AnneO

Hi all... we are trying to pull our plans together for our September trip. We will arrive in Salzburg (via train from Venice) on a Wed evening, and fly home from Munich the following Tuesday morning. We plan to rent a car to be able to stay flexible while getting from place to place. We want to spend a few days driving around, then end up back in Salzburg on Sunday afternoon to give us 1 1/2 days in Salzburg before getting to Munich early Tue am.

Where I need help... we're looking for B&B's or pensionnes or similar suggestions in the lake towns. We are considering maybe the first night in St. Gilgen or Mondessee or some place fairly close to Salzburg, then driving in a large, meandering circle stopping a little villages along the way. Probably a couple of nights in Hallstat, or some other convenient place to hop off on day trips. We don't mind moving hotels a lot as we will have stayed in one spot (Venice) for six days on the first part of the trip.

Suggestions for towns to visit and places to stay? Also interested in possibly a day of pampering at a spa...any ideas? There will be two of us, we like history and scenic places more than art museums, etc. Maybe some easy hiking/walks/bike rides.

Thanks so much!

Anne

jmw44

http://www.ferstl.at/pension/main.htm

Hi, Anne. What a lovely area, and such a contrast with Venice. I can recommend the pension linked above. It's in St. Gilgen. When we stayed there, we drove to Halstatt for the day. I won't disagree with staying in both places, because the best way to experience Halstatt will be early mornings and in the evenings when daytrippers have gone home. J.

bobthenavigator

I like your plan--we too love that area. We stayed at a nice pension named Garni Schernthaler[sp]in St. Gilgen. that we enjoyed. Lovely family and good value.

Sue_xx_yy

AnneO

Just bear in mind that by the time your train arrives, many of the car rental depots might be closed for the day. It might make things a little simpler if you overnighted in Salzburg your first night, then picked up the car when you are fresh and ready to go the next morning.

AnneO

Thanks for the replies. Sue, we are aware that could be the case,and if so, that's what we'll do. But thanks for the reminder! I'll check out the places mentioned.

Keep the ideas coming!


Anne

eurotraveller

We rented bkies last year in Salzburg and biked along the river to Hellbrunn. It was an easy ride and a nice way to see some great sights.

We weren't planning on staying in Hallstatt but once we took a walk through town we decided to stay for a night. As we walked through town we inquired about room availibility with one place and she was full but pointed up the road to another place right on the lake with a big balcony. I think it was 15 euro a night per person and it was perfect for us! No private bath but there were two shower rooms separate from the toilet so we didn't have any problem with it. I think it was Pension Sarstein. We had some fun hikes out of Hallstatt up in the forested hills. It is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever been in! Have fun!

AnneO

Looks like we're going to turn our plan around a bit and spend the first couple of days in Salzburg rather than the last couple, because we will definitely get there too late to pick up our car. On that issue, I am finding that cars are much higher than I expected. Midsize manual (w/out insurance) is running over 100E/day; compact is almost that much. Does that seem reasonable to anyone who has rented recently? Add 100 if we drop it in Munich. My last trip, we rented for 3 days, picked up in Vienna, dropped in Salzburg, mid-size for less than 200E total. Have they really gone up that much, or do we need to keep digging for bargains?

Thanks!!

Anne

bettyk

That really does sound high. Check out gemut.com. Haven't used them personally but have seen them recommended before. I checked their prices and they seem very reasonable.

cindiRed

AnnieO
I too was shocked last week when I priced a car with AutoEurope (as seen in many threads here). I was quoted $819 for midsize automatice, with pick up in Vienna & drop off in Munich. When I visited their web site, however, I found much lower prices. We will shoot for a manual to save $$, and I too will check out gemut.com.

Good luck, and let me know how you do.

bettyk

Another thing to remember, because of taxes, rates are much higher in Austria than in Germany. It is quite a bit cheaper to rent and return a car in Germany.

AnneO

Thanks for the info. I asked for a quote from the gemut.com site..looks like a good site. I'm planning to go through all their info when I have some time. Betty, I didn't know that Austria would be so much more expensive..I'll look into renting in Munich instead.

Anne

bettyk

Anne, I checked Hertz' website just to see how much difference there is between picking up and returning an Intermediate Ford Mondeo (Manual) in Munich versus Vienna. The approximately total charges including insurance for pick up in Vienna is 592 Euro vs. 336 in Munich. Huge difference! However, if you pick up the car in Munich and drop it off in Vienna, there is a 150 Euro drop charge.