I will be in Italy for 10 days through Sat, 10/28. I then have to make my way to Frankfurt airport to fly out on Tues, 10/31 at 11 am. My husband really wants to go to Salzburg but I can't find an economical way to get there. I found a flight from FCO to Munich on Sat morning for 150eu on Air Berlin. Would it be possible to go to Salzburg and get back to Frankfurt for the flight? Would you rent a car or take a train? Train travel seems to be very expensive as I went on the site and plugged in Stuttgart to Frankfurt and it was 70 pp. Also, on German Wings we can go FCO to Stuttgart Sat afternoon for 66eu or to Cologne for 120eu. Which of these 3 flights would you take and what would you do?

If you want to go to Salzburg, then you need to fly to Munich for 150EUR and take the train for about 25EUR. [There are also non-stop flights, but very expensive.]

Flying to Stuttgart or Cologne will not get you to Salzburg. But if you just want to get back to Frankfurt, then sure, either one isn't that far from Frankfurt.

Direct train from Salzburg to Frankfurt is about 76EUR, 5.5 hours.

Stuttgart to Frankfurt is 34 EUR on IC, 49 on ICE; not much difference in price. Cologne to Frankfurt is 36 EUR on IC, 55 EUR on the ICE; the ICE is twice as fast (~1 hr vs 2). All these are to Frankfurt Hbf. A little difference if you want to train directly to airport.

And I won't say trains are expensive in Germany. Check prices on AMTRAK for city pairs of similar distance.

BTW, since you have time and your husband wants to see Salzburg, then go see Salzburg.

Fly to MUC, then train to Salzburg on Sat. Train Salzburg to FRA Monday.

Last May we took the train from Munich to Salzburg just for the day and it cost 25 Euros return. Apparently this price is only availalbe if you go for the day. To get this price you have to leave after rushhour which is after 9:30 and then you can return in the evening. We saw lots of Salzburg in one day and returned by 10:00pm that evening.

Thank you for the advise but I think the 5.5 hours train ride will be too much and we would essentially be traveling 3 consecutive days. So of the other 2 choices where would you fly into-Cologne or Stuttgart? We would arrive about 6pm at either destination. So if we flew to Cologne, and spent the night there, where would we go on Sun and Mon before making our way to Fra airport Mon night?

Go to Cologne. Visit the Cathedral, then Beethoven's place in Bonn. Go south along the Rhein and do the cruise from Koblenz to Rudesheim (takes about half a day) on Sunday.

Monday, if you still have time, maybe Heidelberg.

Thanks,rkkwan. I've been reading tonight and I think that sounds good. I also would like to visit Remagen. Do I need to rent a car? I will leave Cologne with my luggage so how could I travel on the train and boat and make stops with the luggage? I can use Marriott points to stay in Cologne and Frankfurt but don't mind staying somewhere else if it makes more sense. Thanks again.