Vienna - Prague - Munich? Itinerary Help

Why don't you rent a car, leave Munich, and drive down the Romantic Road. You can drive south, start in Garmish-Partenkirchen, Fussen, Rothenburg o.d.T. and places in between. Or if you are WWII buffs, Nuremberg should easily hold your interest for a few days. Once you are out of the city, driving in Germany is easy. They also have busses that do the RR route.
You won't spend too much time traveling between countries, it hits your beautiful scenery and we rarely have a bad meal in Germany.

We will look into it! Thanks for the suggestion. We may have a hard time giving up Prague as we already decided to skip it on our last trip because of logistics, so that's the only thing.

forget Vienna, you'd lose a day travelling.

Prague is nice enough but it could still be cold. It's not hard to reach from Munich but there are better places that fit your requirements.

You've got Munich for a start. And that means Dachau, and probably Nuremburg. Quite a lot of history but not that much scenery. So head for Berchtesgaden Land. Everyone immediately thinks of Eagles Nest, the Kehlstein. A restaurant with impressive views (on a nice day) converted from a building that was once owned by Hitler - but he rarely visited it, and it's not that easy to reach because you can only walk or use a special bus. And whilst everyone is waiting for the bus up the mountain they are stood next to a building that few of them enter:

http://www.obersalzberg.de/obersalzberg-home.html?L=1 how's that? History in the middle of scenery!

The area around it is stunning, I was there final week of March this year and it was T-shirt weather (obviously that can't be guaranteed, not even in July!). I stay in Bad Reichenhall which has a better range of hotels and a local bus into Salzburg city.

I personally love Vienna but if you don't care for art or museums I don't think it should be included. There's no scenery, and it's slight on WWII history.

German food is fun for a few days and quickly grows tiresome although on such a short trip you'll probably be satisfied. Bavarian food (in Munich and the Alps) is some of the most fun in Germany, as is Franconian food (in Nuremberg). I quite like Czech food as well. If you're bored with German food Munich has some good ethnic restaurants but it won't match what you can find in Seattle.

I think Prague and Munich are two great destinations for this trip, throwing in some side trips from Munich. I'd allow 3 days for Munich, a day trip to Salzburg and/or Brechtesgadener land either renting a car or taking a day trip with Bob's Tours from Salzburg). That's where the good scenery lies as it's all in the alps. Add a day trip to Dachau, and at least 3 days in Prague. If you're still concerned where to fill your time, Nuremberg is the obvious answer for WWII history and a great medieval city. If you're into beer, Bamberg is another option as a stopover.

Keep in mind that this time of year is still basically winter in Germany - you won't be sitting in biergartens (indeed, they won't be open) but there's still plenty to see and do!

Edit: Reading the other responses I don't see why people are dismissing Prague and encouraging you to do the Romantic Road. The latter is an outlier and the former is fantastic. Prague is the most beautiful city in Europe I've visited (and I've been to a lot!) Don't take Prague off your list. Plus it won't be as crowded in that time of year, so what if it's cold?

Three nights will indeed be enough time to get a taste of each city, but not more than that. So, you have to decide if you want a taste of all three, or two more in depth. There's no right or wrong answer. But particularly since you said you're not so interested in art or museums, three days may be enough for you in each.

I personally preferred Prague to the other two, but obviously everyone will have a different reaction to each one. There's also no way to predict how you will feel about each place until you've been. So, I can't help you narrow it down.

For WWII history, you'll want to take a themed walking tour of Munich and of Vienna, as the history is definitely there, just not easy to see or feel on your own. I took a Third Reich tour of Munich, and learned about the various still-intact structures where the Nazi party was founded, where Hitler joined them, etc. And I didn't take a Third Man walk in Vienna, but that should be right up your alley. I did take a Jewish Vienna walk with Brigitte Timmermann, and she was a fantastic guide; it turns out she also did much of the research for the Third Man walk. Here's her website: http://www.viennawalks.com/indexe.php?page=start

You've half answered your own questions. Make Prague a priority and leave Austria for another time.

Day
1. Arrive Munich. Train to Regensburg (1)
2. Train to Prague (3)
3.4. Prague
5. Train to Munich (5)
6. Munich - historic centre
7. Day to Nuremberg
8. Munich - Olympic Park & Nymphenburg
9. Day to Garmisch & Mittenwald
10. Depart Munich

Thank you, Harold! Do you recommend any particular company for a Third Reich tour in Munich?

