akhanyan

Hello everyone,

We are traveling to Munich Germany for a few days and then plan on renting a car and driving to Innsbruck Austria then through Austria all the way to Vienna. Stopping at places on the way. During my previous trip to Germany in 2019 I was able to acquire a BMW M sports car through Turo but it seems Turo is no longer doing business in Germany. I checked SixT and they had a BMW M car but when I put the vehicle drop off destinations in Vienna the M car is no longer Available I guess it’s only available to pick up and drop off in Munich.

Does anyone know any alternative websites where I can rent a BMW, AMG, or another sports car pick up from Munich and drop off in Vienna?

I want a fun sporty car to drive on the autobahn and enjoy the alps and country side, safely and respectfully of course.

We’re landing in Munich September 30, going to spend a few days in the city, go to the beer festival a few times check out the surrounding areas before checking out of our Munich hotel on October 5 renting the car, and then drive towards Neuschwanstein, Zugspitze, doing some sightseeing in that area will probably stay in the local towns for a night or two before crossing the border into Austria, once in Austria, we will start in Innsbruck probably spend the night there explore the town see the Alpine slide nearby, and then drive to Salzburg and spend a night or two there and then start heading towards Vienna stopping at any interesting places along the way. We’re flying out of Vienna on October 17 so that’s a total of about 17 days total, 7 days in Germany and 10 days in Austria.

What do you guys think about this trip? I’m open to any and all suggestions. Thank you very much.

KTtravel

I usually book cars through Autoeurope.com or kemwel.com. I don't know if they have the cars you would like but you can always call and see. I find calling them rather than booking through their websites to be helpful. One thing to consider is you will likely pay a drop off fee by picking up the car in one country and dropping off in another.

lavandula

German car rental companies can be sensitive to taking their cars abroad (particularly to Poland) because of organised crime stealing such vehicles. While I don't imagine Austria is such a worry, there might still be some of this sentiment residually. In any case drop-offs abroad do cost more, no question. I would certainly get on the phone to some companies and ask directly. I have rented directly from some companies (Hertz, Europcar, Sixt) but also used a broker, Auto Europe. No complaints about any of them.

Lavandula

cgenster

I have rented a car in Germany from Hertz and dropped it off in Italy and it was very expensive for the one way different country rental.

An option would be to take public transportation until Innsbruck or Salzburg then rent the car and drop it off in Vienna. We traveled last fall from Munich to Mittenwald to Innsbruck and finally Salzburg all on trains and busses and it was easy and relaxing.

Your trip sounds wonderful, enjoy!

Nautiker

AFAIK international one-way rentals are often not offered or discouraged through steep fees due to the hassle involved for the companies (the car needs to be repatriated). however domestic one-way rentals should be doable (might incur a fee, too, albeit should be much lower), so my workaround would be: get the car in Munich, drive around, incl Austria (driving abroad might incur a fee, too, so you should mention your plan to the rental agency), then drop off your car as close to the Austrian border as possible - e.g. Sixt has a branch at Freilassing, which is literally just across the border from Salzburg (there's a local bus every 30mins and I guess taxis would be available as well). from Salzburg, take a comfortable train to Vienna (oebb.at).

akhanyan

Thank you all for your responses and advice. After doing some considering this is what I’ve come up with for the trip. So far the only things I have locked in or the hotel in Munich from September 30 to October 5, and the Munich bike tour. I’m open to advice to change things. This is my second time in Germany and Austria I was there in 2019 but it’s my wife’s first time. we’re going to some new places I haven’t been but also a few places I’ve been before so my wife can enjoy it too, and most of them I don’t mind seeing again.



we land in Munich Germany September 30 in the afternoon and we leave Vienna Austria on Oktober 17 early morning going home to USA. That’s total 16 days, not counting the half day when we arrive.



