Need help with itinerary for Switzerland, Germany or Austria
 

Family of 4 (two boys 12 and 10) are cooking the idea of a 2-week trip to central Europe in the summer. Tentative thoughts are: Switzerland, southern Germany and Austria.

My original plan is to visit Switzerland and Austria. After consulting the map, Geneva and Vienna are at the opposite end of the continent. For Switzerland, definitely Bern, Zurich, Bernese oberland. Not sure if it is wise to visit Geneva, since it is kinda out of the way. Same question for Vienna. If we rule out Geneva and Vienna, maybe we can include southern Germany: Munich, black forest, can probably include Salzburg.

Seek your expert opinion on what is the most efficient itinerary, i.e. not spending too much time on the road. We have not seen much of Europe, so it really does not matter which cities to visit, as long as it makes sense logistically. There is always the next Europe trip that will allow us to visit, say Geneva with Eastern France or Vienna with Hungary and Czech.

We won't rent cars, will mainly rely on trains while in Europe or maybe low cost regional flights.

With two weeks, I would stay in Switzerland, get a Swisspass (plus the free family pass you can get for your children). You can use the Swisspass to travel on the trains, boats, and buses, so consider basing yourself in 2 one week rentals and daytripping from your 2 bases. You'll find lots of rental appts/chalets that would be suitable for a family. The only problem with Switzerland is that it is super expensive, but the Swisspass and renting an apt where you can eat breakfast/prepare lunch will help a lot. We based ourselves in Meiringen for 8 days, which was a great location for the Berner Oberland, hiking, etc, and not too exorbitant. We did not do Geneva; rather we moved to Zermatt & Zurich.

Check out the bahn.de website for rail timetables throughout Europe - a great website, we print out timetables and take them with us. Check out Ryan Air for regional flights - often at extremely low prices. We flew from Rome to Frankfurt (to the regional airports) for $26 for 2 people - airports are often in somewhat out of the way places, so check before booking.

After a few trips through the region, I would recommend focusing on 3 or 4 places in two weeks, that gives you 2-3 nights per place plus two days of flying. We loved Berner Oberland, but it is a bit far from Bavaria via train.

With younger kids consider staying on a farm in Bavaria or the Tyrol area of Austria for a few nights.

Night trains work well and save daylight hours for exploring.

You might consider a London-Paris-Bruges itinerary with the kids - plenty to see and do, easy connections, three countries, a nice mix of city size and cultures. Alternatively, you could hit Salzburg, the Bavarian Alps/Tyrol and Munich in 2 weeks without too much rushing around.

Skip Geneva,Vienna, Black Forest. They are all too far from you main track.

Unfortunately, I can't tell where your home is. If overseas or UK, fly into Zuerich, visit Bernese Oberland, perhaps also Luzern. Then take train to Munich. Spend some time there, the kids will love it. Also visit Salzburg, Garmisch Partenkirchen and possibly Fuessen from Munich and return home from Munich. Salzburg, Garmisch, Fuessen can all be visited on the Bayernkarte day pass, for EUR28 for the four of you.

Oooohps, just noticed the Green Bay. So, an open jaw Green Bay - Zuerich (train - Munich) Munich - Green Bay would work well.

I think boys would enjoy Switzerland, Bavaria/Munich, and Salzburg over Vienna and Geneva.

With 2 weeks I would do 1 week in Switzerland (max 2 bases) and 1 week in Germany (Munich and another town in Bavaria). You can easily do a daytrip to Salzburg if you are interested in that.

That covers a lot of ground for just two weeks. Let's hope that you at least have a full two weeks on the ground, not counting the days of travel to (takes two days) and from Europe. I would reduce it geographically, for less moving around and more staying put, there is so much to explore in each location.

But for now, I'm going with your stated plan.

Book a multi-city ticket (not two one-ways, not a return - see multi-city at www.kayak.com etc.).