David, thank you! I think we've settled on leaving Vienna for next time. I'm curious why you recommend spending the first night in Regensburg? Is it just to break up the train journey to Prague or is there something in particular you recommend we see/do there?

Regensburg itself is the attraction. The city survived WWII intact, and the entire old city/city center is a UNSECO World Heritage Site for good reason. It was an incredibly powerful "Free Imperial City" (a City-State) until the mid-1500s when a combination of shifting trade routes and the lack of power of the city guilds plunged the city into poverty although it retained a special status as an Imperial Diet city until the 19th century.

As a result old buildings weren't torn down and it's very well preserved. Well worth a stopover.

Hi,

If you are considering going to Vienna and want to get to the WW2 sites there, there are a number of them I would suggest.

The Zentralfriedhof is the main cemetery. It has the military cemeteries of WW1 and WW2.

The Soviet military took Vienna after the Red Army had liberated Budapest, in spite of the Nazi propaganda slogan to the contrary, "Wien wird wieder deutsch." There is the Soviet WW2 Memorial direct up from the Schwarzenberg Platz, dedicated to that Habsburg commander who tangled with Napoleon a few times and lost.

Another grim WW 2 site is the Holocaust Memorial across from the Albertina, close to the large Tourist Office.

In WW2 three cities had built ack ack towers as a defense against Anglo-American bombers, Vienna was one of these cities. You can see these Flaktürme , ie, the towers where the 88mm guns were set up located in the Esterhazy Park. Flak was the acronym for "Flugzeugabwehrkanone" ie, anti aircraft cannons. To be sure, see the Army History Museum, (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum) its enlarged and expanded WW1 section since 2014 and the separate room on WW2. It's within walking distance from Wien Hbf.

There are also memorial plaques to the victims of Nazism (if you have a good reading knowledge of German) . I know of two...one at Schwedenplatz, almost hidden by the bushes, another at Westbahnhof near the OeBB Reisezentrum.

This one has to do with Hitler taking over Austria, the huge turnout in Vienna to see him at the Heldenplatz, across from the Hofburg. If you have seen the documentary film on that event, you can imagine it.

If you want to see a big military memorial dedicated to Habsburg battlefield victories, go to the "Deutschmeisterplatz."

Thank you, Fred! Super helpful and interesting. We aren't going to do Vienna on this upcoming trip, but I'll definitely save your suggestions to revisit when we do make it there!

I don't remember which company I used for my Munich walk; I believe it was Radius Tours. However, this was in 2005, so I don't have up to date information on what's available now.

@ rachael...You're welcome! Well, when you do have more time, I would recommend setting aside four to five nights in Vienna, factoring in down time and time for tracking down the tourist and historical sites. My last two trips in 2017 and 2016 were also big memorials with special exhibitions at the Hofburg and elsewhere in Vienna. 2016 was the centennial on the death of Franz Joseph and 2017 was the 300th birth year of Maria Theresa, the Empress.

You can see why for these occasions Vienna had 3-4 simultaneous exhibitions going on...and more on other historical topics. Near Westbahnhof , a few minutes up from it, is another Austrian military/soldiers memorial statue focusing on 1809. 1809 is emphasized and lauded in Vienna since they gave Napoleon his first set-back but still lost three month later.

I'm curious why you recommend spending the first night in Regensburg? Is it just to break up the train journey to Prague or is there something in particular you recommend we see/do there?

I always think if you are arriving/departing from the same city, and spending time before departing In that city, that it can be a good idea to spend the first night just a short journey away from your arrival city. It gets you on your way, and you don't double up.

Regensburg is an important UNESCO listed historic city on the Danube.
http://www.planetware.com/tourist-attractions-/regensburg-d-ba-reg.htm

@ rachael...That soldiers statue/ memorial is up from Westbahnhof is on Neubaugurtel, diagonally located from the Hotel Fürstenhof., up from this hotel.

You might want to look into taking the bus from Prague to Munich. It was easy, cheaper and faster. We had seats in the top level up front and had a great view of the countryside.

Thanks Renee, I remember reading that the bus was the faster option--haven't really delved too deeply into research & planning yet.

We were just in Munchen, and took the Third Reich tour. There are several, there is no formal ticketing process - show up in the central square at noon, pay your 10 E, and off you go. Just look for a flyer about tours.