We are planning our trip to Austria and Germany in December and I am looking for some advice on how to arrange the days. We will land in Vienna on December 11 and depart from Munich on December 19th. Here is how we are thinking of laying the trip out:

Dec 11 - 14 in Vienna
Dec 14 depart Vienna for Salzburg
December 15 or 16, depart Salzburg for Tegernsee area
December 18, depart Tegernsee for Munich
December 19, depart Munich for home

This trip will just be my wife and I. Together, we have been to Munich and Salzburg once (for a few days in each), and I have traveled there other times while on business. Neither of us have been to Vienna. I have seen a bit of Tegernsee, but not much. My wife has not been here at all.

Further, our plan is to take the train from Vienna to Salzburg and rent a car in Salzburg for the rest of the trip.

We are not certain if we are spending enough time in Vienna and we are not sure if three days is too much for the Tergernsee area.

I know we are packing and unpacking a lot, losing some time on travel and all of that. But that is OK.

Thanks in advance for the advice...the board is always a great resource!

TN

If you leave late in the day from Vienna for Salzburg, you have the first (woozy) arrival day plus 3 more coherent days in Vienna - you can do and see a lot in that time. Considering that outdoors activities are less attractive at that time of the year, I think you'll have enough time to make the Vienna stay fulfilling. Book ahead for concerts and opera and such, the cultural season is in high gear.

Not sure what you expect to see and do around Tegernsee are you skiers/ The ski season opens on the weekend of Dec. 3-5, so that would be that. The announcement about the opening festivities on the official website is only in German - see www.tegernsee.com/index.php?id=1617&zoom=0

Three days in Vienna would be enough for me. And three days in Tegernsee in December would be too much.

I would suggest you consider the possibility of visiting the Salzkammergut from Salzburg - stunning scenery and wonderfully festive Christmas markets at that time of year. You would get the scenic beauty of Tegernsee but more to do. St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, Hallstatt can all be included in your plans especially if you plan to rent a car.

I would not move around as much personally - we often go at that time of year - as we prefer day trips. But then we will not rent a car due to driving conditions. We live in Florida and icy roads and mountains are something we are not at all comfortable with.

It seems that Salzburg is only worth one night? We stay there for several nights each trip to Europe and cannot get enough of its charm. With planning, this can be done without a car. If you don't mind my asking, what is there to do for 3 nights at Tegnersee? I would base myself in one or two cities and take day trips, so there would not be so much unpacking. Gute Reise!

As someone who lives in Munich, I also wonder what you plan to do in Tegernsee. It's probably the least attractive of the lakes and "suffers" a lot from its proximity to Munich (and the hordes of weekend or day tourists). Most of the waterfront is built up with ghastly hotels or wanna-be charming condos. Prices are high, and traffic is a major PITA.
Don't count on being able to ski that early in the season.

If your heart is set on staying at a lake, you could google the nearby Schliersee (name of lake as well as of the lakefront village). Much less packed than Tegernsee, and with many options for easy or moderate winter hikes.

If you plan to rent a car, you should check if Salzburg-Munich does not come with a cross border drop-off fee. To avoid that you could rent from Freilassing (first train station after the AT/DE border on the Salzburg-Munich main line) or Berchtesgaden (frequent bus services from Salzburg).

Thanks for the advice and thoughts.

I think we will stay in Salzburg at least two nights. We are also big fans, and we were inclined to do this at the outset.

The idea for Tegernsee was to find someplace quite and relaxing. I have been to this area for day trips on two occasions as I have some friends that live in that area. I am not set on it, but it seemed appropriate for that purpose. I am going to look at the other options suggested here and maybe we will go with one of those.

Also, Cowboy, thanks for the advice on the car rental. I have not done a cross-border rental before, so I would certainly have missed this.

If anyone has dinning recommendations, I am looking around now for ideas in Vienna. This is a quasi-anniversary trip (we cannot take the trip over our anniversary for a variety of reasons, so we are celebrating it there), so I am looking for something nice in Vienna (and in Munich).

Thanks again.

In Munich, we like Giselle's Vinotek in the Hotel Excelsior. Good food, nice wine list, traditional ambiance. You will need a reservation.

Also Limoni in Schwabing is upscale Italian and we have had several good meals there, though last year was not as good as on previous trips.