snowhoney21

My husband and I are doing an 8 day VBT (Vermont Bicycle Tours) trip of Salzburg, Austria. We are allowing 3 days to tour before the bike trip, then bike for 8 days and then tour again for 3 days after the bike trip. We would greatly appreciate itinerary suggestions from the experienced European travelers that participate in this forum. We plan to rent a car.

Also, would it be worth it to fly into Munich and drive to Salzburg instead of flying directly into Salzburg if we were looking to save on airfare. We live in the southeast area of the U.S.

Thank you in advance for any suggestions. I have used this message board for previous travel questions and have always found it to be very useful

AisleSeat

The whole area is our favorite and we keep going back to Bavaria, Munich, Salzburg, the Saltzkammergut, Bertschgaden, and over to Fussen.

We almost always start with Munich just because we love Munich. Stay near the train station and have a dinner at the Austustiner near Marienplatz. See Nymphenburg Palace, the Deutsches Museum and Dachau. Have a beer at the Hoffbrau Haus. I assume you are going in the Summer since you are biking. It is a great time to see that area.

The airfare will really be dependent on the season you are traveling. Try Kayak.com to scan the airlines fares into the various places.

molker

I believe that you would pay much less for an air ticket to Munich rather than Salzburg.

Munich - Salzburg is an easy drive by car ( less than 2 hours) and with so much to see in this area a car makes it much more convenient to maximize your time.

But look at the " Drop off charge" if you do not intend to return the car to Munich.

Also look at the easy and inexpensive train transfer to Salzburg. You could visit Munich first and / or take day trips from there ( castles etc.). Then take the train Munich - Salzburg, first see Salzburg, then rent a car for trips outside the city, perhaps after your bike trip.

Itinerary suggestions are hard to provide as you do not mention what you see during the 8 day bike tour.

snowhoney21

Our bike tour is in mid September and we have decided to fly into Munich. We have approx 4 days before the tour starts from Salzburg & 3-4 days after the bike tour ends. Tentative plans to rent a car in Munich, tour around Germany, return car in Munich & take train to Salzburg. Tour with bike group. Take train back to Munich, pick up another car and finish touring. Our aim is to avoid drop off charges if we rent in Munich & return in Salzburg. Also as we have 8 days of biking, the car would just remain idle in Salzburg.
Bike Trip Itinerary:
Visits to: Hohe Tauren/Krimml Waterfalls, Pinzgau region, rides trhough the market square of Neukirchen am Grossvenediger, Mittersill, Hohe Tauern Range, Stuhfelden & end up in Zeller Lake. Visit Lichtenau Castle, Schwarzenbach church and Kaprun Castle.
Last day ride through the Saalach Valley back to Salzburg.

Now that you have the itinerary I would welcome suggestions on where to tour after we finish with Salzburg. Preferably heading back towards Germany as our return flight leaves from Munich. I keep reading about the Romance Road, not sure which cities that includes.

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

TuckH

I offer this suggestion - a (roughly) clockwise loop taking you from Salzburg to Munich that features these points:

Garmisch/Mittenwald (Zugspitze), Fussen (Ludwig's castle), Landsberg am Lech on to the Romantic Road 'til Rothenburg(www.romanticroad.com), Wurzburg, Iphofen and Bamberg.

Doing all this in 3 days will be tight and you'll have to do some editing I'm afraid.

megdean

snowhoney21 - I wondered how you enjoyed the VBT trip. We are thinking of doing the same trip next year

norrisken

Arrive Munich airport, get car rental. Drive to hotel, eat light and rest for a couple hours.
Things to see in Munich:
Marienplatz
Altes Rathaus
Isartor
Hofbräuhaus
Schloß Nymphenburg
Frauenkirche
Englischer Garten
Deutsches Museum
Dachau
Consider getting the 'Munich Welcome Card', maybe spend the 1st day or 2 in Munich without a rental car or on the return trip.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Ettal, Linderhof, Plansee, Hohenschwangau, Schloss Neuschwanstein, Wieskirche, Oberammergau, Tegernsee, Herrnchiemsee, Reit im Winkl, Königssee, Berchtesgaden.
Many maps here: http://www.thirdmansystems.com/vacation/maps/maps.htm

Ken

wolfadeus

Salzburg is Austria's second biggest airport after Vienna, so it might well be that you can fly in directly. There are airport shuttles available from Munich or you can stop by Bavaria's capital for a day and then go to Salzburg by train - much cheaper and fairly quick. Check www.visit-salzburg.net for sightseeing and other visitor-information! Have fun!

tune

I dont know if you have checked the car rental fees for two 4 day rentals but you might find that getting it for the entire trip and parked might not be much more.

stembe

Check this post for your airfare search: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...2&tid=34796928

tcreath

Just an FYI that original post was posted in January of 05 so I doubt the op is still looking for suggestions.

Tracy

SAnParis

& she's not been back since April of '05.

norrisken

And Ken's a idiot! lol
I need to look closer, thx tcreath!