Travel plan ideas
 

I am planning our family European summer vacation. I traveled Europe 20 years ago and have a general idea of what to see. The Schilthorn area, Bavaria and Salzburg is a must. We are coming from a rural community and want to stay in the countryside instead combing the cities.
Which airport is less stressful?
How many days should we plan? Would like to use both car rental and train transportation.
What is a logical loop to travel these areas?
Any advice appreciated.

Because you are still in the planning stage, I am sure there are many still nebulous ideas running around looking for a place to jell.

I don't want to comment to much on a plan of attack until you settle some fairly basic issues.

Let me start with the airports available. Of the three you might consider for you geographical constraints are Vienna, Munich, and Zürich. All of them are large, with Munich's Strauss airport being the largest. All can be confusing, but you must fly into an international airport and none of them are small as a usual rule.

If I had a preference, I would pick Zürich because you can connect directly to the Swiss Federal Rail System in the airport train station. In fact, you can take a train from there directly to Interlaken without changing.

Strauss airport is large, and has recently grown larger.

The downside to Zürich is that tickets to fly there are usually more expensive than to fly to other airports in Europe. That is not always true, but for March, Munich is about $100 per person cheaper than Zürich.

In Munich, renting a car downtown is usually cheaper than a rental at the airport.

Transportation to downtown Munich via the Lufthansa bus is easy. Some people take the S-Bahn, but the bus is for me is easier because I don't have to watch my luggage; it is stored under the bus in normal bus luggage compartments and there are only 2 stops enroute and the driver attends luggage distribution.
He can also radio ahead for a taxi to meet the bus and take you to your hotel.

You will not want to rent a car in Austria because of the expense. I rented from Avis two and a half years ago and thought I was socked hard with a fee for a second driver.

You will not want a car in downtown Salzburg nor in downtown Munich. Parking is both scarce and expensive, the streets are crowded, and traffic is not the easiest to negotiate.

You will want a car to look around the country side of Austria and Bavaria. The area around Salzburg has many charming towns and lakes. The same is true of Bavaria.

The Schilthorn is an interesting objective. It can be reached from Interlaken by train and cable car.
The train takes you from Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen, an elevator on wheels takes you up the valley side to a little train that takes you to Mürren. From Mürren the Luftseilbahn (a big cabin dangling on a cable)takes you the rest of the way.

Mürren is arguably one of the two or three most beautiful places to stay in the Berner Oberland. Wengen is virtually equal, and both villages have their adherents. Other destinations in the area are the Jungfraujoch (pricey but overwhelming almost), the First gondola station from Grindelwald, Schnige Platte from Wilderswil, an Interlaken suburb.

With a car from Lauterbrunne, which is on the valley floor, you can drive all over the place. I have spent many weeks in Lauterbrunnen and we have driven to Bern, Luzern, Zermatt, and over the mountain passes: Grimsel, Furka, and Susten -- the so-called 3 Pass Drive. (Wow!!)

If you want to roam the mountains of Austria, I suggest a visit to Heiligenblut, south of Salzburg. On the way, you can traverse the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, for a fee. It is a very spectacular drive.
You can buy a pass for two days or more and pay only a little more, thus reducing the cost of a second traverse over this spectacular road. There is a viewpoint in the national park at the Franz Josef view point, where Swarovsky, the crystal maker, has built as view tower over the glacier and the Grossglockner mountain itself.

How many days should you plan? How much can you plan. A month would go by very quickly. I find 2 weeks to be too little, particularly if you include Vienna. It is a city, yes. But it is also fascinating. (I grew up in a small town myself, but there is no city quite like Vienna, if you know the history of ther Hapsburg Empire and the Turkish sieges of Austria.)

What is a logical travel loop? I would say start in Bavaria, work your way to Switzerland, then through Austria to Salzburg, and back to Munich for the flight home. However, starting in Zuring, going to Bavaria first, then Salzburg, and culminating in the Berner Berner Oberland is how I would do it.
After Switzerland, everything else seems to be an anti climax, so save the Berner Oberland for last.

Thank you for the travel detail.
Yes, we're in the beginning planning stage and it is hard to focus on a few areas. My husband and I tend to wander and stop on a whim especially cringe at tourist areas.
We will be traveling with our 3 preteens and will be limited to 2 weeks.
As a teen, I was hustled through Vienna en route to Berlin on a tight schedule, very disappointing. So I will not drag my family through Europe strapped to time constraints.
With a car rental in Switzerland, can I travel into Germany & Austria?

As far as I know there are no restrictions on taking a rental car sout of Switzerland. My caution is that to drive on the Austrian autobahns you are required to have a "vignette" that you can buy near the border. I have not driven into Austria with a car I rented outside of the country, so I had no problems with it.

In the past I have bitten the money bullet and rented in Salzburg and Innsbruck. But before you do consider some alternatives.