Fly into Geneva (GVA), stay the night and walk off the jetlag. Train to Zermatt, stay two nights. It doesn't get more awsome than that, especially if you go up on the Gornergrat. http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/aus...hp?ausflugid=1

Trains are at www.sbb.ch/en

Then train to Bernese Oberland
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/dest...tml?region=007

Pick a location according to what you find you'd like to do and which of the many targets you'd like to pick.

After a few days, take the train to Munich (München). It is a long trip, can't be helped, around 7 hours from Interlaken-Ost, longer from locations up in the valleys, and there are no direct ones, you'll change trains en route.

From Munich you can make daytrips into Austria, even to Salzburg if you can get out of bed early and don't mind coming "home" late.

Fly home from Munich.

We did this trip several years ago when our son was 10 years old. Arrived in Zurich and immediately took the train to Interlaken. Having been back in the OB area several times since then I would stay in Lauterbrunnen for easy access to all the sights. Our son loved going up to the Jungfrajoch. We continued on to Montruex to visit Chillon Castle, Gruyere, and Broc (chocolate factory). Trained to Zermatt where our son raved about going up on the cable cars to Klein Matterhorn. Took the Glacier Express (you can skip that)to Chur and then on to Vienna. We all agreed that Vienna was our least favorite city on our itinerary. On to Salzburg. While there we visited a salt mine and slid down the rails getting from one area to another. My son (he's 21 now still talks about it!) On to Munich. Rented a car for a week to visit Rothenburg (son still talks about the night watchman tour) the Rhine and the Mosel River areas.

We bought rail passes for Switzerland & Austria. Separate train ticket to Munich and then rented a car. In hindsight, I would skip Vienna, not worth the travel time. No need to go over to the Mosel River area (nice but we did it because my great grandparents emigrated from there).

Trains are so efficient in Switzerland. With the rail pass, entrance into many museums, using post buses and community transit buses are included in the pass.

Your idea of Switzerland, Salzburg and southern Germany is very doable. Fly into Zurich and out of Munich or Frankfurt.

Get the boys involved in the planning. It really helps to have them on board. I had my son watch Rick Steve's Europe on PBS so he knew a little about where we were going. He helped choose some of the places to visit. You will see the world through their eyes. That in itself is eye opening!

Yes, we live in Green Bay, WI. Since the trip is in the summer, we can spend more than 2 weeks. I like DalaiLlama's idea of at least 2 full weeks of ground time. The open jaw itinerary (O'Hare to Zurich, and Munchen to O'Hare) should work out nicely. Tentative itinerary:
Zurich, Bernese Oberland, Bern, Munich, Bavaria, Salzburg

DalaiLlama mentioned long train ride from central Switzerland to Munchen. Will it be faster if flying those low cost airlines?

Also, while in Munchen, does it make sense to station there, and daytrip around? I am not sure how long from Munchen to Bavaria/Salzburg by train. I like to think daytripping does not make sense with >1.5hr one way ride.

I think your revised itinerary is a good one with a few exceptions. I'd skip Bern and add Zermatt. Also, I'd go to Salzburg after Switzerland and before Munich mainly because the flight home options are better in Munich.

Overall, I'd do something like:
2 days Zurich
5 days Berner Oberland
1 day Zermatt
2 days Salzburg
4 days Munich & Bavaria

Plus 2+ days travel in between. If you have more time, I'd add Appenzell after Zurich or another day in Salzburg.

Hi travellerGreenBay,

I live in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (about 90 minutes south of München) and travel often to Switzerland. No, it won't be any quicker flying, once you take into consideration getting from the Oberland to the airport (3h, probably Zürich), waiting for security (2h), flying (1h), waiting for your bags (20 minutes) and getting from the airport to the city itself (45 minutes). Plus, flying is boring and aggravating, while on the train you get to see cities and countryside and a whole mix of interesting people. It's also likely that your boys will make a friend or two during the trip!

