Originally Posted by
vysean
Hi All - looking for someone to validate my thought process or tell me I've got it all wrong...
We're flying into MUC on the 26th at 4pm. We want to go to Garmisch that night and take the cogtrain/cablecar to the Zugspite the next morning. While in the Munich area, we also want to see Schloss Neuschwanstein/Linderhof and Oberammergau. We've got from Wednesday at 4pm until Saturday morning at 7am free to do all of this.
Given the time constraints, I was thinking it would be wiser to rent a car (especially as most of those are grouped faily close together) as opposed to taking a train back and forth to Garmisch and then just doing a guided tour to the castles/Oberammergau (e.g. Grayline) from Munich. Would you agree?
FWIW, it's cheaper (slightly) for us to rent the car and overnight two nights in Garmisch than to take the train back and forth, pay for the guided tour, and have one hotel night in MUC and one in Garmisch. We could even overnight in Oberammergau as I've not yet done that.
Finally, if it makes sense to drive, can you answer a few other questions:
1. Do I need to bring or do anything special? I understand some of the basic etiquette - left lane only to pass, never on right, don't hog the left, etc.
2. What about the international driver's license - is this necessary and/or recommended?
3. Is a permit or license needed to drive on certain roads in Germany, or is that only in Austria (read that in another thread here on FT)?
FWIW, I have reviewed the information on the following links:
http://www.german-way.com/driving.html
http://german.about.com/library/blauto_traf.htm
http://germany.usembassy.gov/germany...n_germany.html
And I realize this is OT for this forum, but does anyone have experience driving in Switzerland (okay, probably a dumb question)? Specifically, I'd be renting a car in Zurich for the day and driving to Champerey near the French border. I guess I'm not sure if the roadsigns will be in German, French, or both. I can probably get by with German, but French word signs will cause me problems (unless of course they're just place names). We might also drive over to Liechtenstein just to say we did it (and maybe send a postcard).
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Sean
My advice........
All the places you noted in Bavaria are accessible by train. And the prices are pretty cheap with the Bayern Ticket ($30-$40 per day for up to 4-5 people) if you can travel after 9am on weekdays. There are no time restrictions on weekends and holidays. This pass is good on almost all local and regional trains in Bavaria until 3am the following day.
Driving is pretty easy in Bavaria. Just read up on the EU road signs and traffic rules and you'll be good to go.
The small towns are easy to get around, but Munich can be a nightmare for those who don't know German. Traffic is maddening and if you can find a sign telling you what street you're on (good luck) it'll be written in that folksy gothic lettering thats impossible to read from a distance and chances are the middle of the word will be truncated to save space.
Your drivers license plus a IDP is all you need for driving identification.
No tax sticker is required in Germany. You need one in Austria and Switzerland, but only if you drive on the Autobahn. If you are renting a car in Zurich it should already have the valid Swiss sticker.
The GPS is your friend. The Euros don't believe in road signs. The only thing you get is a arrow pointing in the direction of a city. While this is a comforting sign when you know where you are, it doesn't help you when you're trying to pinpoint your location on a map.
As for driving in the French part of Switzerland............I'll tell you this.........I know little German and Italian and I drove in both countries extensively without much of an issue. City/town names are easy to spot and any informational signs usually have a picture on it. I wouldn't worry about it.