BazzaK

The family (myself, my wife and 2 daughters) are considering a trip to Germany and the Czech Republic in December for 2 weeks and I am looking for some advice regarding the proposed itinerary please. We plan to hire a car which we will use to get around as far as possible.
At this stage, we are looking to fly into Munich which we plan to use as a base for 6 nights from where we take day trips to Salzburg, the Black Forrest, Dachau, etc (any other suggestions?) and then also see the sights in and around Munich.
From there we plan to drive to Prague, where we will spend 2 nights before driving to Berlin where we plan to spend three nights.
From there, we plan to take a leisurely drive back to Munich possibly stopping in each of Leipzig and Nuremburg for a night before returning to Munich and flying out again. There is no particular reason why it should be Nuremburg and Leipzig other than that they seem to be obvious places to break the trip and we don't want to drive for too long each day so that we can stop and look at anything that seems interesting along the way. Any other suggestions for places to spend the night along the route would be most welcome.

altamiro

Day trip from Munich to Black Forest? Seriously? Well, I guess you can drive half a day, have a quick look at the first hill, turn around and drive half a day back again. Not my idea of a day trip though.

Aramis

It is about 3 hours to the easterly portion of the Black Forest from Munich, so day-tripping is not a great way to visit it.

As for coming back from Berlin, I would recommend Dresden (2:00 hours) and Bamberg (2:36) as your possible overnights (2:15 more to Munich from Bamberg).

BazzaK

Thanks for the advice, particularly regarding the Black Forest.

joannyc

Make sure that your auto rental company allows you to take the car into the Czech Republic.

smithval32

I would recommend staying in Salzburg for at least one night, it is such a beautiful city and well worth some leisurely wandering in. We stayed there about 5 years ago on a 12 day driving trip. It was a bit outside of downtown with a gorgeous view of the Alps. It was a quick 10 min bus trip into the city so you didn't have to worry about taking a car. There are also a lot of things to do around Salzburg.

In Munich be sure to go to the Viktualienmarkt - lots of fresh produce and foods. Jars of pickles, etc. - great gifts to take home with you.

A nice stop for a few hours on the drive from Munich to Salzburg is Bad Tolz - very picturesque town.

This may not be quite on the way but we really enjoyed a night in Rothenburg North of Munich. Totally touristy walled city but really fun. (Stay at Haus Karin - they are awesome). And depending upon how old your girls are, the Torture Museum is quite interesting.

Another note on the car and driving into the Czech republic - at the time we were there you had to buy some kind of permit to put on your car for driving in the country. These can be purchased at gas stations and you are supposed to do it prior to arriving in the country. Not sure if that is still a requirement.

Good luck!

dwdvagamundo

Re Czech permit: we stopped at the first station inside the Czech Republic to get it.

This site (http://www.mzv.cz/losangeles/en/cons...r_vehicles_in/) says you need an International Driving Permit (which you can get at AAA before you leave) and a decal (which you can get at the border).

smithval32

Sorry, above I meant to give the name of the place we stayed in Salzburg that is just a quick bus ride from town. Bloberger Hof - www.blobergerhof.at. Was not too expensive, although we were there during the off-season.

BazzaK

Thanks everyone. These are all very helpful suggestions. Much appreciated.