Have you already purchased the airline tickets? Why Milan? Or is there somewhere in Italy you also want to go?

I have purchased the tickets. We are visiting friends in Milan and will travel around the area, maybe to Venice.

Renting and dropping the car back in Germany will be the cheapest option. A loop to Vienna and back makes sense and then take a train from Munich to Milan. It is only a 7 hr 30 min train ride so flying is not a great option. You could stop in Innsbruck, Bolzano and Verona on the way, making good use of the routing.

Having a car to drive around the Salzkammergut is the best way to see the area around Salzburg, but you don't really need or even want one in Munich or Vienna.

Or, you could take the train from Munich to Salzburg, 1:40, and then on to Vienna, 3:00 more, and then fly from Vienna straight to Milan, spending more time in each place and doing day trips.

You have some choices too make about modes of travel that will go a long way to dictating the best route.

Thanks for your input. I especially appreciate the car advice.

You're very late in planning, so I would look into lodging availability everywhere before you decide where to go and which order. I don't think you'll find a hotel room anywhere that will sleep 5, but you might find apartments in Vienna or Venice (I'd go to one or the other but not both).

Keep in mind you'll lose at least half day moving from hotel to hotel.

I would probably train Munich-Salzburg-Vienna and then fly Vienna-Milan. (If you drop Vienna, train Salzburg-Venice although FYI it's a 6-hour ride.) The problem with driving is that you'd be picking up the car in one country and dropping it in another which usually triggers a high surcharge. You don't NEED a car to cover this itinerary, but you should compare the cost of renting a car (including surcharge and estimated overnight parking fees everywhere) with all those train/plane tickets you'd need.

In case you were wondering, it's not realistic to day-trip to Venice from Milan. The train ride is 2.5-3 hours in each direction. Driving (if you or your Milan friends have a car) is only slightly faster.

Whichever way you travel, bring the least amount of luggage possible but not two gigantic bags which would be very difficult to maneuver on/off trains. Ideally, each child would pull a small wheeled bag while mom and dad each have a medium wheeled bag and perhaps a small backpack. If you fly, make sure you know what the luggage fees/restrictions will be on top of the airfare.

The flight Munich-Milan is only about 75 minutes which beats a 7.5 hour train ride for me, although the scenery from the train will be pretty in parts. Decide how much time you want to spend in Salzburg and Vienna (or Venice) before you contemplate additional stops/destinations.

I would take the train and as Jean suggested bring as little luggage as possible. If you have not had the opportunity to travel by train in Europe I believe you would find it a positive experience for your whole family. It should be much more relaxing than trying to deal with a car in the cities.

The Salzkammergut area of Austria would be a good place to have a car. However, we traveled there and were able to get around easily by train, bus and boat. St Wolfgang was our favorite.

Enjoy your trip.

Hi kcclas,

Well, a 75-minute flight doesn't take just 75 minutes.

It will take 45 minutes to get to the airport from München. You have to be at the airport 60 to 90 minutes early, then fly for 75 minutes. Then you have to wait for your bags (20 minutes?) and then get from Milan airport into the city (60 minutes). So the 75-minute flight is going to eat up at least 5h of your day.

That's still quicker than the 7h30 train ride, but not by a huge amount. I love trains and enjoy reading, eating, and enjoying the scenery, and doing some world-class people-watching. For me, a train ride has to be 12 hours for me to consider flying. I just took a 9-hour trip from Garmisch (Germany) to Gstaad, and it wasn't bad at all. A trip of 7h30 is not too long --

Have fun as you plan!

s

Well, then, by the same token a 7.5 hour train ride would actually take nearly 8 hours. The train ride also includes one change, which for a family of five with fairly young kids, is a pain. Airport security is a pain, too, but at least you only board once.

Anyway, with the time this family has, I wouldn't want to do that much driving (Munich-Salzburg-Vienna-Munich, with likely stops/detours along the way). If they didn't want to spend time in Milan at the end, I'd feel differently about having a car and needing to return to Munich.

Hi Jean,

No, the 7h30 train ride goes from city center to city center, with no additional time needed to get from/into town. The changes are accounted for in the overall train time/schedule.

The hassle of changing trains with a family is another issue -- of course!

s

"No additional time"... Well, time is needed to be at the station before the train departs, buy tickets?, find which platform, walk to the platform, etc. Again, with a family of five, nothing in the process of moving people and luggage from place to place will be quick and easy.

No additional time to get from or to town. Please take my sentences in context.

I buy international tickets in advance for big discounts, so no time spent there.

Family of five moving to a track number? More than 5 minutes??

s

Just don't get anal about trains vs. plane. To each his/her own.

I think the train ride (if it was a day train) would be sufficiently scenic.
I'd probably take an early morning train from Munich, and break up the trip in Verona, leave luggage at station and explore this fairly compact town for 3-4 hours. With a few kids in tow, maybe not, though. But only OP can judge that.

OTOH, the flight from Munich to Milan can be very scenic as you go across the Alps. On a clear day, the views beat what you can see from the train. The flight time is more 60 than 75 minutes, and there are many flights per day from Munich to Milan as most people go that way than by rail. Just keep in mind that some low cost carriers will take you to "Milan"-Bergamo.

You must also keep in mind that OP will visit friends in Milan. It may be more convenient for them to pick them up at the airport than at the central train station. But that's for them to sort out.

With all those destinations on their list,
I'd probably fly into Munich,
stay those 2 nights,
take train to Salzburg,
rent a car in Salzburg for x days to explore the surrounding areas (for exploring Salzburg proper you don't need/want a car),
train to Vienna (or use car as most companies don't charge for one-way) for x days,
and fly to Milan.
More or less like Jean explained it in her answer.

Thanks for all the information. Very much appreciated!

At this point the itinerary is as Cowboy1968 described: 2 days in Munich, 3 days in Salzburg, car to Vienna for 3 days and one day to stay somewhere in between. Fly out of of Vienna to Milan.

Thanks again!

A few things to suggest for you and your kids to do in Salzburg and the area. We did a Sound of Music bike tour with Fraulein Maris's bike tour. http://www.mariasbicycletours.com/. It was a lot of fun and a great way to see the SOM sites. Also, be sure and do a salt mine tour - we did the one in Berchtesgaden which is supposed to have the longest salt slides, which I'm sure the kids will love. Lastly, be sure and do one of the tobaggan runs. They have summertime runs there which are a ton of fun. We did the one in St. Gilgee.
I agree with the other poster that car not necessary for Salzburg, but nice to have to see other things in the surrounding area, such as Berchtesgaden, Halstatt, St. Gilgee, etc.
The place we stayed in Salzburg, Haus am Moos (http://www.ammoos.at/) does have apts. with room for 5 people, not sure if it would be available now but worth checking.
Here is a link to my trip report with pictures, etc.
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/2012/06/salzburg-2/