MUC+STR trip by car
 

Hello FT friends in Germany!

I'm planning a trip with 2 friends. We are visiting from the US and we all big car nerds so the trip will predictably involve renting a car and visiting all the car museums and lots of driving around, both on the autobahn and country roads. That being said, we will also use public transport while in the city because we are not crazy. All 3 are seasoned travelers and have been the Germany before, just not MUC or STR.

We have 1 week between 27 Sep and 4 Oct. The outline of the trip is roughly as follows:

26-Sep 2025 Friday LAX-MUC LH453
27-Sep 2025 Saturday Arrive in afternoon, check in hotel in Munich, do things around the city
28-Sep 2025 Sunday BMW Welt & Museum, stay in Munich
29-Sep 2025 Monday Audi Forum Ingolstadt, stay in Munich
30-Sep 2025 Tuesday Travel to Stuttgart, stay in Stuttgart
1-Oct 2025 Wednesday Porsche Museum & Factory Tour, stay in Stuttgart
2-Oct 2025 Thursday Mercedes Museum, stay in Stuttgart
3-Oct 2025 Friday Travel to Munich, stay in Munich
4-Oct 2025 MUC-LAX LH452

You may notice, the only thing we have planned so far is the car stuff. We will fill the down time with visits to other tourist spots and beer gardens since it will be Oktoberfest :D

First request - would love your opinion on time. We purposely spaced out the visit to car museum one per day so we have plenty of time to do other things and travel in between. I feel like we won't be very rushed but let me know what you think.

Second, I need some help deciding where to stay in both MUC and STR - as mentioned, none of us have visited MUC or STR before so we don't have much reference point. We have elite status with Bonvoy and IHG so a property from those groups may be preferred. Not very price sensitive so don't recommend us stay at a youth hostel but also no need to spend 1000€ a night for fancy rooms. Proximity to BMW Welt in MUC and Porsche Museum in STR is a plus but generally we just want to be able to walk or take short train rides to where we want to visit while we are in the city. And especially since it will be Oktoberfest so we will do it responsibly and will not drive after we drink.

Last thing I need advise is when and where to rent a car. The easy thing would be to get a car from the airport when we arrive but realistically, we will only be driving for 3 days - going to Ingolstadt, going to Stuttgart, and returning to Munich. We will probably tack on some other destinations in those 3 days so we can explore some nearby places (suggestions welcome!) So I was thinking of picking up a rental car from somewhere in Munich on Monday 29-Sep and returning it on Friday 3-Oct. Let me know if this is a good plan or I should just get a car from the airport. The point is not trying to save money on rental car but to minimize the hassle of dealing with parking the car when we are not enjoying the drive.

Rental cars and Oktoberfest don't mix ;)

As you know, the biggest beer festival in Germany is Oktoberfest. You may not know that the second largest beer festival is the Canstatter Wasen (aka Canstatt Volksfest) in Stuttgart, which begins on Sept. 25 and runs through Oct. 12. You definitely won't find the cheapest hotel rooms in Munich and Stuttgart during your visit! And by the way, the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart is about 500 meters away from the Volksfest - so I would advise getting tickets online, otherwise you will wait in line. By the way, if you're interested, Mercedes' largest assembly plant is located in Sindelfingen, which is 20km SW of Stuttgart. They offer factory tours, but you definitely need to book in advance.

Traffic in Stuttgart is generally horrendous - use public transport to get around.

And yeah, hotel prices during the Wasen go very quickly sky high. Whatever you book, do it soon!

The only hotel space you will find is via points. Bonvoy is historically generous and rooms can be found on points basis. Just rent the car for the day.

In Munich, if you stay near the train station (Aloft and Le Meridien) you can rent a car at the train station. That way, you can do public transport until time to leave. And IIRC, you can take the Ubahn to BMW World right from there. Drop it off in STR at the train station and back to public transport.

ETA::
The Deutsches Museum has a separate transport museum that has cars and buses in Munich. https://www.deutsches-museum.de/verkehrszentrum/
Also, go to English Gardens and watch the surfers

That would be my tip too, but it depends very much on what kind of car you want. Car enthusiasts may not necessarily want a Ford Mondeo or 320i. That could be difficult at the station.

Hey I’ve rented there twice. Those weren’t the only choices….just the best they had. Funny enough the first time we got a Mondeo and the second a 320i! :D

You sse😂 I think they have some selection, but normally not the special cars. If you really need them is of course another question. I just know many forgain people are totally keen of making our streets a little bit safer with their first ever high speed drive (my favorite was the Lufthansa Porsche experience after a long flight).

Also keep in mind October 3rd is a public holiday in Germany (Unification Day). So shops are closed. Restaurants, gas stations, museums are open.

As the others said. Munich will be packed with tourists during October fest. Make sure to prebook tickets, get your hotel sorted out early.

I've stayed a few times at the Eden Hotel Wolff right across from the station. Soundproof windows, great breakfast and good rates. Highly recommend

Booked a car to Burchtesgaden from the Avis in the station using Avios and was extremely reasonable.

We will be in STR at the beginning of July and also want to do a Porsche factory tour. The website says that tickets will be available in April, so I emailed to find out when exactly. I was surprised to get a response saying that they don't know and to just check their website every day, beginning at the end of March.

Also, any STR hotel recommendations? We are there for 2 days - one day hopefully at Porsche and one day at the Mercedes museum.

Munich is really crowded during Oktoberfest and hotel prices are very high.