Let’s start with the easy part. If you’re a tourist staying in any large German city, there’s no point in renting a car. Public transportation is widely accessible and affordable, there are plenty of taxis, and if you have a car, parking is both difficult to find and expensive. To complicate matters, many large cities have areas where only local residents can drive their cars without paying a fine. It’s just not worth it!

High speed trains connect most large cities, leaving from and arriving in the city centers. Regional trains connect medium sized cities and towns with the nearby big cities. German trains are comfortable and clean, restrooms are on board, high speed trains have dining cars. From a kid’s point of view, trains are FUN!

Once you get out into the rural areas, there are regional buses that depart from town centers that will always have stops at popular tourist sites. These buses often run once every few hours, and tend to have slow routes with lots of stops. So - if you want to make the most of your time in a rural area, it makes sense to use a rental car for part of your trip.

Driving in Germany is a lot like driving here in the US, except that Germany measures speed and distance in kilometers, and the road signs are all in German. Driving is on the right side of the road, and the signage is very similar to what we have here in the US.

The Autobahn is the equivalent of our Interstate Highway System, and with numbered roads starting with “A.” For example, A1, A2,A3. These are divided highways with exit and entrance ramps, no tolls, and no speed limit unless one is specifically posted. The Autobahn connects major cities throughout Germany.

We try to avoid picking up a rental car right in the middle of any big European city, especially if that city center has lots of narrow streets and/or a pedestrian zone. It’s less stressful take a train or taxi to a car rental location on the outskirts of the city and leave from there.

A few road rules worth noting:

We’ve all heard this catchy phrase in the Volkswagen ads. Fahren is the verb “to drive” and Fahrt is the noun meaning “drive.”

G found these distinctions extremely amusing while driving through Germany! So did her father. Bathroom humor sells to all ages and makes the drive go faster.

You can easily rent a car on-line through booking sites like Expedia, Booking.com, or directly with major rental companies like Hertz, Avis, or Sixt. You will always find car rentals right near major train stations and at airports.

You will need an international driver’s permit to rent a car in Germany, and you have to get that here in the US. You can get one at your local AAA office, or if you can order on-line if you have 30 days remaining before your trip. You will also need your original US driver’s license and your passport in addition to the permit.

When you reserve your rental car in Germany, there are a few things to keep in mind:

When you pick up your car, ask for a vehicle that comes with Intelligent Speed Assistance, which will alert you when entering an area with reduced speed limits and help you avoid speeding tickets.

This itinerary gives the most efficient use of your precious vacation time. There are 2 drives of about 2.5 hours - one from Freilassing to Ettal, and the other from Ettal back to Munich airport. Both of these include some Autobahn driving.

You will sleep in Munich, Salzburg, and Ettal (or Oberammergau) on this route.

There are no hairpin turns, cliffs, or alpine driving to worry about on this route. All of these roads are fairly flat, running though Alpine valleys.

This itinerary enables you to enjoy everything you want to do without the stress of the Autobahn. The only roads you will drive on are one-lane country roads and local roads within small towns.

Follow the route listed above, except that you will take a train from Salzburg to Garmisch-Partenkirchen - a little under 4 hours, connecting in Munich. Take an early morning train, arriving by noon if possible.

Pick up your rental car, leave it parked near the train station, then head to the Zugspitze. The rack railway car leaves from the GaP station roughly every hour, so make this your first activity.

Return your rental car in either GaP or Füssen, and get to the Munich Airport by train.

You can still do this trip using a combination of bus and taxi to see this area. You will need two nights of reservations in GaP, Oberammergau or Ettal.

There’s good bus service within the GaP/Ettal and Füssen areas, but getting between them on public transportation involves either a train connection back in Munich, or multiple local buses.

The only practical way to get make this connection is in a car. If you don’t want to drive, email your hotel few weeks before your trip, and ask them to help you with an early morning private transfer or taxi to the train station in Füssen on your last day with them.

Plan to lock your luggage at the Fussen train station, and catch a train back to Munich (or wherever you’re going next) at the end of your day.