Car rental rates vary widely and most of the best deals I've had over the years were done through brokers like AutoEurope and Gemut.com, but for my upcoming trip I actually got my best deal (by far) booking through Avis.com. The one thing I noticed was that almost every car class (except mine!) included GPS in the rate. If you don't have your own portable unit with European maps, you might want to keep this in mind. These things are incredible. Let the kid sit up front and work the GPS (kids that age can figure out these electronic gizmos without ever consulting a manual).

I lived in Germany 6 years as a service member. My wife lived there 3 years as a child, 3 as college student and another 3 as my wife. While we were stationed in Germany, we certainly loved to visit the tourist sights in the mountains. Now that we are returning, we better like to visit the places and area in which we lived: Würzburg, Nürnberg, the village of Markt Roßtal, etc.

With hindsight it seems that the real joys of living in Deutschland were the Lebensmittel (grocery store), the Konditerei (bakery) and the Park where our daughter played. What we took for granted became most important. What further surprised me was that our kids preferred that we share these places with them more that Rothenburg, etc.

Good luck with revisiting the past.

Regards, Gary

Car travel is easy in Germany and is fast if you use the Autobahn. Rent a car with a navigation system and you will go anywhere without the hassle with the maps. Garmisch is wonderfull and many hotels offer good deals. Schweinfurt and Nuremberg have a nice (rebuilt) 'old town'. You may wish to include the Schloss 'Neuschwanstein' (the real one not Disney's version) near Füssen. I suggest to use a good guide book of southern Germany and you will find many recommendations.

Please consider bringing a "Navigator" with English and the USA and Europe loaded. Practice on home streets. If there are to be two drivers you need two IDPs.

Also remember, you won't need an IDP at all for Germany. No policeman will ever ask for one, your US license will be accepted. :-) The US and Germany have no mutual agreements on the use of IDPs. However, you won't be punished for taking one with you. :D