Are you driving?
Have you considered the reverse and fly home from Munich?

Hi Bob,

Yes we are driving. I find it fun and convenient and lends a freedom to our travel. I had not considered ending in Munich, though I'm open to it. Is there an advantage to that?

Is it cheaper to fly home from Munich?

Hello, it will be nice to go to Cesky Krumlov, Hluboka nad Vltavou or for example Bamberg in Germany.
If you are driving i can recommend rent-a-car in Prague - not expensive, good cars. RUNWELL RENT-A-CAR is near Wenceslas Square at downtown. web <a href="http://runwellrentacar.com">

Be prepared to pay a LOT for that freedom - drop charges from country to country are high and if you go TO Prague from elsewhere, as others suggested, there may be restrictions on your car rental.

If Avis, Hertz or any other American car rental agency has offices in Central Europe, rent from them and NOT from a company based in Russia (Runwell) - that's just stupid. You need a company that will respond to you and American companies threatened with loss of future business by American travelers will care about that.

Your itinerary needs to be described better - day 1 isn't SFO to Prague because you arrive on day 2 and your day will not be useful due to jet lag and transfer and hotel embarkation. Your real itinerary is:

day 0 = fly
day 1 = arrive Prague
day 2 = Prague
day 3 = Prague
day 4 = drive to X
day 5 = stay at X
day 6 = drive to Y
day 7 = stay at Y
day 8 = drive to Munich
day 9 = Munich
day 10 = drive to Salzburg
day 11 = Salzburg
day 12 = drive to Vienna
day 13-14 = Vienna
day 15 = drive to Budapest
day 16-17 = Budapest
day 18 = fly home

That's 2.5 days each in Prague, Budapest and Vienna and 1.5 days each in Munich, Salzburg, X and Y. Really? Why not this:

day 1 = arr Prague
day 2-5 = Prague, poss day trip to Terezin, Karlstejn, etc.
day 6 = X
day 7 = Y
day 8 = arr Munich
day 9-10 = Munich with day trip to Salzburg (70 mi. away)
day 11 = arr Vienna
day 12-13 = Vienna
day 14 = arr Budapest
day 15-17 = Budapest
day 18 = fly home

Those Romantic road stays should be a night each and give more time to Prague and Budapest.

Thanks for the input.
BigRuss-You are right, my itinerary seems a bit vague now that I look at it a few days later. Your clarity of it is helpful. I agree the romantic road towns need only a night each.

I checked rental cars and Hertz is pretty expensive and Avis does not rent in Prague to be returned in Budapest. Europecar is about $300 less than Hertz. Would you recommend Euopecar?

Just for fun, at the prompt from BobtheNavigator, I looked at renting a car from Munich to Munich for the same time frame and the cost was less than half of the Europecar price. $500 rather than $1100. Airfare from SFO was cheaper too. I'm having a bit of difficulty figuring an itinerary surrounding Munich at the start and finish though.

Note: My wife and I are VERY early risers and are the first out of the hotel every day to sightsee or move on to the next town. I check Via Michelin for drive times and given our usual start time, even taking in any sights along the way that we can find, we are in the next town pretty early.

Yes, I would start and end in Germany for best car prices.

My order would be:
Arrive Munich
To Salzburg area/ St. Gilgen
To Vienna via Melk
To Cesky Krumlov
To Prague
To Rothenburg/Romantic road
End Munich

If you must do Budapest, do it as a 2 day diversion from Vienna by train.

> renting a car from Munich to Munich

Did you check about driving to the Czech Republic and Hungary? Usually the rental companies either don't allow it or charge you a hefty fee for that.

Try kemwel.com or autoeurope.com for the car rental.

There will most likely be a large drop fee if you pick up the car in one country and drop off in another. That may be why you are seeing such a hefty rate.

Good info folks, thanks. I think we'll structure the trip to start and end in Munich.

Bobthenavigator, the way you mentioned Budapest, (if you must do...) I get the feeling you would not recommend it. Is that true? Is there somewhere in the region you might substitute for a two to four day time frame? Switzerland? Berlin?

I called Autoeurope and Kemwel and they both said there are only certain car classes they allow to the Czech Republic (class A cars) and even less to Budapest. No extra cost though. Thanks for that tip.

I like Budapest very much.

Agree with Bob's itinerary based on arrival/departure in Munich. I've been to all of those places on various trips and enjoyed them immensely. And, if you could fit in Hallstatt....

Gee, I would not miss Budapest, it is really a lovely place ( nicer than Munich).

And yes if you are coming down the Romantic Road than Rothenburg is a must.

I always opt for feasible logistics. Never been to Budapest, but I supsect you may not want to drive there and park.

I drove to Budapest. Car was parked for 3 days. Excellent mass transportation...no need for car within the city.

OK, Budapest stays in the itinerary. I'll check the train option from Vienna as well as check the parking situation in Budapest once I've picked out a hotel.

Tomboy, where did you stay in Budapest and did you like it? How was the parking at your hotel?

I stayed at the Marriott in Budapest. Very nice! All rooms have Danube view. It's on the Pest side and overlooks Chain Bridge and Castle Hill. I used points but I've read here that other people have gotten it for a very good price on Pricline (seem to remember $89/night). You can search the forum for the posts.

Didn't have a car... I took a day tour from Vienna in an 8 passenger van. Threw my luggage in the back and when the tour was over, I stayed in Budapest while the rest of the tour returned to Vienna.