[keylime503]

Hi all,

I'm doing my first ED this July of a 2017 M240i 6MT. I've been to europe multiple times before but my girlfriend who will be accompanying me has never been. Flights, delivery, and drop off are set, now it's time to finalize our route and book hotels. So I'd love to get some feedback/suggestions on where to go, what to see, and most importantly what hotels to stay at where I don't have to worry about my new car! The following itinerary is *very* tentative and just the first thing that came to mind. Main priorities are great driving roads, castles (for the GF), and getting to experience rural europe the way you wouldn't be able to without a car.

Day 0 (Tue): Arrive in Munich
Day 1 (Wed): Delivery, Factory Tour, drive somewhere else in southern Germany
Day 2 (Thu): Salzburg, Austria area
Day 3 (Fri): Salzburg, Austria area (Hallstat?)
Day 4 (Sat): Innsbruck, Austria area (Swarovski Kristallwelten)
Day 5 (Sun): Fussen, Germany area (Neuschwanstein castle)
Day 6 (Mon): Lucerne/Interlaken, Switzerland area
Day 7 (Tue): Drive to Zurich, drop off car, fly to Manchester

Not sure if I should do Fussen area before or after Austria. Or maybe I'm focusing too much on making the route look contiguous on Google Maps :/

[msej449]

If you're planning routes, then the Michelin map site is generally fairly good for time/distance in Western Europe:

www.viamichelin.com

You can set parameters like avoiding freeways or not, avoiding toll roads etc. Might be worth having a few printed itinerary segments with you, just in case. And beware variations in signage e.g. Swiss Autoroutes are signed in green while French ones are in Blue etc. My also be worth researching some of the parking restriction signs for the different countries. You'll need a vignette for Switzerland freeways, which you can buy at the border - Swiss police are very hot on stopping people on the autoroutes if they don't have them and not all autoroutes are obvious freeeway-format. Lots of parking places require a time card where you set your arrival time on a circular disc: often free from gas stations or I would hope you get one with the car.

For Switzerland, I can recommend taking a look at the main Tourist website

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/home.html

They often have special offers on accommodation and excursions, especially for city breaks such as Lucerne, Interlaken, Eiger etc. And there's a good series of drives described on the Grand Tour pages, although realistically, you may be limited to only one segment, but worth taking a look at.

http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/s...itzerland.html

[Fugly M3]

I would say, if you could get down to one of the Italian lakes (Maggiore, Como, etc.), it would be worth it. Everything is so close together, this should be possible.

[shark715]

Go skiing on the glacier in Hintertux Austria. Open all year. Amazing scenery. Highly recommend the Hotel Neuhintertux right at the base of the mountain. Great mountain hiking too. Indoor parking for your new car :-)

[Leslie731]

In Salzburg take the Salt Mine Tour Only about an hour, think you can book in advance Enjoy

[RacerDad]

We visited Innsbruck and Lucerne on our trip. Your trip has about 570 miles to cover while backtracking from Salzburg. You also have a 3 hour drive from Hallstat to Innsbruck and a 3.5 hour drive from Neuschwanstein castle to Lucerne. With only seven days, you will be spending a lot of time in the car on the highways. When we did our trip (14 days), we tried to keep the drive time down to no more than 2.5 hours so we had more time to spend at our destinations (and I love driving).

I would recommend the following for a 7 day trip (544 miles):

Munich (Day 0 & 1)
Innsbruck (Days 2 & 3)
Merano (Day 4) (take the Passo Giovo (SS44) instead of A22 to get there, great views and a fun drive)
Como (Day 5) (beautiful views on the lake)
Lucerne (Day 6)
Zurich (Day 7)

The section between Merano and Como breaks my 2.5 hour rule (at 3.5 hours) but it is the only section like that. You can adjust where you want to spend two days. There are also numerous places to stop for lunch on the longer runs.

Here are posts on each place listed (except Zurich) and the hotel/restaurant recommendations.

Munich

Innsubruck

Merano

Como

Lucerne

Recommendations

Here is the link to the entire thread:
http://www.2addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1246409

I did the same type of research on European Deliveries through the forum and developed 10 different itineraries before deciding on one. My post is just one opinion. Any way you go you will enjoy it. Just be sure to take pictures and post on this forum.

Great, now I want to go back and do it again. I wonder if my son has saved up enough for his BMW.

[keylime503]

Hey RacerDad, thanks for the feedback. I've actually changed that itinerary significantly and booked everything but the last night in Lucerne. Here is where things stand:

Day 0 (Tue): Arrive in Munich, overnight at Motel One München-Sendlinger Tor (1 block from old town Munich, direct ubahn line to Welt)
Day 1 (Wed): Delivery, Factory Tour, drive to Fussen via A96 and A7 (seems like a good amount of unrestricted sections), overnight Villa Toscana in Fussen
Day 2 (Thu): Neuschwanstein Castle, drive to Wattens, Swarovski Kristallwelten, overnight Hilton Innsbruck (used hilton points)
Day 3 (Fri): Drive to Salzburg, overnight Bloberger Hof Hotel
Day 4 (Sat): Day trip to Hallstat, overnight again at Bloberger Hof Hotel
Day 5 (Sun): Drive Alpenstrasse to Rottach-Egern, overnight Hotel Bachmair Weissach (absolute steal at 12k SPG points IMO)
Day 6 (Mon): *This is the tough day* Drive to Lucerne via some alpine passes, probably all day in the car. Still need to find a place near Lucerne (recommendations appreciated!)
Day 7 (Tue): Drive to Zurich, drop off car, fly to Manchester

All these drives are less than 2 hours direct with the exception of the long day to Lucerne, so I think it's very doable. We never unpack in hotels, even when staying somewhere for a whole week, so moving places quickly is a non-issue for us.

[iamthestig]

We really enjoyed Gasthaus Schwendelberg Luzern-Horw in Lucerne. Incredible views of the lake and a wonderfully secluded location.