Here's what I've got so far.
Basically we have a 14 day trip. June 12-26.
June 12- Arrive Amsterdam
June 13 A'dam
June 14 A'dam and maybe a side trip to a small town..
June 15 Train to Colonge and pick up rental car (already booked) Drive to Cochem and stay (hotel is also booked)
June 16 Berg Eltz and wine festival in Cochem (stay 2nd night in Cochem)
June 17 Drive to Rothenburg (hotel is booked)
June 18 Tour and stay Rothenburg
June 19-23 ????
**Here is where we need help We have to be back in Munich June 24th (hotel is booked) to drop off the rental car. June 25th we will tour Dachau and Munich, fly home June 26.
Our origional plan was to drive from Rothenburg to Fussen, stay 1 night, tour Ludwig's castles and then drive into Austria. We have 5 days for this. I know we would like to stay in Salzburg probably 2 nights (It seems like more might be too much), and the SOM tour is a must. So where would you suggest we fill our time? Any and all advice would be fantastic!! We enjoy great towns, shopping, scenery, history, food & wine. Museums, not so much. Thanks!
TXgal

Two nights in Salzburg should give a good taste of the city. The fortress is wonderful, and the old church, churchyard and "catacombs". It is such a beautiful city - good for tons of pictures.

My suggestion would be to head down the Romantic Road after visiting Rothenburg. Spend a few hours in Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen. Then overnite in Augsburg or Landsberg. The next day drive to Oberammergau and stay there a couple of days. The Royal Castles, Fussen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald, Wieskirche and Ettal Abbey are all less than an hour away. You could even take a day trip to Innsbruck, Austria which is less than an hour and a half away. Lots of beautiful Alpine scenery and quaint villages in the area. Great woodcarved souvenirs and delicious cheese. The monks at Ettal Abbey make some great beer. Best of all, if you contact Oberammergau tourism office they'll mail you accomodations info. If you really want to save some bucks, there are some unbelievable deals on Zimmer Frei (Bed and Breakfast) and vacation apartments. I found quite a few places where one could stay for less than 20 Euro per person per night!

I'm going with Zeus. I love that part of Germany. He has give you some great advice. In June it chould be beautiful.

I would do what he said and then do a day or so in Salzburg. Distances are short. Fussen to Salzburg is only about 110 miles as a crow flies. Mountain roads make it a little longer trip than that but it is pretty easy to do.

Before you head out watch the SOM DVD again to remind yourself of the beautiful scenes. If you can get the DVD with the director's comments they will tell you where they shot various scenes.

I like that idea... so you would suggest 1 night in Augsburg or Landsberg, 2 in Oberammergau, and 2 in Salzburg? That seems like quite a bit of moving around, but since the distances are not too bad, it looks like we won't waste too much time driving.
We like to keep lodging under 90E/night. Any suggestions? I'm a bit confused as to where we should stay in Salzburg? I know parking car be a problem. Any recs that will offer free or easy parking? Thanks!

Check out Goldenen Ente (parking in the cave, 6-8 euros extra) or Weisses Kreuz (parking in front of the hotel (I don't know the price, if any).

You can probably do an average of 90E. You will pay less in the towns, more in the cities.

I was born and raised in the beautiful lake region just east of Salzburg (remember the movie 'The Sound Of Music'?). I've lived in the USA for the last 5 years and am now working on completely revamping my website at www.BeautifulAustria.com hopefully I will be able to show the new site in a few weeks.

If you have the time then I would suggest to take 2 days in the city of Salzburg then spend at least one more day in the Sound Of Music lake-region (e.g. in a town called St.Wolfgang or another one called Hallstatt). If you have any time left then see the eagles nest (about 20 miles from the city of Salzburg. Plan half a day for eagles nest and a visit of lake Koenigsee).

Most of all, enjoy the city of Salzburg but then also go out into the countryside.

If you need more tips then contact me through my website www.BeautifulAustria.com

Enjoy your trip!

Hi T,

Good advice from Austria.

Thanks for the advice! I brought my travel books with me to work today, so while my 4th graders are working hard I'll try and finalize my itinerary. I really wish I could add about 2 days to this trip, but flights are booked with FF miles and those are precious seats right now!

Thanks ira.

Ahh! We leave in about 2 months and I'm getting nervous bc I still have not figured this part out!! I'm feeling the crunch to get hotels booked due to the World Cup...
How does this look? Coming from Rothenburg....
June 19-20 Stay in Fussen area...
June 21-23 Salzburg and explore area. Hit Berchtesgaden on the way to Salzburg...
Onto Munich the 24th.

Please, any suggestions welcome!! How would YOU spend these 5 days/nights?? Should we stay in Fussen only 1 night? I'm bummed about missing Hallstatt. Should we totally skip Fussen? Really, we're going there to see Ludwig's castles... it could be skipped to spend more time in Austria... (I'm so confused, can you tell??)
Thanks!

When we did a trip like this, we stayed one night in Schwangau, which is at the base of the hills where sit the castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. In fact, it's where everyone parks. You could arrive in the midafternoon, see Hohenschwangau. Stay the night, then hit Neuschwanstein the first thing the next morning and head to Salzburg. That gives you an extra day for the Salzkammergut and Hallstatt, which I think is a don't miss.

We stayed at the Hotel Muller, which was quite pleasant.

Don't know how much extra time you'll have, but we enjoyed Wieskirche (super Baroque church set in the countryside near Schwangau) and King Ludwig's castle on an island in Chiemsee. The latter takes some time, requires a ferry.

So maybe 1 night in Schwangau, 2 in Hallstatt, and 2 in Salzburg???

Would it make more sense to go to Hallstatt from Schwangau or Salzburg? We'll ultimately be returning to Munich.
So either: Schwangau-Salzburg-Hallstatt-Munich
OR
Schwangau-Hallstatt-Salzburg-Munich

Thanks!!!

Just to avoid any confusion, Hotel Muller is actually in the village of Hohenschwangau. Schwangau is a couple of kms. down the road.

So if we are just going to stay one night in the Fussen area- where might you (anyone) suggest we stay? We would still like to be in a cute town, but being right next to Ludwig's castles is not a huge priority. maybe less than 1 hr away would be good... I thought about the town... starts with an "O"... sorry- don't have my book w/ me.

TX--the "O" town could be Oberammergau. About a 45-60 minute drive to Hohenschwangau depending on which route you take.

Oberammergau is very scenic.

Would it make sense, coming from Rothenburg, to stay in Oberammergau? We woud want to get up early to beat the crowds at Ludwig's castles... then we would be on our way to Austria...
Also, which would be the best route? Salzburg or Hallstatt first?

Someone might have mentioned this already, but you can make reservations for the castles in Hohenschwangau in advance online and by telephone and avoid at least the ticket sales line.

Well, coming from Hohenschwangau, you pretty much have to go through Salzburg to get to Hallstatt. So why don't you go to Salzburg first? We did Hallstatt as a daytrip from Salzburg. But I'm sure a night there would be nice. I'd like to see more of the Salzkammergut.

Sounds very close to the trip i took in december (see my trip report). I would definity look to spend two nights in slazburg, i thought it was the best choice that i made on my trip! Plan on at least a half day for Dachau. I would not rush through it!