You can get great discounts if you buy your tickets early; you can buy them from the Swiss rail site or the German one. At either one, you can get a pdf of each ticket and print at home. Here are the sites:

www.rail.ch (Swiss)

www.bahn.de (German)

You can use these sites to look at the travel time from München to Salzburg, as well.

BTW, I usually figure a day-trip to be two hours of transport in each direction. Remember that you'll lose time when you move bases, too, with packing up and checking out, then checking in and unpacking. That may be even more time-consuming if you need to supervise your sons as well.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Your boys will travel for free in Switzerland on trains, boats and lifts if you get a Family Card with your Swiss passes. Three-day Saver passes are often the best deal for an itinerary tht takes you from Zurich to the Berner Oberland, then several days there, then to Germany or austria.

I like Parrothead's suggested itinerary, except for the 1 day in Zermatt. That is a long way out of your way to see the Matterhorn, which may be hiding in clouds anyway. Add that day to Bavaria, and be sure to spend a couple days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is one the way between Innsbruck and Munich.. Your kids will love the gorge hikes there (and so will you).

Thanks to all your kind replies, I have the general itinerary down pretty much. I have been reading the other similar posts regarding specifics.

One more general question - when in the summer is the best and cheapest time to visit? We can pretty much go any time betw June and August.

If you are going to the Bernese Oberland, you definitely want to stay in Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, or Murren. I would pick Wengen. This is the REAL Switzerland.

Some good hotels in Wengen include the Alpenrose, Baeren, Schonegg, and Bellvue. Check them out at tripadvisor.com

www.bellevue-wengen.ch Unbelievable views of Lauterbrunnen and the Jungfraujoc from the back terrace of this hotel.

I would get a half-fare card for the trains, not the Swiss Pass, because you only get half off some transportation (like the cable car to the Schilthorn or the trip to the Jungfrau from Kleine Scheidegg) with the Swiss Pass. The half-fare card is 99 Swiss Francs for 30 days of travel. The Swiss Pass is over 350 Swiss Francs for 8 days of travel.

A good hotel in Zurich is the Pension St. Josef. This hotel is a treasure. Check it out on tripadvisor.

Lizzy

Hi again,

The tour busses come in full force in August, but that will be when the best weather is likely to come too. You'll have to balance which is most important to you.

You can avoid much of the bus traffic and the downloaded hordes if you stay in a car-free town like Wengen or Mürren in the Oberland.

The cheapest time to visit might be June, if you can find a hotel that considers this the shoulder season. But June might be still cold in the mountains. I think I would aim for June to try to cut down on seeing too many tour busses and to try to catch a deal on hotels. Just dress warmly!

s

We have decided on the timing at least, will visit those countries last two weeks of August.
New question - After talking to a few friends, we are contemplating renting a car. Is that wise? My concerns are 1) language barrier. I had 3 years of German in graduate school (20 years ago, meaning I can't carry a simple conversation, only recognize a few words). We will certainly rent a GPS that talks in English. People there probably speaks English, but signs are in German? 2) Parking. How easy is it to find parking in tourist areas? 3) Driving habits - my understanding is Europeans drive more aggressively than Americans. Living in Green Bay, Wisconsin, day to day, driving around is pretty easy, not used to 80mph bumper to bumper type of driving (can handle it if have to, though). These are the reasons we initially ruled out renting a car. The plus side is it is a lot quicker to get from here to there with a car. Train systems are good in those countries, but then we still need to take buses to get to the site after the train ride. How are the highway systems, compared to US interstate? Financially, it is probably a wash, since there are 4 of us (2 kids 10 & 12), those inter-country trains are not cheap. I am having a hard time deciding to rent a car or not. Help!

I am sure a lot of people will respond re your car query (especially the highway system) and its efficiency.

However - we have traveled a number of times with three children in Europe and sometimes the train rides - even longer ones - provide that much needed down time!
On the trains our children watched the passing scenery, ate yummy things, read, listened to music, filled in travel journals or slept.
I am not sure what part of your train travel will require a bus ride as well?
The trains in Switzerland are amazing and if you select Wengen or Lauterbrunnen you won't be needing a car.

