I will be visiting Munich for a 3 day weekend in April with my adult daughter (study abroad in Florence). We would like to do a day trip to a classic Bavarian town on our last day. Our flight back to Italy leaves at 8:00pm so I think we should return our rental car about 5:00pm to 5:30pm. What is your favorite small town within about 1 hour of the airport? We will be going to Neuschwanstein Castle from the airport on our first day and then back to Munich for the night. And yes, I know we could spend the whole time in Munich, but we want to get a taste of several things. I definitely plan to come back and/or if we decide we need more time in Munich we will skip the day trip, but I'd like to pick a possible destination. TIA
Posted by
Kansas, United States
1081 posts
Halstatt is one of my favorite places, you can tour the Salt Mine while there and take a boat ride on the lake or just enjoy the ambience of strolling through the town.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1528 posts
Both Landshut and Freising are about 1/2 hour from the Munich Airport.
Landshut has many houses and businesses with wonderful facades. It has a castle and great walks along the river.
Fresing has a cathedral on a hill (Domberg) with beautiful Rocco Church. Across the narrow valley is the Weihenstephaner brewery with very attractive gardens. The small town is also laced with waterways along walking paths. We like the Weissbräu Huber for lunch or supper, with its old Gasthaus feel and garden.
Posted by
Paradise
7072 posts
Landsberg am Lech (Romantic Road town) meets your criteria. Lv. Munich 9:20, Ar. Landsberg 10:07.
Hallstatt is roughly 8 hours round trip from Munich.
Nuremberg (8:36 - 9:44) slightly exceeds your travel time parameters and it is not a small town but it does have much to see and do and offers a very nice atmosphere, is very walkable from the station, and feels a lot smaller than it really is.
Freising is the most convenient of all. You could in fact stay there instead of in Munich proper on your last night - it's crazy close to the airport - and be just minutes from the airport that following afternoon.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8031 posts
Why not just visit Füssen after your trip to Neuschwanstein Castle? It's a small charming medieval town within hiking distance of the castle (or a 5 minute drive), and with a lovely lake nearby.
That way you would be able to visit your classic Bavarian town on the first day and save the other days for Munich (which deserves it). https://en.fuessen.de/romantic-soul/the-old-town-of-fuessen.html
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16554 posts
Jennifer, I'll just throw this out regarding Neuschwanstein? This is going to involve some significant drive time from Munich (est. 4 hours plus, RT) for a mere 30-minute (mandatory) tour inside. That doesn't include getting from the parking area up to the castle and back. As well, there's ongoing interior restoration work happening until 2024, and Marienbrücke is also closed until at least summer 2022 or later, so I read.
https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/index.htm
https://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/tourist/howtoget.htm#weg
Just IMHO but it seems like a really long drive for a less-than-optimal time to visit? As you're only giving Munich one full day, are you sure you don't want to save Neuschwanstein for a future trip?
Posted by
TX
980 posts
Freising (15min away), Landshut (30min away) and Regensburg (just over 1hr away) come to mind. All have easy access back to the airport. You could probably turn your car in the day before and just train/bus to each of these towns from the airport saving you a little hassle on your departure day.
DJ