Driving trip, part 2, help please???
 

Thank you to everyone who helped in my first post....I am picking up a car in Munich in late April, and I have been trying to nail down a good driving tour. I have now refined my dates and plans, and I would love any more input before I nail it down.

I am concerned that I am trying to fit too much into an 11 or 12 day trip; please advise as to what might be too quick, or where I might delete a place or two. Note that I am a bit impatient, and I do alot of stuff in a short period of time when I travel. Here is my tentative plan....

I am starting and ending in Munich, imagine a "circle" around Switzerland; although I am not sure whether I am going clockwise or counter-clckwise yet. I arrive Munich in the late afternoon, spend 2 nights in Munich...then drive to Salzburg, one day and one night in Salzburg...then drive to Venice (I have been to Venice before, and I am heavily leaning towards just skipping it) and/or Como or Belagio for two nights...then west to France (this is where I am not so sure about where/how long to go/to stay), around Lyon/Annecy for a night or two ?, then north to Dijon or Strasbourg or Reims for a night or two...then east towards Munich, maybe a stop for a night somewhere in Germany (?) then back to Munich for one night before I depart. 11 nights total.

I feel like I am trying to cram too much stuff in here. France, and Reims, in particular, seems unwieldy. I would also love to stop at one or two great restaurants in France (I've been to Lyon, and did Bocuse, Leon etc.).

Thank you all for your help.

Hi f,

Venice to Lyon is about 7 hr. Dijon to Munich is almost 7 hr.

That's about 20% of your entire trip.

You need to run the viamichelin program to get your driving times. I hate to drive more than 4 hours between destinations. I would forget France and drive a tighter loop. You have a good start, but France is too far. With 11/12 days, think 4 destinations. I would pick:
Salzburg
Dolomites
Lago Como
Bavarian castles[via Engadine]
That is all fabulous driving and will save you time. Buona fortuna !

Using one of the many mapping websites, you can determine the driving times between any point on your itinerary. I used http://mappoint.msn.com/(e1yjherbrbb...v55)/home.aspx to come up with the following sample itinerary:

Munich - 2 nights

Salzburg - 1 night

Salzburg to Bolzano is around a 3 hr drive - 2 nights (check out the Iceman)

Bolzano to Lake Como about 3 hrs - 2 nights

Lake Como to Lindau around 3 hrs - 2 nights

From Lindau, you can take a day or two to see the castles and then return to Munich.

This is a much slower paced itinerary but one that should give you some great scenery.

We picked up our car in June 2002, and this was our itinerary:

Day 1 - arrive Munich
Day 2 - Pick up car & drive to Alsace
Day 3-5 - Alsace
Day 6-7 - Reims (with side trip to Versailles)
Day 8 - Baden Baden
Day 9 - Fussen
Day 10 - Munich
Day 11 - Fly home

We put 1800 miles on the car - it was fun driving.

I wouldn't do it again -- too much driving, too much on the go and not enough time relaxing. Next trip will be spending those 10-11 days in Northern Italy around the lake regions - 3-4 days each in a couple of places. We really enjoyed the 3 days in Alsace, and would do it again.

Be aware that for the first 1500 miles, we were told to keep the car under 4000 rpms. That limited us to only 100 mph on the Autobahn. ((b))

BTW, I really like bobthenavigator's ideas, except we've already done the castle thing and Salzburg -- spend that time in Munich. ((b))

"Be aware that for the first 1500 miles, we were told to keep the car under 4000 rpms. That limited us to only 100 mph on the Autobahn."

Same here (except we were told "only for the first 1000 miles"). It was a bummer, but, still fun.