Happy travel planning.

Hi again,

I used to drive in Germany and drove in Switzerland a few times -- these days I always take the trains.

First of all, 80 mph will put you in the slow lane. Cars routinely go over 110 mph on the autobahn; when I had my BMW, I regularly cruised at 110. And got passed.

I don't know why you think you'd have to take a bus after your train rides -- ?? Have you already looked at the schedules to see how many changes there are? I usually go for the connections with the fewest changes.

Yes, parking is hard to find and expensive in European cities and in resorts. Of course, if you stay in a car-free town, you leave your car in a (paid) parking lot for the whole time.

Also remember that European cities were built for medieval "traffic" and are not wonderfully engineered for cars. There are lots of tiny, winding streets, and you'll be trying to dodge trams, busses, and pedestrians too.

In Switzerland, your children will travel on the trains for free. Children under 16 years old travel for free when travelling with their parents.

You'll have more opportunities to interact with local residents and other travellers if you take the trains; you won't be isolated inside your private little bubble!

Also -- using the trains is more **green** yaay!

Good luck as you plan!

s

The idea of having to take a bus after train rides is totally baseless (from my US way of thinking, I suppose). I did take a cursory look at the train schedules (quite mind boggling). I was able to decipher there are more than one lines from pt A to pt B, some with more connections than others.

I think the trains in Europe are a lot better than I realize. We had been in Europe two times, first time through cruise, so all excursions were chauffeured. 2nd time, two weeks in London/Paris. Took subway/tube/underground everywhere, absolutely no need for a car. This time, since we will hit smaller places, my US thought process kicks in, assuming a car will be more convenient, and faster (? maybe not?). Trains stop at every small towns, it seems.

I was able to decipher there are more than one lines from pt A to pt B, some with more connections than others.>

Well not really there is nearly always only one main rail line between main cities and it may well be quicker to take a route that on the map appears longer than sidelines that may go more direct but take ages.

If you are confused by train schdules in those 3 countries you should not be simply because trains travel at least hourly between zillions of places - you only need to know how long the journey takes and sites like www.bahn.de - German Rail stie that is the easiest and best I have encountered for train schedules all over Europe.

If going from Munich to Zurich there is one only logical route to get their the fastest.

Basically my take is if you are going to tourist mecca cities like Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, etc then the train is best as cars can be liabilities in large cities - central aeas often are pedestrianized and off-limits to private vehicles - parking can cost a lot and be hard to find at times - many hotels in large cities may not even offer parking or charge a lot if they do, etc. and public transit in cities is so so superb and cheap - often great deals for families.

Anyway for lots on trains in these countries I always spotlight these fantastic IMO sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and for Switzerland www.swisstravelsystem.com.

If you drive and I understand that with a couple of kids that may seem better at least give your kids the experience of one European train ride - trains there have no correlation to the prehistoric in comparison trains we have in America.

If relying on trains and traveling as much as previsioned then you may want to look at the Eurail Select Saverpass - for 3, 4 or 5 countries and note that if you buy one of these before the end of March you get one extra day free on a 6-day or longer pass - about a $60 value or so so if this pass is in the cards...

This time, since we will hit smaller places, my US thought process kicks in, assuming a car will be more convenient, and faster>

Trains go up to about 190 mph in several European countries - hard to compete time-wise if going between large tourist meccas - where hotels may not even offer parking and city centres often restrict private vehicular traffic.

Cars are great for exploring rural areas and going to small towns but if going to mainly large cities IMO and IME the train will be more efficient time wise.

I don't know why you think you'd have to take a bus after your train rides -- >

me either - in all my decades of European train riding I can think of only a handful of times I had to take a bus from the train to my destination - it must be a pretty small town and then if so the bus will usually go right from the train station. Not a factor and between key cities there are usually direct trains with no change of trains required.

