Venice to Munich
 

I need help with travel from Venice to Munich. I want to rent a car in Venice and travel to Dolomites. From the Dolomites, I want to travel to Austria before flying from Munich. The Fodor forum has given good suggestions for sites but not how to travel.

Any advice on getting to Austria and avoiding rental car drop off fees. On the map it looks like I need to go either through Innsbruck or Salzburg. Which way should I go?

You can go to either. We drove from Venice to Bolzano in a quick afternoon, and then on to Innsbruck in another short trip. You could then fly from Innsbruck to Munich.

Salzburg is a farther, but very close to Munich -- consider dropping off the car in Bolzano (or wherever), flying to Salsburg, and then train to Munich?

Salzburg is more old-timey and romantic than Innsbruck; Innsbruck is more of a modern city, but it has nice parks and hikes up the mountain.

We found that even with drop-off fees in other countries, car rental was much cheaper than train or air travel for four people. It may depend on how many people in your party.

Definitely look into the car rental prices. Picking up a car in one country (Italy) and dropping it off in another (Germany) usually adds very hefty charges. Before you make up your mind, I would definitely look into it; I've seen it add hundreds of dollars to the price of the car rental.

That being said, the drive is beautiful.

Good luck!
Tracy

Do I:
1. Rent a car, drive to the Dolomites and then drop the car off in Bolzano and train to Innsbruck to avoid drop charges?
2. Rent a car, drive to the Dolomites and Austria and then return to Venice to fly home (I said Munich because of open jaw ticket, can fly out wherever)?

To the Top, any help?

Well, neither is a terrible idea. Driving is fine, training is fine. It is hard to decide for you without more information.

1.How many in your party?
2. How much time to do you have to spend?
3. How much do you hate drop-off charges?
4. Do you prefer Innsbruck to Salzburg?
5. What are you trying to prioritize?

There is two in the party and the drop off charges quoted by autoeurope is $500. I have never been to Austria so I do not know if I prefer Innsbruck to Salzburg and we have 4 days.

If you only have 4 days, then I think Salzburg might be too far away. You could spend 2 nights in Bolzano, then an easy drive to Innsbruck for 2 more nights; then its about a 5-hour drive back to Venice through the Dolomites.

Or you could drop off the car in Bolzano and take the train to Salsburg (via Innsbruck, but hopefully not via Munich also), and then fly out of Salsburg. You will waste a long day on the train getting there.

If you are looking for a beautiful old town center with scenic views, go to Salzburg. If you enjoy a small modern city with nice surroundings areas and castles, pick Innsbruck.