Munich, Salzburg & Hallstatt
 

Greetings! Hubby & I are planning an early September (before Octoberfest) trip - flying into Munich, driving to Salzburg, then Hallstatt and back to Munich. We'll have 10 nights & would greatly appreciate some feedback on how to split our time and driving routes. Or should we take the train to Salzburg, rent a car there for the Austrian part of the trip, and train back to Munich? Assuming Munich is easier without a car? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
-E

Munich is IME one of the easier cities to drive in in Europe - wide streets - of course town center around Marienplatz is pedestrianized, etc. but I'd do straight up car rental from Munich via Salzburg (consider stopping by the Chiemsee and Prien en route and take a boat over to Mad Ludwig's Versailles of Bavarian - the ornate Herrenchiemsee Palace, lovingly set on an island in the placid lake.

From Salzburg drive thru the Sound of Music Country - St Wolfgang and the fabled lake district then after a day or so there go via Bad Ischl to Hallstatt.

Then when ready to return to Munich for a different route go via Passau, a uniquely situated city at the confluence of two main rivers - one is the Danube.

So going all by car is fine - though if you wanted to save on car rental I guess you could take the train like you said to Salzburg and return car in Salzburg - depends on whether you want to drive thru rural Bavaria or not and there are several nice places you could go via - like Berchetsgaden - just over the mountain from Salzburg.

Hi,

Car rentals are generally cheaper in Germany. We always pick up our rental car at Munich airport. Convenient and it's a breeze getting out of the airport and on the road. This way you could make Munich your last stop, return the car upon arriving and train to the airport on your departure day. If driving on the highways in Austria, make sure to buy the Austrian "Vignette", which is a toll sticker (8 Euro for a sticker good for 10 consecutive days) that you put on the windshield. You can buy this at gas stations/rest stops along the highway in Germany before entering Austria.

Three locations with 10 nights is fine. Split you time depending on your interests. I'd say 3 or 4 nights based in the Berchtesgaden/Salzburg area. Plenty to see and do in the general area and day trips. Berchtesgaden and Salzburg are less than 30 min. apart by car. For our many visits to Salzburg, we prefer basing near Berchtesgaden. Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden to be precise. Based here you could include:
Berchtesgaden
Konigsee
Jennerbahn cable car
Eagle's Nest
Rossfeld Panorama Road
Salzburg
Salt Mine Tours
Sommerrodelbahns (luge rides)
Zell am See
"Mad" King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee Palace (if you didn't stop on the drive between Munich and Salzburg/Berchtesgaden).

Hope this helps get you started.

If interested, we have photo's at:

http://www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

Paul

Paul

Enjoyed your pictures. Where was the Pension Friedwiese and is it a small hotel or B&B? My husband and I are planning a trip to Southern Germany and want to go to Munich, Regensburg, Bamberg, Garmisch, Landshut & Berchtesgaden and perhaps Salzburg. Trying to decide on using a train or renting a car. Your comments if you would.

HI abram797,

Guesthouse Friedwiese is in Shonau am Konigssee. We stayed here in 11/10. This is about a 3 minute drive from Berchtesgaden and maybe 5 minutes from the Konigssee. It's a B&B type place. The nice rooms have their own bath/shower and balcony plus breakfast is included. Not sure how to get here by public transportation.

www.friedwiese.de/enska/isl.htm

Another favorite of ours in the immediate area is the Pension Mayringerlehen (probably our favorite place to stay anywhere) in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden. We stayed here in 10/06, 10/07 and 9/09 and we plan to stay again this year. This is located less than 10 minutes from Berchtesgaden. Also a B&B type place. Nice rooms have their own bath/shower, baclonies and breakfast included. They have cows, goats, chickens, etc. on the property, as it's an organic dairy farm. The bus stop is a short 3 minute walk away.

www.mayringerlehen.de

At both places the owners are simply wonderful. We love Sabine at the Mayringerlehen and Helga at the Friedwiese is simply wonderful and a terrific source of info on the area.

