Germany/Austria/Italy Itinerary Advice
 

Family (2 adults, 14yr girl, 12yr boy) are doing an ED on a BMW next summer. We arrive in Munich on June 26th, returning on July 15th. It is our first to Europe. Does this itinerary look reasonable? Are days at each location sound good? My husband like the outdoors, my son needs adventure, and my daughter wants to see Venice and shop. I will do all.

1 night - Munich
2 nights - Berchestegarden or St. Gilgan (see Hellbrunn castle, salt mine, ice cave near Hallstat, Salzburg)
3 nights Cortina - drive via Grossglockner Road, hiking, something adventureous, maybe drive Brenner Pass
3 nights Venice - Doge's Palace, etc.
5 nights Levanto - day trips to CT hike, Pisa & Lucca, north (Portofino or Camogli),hanging at beach
3 nights Lake Garda - Sirmione Castle, Gardaland (ugh!)
2 nights Munich

Any suggestions or additional sites to see are much appreciated.

For instance, two days in Munchen (you said 'no museums' so, it will be enough 2 dyas), then 3 in Fussen to visit Ludwig's castles and Oberamergau, then 3 days near Bodensee (Konstanz Lake) to visit Lindau, Mainau island (it will be splendid in May with all the flowers there), Danube's springs, etc.

Hi H,

>doing an ED on a BMW next summer.<

You are doing what? With kids?

Do you have to go back to Munich?

((I))

Your plan to take in Berchtesgaden/St. Gilgen plus Hellbrunn plus salt mine plus ice caves/Hallstatt seems like a lot for the time you've given yourself in the Salzburg area. I think you'l have to winnow out at least one of those. For example, if you want to see the trick fountains at Hellbrunn, you can only do that via guided tour. You can't rush through.

Hmmm ! Nice trip--I know that area and have done it more than once.
I have 2 suggestions. I would pick St. Gilgen in Austria as your base, and I would stay in the Val Gardena rather than Cortina---Ortisei or Castelrotto.
The tough drive is to Levanto--make sure you have good routing for that one.

Thanks for your responses and so fast!

ED - european delivery and yes with kids. It will be fun or at least memorable!

Yes, we have to return to Munich. We looked at open jaw but it was too expensive. Cheaper to do a RT.

Castelrotto/Ortesi - Is there enough to do to keep 2 teenagers happy? I considered those areas based on reviews but thought Cortina might have more options. The Adrenalin Center sounded just right for my son. I guess we could do a drive to Cortina.

We have nav so hopefully that will help get us to Levanto. I am a bit worried about driving in Italy. That is why we decided against Rome -- didn't know what to do with the car and didn't want to drive it there.

ira, I think HMBMom is "doing a European Delivery on a BMW" as in, they are buying a BMW and picking it up in Europe for a vacation, then will have it shipped to the U.S.

HMBMom, I'm not familiar with your route but just be aware that driving in Italy is a little crazy. My in-laws took European delivery of a car on their first trip to Europe (granted it was 30-odd years ago) and let's just say that they would have done things a little differently if they had only known what the driving was like in Italy. I'm guessing you really like to drive since you are taking European delivery, but if it were me, I would prefer to do most of the driving in my brand-new BMW in Germany rather than in Italy. Let's just say that Germans are pretty fanatical about their cars. I just got back from a week in Rome and just about every car had body damage. I've not been to Venice yet but I hear you basically have to leave your car parked in a lot outside of the city. I'd just be sure that everywhere you are going has reasonable parking options. (My husband is a car designer so we are big car enthusiasts and think about these things a lot!)

If you can get your hands on it, a recent edition of Car (a British magazine) - maybe from October? - had a story about the best mountain pass drives in Germany, Switzerland, and northern Italy.

Sorry, we were posting at the same time!

You are definitely right about not driving in Rome! And having a navi will be extremely helpful, only sometimes even the navi gets confused in tight medieval neighborhoods, so you have to really watch what you are doing.

I should add that I live in Stuttgart so I am very familiar with driving in Germany. It was stressful enough for me, even with a lot of European travel experience, to get used to driving here - I would not voluntarily drive in Italy unless I was staying in small towns and away from big cities.

I'm not trying to discourage you, I just can imagine what it would feel like to have a new car and be worrying about it on top of it being your first trip to Europe.

Hi Mom - Like Bob, I too would choose Val Gardena over Cortina.

What kind of things are you looking for for your teenagers? There are lots of activity options in the Val Gardena area - from hiking to paragliding, mountain biking to horse riding, swimming, rafting, climbing, vie ferrate ...

Steve

I hope you are buying a 5 series as there is not a whole lot of room in the back seat of a 3 series for 2 teens and all that driving. Also, not a lot of trunk space for luggage for 4 people, but I guess you might already know that.

You'll love the ED experience. I did it in 2002, but had a hard time finding the drop off location North of Munich. Had to pay a taxi driver to lead me there. Mapquest directions were horrible. You have a GPS? ((b))

We have done ED twice with BMW.......they should allow you to drop the car at a varity of places. Anyway...we stayed in Obersalzberg...half-way up the mountain to the Eagles Nest....in a historic place called the Zum Turken! This place is cool...straight out of the 40's! There are tunnels below the building where the Nazi's hid and connected to Hitler's house. This was an ideal spot to visit the Saltzbergwerks....Eagles nest...Hellbrun and is just up the road (5minutes)from Berchestegarden! My kids (10,14,17) loved this area and so did we! Have fun!

I don't know how paranoid you should be about parking your new BMW in Tronchetto or one of the outlying lots and going to Venice. Last time I was there, the lot we parked at was not guarded. Supposedly car theft is high (at least that's what they tell you when you have to buy the mandatory theft insurance). If you want your car parked nearby, you have to stay in Venice Lido. Perhaps other posters have opinions on this subject?