RADIUS Tours Munich

WOW! A solution looking for a place to happen. You don't say which ones.

"Wondering if they are worth the price" No!

They are tourist traps, scams, something designed to separate tourists from their money.

Dachau: if you are already using a day ticket in the Munich area, that will pay for your trip on the S-Bahn and the bus to Dachau. The official Dachau tour costs €3 at the Memorial.

Füssen: similarly, a Bayern-Ticket will cover you on the train to Füssen and by bus to Hohenschwangau. With the Radius tour you still have to pay for your tickets to the castle.

Now you are going to hear from all those who got sucked in and don't want to admit it, and they will tell you how wonderful the tours were.

Elaine,

I've taken several of the tours offered by Radius including the Castles, Dachau and Munich Walks, and quite enjoyed all of them. I felt I learned far more by taking the tours than if I had gone by myself.

I regularly take local day tours in Europe. As I travel solo much of the time, it's nice to be with a small group every so often. I've met some interesting people on these tours, including those provided by Radius.

There's usually somewhat of a "difference of opinion" on this subject on the Helpline. The local tours are not for everyone, but I feel the cost for the tours I've taken has been good value. In one sense, the type of tours offered by Radius (and others) is no different than the tours with local Guides provided on all of Rick's tours.

Cheers!

Ken/Lee - Thank you both for your comments. They're polar opposites, but both are valid.

Maybe you can offer additional insight to my thoughts for the Munich leg. We have only 2 full days in Munich...30-31 Dec. It's way too short but it will have to do. This is my first trip to Munich but it won't be my only.

We will only have about 7 good daylight hours each day. Radius has a 2 hr morning Intro to Munich walking tour that is Pay as you please. That sounds risk free. There is an after-dark Ghost tour that I thought might extend our touring day on Thu Dec 30 if we can't get tickets to the Philharmonic.

I'm travelling with my mum who is 82. Dachau is a must for us as she was never able to visit a camp on any of her past trips with my step-father. I was considering the Radius Tour for that because I thought it might be easier on Mum since it would provide direct transportation there with no transfers. It's going to be cold and I dread standing at a bus stop for 20 mins or so.

New Year's eve: the buffet and oompah band at the Hofbräuhaus for an early celebration since we have a 0800 flight home the next morning.

DBahn still hasn't updated their schedule past 11 Dec. I found their Cust service number in the UK so maybe I can get my train reservation over the phone.

Outside of the hotel, I have nothing booked yet for Munich, so nothing above is set in stone.

Thanks

"I was considering the Radius Tour for that because I thought it might be easier on Mum since it would provide direct transportation there with no transfers."

"Your guide will organise all travel arrangements, bring you there by train and bus" - Radius website.

"By train and by bus". Radius uses the same S-Bahn and local bus that you would use yourself. I guess they show you where to go, but that doesn't require much. The bus stop at Dachau Bahnhof is well marked, in English. The train/bus connection at Dachau is 10 minutes, and 4 min of that is the walk from the platform to the bus stop in front of the station.

Radius charges €42 for two people. By yourselves (2 P), it costs €18,30 (€12,30 for a Muenchen XXL Partner Tageskarte and €3 each for the memorial's own tour). The XXL ticket is only €2,90 more than the Innenraum Tageskarte you probably need anyway for downtown that day. The Partner Tageskarte is valid for up to 5 people.

The Memorial (www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de) also allows you free entrance if you just want to look around on your own or rents audio guides for €3,50 if you want to do it at your own pace.

By the way, there are no reservations on any (regional) train of the Bahn to Dachau or to the castles.

Sorry Lee, but I think telling people that all tours are scams and tourist traps is pretty extreme. I often wonder what tour you went on that soured you so on them.

Most cities offer really wonderful walking tours that will tell you 10 times more than what is in any guide book. They are often a true bargain, with the average price being between 10-20 euro, depending on how long the tour is, usually anywhere from 3-6 hours. Hardly a scam.

For people who are interested in special themes, like the war, or Jewish history, or medieval history for example, you certainly won't find this in most of the guidebooks on sale. Most walking tours will cover far more ground in an efficient manner then most tourists would be able to cover on their own and that will end up saving the average tourist time. Time they can spend seeing and doing other things. Perhaps things that their guide told them about, events going on in the city, special exhibits, or maybe great places to eat.

I didn't mean to imply that ALL tours are scams, but my opinion is based on doing these tours on my own and then seeing how much tour companies charge for little extra added.

I took the Dachau Memorial's guided tour. For €3 it was certainly worth it. Paying €18 extra to have someone guide me to the site - not worth it.

I took the guided tour at Neuschwanstein, the same one you take on the Radius tour. It was worth it (considering that is the only way to get in). We used a €28 Bayern-Ticket (for 2) to get to the castle by train and bus. Radius uses the same train and bus and charges €70 for two - not worth it.

I don't know what they charge for a tour of Kehlsteinhaus. I took the bus up ($21) and paid one the the guides at the Nest a couple of Euro for a guided tour. Worth it that way. €50 ($70 per person) - not worth it.

A walking tour of Munich, for which they only charge for the tour itself, like they do at Dachau, the castle, or Kehlsteinhaus, could be worthwhile.

Lee - I didn't mean train reservation - I'm trying to purchase tickets from Budapest to Munich and am still waiting for the schedule to update past Dec 11.

You might try calling German Rail, in Germany, (49) 1805 99 66 33. You'll get voice mail in German, but if you stay on the line, I think you'll get an operator, who probably won't speak English. Say "English" and they'll get you someone who will.

I'm not sure that will help. If the schedule is not out past Dec 11, ... ?

It won't help you to purchase tickets, but the schedules probably won't change much after Dec. 11.

Elaine, I took to Radius tour to Dachau and, like Ken, I felt it enhanced my visit there. Yes, I could have done it on my own and saved some money. I was more than happy to pay for the expertise of the guide, who was very knowledgeable. I appreciated being able to ask questions.

I am all for saving money when I travel (and in every part of my life for that matter), but in some cases it is worth spending a few more dollars - or euros - for a better experience. And by that I mean a better experience FOR ME. Everyone has their own opinion. Some people will make every decision based on what it will cost. They would never dream of spending a penny more than they have to. They would never pay for a tour or consider renting a car, because why pay someone for something you can do yourself or drive if you can take a train or bus? I do both, depending on the circumstances. Does it cost more to drive? Maybe, but just maybe I can do something I want when driving that I can't do by train or bus. Can I walk myself around a site? Yes, but I might learn more on a tour.

It isn't right for someone to belittle anyone else because they make a choice that they would not make for themselves.

Okay...I'm getting off my soapbox now!

I took their tour to the castles near the Austrian border and it ended up saving me time not waiting in line. It's a great train ride btw!