Due to how I had to use frequent flyer miles to get to Germany this June I had to book our return flight from Zurich (after having to fly into Brussels). Must see areas for us are the Rhine (cruise on river), Munich, possibly Stuttgart if we get a Porsche tour, Fuessen for the castles, Salzburg, and possibly Garmisch-Partinkirchen (for Zupitze). I thought we could end the trip at Lake Constance (Bodensee) since it is not far from Zurich and seems to be a lovely place to spend a couple of day.

My dilemma is that I was planning on routing from Brussels to Rhine to Stuttgart to Munich to Salzburg and then over the Lindau/Meersburg. We will be using trains the for the whole two week trip so I'm stuggling to figure out the best way to get from Salzburg to Lake Constance without having to be on a train for 4-5 hours. Does anyone have opinions on either how to get from Salzburg to Lake Constance (and which city to stay in) or a better place to stay for a couple of days between Salzburg and Zurich that would be easier to get to.

Thanks for all responses.

I did a similar ititerary 2 summrs ago. We went from Salzburg to meersburg. I will look for my travel journal to see if I can shed any light on this. Oh, you must see the Bodensee. It is really a special area. Also, while ther don't miss Insel Mainau.
the best restaurant we ate in over our 3 week trip was in Meersburg. I will look for that name too.
Sorry not much help now but I will try to post back,

I've looked and I do not see how you are going to get from Salzburg to the Lake Constance area in less than 5 hours by train. It is not the most boring route, scenery-wise at least. Wish I could offer more. Assume you have already checked the schedules and routings at www.bahn.de Good luck.

Thanks for your responses. I did check the bahn.de website and couldn't find any quicker way to get to the Bodensee area either.

I wasn't sure if anyone had any other suggestions on a better intermediate place to go between Salzburg and Zurich for a couple of days that would cause less train travel. If I can't find any place appealing then we'll just suck it up and take the long train trip to Lake Constance.

JonJon, any suggestions on which train route to Zurich would provide the prettiest scenary?

Thanks again.

Dear Kitty,
May I suggest you visit Salzburg another time in order to take advantage of the surrounding areas.

No need to see Garmish because nearby Fussen is much nicer, offers better scenery and charm.

Been to Fussen two times (going back in June) and absolutely love it. Plan on staying at least four days if you want to see everything without rushing.

My husband and I always stay in an apartment at Hotel Alpenlick, which is directly on Lake Hopfensee facing the Alps. The location is very close to town and the castles.

By the way when you visit the castles (arrive very early)you buy tickets for the van up the hill (can't remember name of building but it's across from one of the hotels) and walk back down to wait and wait at the bus stop. The wait for the carriages are twice as long and the ride itself seems to take forever up the steep hills, in the hot sun.

If it's hot the day you visit the castles bring your bathing suit becuase there is a wonderful alpine lake just past the shops and hotels. Wish someone would have told me about it.

Consider ending your trip in the town of
Konstanz to be nearer Zurich.

Good luck and have lots of fun.

Hi, Kitty. I concur with those who've loved Bodensee and hope that you won't pass up an opportunity to visit it. Perhaps Salzburg to Lindau? There's one connection that whittles the time down to 4:24. Lindau is a fascinating town and Meersburg is just nearby. J.

Instead of staying in Salzburg, I suggest that you make a day-long outing there instead, using Munich as your base; then, you can head directly from Munich to Lindau for a much shorter trip. Salzburg is an attractive place, but I really think that unless you are going elsewhere in Austria, one day there is sufficient for most visitors.