7 days in Germany - In/Out of Munich

Based on your description why don't you follow a similar itinerary that Rick Steves offers
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/austria/munich-salzburg-vienna-tour

I would suggest limiting yourself to two bases/locales (though you can do day trips to other places from there) -- do you want Munich to be one of the places you explore or is it just your in/out?

Munich alone is worthy of 4 days. Salzburg is 2 hours to the east and one of everyone's favorite city. Then drop south 2 hours to the Innsbruck area with the absolutely incredible Alps mountain scenery. If time allows, you could go a little northwest of Innsbruck to catch Neuschwainstein and Fuessen before coming back into Munich from the west. At no time in this route.are.you more than 2 hrs. from Muchen.

Thank you Jazz+Travels,

David, this sounds great! Assuming we would travel by train?

Dave, we will fly into and out of Munich. But can overnight elsewhere for a few nights

We spent a week in Munich this past month and used it as a base to see Salzburg, Neuschwanstein and Nuremberg. Nuremberg can be reached in an hour with a fast train (more expensive than local trains, though) and has a walkable old town and also some Third Reich history if one is interested. One sight we planned to go to, but did not because the weather was not great, was the Koenigsee near Berchtesgaden. That would be a long day trip from Munich, 2.5 hours each way, but if you google Koenigsee you'll see why it is worth a visit on a good weather day.

Thank you JandJ !!

My first trip to Europe was in and out of Munich. I didn't spend any touring time in Munich -- I hopped immediately on a train to head to Salzburg and then headed over to the Innsbruck area (staying in Hall in Tirol). I caught Neuschwanstein on my way back to Munich, where I spent my last night night near the airport. Salzburg has fortresses/castles (Hohensalzburg and Hohenwerfen), a river, the cathedral in which Mozart played, and low mountains; charming villages are in the Salzkammergut, just to the east of Salzburg. Nearby Berchtesgaden (to the west) has some higher mountains, Königssee, and the historical Obersalzburg Complex (the southern command of the Nazis that includes Eagle's Nest); the village Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden offers a picturesque church and a wonderful hike through the Zauberwald (Magic Forest) along a rushing river to Hintersee. The Innsbruck area has mountains galore. The charming town of Mittenwald is just to the north of Innsbruck in Germany (offers a good taste of a Bavarian town) and there are several nearby cute villages in Austria.

JandJ gave you some good thoughts on Munich. I would rather do Munich + Salzburg/Berchtesgaden than take a day trip to each from Munich. Or you might think about Munich + some other Bavarian town/village.