugspitze via Reutte and Ehrwald, Austria, where the cable car to the top is located. Since the Zugspitze is on the border of Germany and Austria, you can get to the top from either Garmisch, Germany or Ehrwald, Austria. We took the trip from Ehrwald. A bit quicker and cheaper (36.50) from here than from Garmisch (49.50).

www.zugspitze.at/zugspitzbahn/en/gipfelbesucher_sommer.html

www.zugspitze.de/en/summer/preise/

My opinion is going up from Ehrwald, Austria only makes sense as part of the drive from Fuessen to Mittenwald. Garmisch is 20 min. from Mittenwald, Ehrwald about an hour.

The time allowed for Salzburg and Hallstatt looks fine. As I wrote earlier, we've spent 14 nights in the Berchtesgaden area, which included 5 visits to Salzburg. We visited Hallstatt for the better part of a day and that was enough for us. I think we're in the minority on this though.

Paul

Paul,

Thanks again for the tips on where to stop going to Fussen and Mittenwald. I'm re-thinking about Cesky Krumlov now and may adjust to stay more time in Mittenwald and Salzburg and returning to Munich from there or else cutting out CK, and stopping in Durnstein on the way to Vienna.

We are aware there is a drop off fee, but it's not that bad.

Merry Christmas!

Hi again,

I didn't comment on CK, Vienna, etc. as we've never been.

I mentioned the stops on the drives as they are on the way and don't need to be "day trips" from either Fuessen or Mittenwald. We did the Zugspitze trip (from Ehrwald) on our drive from Hall in Tirol (Innsbruck area) to Fuessen. We've stopped twice at Andechs on our two drives from Fuessen to Munich.

Merry Christmas to you also!

Don't drop Melk! It's gorgeous!

And, you can see Weiskirche and Oberammergau in the afternoon on your way from Fuessen to Mittenwald.

Joannyc,
We planned to stop in Melk on our way to Vienna. Thanks for another vote for Melk,

We've re-worked our itinerary dropping Cesky krumlov on this trip. What do you think of this option: Would you stay in Melk or Durnstein?

Day 1- Leave US
Day 2-4 Munich
Day 5 Pick up car and drive to Fussen (stop at Wieskirche)
Day 6 N&H castles in am; drive to Linderhof Palace on way to Mittenwald
Day 7-9 Mittenwald (day trips to Oberammergau & Ettal Monastery, Garmisch, Zugspitze, Innsbruck & Hall)
Day 10-12 Salzburg (day trip to Berchtesgaden)
Day 13 Drive to Bad Ischl and overnight in Hallstatt
Day 14 Hallstatt to Melk (see Abbey) and then overnight in
Durnstein
Day 15 Drive to Vienna and drop car.
Day 16-18 Vienna
Day 19 Fly from Vienna to LHR
Day 20 LHR to US

Can't you get a direct flight from Vienna rather than staying overnight near Heathrow?

Michael, we are using BA miles and need to go through London.

Hi,

Looks like you're spending 1 night (day 5) in Fuessen and 4 nights (Day 6, 7, 8, 9) in Mittenwald. While we love Mittenwald, I'd probably stay 2 nights in Fuessen (we also like Fuessen) and either do the Zugspitze trip from here (Ehrwald, Austria) or on the drive from Fuessen to Mittenwald.

Depending on what you want to see in Hall in Tirol, you could easily stop there for a couple of hours on the way from Mittenwald to Salzburg. It's maybe a 3 or so hour drive w/o stopping.

While we only spent an evening, St. Gilgen seems like a worthwhile place to also stop on the Salzburg to Hallstatt drivee, as Salzburg to Hallstatt is less than 1:30 non-stop.

Otherwise, the parts I'm familiar with (days 1-14) look pretty good.

Paul

I stopped in Bad Ischl for lunch, a walk around, and a visit to the royal hunting lodge there on my way from Hallstatt to St. Wolfgang.

Instead of Bad Ischl, I'd recommend St. Wolfgang. I enjoyed it more than St. Gilgen. But a lot of folks here do like St. Gilgen. Google images of both to see which, if either, you prefer.