Salzburg is less than a 30 minute drive from either place. We prefer to stay in this area for our visits to Salzburg. We also like having a rental car for our trips. We have always picked up and returned the car at Munich airport.

Hope this answers your questions.

Paul

There are so so many neat places in Bavaria both ways to hit with a car - car the whole I'd say even though I am a real fan of trains - for this type of trip a car has many more benefits as there are so so many neat places on or just off the main routes.

Thanks for all your replies - very helpful info!

So as the trip is starting to take shape, I'd greatly appreciate more opinions on a possible itinerary:

Fly into Munich, rent a car and head to the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area for 2 nights. From there,on to Salzburg for 3 nights. From Salzburg we're debating going up Regensburg for 1 night or spending more time in
Austria. We'll end with 3 nights Munich.

Any suggestions on our time allottment and whether Regensberg is worth 1 night, or visit another place in Austria? We had orginally thought about spending a night in Hallstaat, but it seems we can easily visit there, as well as Berchtesgaden on a day trip from Salzburg. We really do love the trains, but it seems this trip makes more sense with car. Would we find the car cumbersome in Salzburg? Thanks again for everyone's assistance, it helps so much!

Salzburg is no real problem IME with a car - park it on the northside of the river in lots and it's a short walk to the town center.

Consider driving from Salzburg thru the lovely Sound of Music Country to the east - the Lake District - so so sweet - St Wolfgang a nice town to stay in - take a boat ride on the lake and then motor via Bad Ischl to Hallstatt, which to me is a long long day trip from Salzburg and is just the type of place you want to stay in and savor the area for a day or two - perhaps visiting the famous Salt Mines or exploring this rugged Alpine region.

Regensberg is certainly IME one of the finest cities in Germany - said to have more ancient historic buildings than just about any city in its historic center - but it is quite a poke from Salzburg - IMO doing the Sound of Music Country and Hallsatt is much more awesome.

En route back to Munich from Austria you can go via Passau, at the confluence of two main rivers, one the Danube and a unique historic town that makes a great few-hour stop.

PalenQ - would you forgo Garmisch-Partenkirchen for Regensberg? I do like the idea of one night in Hallstatt or St. Wolfgang. If we weren't doing any day trips from Munich, would 2 days there be sufficient? Very hard to decide when time is limited!

Hi Nylle,

I personally like your plan in general. In your most recent plan, you have 9 nights. Is it 9 or 10 nights?

I'd suggest:

Munich airport to Salzburg/Berchtesgaden area for 3 nights. Hallstatt (incl. a drive through the Salzkammergut) is an easy day trip from either location.
Drive to the Garmisch/Mittenwald area (we LOVE Mittenwald) for 3 nights.
Drive to Munich, drop the car and spend your last 3 nights.

With 10 nights, I'd probably change Garmisch/Mittenwald to 2 nights and add Fuessen for 2 nights.

Just a few opinions.

Paul

Yes I would forego G-Partenkirchen for Regensburg all other factors like distance away from main trip not considered - G-P is nice but otherwise an ordinary and yes nice Alpine resort - the Zugspitze ascent would be the reason to come here for me.

I actually based in G-P and day tripped into Munich for a few days once - accommodations were a lot cheaper and they have the cozy family-run guesthouses that you just do not see in cities like Munich - not a long train ride if you ditch the car.

2 days would be fine in the Austrian lake District and Hallstatt - that's what I did anyway - oh yeh could stay for weeks but to me just seeing these wondrous places is the key.

We actually have 9 nights. Thank you again for the help. The Zugspitze is something we don't want to miss so I think the only question now is whether the detour to Regensberg on the way back to Munich is worth forgoing a night elsewhere. I doubt we'll get back to Germany.

Well it seems like the detour is not as much as I thought, by looking at a map - the road from that part of Austria could go via Passau, again a city well worth a look over - very unique setting. I remember Regensburg being really nice but not something at least I would make a major detour for if time was precious. But again the eye of the beholder is always different as to who beholds something. Regensburg is certainly a neat city but to me not an awesome place.