Your boys will travel for free in Switzerland on trains, boats and lifts if you get a Family Card with your Swiss passes. Three-day Saver passes are often the best deal for an itinerary tht takes you from Zurich to the Berner Oberland, then several days there, then to Germany or austria>

it depends on whether the consecutive day saver passes comport to your itinerary - if in Swiss for only 4, 8 or 15 days then opt IMO for the consecutive day pass as it will cover you from get there to get go 100% on nearly everything that moves in Switzerland (and also free entry to over 400 Swiss museums) - but as enzian says the 3-day Swiss Flexi Saverpass is often a better option because folks usually do not fit the exact lengths of the consecutive-day passes - and the way the Flexipass works is that you get 3 100% covered travel days to be used over a one-month period - at your choosing - doing your most expensive trips on 100% covered days and in between the 1st and 3rd day of unlimited 100% calendar-day travel then you do get 50% off everything that moves practically in Switzerland - so this is the best for folks there say five, six or perhaps even 7 days.

After some extensive readings, I have finally come up with the more detailed itinerary. Not set in stone, though. I would love to hear your feedback. Feel free to change it from your perspective.

Our thought process for this itinerary: We have decided to rent a car from day 1. Taking Rick Steves' advice, car is good for Switzerland's French country area and Bavaria area. So for sure we will rent a car part of the trip. We just think maybe it is easier just to have the car for the whole trip for some day tripping as well (Usually you have the best car selection at the airport). This is not set in stone, though. I understand we don't need a car while in BO, but can still use it for day tripping to Luzern, and Bern. The other option is to rent the car at Bern to drive to Lake Geneva, and return it at Munchen. Do we need to go to Bern airport to get the car with automatic transmission? The downside is kids won't have the train ride experience. For the car rental issue, I really would love to get your feedback.

D1 Arrive in Zurich @ 11 am . Tour Zurich. Pick up car to drive to BO
D2 day trip to Luzern or BO depending on weather
D3 BO or Luzern
D4 BO
D1-D4 Sleep in BO. Rick Steves recommend Gimmelwald or Murren. I am debating betw these places (+ views, - expense and headache of mountain lifts) vs Lauterbrunnen (easier car access but not very good mountain views). We will be there for 4 nights, that is lot of mountain lifts. I really don't like the idea to stay one night in e.g. Murren, other 3 nights in Lauterbrunnen, that day may happen to be foggy, and best for day tripping. What is my best option?

D5 Leave for Bern. Tour Bern. Sleep in Lausanne
D6 Tour Chateau Chillon, and French countryside: Montreux, Gruyeres Sleep in Lausann

D7 Drive to Freiburg (meet some friends in Basel). Sleep in Freiburg.
D8 Drive thru Black Forest all day. Sleep in Baden Baden

D8 AM bath. Drive to Rothenburg. Sleep there

D9 Drive to Fussen on Romantic Road (all day, leisure drive)
D10 Bavaria - castles
D11 Bavaria area Visit Garmisch-Partenkirchen
D9-D11 sleep either in Fussen or Reutte

D12-D15 Munchen (4 nights) Day trip to Salzburg. return car.
D15 fly home.

The drop charge between Switzerland and Austria could be very steep.

Take a look into dropping the car in Lausanne/ Bern/ Basel, taking the train to Freiburg, the picking up a German rental and dropping it in Munich when you ARRIVE. You don't need it all in Munich, will pay for parking and Salzburg is a cinch to do by day trip.

It will save you 5 days on the rental plus the drop charge and parking. Germany is also the cheapest country in which to rent a car. Your boys will get a couple of train rides, too.

Hi again,

I've been travelling to Montreux on Lake Geneva practically every year since 1995, and, no, you really honestly do NOT need a car to see it. Particularly not with your itinerary.

One of the nicest scenic train routes runs from Interlaken to Montreux, the Golden Pass. That would seem to be an obvious choice for your trip. Then, if you opt to stay in either Vevey or Montreux, your hotel will give you a Riviera Card, which gives you free transport on all the busses between Vevey and Villeneuve (including Chillon). On the days when you don't want to take the bus, you can hop a ferry and enjoy the views of the vineyards from the boat.

