Hi,

I am visiting a small part of Europe in first week of September. I will fly into Prague, then train till Salzburg, pick rental car from Freilassing (adjacent to Salzburg) and finally drop car at Munich and fly out.
I am looking advice between Salzburg and Munich part. I am trying to figure our most scenic drive with photo ops and I will have one week for this part.

There are various roads, which pass through Grosssglockner Hochstrasse and Bolzano, before I move up towards Fussen.

Please suggest, if any of you gone through these places or did research. I want to drive because, that can give me flexibility to reach few places, which may be convenient with public transport. Not just road, but if there are photogenic towns/villages nearby, I can adjust my route and accommodations.
(I am picking non-luxury rental car, so it is ok to take it in Italy part, in Dolomites/Tyrol area)

Thanks

Tirol is our favorite state in Austria; the scenery is spectacular at nearly every turn, and the cuisine has Italian and Mediterranean influences in the east and south parts of the state. While I can not really help with routes, since we largely take the autobahn point-to-point, I can offer Lienz, Alpbach, and Hall in Tirol to the "obvious" beautiful villages (Hallstatt, Heiligenblut, etc.). The Gerlos Pass is another high alpine road you might consider, too, along with Krimml Waterfall. Also something you might want to experience are the Almabtrieb in September. These are the festivals celebrating a safe alpine summer; the livestock (mostly cattle) are fancily decorated with large flowered headpieces and bells, and paraded through the villages.

Whatever route you choose will make for a lovely holiday. Happy Planning!

Thanks for your suggestions. I will wait for others to give their opinions.

Back in 2013 we drove from Salzburg to near Innsbruck via Zell am See and the Gerlos Alpine road.
It was an enjoyable route and there was some excellent scenery but next time we go, if we have more time, we will aim to drive the Grossglockner Alpine road.
The area around Innsbruck has lovely views almost wherever you look and I think you will find plenty of photogenic villages whatever route you take. With a week you can explore many of the side roads. We enjoyed visiting Trins but there are plenty’s of other small villages to discover.
The only disappointing thing we encountered was the Brennan Pass which seemed very bland with shopping outlets and a few restaurants.

> There are various roads, which pass through Grosssglockner Hochstrasse and Bolzano, before I move up towards Fussen.

That would be a big detour to the south but certainly a rewarding one.
A more direct but also very scenic route would be to follow a part of the German alpine road (Deutsche Alpenstrasse) that meanders through the northern foothills of the Alps: Salzburg - Berchtesgaden (if you have not been there before: Königssee), the take B 303 to Reit im Winkl and Prien am Chiemsee (possibly do a boat trip to the island Herrnchiemsee). From there I would take a shortcut over the autobahn towards Innsbruck but leave it again at Oberaufdorf (just before the Austrian border) and go over a pass road to Bayrischzell (cable car up to the Wendelstein from nearby Osterhofen with fine views) and further on to the two mountain lakes Schliersee and Tegernsee. From Tegersee we continue southwards to the Achenpass, then west towards Mittenwald and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From Garmisch a few km to the north, then to the west (B23) to Ettal (baroque abbey), Oberammergau and Linderhof Castle, from there via Reutte to Füssen. The entire route runs through the foothills of the Alps - very scenic with many sights. You need a printed map to verify the route, google would by is overwhelmed by it.