One approach I followed one year was to rent in Switzerland and drive around.
Then we took the train to Salzburg and look around on our own without a car.
Then we got a car for drives to other destinatioins in Austria. Before going on to Vienna we turned in the car.
Then we took the train all the way to Munich for our flight home. (We could have flown from Vienna, but we have a friend in Munich.)

Vienna is not a good place for a car because parking is scarce and expensive. My friend Chris met us there once. He arrived by car, but his car stayed parked the whole time we were there.
We found taking taxis was about the same cost as paying and looking for parking.

The villages around Salzburg, and south to the Italian border, are often interesting and quaint. You can spend days wandering those byways.

Unless you want to visit other places like the Rhone Valley, Zermatt, Luzern, etc., I am not sure a car is to your advantage in the Berner Oberland.

The BOB rail system is extensive and there are many cable lifts in the area.
One of the longest gondola lines in Europe runs from Grindelwald Grund to the top of the Männlichen, which is the glacial ridge between Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. On the east side, it is a gradual slope; on the west, it towers almost straigt up about 4,000 feet above Lauterbrunnen. On that side, it is an avalanche slope and many snow fences dot the landscape high above Wengen and Lauterbrunnen.

Hi. As I've traveled in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria by train, I've noticed many American families doing the same. The kids can move around, buy snacks from the vendor who comes down the aisle, visit with other young people, and you can enjoy the magnificent scenery w/o battling traffic or looking for parking. And the rail systems and schedules are so extensive, that you can travel almost as "as the mood strikes you" as you can in a car. As for airports, Zurich gets my vote hands down. Smooth as silk and a beauty of a facility. I envy you the planning fun and the actual adventure. jw

I would classify Munich as a "less stressful" airport. And if you want to avoid bigger cities, head directly to Landshut as a nice first place to stay. Less than 20-25 minutes from the airport - - see www.landshut.de for all kinds of info. I have never arrived there by train. The inner "Altstadt" is closed to cars, though the whole town is plenty car-friendly regardless of where you would choose to stay.

And/or if you want a recommendat for a place to stay even MORE rural - - about 20 minutes onward from Landshut, vaguely in the direction towars Salzburg, check out http://www.iivs.de/hohenpolding/firmen/linde/index.html

Nice place; an excellent bargain when we stayed there in 2000.

Best wishes,

Rex

In thinking about this one some, I have a suggestion. Why not conceive of your trip plan as a hub and spoke kind of trip. For example, pick an airport, perhaps two on an open jaw type of flight plan then go from there to your first destination.

For example, if you pick Munich,
go to Salzburg. Visit there as many days as you like, and then rent a car for small town exploration.
You might end up in Innsbruck and return the car there.

Then take the train to Interlaken-Lauterbrunnen area. Visit there without a car for a few days, where you don't really need one, then rent one for a few days to drive around the mountain passes and the various villages like Zinal and Zermatt and Saas Fee.
Then either drive to the airport in Zürich to return the car, or turn it in in Interlaken or Bern.

As a general rule you can return a car in the same country for no additiional fee. Crossing borders is where the drop fees start to come into play.

I figured it was cheaper to take the train from Interlaken to Salzburg than it was to pay the drop fee.
That was for two people traveling.

I think if you hub and spoke it, you can plan excursions from central locations and also spare yourself some of the stress of finding your way over long distances. I think it depends on where you are going.

I know this much, I could not successfully visit small town Austria by train. In many cases trains don't always go to towns like Heiligenblut and riding buses with children and luggage is not the most convenient way to travel. One thing about a train trip, no need for a bathroom break!!

We stayed in Schwangau near the base of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau where you could easily visit area sights including Linderhof and the Zugspitze. The castles were magical when lit up in the evening...and the town was so small that they still led their cows through the streets.
Berchtesgaden would be a nice base to visit Salzburg (we did do the "Sound of Music Tour...the kids would like the alpine slide that was part of the tour), The Eagle's Nest, Salt mine tours (a friend's family pick) and Herrenchiemsee.
I have not been to Switzerland but my sister found it quite easy to tour by train from Zurich. (from several different trip reports of friends and family, considering that Bavaria and Salzburg are in the Alps, Switzerland seems like more of the same for more money and less appeal for 3 pre-teens...they can only take so much "scenic beauty" without fun activities).
If you find you have the time...A friend who visits family in Germany every other year and has 2 pre-teen girls almost always includes overnight stays in Rothenburg and in the Rhein/Mosel valley area.

Just thought of something else. Switzerland is not on the Euro so you will have the hassle (or maybe fun for you and the kids) of changing currencies.

Thanks everyone for the helpful ideas.

Dixon, I was thinking along the same lines of hub/spoke trip flying through Zurich, by train to Bern-Ober region, renting a van from there to explore Austria then taking a train to Munich.

Dixon, you thought Schilthorn is an 'interesting objective', how so? Has it become too touristic? I remember being so enchanted by mountain towns and could have stayed longer.