Parking is really inconvenient, expensive, and competitive all along Lake Geneva. In addition, you'll probably see the ugly grey smog of fumes hanging over the lake -- you may be happier if you end up not contributing to it!

Also, a car in the Oberland really doesn't make sense, since all of the mountaintops and the sweetest village do not even allow cars. If you stay in Mürren or Gimmelwald, your car will just accumulate parking fees while it stays parked in Lauterbrunnen.

And as I said above, a car in a city just doesn't make sense.

I understand how much Americans love their cars (I'm American too), but sometimes they really are not the best option.

s

Hi TravellelerGreenBay,

We had a car during our trip last fall - basic route was Lake Como>Chateau Chillon>Bern>Berner Oberland>Munchen/Bavaria>Davos. Lots of folks recommended train travel only but that just isn't appealing to us. We like to go where and when we want and trains still take up a lot of time getting to and waiting around train stations. My husband always has to be places early so there always has to be a big plan to get somewhere in plenty of time. We enjoyed the scenery as we drove and we were able to stop exactly where we felt like stopping.

Now, granted, this was not our first time driving in Europe (we have rented cars on 8 trips) but everybody has a first time and it isn't THAT hard. We don't speak any languages other than English and have not had problems.

In your guidebooks you will find helpful driving hints and after a very short time you will be cruising along fine. We have gotten briefly lost a time or two but since we are on vacation it has not mattered much. I would say our worst driving issues were driving into bigger cities (Prague just after the floods, and Budapest come to mind) and not knowing EXACTLY where our hotel was located. Now we always have exact driving directions to our accommodations wherever they are, it make life much easier.

If you can drive from Green Bay to the airport in Chicago you can drive any place on your itinerary. We did leave the car in the Lauterbrunnen parking structure while in the BO but big deal, it didn't cost that much in the big scheme of a 16 day trip.

I might suggest, though, that you may not need the car upon arrival in Munich. I would think the day trip to Salzburg would be easily doable by public transport because you would really be spending the day in Salzburg itself. Additionally, if I recall correctly you need a vignette or sticker to drive on Austrian roads. Your Swiss rental car may not have it.

Also, you really could go from Zurich to BO and then on to Bern before getting the car. It wouldn't be that much use to you before Bern and the Swiss trains are really fantastic. Bern is the capital of Switzerland so I suspect you can get an automatic car there with no problem and start the driving portion of your trip.

Go PACK Go!

We have stayed in Murren and loved it. To step out on your balcony and have a snow-covered crag right there is priceless. Please do not stay in Gimmelwald. There is nothing there. If you are in Murren, walk down the road and take a look at Gimmelwald. That is enough.
The 'headache' of the mountain lifts! They are amazing, like an e-ticket ride (if you are old enough to remember that expression.) You have some decisions to make but in the end, whatever you do will work out fine. It is amazing country. Enjoy! CJ

Take Rick Steves' advice with a grain of salt. I agree that staying in Mürren is a very good idea, avoid Gimmelwald!

I don't see - given your itinerary - where in Switzerland a car would make sense. Would you really want to see TWO castles in one day? (Chillon and Gruyeres) Also, why staying in Lausanne? It's a city, not really special - I'd stay in Vevey or Montreux, especially since you plan to see Chillon and Montreux.

Having a car in the BO doesn't make any sense (especially with what you plan to do). For excursions to cities like Lucerne, Bern it is not of any use. Driving in the cities is manageable, but why bother? The old towns are almost completely pedestrian zones and parking fees are prohibitive. Train stations are right at the edge of the old towns.

If you really want to rent a car then do it for the German portion of your trip in Freiburg.

I am always wondering why people think the Romantic Road is romantic and a leisure drive. The towns along the road are romantic (mostly) but the road itself is a major road with quite a lot of traffic and the drive is not enjoyable at all. You'd make more of the day if you'd drive the Autobahn to Füssen, maybe do a quick side excursion to a town along the route and explore this one (Dinkelsbühl e.g.).

