A friend and I will be renting a car and driving from Munich to Salzburg and Vienna the first week of September.

Does anyone know how much gas currently costs in either Germany or Austria? I've heard gas is usually cheaper in Austria.

Also, read on another travel site "BE SURE TO GET THE USER DECAL FOR THE AUSTRIAN AUTOBAHN". Is this accurate, and if so, where do we get one?

Thanks for all help!

1) Gas is about $0.80/US gallon, or 15%, cheaper in Austria.
2) Yes, you need an autobahn sticker, but I don't know where you get them. We rented our car in Vienna, it came with.

We just did your trip in reverse - Vienna, Salzburg, Munich. We rented a car in Vienna, made the reservations through National. The actual car rental came from a company called Denzel Drive.

Just a caution, they had a interesting theft detection program that invloved issuing us both a key for the ignition and a card that needed to be waved at a decal on the windshield to unlock the car. When we stopped at a gas station to fill up outside of the Salzburg airport, the car wouldn't start. Luckily, we were so close to the airport office. They had to send someone out to reset the theft detection system. We never figured out what we did to cause the system to fail.

I think tomboy is correct about the cost of gas, and our car also came with the autobahn sticker, although I don't think I ever saw any one who seemed to be checking.

The autobahn pass is available at all autobahn border crossings from Germany into Austria. There is usually a shop at the border, even though there is no regular border check any more. Just go in and ask for the "autobahnpass." As I recall, it will cost about $5 to $10. I also assume you already know that when you turn in your car in Austria (if you intend to do it there) you will probably pay a pretty hefty dropoff charge. Good luck.

Gas in Austria is much les expensive ia Austria than in Germany as prior poster advises.
If possible try to rent a diesel. Diesel price is at least 0.05-0.10 euro cents cheaper than regular currnet prices in Austria - about 80 cents( euro) per litre. regular gas 90 to 95cents per liter. This will vary somewhat by area.If you pick up the car in Munich and drive directly to Salzburg , you will not need to buy gas in Germany.

You must have a vignette to drive on your trip in Austria. You will see signs on the autobahn indicating where you can purchase them. One place is exactly at the border.They are placed on the windshield. Price varies according to the number of days , weeks, months of the vignette term.
Check with your rental company. Quite often this time of year, a prior renter may have purchased one or the rental company placed a yearly sticker on the car already.
The police activly check for them especially during the high season of travel.
If you can avoid it, try to drive this route ( especially between Munich and Salzburg on a week day. The weekends see very high volumes of traffic and normally traffic stalls in that area.

If you are not in a rush there is no need for the vignette. I drove from Munich to Vienna in two days while sightseeing and did not use the autobahn. Gas is cheaper in Austria, but the price of "biodiesel" in Germany is about the same as the price of regualr diesel in Austria.

I would not let the price of gas determine where you are going on your trip. Just go and have a good time. The savings will be long forgotten.

We recently were in Munich to pick up our rental car at EuropCar. Be aware that they REFUSED to give us our car, because we didn't have our ORIGINAL passports on us! We are a family of four, had arrived at the train station on foot, were exhausted-- and they turned us away, even though we had color copies of our passports and we had paid a deposit. Nowhere on my printed receipt did it say an original passport is required, and the other three rental agencies at the train station didn't require an original passport (but they were out of cars). The EuropCar agents wouldn't give an inch, so, we left without our reserved car, on foot, with our two kids in tow. Once back in the States, I complained to Auto Europe which had made the reservation for me in the first place. They were extremely helpful and apologetic, said they'd never heard of such a thing, and made sure to get my deposit back. So, just be fore-warned.

MaureenB,
Why would you travel anywhere in Europe without your passports?
"All" rental car co's and most Hot. require them.
F_W etal. Gasoline is still expensive everywhere by US standards when paying in Euro with USDs and the Austrian Polizei can be pretty nasty (even if you speak German) if your "vignette" is absent.
I would agree a turbo Diesel would be best for the Mts and the Autobahnen.
M

As previous posters have noted, don't let the price of gasoline deter you! In early June when we were there, gasoline was about 1.20 Euro per litre in Germany and about 1.12 Euro per litre in Austria. In US currency we figured it to be just under $6 a gallon in Germany and approx 4.75 per gallon in Austria (can't remember the exact) That was based on $1.30 per Euro. The drive is beautiful and you'll have a wonderful time

MZP,
Neither your math nor your exchange rates are/were "great".
M

Dear Mike
I knew someone would take me to task on the "math". That's why I made it a point to say I couldn't remember the exact prices. Glad it made your day to point out my failings to me.

MZP
Just trying to save all Fod travs some USDs!
M

mikemo-- We didn't travel without our passports-- we're not stupid. I said we didn't have them ON us. We didn't carry them on days when we were just walking in town, as we were that day. We carried color copies and left originals safely locked away at our hotels. (And no other rental car company requires them-- we asked. We've been told it's absurd for them to need one.)

just to add to molker that because of the signs and accessibility of these things you don't need to worry cos they're easy to get....but don't forget to buy one either

FYI, we recently were in Munich and were to pick up our rental car at EuropCar at the train station. Be aware that they REFUSED to give us our car, because we didn't have our ORIGINAL passports on us! We are a family of four, had arrived at the train station on foot, were exhausted-- and they turned us away, even though we had color copies of our passports and we had paid a deposit. Nowhere on my printed receipt did it say an original passport is required, and the other three rental agencies at the train station didn't require an original passport (but they were out of cars). The EuropCar agents wouldn't give an inch, so, we left without our reserved car, on foot, with our two kids in tow. Once back in the States, I complained to Auto Europe which had made the reservation for me in the first place. They were extremely helpful and apologetic, said they'd never heard of such a thing, and made sure to get my deposit back. So, just be fore-warned. I do recommend Auto Europe, though, as they got me the best price on the car we were supposed to rent.

Fly_Widget:
Here's something to consider. You could avoid a large drop-off fee and congestion between Munich and Salzburg by taking a train to Salzburg (Bayern Pass allows the two of you to go second class to Salz for a total of 22 Euro) and renting a car there. Plus, if you're staying in Salzburg, parking can be a challenge.