on our own
 

we are flying into Frankurt, would like to see the Rhine and meeting friends in Vienna 2 days later. Should we go by car or train from airport to Rhine region, Heidelgerg, Rothebburg & Munich and then take the train to Vienna?
Same dilemma at the end of the trip. We will be in Vienna for 6 days, but want to go to Salzberg, swiss alps and back to Munich for airport. Any ideas for travel destinations or how to travel.
thanks

You want to go to the Swiss Alps from Salzburg?! How long do you have for the last part of your trip, after Vienna?

I'm a bit confused whether you want to see the Rhine and Mosel area or want to go south (Heidelberg, Rothenburg, Munich).

In case, you meant the first version, I suggest you go up the Rhine from Frankfurt and then fly into Vienna from Cologne or Duesseldorf. You may get a really good price using www.germanwings.de

You are..."meeting friends in Vienna 2 days later. Should we go by car or train from airport to Rhine region, Heidelgerg, Rothebburg & Munich and then take the train to Vienna?"

Are you thinking you can see all these places in 2 days? Maybe from the inside of your car. Even if you mean 2 days AFTER your stay on the Rhine, you'll need to make some choices. Car or train, if you have 2 days after getting into F'furt, there'll be time for one stop - maybe Rothenburg, which is do-able in a short visit - on your way to Vienna.

You can travel easily to these destinations by train. You can drive too, if you like, but driving in Munich isn't much fun.

Either driving or train will work. It just depends on whether or not you want to stop at places in between or get off the beaten path--a car is best if this is what you would like to do. As Russ pointed out, a car would be of little use in Munich which has excellent public transport and a good deal of traffic.

We used a combo of rail and car travel on our trip to Germany last year. It worked very well.