I.

HappyCheeseHead, you said it (of the reason to have a car) better than I did . I completely agree with swandave2000 on not driving in Lake Geneva. I will look into getting the car from Lausanne to drive to Germany. We do plan to return the car once we arrive in Munchen, can take train to Salzburg.

Love Ingo's suggestion for staying at Vevey or Montreux.

I am sold on staying at Murren as well (one small logistics question: plan to do laundry while in BO, probably in Lauterbrunnen. Do they have taxi running from Murren to Lauterbrunnen? I suppose we can use the same transportation as going up to Murren from Lauterbrunnen).

What about staying at Reutte (again per Rick Steves' recommendation) instead of Fussen? Reutte is in Austria road, I might run into this sticker issue. For Bavaria, which place would you pick for staying? I will also have to look into this drop charge thing.

Hi GB-

There wouldn't be a taxi from Murren to Lauterbrunnen - no cars like that are allowed in Murren :)

We stayed in Wengen ourselves and there was a small 2 washer/2 dryer laundromat there we did a couple of loads. I don't know about laundry in Murren or Lauterbrunnen. Where are you staying? Some apts/condos might even have a washer.

I do believe the Austrian sticker is for driving the major roads in Austria. We dipped down into Austria and actually drove that road through Reutte when we went from the Linderhof to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein and you don't need the sticker there on that little road. We were able to purchase a cheaper corridor pass when we used the major highway along the east side of the Bodensee (far west Austria). If that is the only time you are driving in Austria you should be ok.

To be clear, if the only driving you are doing is that little dip into Austria around Reutte you are ok without the sticker.

By the way, since you are going that way anyway, we thought Solothurn was a charming stop. Good Garage parking just outside the city walls and a lovely little town inside.

You should definitely investigate the drop-off charge in München (Germany) for a car rented in Switzerland. I suspect it is very costly.

Solothurn is one of my favourites. But then again, there are so many all over Switzerland ... LOL

I am pretty sure you can do laundry in Mürren. Ask the tourist office.

Do not drive on the Autobahn into Austria, not even for a mile or so! They just wait for someone doing this (and often succeed) to fine them a huge amount of money. Has happened too often. But of course you can drive on minor roads from Germany into Austria, also to Reutte. Seriously, staying in Reutte instead of Füssen does not really make sense IMO. Füssen does have a nice small old town with some sights itself, so why bother? I guess it all depends on finding decent, inexpensive accommodatin, right?

Our trip is getting closer (leaving Aug 11)! A couple of final questions:
1) car seat for kids 12 and under. Fodors book states kids 12 under do NOT need a car seat if he is over 59 inches tall. My 10 year old is 59 1/2. So I figure I am ok without the car seat. But Rick Steves' only mentions the age not the height. What is the exact requirments for kids riding in car without car seats? I asked the rental company, they only cited the age limit, but not the height limit.
2) We won't get a swiss pass, since we are driving, so no discount for lifts, etc. Rick Steves book mentioned purchasing a Half-Fare Travel card (110SF) which will give me 50% on most trains, buses, mountain lifts, boats rides, etc. Is that a good deal? We will be visiting Berner Oberland, Luzern, and Lake Geneva. Lifts to Junfraujoch and Shilthorn are expensive. What kind of passes are the most economic for my situation?

2) As you're mostly driving you should buy the Half Fare Card for one month. It will give you 50% reduction on the fares for Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn, Pilatus, steam boats etc. With Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn trips alone that Card pays off.

Don't know about the kids, though.

1) How tall is 59 1/2 inches in cm exactly? Because the limit is of course 150 cm. As far as I know 150 cm are 59.06 inches. So your son doesn't need a special seat.

Half-fare Carad is per person, right?

Yes, Pal. The Half Fare Card is 110 CHF per person.

thank you Ingo! that is what I thought but was not sure.