September 30 - landing in munich at 1:30pm, by the time we get to hotel and check in will be 3:30 or later. Plan on walking around a bit, getting some food, and the rest of the day is open, might check out the festival in the evening. Negotiable and open to suggestions



Oktober 1 - plan on going to the festival in the daytime and will probably be there all day/night. Negotiable and open to suggestions



oktober 2 - 11:30 am I booked a 4 hour group bike tour with English guide which will stop for lunch at a Biergarten, will be done by 3:30. The rest of the day is open we have no plans yet. Negotiable and open to suggestions



Oktober 3 - will probably go to the festival again this day and possibly stay all day but will see how we feel or if we want to do anything else. Negotiable and open to suggestions



Oktober 4 - we plan on picking up the rental car this day (BMW M440i) and driving to see some old towns outside of munich. One idea is to drive to Rothenberg and see the towns on the way, there are different routes which pass through different towns. Option A - Munich-Augsburg-Ulm-Rothenberg . Option B-Munich-Ingolstadt-Nuremberg-Rothenberg. I need to research those towns see which ones are more interesting (please suggest) and also which route has longer sections of no speed limit and less traffic. I’ve been to Germany in 2019 and driven an M car on the autobahn at high speeds responsibly, so I have experience and I plan on doing this safely and respectfully.



Oktober 5 & 6 - were checking out of our Munich hotel and heading south towards Garmisch, stopping at interesting places along the way. On the 5th we’ll start with Zugspitze in the morning, then head to Neuschwanstein until it gets dark, then back to town for dinner and sleep. On the 6th maybe we’ll go hiking in the gorge then to hang out at the lake Eibsee. Anything else you guys recommend in this area? The next day we’ll check out and head to Innsbruck



Oktober 7 & 8 - check out of our hotel in Garmisch and drive into Innsbruck Austria stopping at interesting places on the way. Will be my first time in Innsbruck we plan on exploring the town, any recommendations in this town and surrounding areas? We will definitely do the alpine slide which is south of Innsbruck. We plan on staying 2 nights, probably not more so we have sufficient time in our next destinations



Oktober 9, 10 & 11 - check out of Innsbruck hotel and drive to Salzburg, stopping at interesting places along the way. We plan on staying not more than 2 or 3 nights so we have time in our next destinations. while staying in Salzburg we plan on going up to Kehlsteinhaus/eagles nest. I was going to spend a night in Berchtesgaden, but since it’s only 30 minutes from Salzburg and I plan on staying in Salzburg anyways, I might as well use Salzburg as a base and just drive to Berchtesgaden? I don’t like packing/upacking too many times it’s too much hassle so this will save me time. After Kehlsteinhaus I’d love to do more while in the Berchtesgaden area, open to suggestions. Maybe salt mines? Although later during this trip I plan on visiting Hallstatt / Salzkammergut so maybe I’ll see the mines there instead? I heard Konigsee is over rated but what do you think? Later in this trip I’m going to be in Salzkammergut Lake District near Bad Ischl which is surrounded by lakes, should I skip Konigsee? Anything else I should do before leaving Berchtesgaden?





Oktober 12, 13 & 14 - check out of Salzburg hotel and drive to Bad Ischl or any worthwhile town in the Lake District, plan on staying atleast 2 or 3 nights and enjoying the lakes and anything else there is to see/do. Please send any suggestions



Oktober 15 & 16 - check out of Bad Ischl and start driving towards Vienna. I’ve spent a couple hours in Vienna on a layover before but all I did was eat some Schnitzel and walk around the city. This will be my chance to spend atleast one full day there, depending on how much time I spend in any towns on the way to Vienna from Bad Ischl. It’s a 3 hour drive but I figure it’ll take all day if I stop at a few places like gmunden/traunkirchen if they’re worth while. That’s if I don’t spend a night in those towns. Any places on this route you guys can recommend? Considering the places I’ve been in the previous days, should I spend as much time as possible in Vienna? I feel like 1 or 2 days is enough for me in the big city, but if there isn’t much to see on the drive to Vienna, I might as well spend as much time in Vienna as possible. If I arrive in Vienna. On the night of the 15th and check into my hotel, that means I will have all of the 16th to enjoy the city before going home on the morning of the 17th. Maybe we could go to a classical concert or organ concert, always wanted to do that



thank you guys for taking the time to read my long text, looking forward to your responses, I really appreciate you all!

