Transportation for our Itinerary
 

Thank you to everyone who has advised me so far on my upcoming trip to Bavaria! I appreciate the tips and advice. I have a good idea of what we might like to do and have been working on determining our transportation options for the various places we'd like to visit. I've been advised that public transportation in Germany is good but I'm finding that for some of the places we'd like to see public transit might take longer and involve several transfers. Not a big deal for us, but we do wish to use our time wisely. So we are considering renting a car for all or part of our visit.

I'm offering up my itinerary for comment to see if people think a rental car would be a good option for us for either the entire trip (could get a better price for a longer rental) or portions of it. We don't wish to use a car within the cities of Munich and Salzburg but for the activities around those areas a car might be a good choice for us.

A rental car for the period of July 25-August 1 would be around $220 for a compact car. I'm guessing it is cheaper to rent a car for several consecutive days versus a few days here and there, even if we don't use the car some days (like in the cities). Naturally, the use of a Bayern pass for our family of three would cost less, but is it practical for our itinerary?

. Please tell me what YOU would do. :-)

- Arrive Munich airport at 8am on Monday, July 23rd

- Take train to our rented apartment in Mittenwald (maybe sightsee a bit in Munich first)

- Sightsee in the GaPa/Mittenwald/Ettal area (Zugspitze, Alspitze, Leutasch Gorge, Karwendelbahn, Oberammergau, Unterammergau). It seems that a car would make a trip to Schloss Linderhof much faster and simpler than public transit; Perhaps some of the other items as well.

- Depart Mittenwald on Friday, July 27th for Salzburg (car would make the trip to Salzburg faster than public transit)

- Sightsee in the Salzburg/Berchtesgaden/Hallein/Werfen area (Hallein or other salt mine tour, Berchtesgaden National Park, Keltenblitz toboggan slide, Untersberg, Hohenwerfen castle, Sommerrodelbahn)

- Depart Salzburg on Tuesday, July 31st for our B&B in Erding

- Sightsee around Chiemsee (Schloss Herrenchiemsee)

- Sightsee around Munich

-Depart Munich airport at 9:30am on Thursday, August 2nd

Thank you so much for the help and advice!

I'm a big fan of rail travel but for what you want to do and some of the places you want to go I think a rental car is to your advantage. This is especially true if you are moving east to west and vice versa in lower Bavaria. For example, Ober and Unterammergau as well as Prien (for Herrenchiemsee) are on rail lines but you'll be thankful for having a car. Moving east-west and west-east are easier in a car than by rail.

I assume you have looked into rates with the sister companies AutoEurope and Kemwel. Renting a car at MUC is pretty easy...returning it can be a bit problematic given some of the signage.

<i>A rental car for the period of July 25-August 1 would be around $220 for a compact car. </i>

Have you looked at several rental agencies such as Sixt, Gemut, Autoeurope, Kemwel, Economycarrentals to compare terms and prices?

I would get a car upon leaving Munich and turn it back in upon return to Munich.

Thanks. The quote I received is from Gemut (agency quoted is Avis) with pickup in Garmisch and drop-off in Ismaning.

Well I'm a big fan of car travel except in the center of large cities. I would rent the car when you land and keep it until you decide to stay in the center of Munich You might want to keep it the day yuo arrive there to see Nyphemburg. We didn;t find a car a problem in Salzburg - just dumped it into the hotel's garage.

Nymphenburg is at the end of a street car line. No need to have a car to visit it.