Hello!
I'm planning 10 day trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and need help with an itinerary. I'm going with 2 other couples who will go home after Austria (we'll go to Munich first). My husband and I would like to extend our trip to Switzerland, but we're not sure about how to plan this. What airport do we fly out of? We're flying into Munich, so economically, we should fly out of Munich back home, but how long is the drive from Switzerland to Munich? Is this itinerary too much? If so, how would you re-arrange it? (ps - I'm planning on renting a car.)

Day 1: Fly into Munich
Day 2-3: Munich - Oktoberfest
Day 4, 5, 6: Salzburg -sleep in Salzburg
Day 7,8,9: Switzerland- sleep in Gimmelwald (I heard this was a nice place????)
Day 10: fly home

Any help you can offer would be appreciated! Thank you!

That is too far--a full day each way.
Go to the Dolomites instead and return to Munich. Search under Val Gardena and also Castelrotto.

Once finished with Munich, so you want to see smaller towns and mountains, or more large cities?
Austria will be less costly than Sw. Some beautiful lakes east of Salzburg (Hallstadt).
Previous post about the Dolomites would be a good idea too. Castlerotto was beautiful. I wonder how far it would be to Milan, for your return flight. Driving maps and distances can be seen at www.viamichelin.com
What time of year will you go??

<<We're flying into Munich, so economically, we should fly out of Munich>>

Have you checked this for sure? It might cost you nominally more ( or no more) to fly back home from Zurich or Geneva. Check swiss.com as well as other sources - - affordablepoland.com (not just for Poland) and www.airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm for some "negotiated fares".

Best wishes,

Rex

<Day 7,8,9: Switzerland- sleep in Gimmelwald (I heard this was a nice place????)>

Do I understand that you are planning 3 nights in Gimmelwald. If so I would suggest other options. Gimmelwald is only accessible by cable car or by mountain railway from Lauterbrunnen. It is a very small village with only about a dozen homes. Yes the scenery is beautiful but I think if you are going to be driving you may want to stay in Lauterbrunnen itself.
If you do want to stay up in the mountain Murren would be a better choice as at least there are restaurants, shops etc...and the view is just as fabulous.
Just my opinion!

You could do it, but it is an all day trip from Salzburg to the Berner Oberland.
Why Gimmelwald? It is a dot on the map; in a word, tiny. Not much of anything there. Mürren is a steep walk or a cable car ride up the hill. Lauterbrunnen is a cable car ride and a bus ride down the hill; Grindelwald is even farther away.

By the way, you don't drive to Gimmelwald. Private cars are not allowed. Yes, people go there, including me. But I have cultivated no desire in several walk throughs to stay overnight.

I cannot argue that you get good views from there, but that is hardly unique in that area.

As for where do you fly from, Zürich is of course the only answer. Geneva has only a few international flights. Even when flying from Zürich you will most likely change elswhere, Amsterdam or Paris, although there are some direct flights to New York.

From the Lauterbrunnen Valley to the Münich airport is an 8 to 9 hour trip by train and bus if you hit all of the connections. And the train via Zürich stops at the Zürich airport on its way to Munich!

You need to keep doing more research. "Hearing" about a place like Gimmelwald isn't adequate research. My guess is that the info came from Rick Steves, who makes everyone think that his recommendations are new secret places only you and he know about(yeah, right, shared only between him and about 10 million others).

You don't even need to go to the Dolomites to enjoy wonderful mountain country. There is nothing wrong with Bavaria and its mountains, and it's closer. You've already received advice on flying out of other airports and cities, and you have to make up your own mind about that.

If you plan to fly back from Munich, I'd suggest a circular itinerary that goes like this:
-Munich Oktoberfest
-Salzburg (only because of your friends)
-Innsbruck or that area (possibly by way of Hallstatt as already suggested)
-Back to Munich to leave

This would give you lots of good mountain scenery to drive through (Alps is Alps is Alps, whether in Germany, Italy, Austria, or Switzerland) and would not be a physically taxing trip. Good luck.

Thank you everyone for all your help. Wayne - you were right, I did listen to Rick Steves about Gimmelwald. I have some more questions, hopefully you'll see this post. My plans aren't set in stone, not even Austria, so if you have other ideas on a great itinerary, i'd LOVE to hear more. Thank you so much!!