Itinerary for Bavaria and Czeck Republic

Posted by cjsull on 06/01/26 06:12 PM

Hello!
Just wondering about how this is looking so far. I will be traveling in May of 2027 with my son (he will be 22). I traveled in 2024 to Bavaria and Austria with my daughter, so I have some experience overseas. But my son picked different locations (and I will be driving for part of it this time because of that). He is very excited to see Czechia, and I have loved learning about it.

There is less time in some locations because there is only a few specific sites he wants to see in those places.

This is my trip overview so far. I kept it pretty simple, since everyone here knows what I mean when I say "city walk". I love the Rick Steves city walks from his books!!

Something I am still wondering about… is it ok to visit the Castle/Cathedral first thing early in the morning? Or is it better to visit much later in the day?

Weltenburg 1 nights
Fussen 1 night
Ettal 2 nights
Munich 3 nights
Salzburg 2 nights
Cesky Krumlov 1 night
Prague 4 nights

Day 1: Arrive in Munich (early morning arrival). Rent Car. drive to Weltenburg. Check in when can. Lunch in beer garden (or on the way). See Visitor Center and Church. Dinner. Relax and recover.

Day 2: Fussen. Drive to Fussen, check in, get the city card. Follow the Town Walk from the book, and stop at the places to tour along the way. Dinner at hotel?

Day 3: Breakfast, and leave for the Castles. Tour in the morning (like last time at 9:05 and 11:05). Drive to Ettal Monastery, checking out Wieskirche along the way. Check out the monastery.

Day 4: Zugspitae Day. Drive down early, see what we can see.

Day 5: Mass at Ettal monastery (7:30), side trip to see Linderhof Castle?, drive to Munich. Turn in car at the train station. Check in, dinner, relax.

Day 6: Munich city walk, stopping to tour sites along the way. Dinner at a beer hall?

Day 7: Dachau visit, followed (maybe) by BMW museum

Day 8: Train to Salzburg. Get city card, Check in. Do the City Walk, stopping along the way. Dinner at the Augustiner Brau?

Day 9: Castle and Convent in the morning. Afternoon tour of the Eagles Nest, taking an uber/bolt for trips.

Day 10: Using CK shuttle bus transfers, get an early shuttle to CK. Do the city walk after checking in.

Day 11: Using same company, stop at Konopiste (for 3-4 hours) on the way to Prague. Check in, then go to Mass at St. Thomas at 6. Dinner, bed.

Day 12: Would try to book the Terezin tour for the morning. Afterward, start the City Walk. Not sure if we will finish, but stop to do the Medieval Dinner at 4:30

Day 13: Prague Castle/Cathedral starting early. Walk to Strahov monastery tour (library). Tour lesser town (St. Nicholas, old water wheel, Our Lady Victorious/Infant of Prague, Petrin hill/tower). Maybe see from the hill at night.

Day 14: Prague day tbd. Finish walks, pick something we missed. At night, he chose a dinner cruise as a goodbye.

Day 15: fly home.

Thanks for any help/suggestions!

Posted by Dave

Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)

06/02/26 11:47 AM

4689 posts

Your son has picked great places to visit! I will offer one place that might be worth adding to a young man's schedule and is unlike anything on the itinerary. Eisriesenwelt is an ice cave at Werfen, a short train ride from Salzburg. It is otherworldly. This overview gives you an idea of what a visit entails, including the walk/hike up to the cave (with nice views of the surrounding mountains) and the 70-minute walk through the cave (with lots of stairs!). I met a group of backpacking students from the University of Minnesota there who prioritized Eisriesenwelt as their one stop as they traveled between Prague and Slovenia. So, it has appeal to college kids. Hohenwerfen is a castle at Werfen that is an option, too, but your itinerary already includes multiple castles/fortresses, so I don't think the castle would add much to your trip.

Where to fit it in? I would think about going straight to Munich after mass at Ettal Monastery and starting the Munich walks that day; then think about leaving Munich a day early.

Eagle's Nest will give you an excellent chance to see mountains, too... hopefully on a sunny day!

I agree with you that the Rick Steves city walks are great.

I would definitely go for the Augustiner Brau experience in Salzburg. Watch a YouTube video or two before hand to see how the beer routine goes.

Concentration camps are depressing. If you want to see two in 15 days, go for it. But for me, one day of depression would be more than adequate.

I love history and thought Konopiste was super cool.

For RS walks in Prague, I combined the Rick Steves Old Town Walk with the Wenceslas Square walk (he tells how to combine in the Prague guide).

For Prague, I also cannot recommend highly enough watching the Honest Guide videos on YouTube. They give so much insight into more off-the-beaten-path kinds of places to see in Prague and around Prague. I integrated some of their recommendations into my Rick Steves walks.

If you are interested, what I did with eight days in Prague. If it's in your budget, consider a food tour in Prague. I mention my favorite of three I did in the trip report.