azj

The goal is to be in Salzburg on Oct 31st. Working backwards, I will be leaving Dusseldorf on the 29th and aside from visiting the Audi Forum in Neckarslum, I have no set plan. Originally I was just going to make the drive from Dusseldorf to Munich, spend 2 nights and then take the train to Salzburg. However, I think perhaps I'll skip Munich and save that for when I have more time and allow for more exploration along the way to Salzburg, where we'll drop the car.

Any suggestions for where to stop instead?

offerendum

Bamberg or Nürnberg comes to my mind. Why do you visit Neckarsulm? Everytime I picked up a car there I asked myself who visit without pick up a car. But if you are really interested the Audi museum in Ingolstadt could be another option. Very good option also could be Technikmuseum Sinsheim. Near Salzburg Herrenchiemsee is worth a visit.

azj

Thanks, Neckarslum is purely for the Audi museum and will be a mid day stop on the way south. The factory and museum in Ingolstadt was fully booked, otherwise I would have planned that instead. I think I'mm skip Munich this time and base us in Ettal or Fussen for two nights and then continue to Salzburg. Someone in another forum suggested I drop the car near Salzburg on the German side of the border. Any experiences with this?

offerendum

No experience but sounds like a good idea. Perhaps it could even be cheaper to return in Munich or another bigger town .

FLYGVA

Depending on the rental car company, you could drop in Berchtesgaden or Bad Reichenhall.

Flying Lawyer

LAX2Anywhere

Google Maps gives a couple different routes with travel times within about a 40 minute range.
Based on you wanting to go to Neckarslum, I'd say the Dusseldorf - Frankfurt - Heidelburg - Neckarsulm - Augsburg - Munich- Salzburg route looks like the best option.

Although a more northerly route from Neckarsulm - Nuremberg - Regensburg - Passau - Salzburg would be nice too.
Regensburg would be a good place to spend a night. It's a nice town with enough to see and do or venture out to Kloster Weltenburg for a beer and dinner.

1flyer

For the first part of the trip (Dusseldorf to around Bingen or so), it might be worth taking B42 or B9 as opposed to the autobahn A3. Enjoy nice views of the Rhine Gorge (UNESCO world heritage site), maybe stop somewhere along the way (a castle, winery, a view of the river in front of the Lorelei rock, a restaurant, or such).

The detour from the fastest route (A3) would increase the trip duration by perhaps an hour or so.

oliver2002

Drop the car in Freilassing and ask the rental place to call you a taxi to Austria.

FLYGVA

I agree with Freilassing - I suggested Bad Reichenhall and Berchtesgaden as the more scenic places ... I have returned a rental car I picked up in MUC twice in Freilassing; the Sixt outlet is convenient located close to the station with direct trains to Salzburg

azj

Thanks everyone for the advice. I've booked a car in Dusseldorf to be returned in Freilassing and will spend that night in Salzburg city, before moving to the countryside for the subsequent nights. As for the drive, good to know points of interest on the way are appreciated. We'll visit Audi in Neckarsulm, then drive to Fussen, to base ourselves for two nights. On the drive to Freilassing we'll make stops accordingly. With such limited time, we'll have to save the other stuff for another trip to Germany.

azj

Update... thanks again for the advice! I've recently returned and just wanted to point out that the drop in Freilassing worked seamlessly and ended up saving lots of money. An easy walk and 1 stop later on the train and we were in Salzburg. We ended up changing the trip slightly by driving Dusseldorf to Neckasulm for the Audi experience (HIGHLY recommended, btw.) Then drove to Stuttgart for the night, instead of continuing the drive to Fussen. By doing this we were able to catch the Porche and Mercedes-Benz museums and then continued the drive to Fussen. Of course, more time could have been spent in the beautiful Bavarian alps and I'll indeed be back. We were then able to spend the day driving from Fussen to Freilassing at a leisurely pace, though a late start and some confusion at Neuswantein, rendered us unable to hit all 3 of King Ludwigs castles, having arrived at Prien am Chiemsee too late for the ferry to the castle island. Had we known Linderhof would be so anti-climactic, we would have skipped it. All in all, I was happy with our road trip and driving the autobahn was an incredible experience.