Rental Car
 

I would like to rent a car from Frankfurt to Munich but would prefer to return the car at the outskirts of Munich as opposed to having to drive into Munich. Any suggestions?

Absolutely. Sixt offers numerous rental locations in Munich: 7 at Munich train stations, one at the airport, and 22 or so at non-train station locations.

http://car-rental.sixt.com/php/reser...language=en_GB

Do you want to go straight through, then why drive instead of taking the train.

If you want to do some sightseeing en route, go the Autobahn A-3 from Frankfurt to Exit 57, Stockstadt. Take the B-469 to the Miltenberg exit. Nice old town with timbered houses, old castle ruin you can visit, etc. , along the Main river. Follow the river east to Wertheim, the beginning of the Romantische Strasse (Romanmtov Highway) Not only ias this a pretty routing, but it also avoids the A-3 stretch across the Spessart hills, which are notorious for traffic jams ("Staus" in German) Take the Romantic Highway south to Bad Mergentheim, Rothenburg.

After visiting R., take Autobahn A-7 south to where it intersects with the A-6, going east.

Get of the AZ-6 at Exit 53 (Lichtenau), follow road to Windsbach - Roth - to the Autobahn A-6, going south to Munich.
This routing avoids the Nuernberg Autobahn junctions.

Now, to answer yourt question:

THe A-6 Autobahn passes the tunr off to the Munich airport, clearly marked. Return your car at the airport (there is a gas station to gas uop before you drop off the car), and take the Suburban Train S1 or S-8 into the city.

Thanks for the suggestions! Yes, wanted to do some sightseeing along the way - that's why the rental car vs. train, but I am traveling w/ my parents (75 years old) & my daughter - age 10.

I think my parents would be more comfortable w/ train travel, but I'd rather not be tied down by a train schedule.

The following stops were suggested to me:

Schwäbisch Hall and Rothenburg ob der Tauber
I found the following place to stay in Rothenburg
http://www.eberlein.rothenburg.de/english/index2.html

However, my travel agent is suggesting:

Baden-Baden
Radisson Blu Badischer Hof Hotel, Baden-Baden, Germany
http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-badenbaden/

I kind of wanted to see old-town Germany/castles, so I like my first option of staying in Rothenburg.

Thinking I would definitely prefer to avoid Audobahn & traffic jams however and enjoy leisurely car travel. Maybe train is the way to go?

Appreciate suggestions - not afraid to drive, but want my parents to be "stress-free" as well . . .

Hi KM- I would second Treplow's suggestion to turn your car in at the Munich airport (exit is well marked off of A9 when coming from Nuremburg) and catch the SBahn into Munich. Either rent a car with GPS (witb a language you can understand) or stop at any gas station on the autobahn and pick up a good map.

Also, I would recommend Hotel Hornburg in Rothenburg- a little more expensive but a wonderful location just outside of the wall and the rooms are very large. I think they have a 2 night minimum... Rothenburg is only a 2 hour drive from the Frankfurt airport. Except for a few locations (Autobahn A8 between Karlsruhe and Ulm and the Nuremburg autobahn junctions mentioned by Treplow) and the occasional accident, the autobahns in this section of Germany are not "jammed" very often.

Have a great trip!!!

((B))