Nautiker

so you found a one-way car rental after all - good! don't forget that in case you drive on Austrian motorways, you will need a toll-sticker, which a German car very likely will not be equipped with.

there are maps online that show which parts of the Autobahn are without speed-limit, a random pick: https://autobahnspeedhunter.com/routes_en/ - this said, even without limit, dense traffic will very often require you to slow down, but then you know that already, given you have driven in Germany before. as a rule of thumb, motorways will be less busy in rural areas (e.g. A95 towards Garmisch has a (bad) rep of being a tourist destination for speeders).

as for suggestions, it would help to know what sort of things you enjoy doing - historical sights, nice cityscapes, landmarks: all this is quite generic and thoroughly covered by guidbooks. IMO a forum like this one gets truly into swing once you can disclose personal interests: post-WWII architecture? monasteries that have their own beerhall? industrial heritage? pottery? it makes coming up with a specific idea so much easier.

Ulm/Augsburg/Nürnberg are full size cities, which could easily justify longer stays. quite a difference to a small town like Rothenburg - and once you start piling up places, you will only get a superficial glimpse. now and then I do whirlwind trips or brief stopovers myself, so this is not meant to be judgemental.

cgenster

When we were in Innsbruck we went to the top of Innsbruck and very glad we did. We bought an Innsbruck card which allowed for public transportation and either free or reduced prices for area attractions. The card also allowed for free bike rental so we rented bikes and rode along the river.

https://nordkette.com/en/

In Salzburg there was a festival when we were there so we spent a lot of time there. We also toured churches, and museums St. Peter’s Abbey was a favorite. Salzburg also has a card that provides free or reduced prizes to enter attractions.
The day we left our son and his family picked us up from our hotel and we toured a salt mine. It was interesting and our six year old grandson enjoyed it.

https://www.salzwelten.at/de/salzburg

Enjoy your trip.

ekscrunchy

I am in Munich right now and will do my best to address certain of your questions after my dinner..

SIXT is wonderful....we had a good automatic BMW from them in Sicily...call them rather than rely on website..more later..

akhanyan

Hi, where is the best place to get the Austrian toll sticker? Will SixT provide or should I find it elsewhere?

I enjoy nature/outdoors, beer and food, cars, historical architecture, music and culture, I do plan on visiting weltenberg monastery / brewery if I have time , but it seems a bit out of the way because on Oktober 4 we want to drive up the romantic road to Rothenberg

akhanyan

Hi, on Oktober 8 we are checking into our hotel in Stubaital which is very close to Innsbruck, we will definitely visit Innsbruck, we will have a car so no need for public transport. We will consider going to the top of Innsbruck, but we already planned on going to the top of Zugspitze near Garmisch or Kerwendel near Mittenwald, so it may be redundant? Also I checked the price it’s almost 50 💶 per person

we would love to enjoy some festivals if they are happening while we are staying in any of the locations we will be near in Germany and Austria. If you know if any happening during those dates/locations please let me know

here is our schedule

september 30 to oktober 5 Munich

Oktober 5 to 8 Garmisch

Oktober 8 to 9 Stubaital/Innsbruck

Oktober 9 to 12 Salzburg

Oktober 12 to 15 Hallstatt

Oktober 15 to 17 Vienna

thank you

akhanyan

thank you, excited for your advice

Moderator1

Modified thread title to include countries

Trophywife007

Pretty much any gas station, especially those near the Austrian border should sell them. As I recall you can buy one that covers roughly the time period you are there rather than for the month or the year (looking at you, Switzerland if it's still the same as in yesteryear.) I'd be surprised if they were provided.

fourfortravel

"I want a fun sporty car to drive on the autobahn and enjoy the alps and country side, safely and respectfully of course."

We lived in Austria for 7 years. The Autobahn is a highway. With speed limits. Just like in the U.S. and elsewhere. Adjust your expectations. 🤣

akhanyan

thank you

akhanyan

I’m well aware. This won’t be my first time on the autobahn. Actually the autobahn has sections with no speed limit. Thank you for your contribution.