trevorjoyce

We will be in Germany Aug.31-Sept.9. We arrive in Hamburg and til the 3rd we will be there visiting a friend. May go to Berlin for a day with her.
Then the 3 of us (husband, 23yr.old son) plan to fly to Munich. I am thinking of 2 nights around Fussen/Oberammagau, 1 night in the Berchtesgaden area and then last 3 nights in Munich. We plan to rent a car to use for the Alps. When considering the car, I am seeing it may be more reasonable to rent in town vs airport. Perhaps we should reverse the end. Arrive in Munich & stay 2 nights, then rent car and go for 3 nights to southern area, then last night in Munich but near airport. We could return the car and take other transportation to the airport as we leave on the 9th early . Our favorite vacations have been hiking in National Parks & Costa Rica as well as exploring history...so hope to see castles as well as enjoy some hikes/luge/cable car etc . Thoughts??

Pegontheroad

I tend to rent at the airport, even if it's more expensive, so that I don't have to make my way through city traffic.

agedude

I hate to spend any more money than I absolutely have to spend. On my last two trips to Munich, I rented cars at the airport and used Hotwire.com to book them. I did a quick check at the time frame you mentioned and you could get a mid-size manual for $33 US a day. I had a VW Passat Diesel last time. I also used hot wire to book a room at the airport Kempinski Hotel. Easy to find on Hotwire because it is the only 5-star at the airport to my knowledge, it worked for me anyway. I checked on Sept 8 and a room is $165. It make it easy to drop off the car, walk to the hotel, then walk to the terminal in the morning.

As far as your trip, my one suggestion would be to try and see the church at Ottobeuren. It's not too far from Fussen and is really jaw-droppingly beautiful. Since you talked about hiking, I would think a trip to the summit of the Zigspitze is a must. I was there skiing, so I can't really tell you what it's like in the summer, but the trip up (train/cable car) and the views are really spectacular.

bill151

You can rent a car right at the Munich Hauptbahnhof (train station). Did this 2 years ago and found no problem driving out of or back into city. Upon return you can take the train to the airport. We stayed in a little B&B in Bayerisch Gmain, Hotel Garni Johanneshof, which was right off the Berchtesgadener Rd. Lovely couple own it and a short walk across the German-Austrian border to some fine wienerschnitzel and strudel. I think it was an 20 minutes to Berchtesgaden and a little further to Obersalzburg

treplow

Here is what I did almost a month ago, for the third time.
Ordered my car through Gemut (www.gemut.com). Picked it up at the airport. Within the grand scheme of things (cost of flights, hotels, gasoline at $9.00 a gallon)the cost difference between MUC airport and Hauptbahnhof car pickup is not a majot M<unich traffic right after 11 hours on the plane is worth it. Arrived at 18:00hrs and drove from there east, towad the Chiemsee/Prien area, using the Munich by-pass Autobahn A-99 to get to the Munich - Salzburg Autobahn A-8 . On the return, left Prien area (my family still lives there) around 10:00AM, drove directly to the airport, to my hotel (Holiday Inn Express Airport, EUR79 night, plus EUR5 per room for airportshuttle bus). Dropped off my bags, drove to the airport, gassed up the car (EUR50 for half a tank!)and dropped it off and took the S- Bahn to the city.

Although I had lived for many years in Munich, this time took a Grey Line hop-on/hop-off bus - the longer tour - and thoroughly enjoyed revisiting the city. Skipped a bus at Nymphenburg, visited the gardens, had a great Kaffee and Kuchen (coffe and pastry) on the terrace of the Palmengarten Restaurant. On the way back - if I hade had the time - would have skipped another bus at the OIympiapark/BMW center, but got off at the University and visited my old Alma Mater. Took U-bahn (subway) back to the Marienplatz, and had dinner outside, in the courtyard of the Rathaus (city hall) and took S-Bahn back to the airport, and shuttle to hotel, where I had a good beer. Not many Holiday Inn Express have a wide selection of beer on tap, or do they?

You could do something similar: After arrival drive to Prien, stay there overnight, the next morning take the boat to the Herreninsel and visit King Ludwig's palace on the island. Then drive the very scenic German Alpine Hihghway (Deutsche Alpenstrasse)to Berchtesgaden. Spend a few nights there or in Salzburg and do some sightseeing from there. If you still want to see Neuschwanstein/Fuessen, it will take you something like 4 hours to drive there. Then return to Munich.

If you want more detailed info., holler

AisleSeat

We use Gemutlichkeit Travel Gemut.com to book our rent cars. We pick them up at a lot away from the airport and the train station to save the 19% surtax.

Depending on when your return flight is scheduled you can consider the S-Bahn takes about 45 minutes to get from the center of Munich to the airport. Throw in an extra 15 minutes waiting for your train. You can get to the airport pretty easily in Munich.

Bertschesgaden is a wonderful little town and nearby Koenigsee is worth a visit, however Salzburg is about 10-15 miles away and it is Wonderful. You will definately want to spend at least part of the day there and have a meal at St Peterstifftkeller. I think they have been open since about 900ad and they have gotten the recipe right in that time.

If you are driving back to Munich from the Salzburg/Bertschesgaden area there is a great stop about half way. At Prien, Ludwing has a beautiful Castle on an island called Herrenchiemsee. It is his copy of Versailles, but bigger.