A week in Bavaria

We lived in Augsburg, Germany, about 50 miles west of Munich , for four years and loved it. It is worth several hours of visiting the downtown area and Fuggeri.

The Romantic Road has several interesting walled medieval towns are are worth visiting. https://www.romanticroadgermany.com

The Black Forest area including Baden-Baden, Triberg and Titisee are interesting as well. Between the two areas, you have The Bodensee (Lake Constance).

The drive between the two areas is scenic.

I like the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area quite a bit. Lots of lodging choices and lots of interesting things to do amid beautiful scenery. A week is not too long for Bavaria!

The Herren Chiemsee palace between Munich and Salzburg is interesting. It is built on an island in the Chiemsee. It is the largest of King Ludwig's palaces. Recent threads on Nuremberg, Bamberg, and Coburg also have good information. The Erdinger Weissbrau restaurant in Erding has great food.

As long as you are going to Oberammergau, do stop (or maybe stay) in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Lovely place to spend some time.

Don’t miss Mittenwald by GP.

Here are a few things we liked in the greater Berchtesgaden area that you may enjoy:
Rupertustherme in Bad Reichenhall - very different from Therme Erding; much quieter and serene
Seisenbergklamm - 50 min drive from Berchtesgaden
and of course: Mt. Jenner and the Koenigsee boat ride

We loved Hotel Edelweiss there but it's certainly not the most price conscious choice in the area.

Is a week too long in Bavaria?

I spent 5 days just in Berchtesgaden a few years ago. My thought would be that a week barely scratches the surface of southern Bavaria. You have a lot of good recommendations above for places to stop.

comfortable places to stay

For Berchtesgaden, I stayed at a place in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden that only accepts week-long reservations now. Ramsau, though, is gorgeous and is a good place to stay while in the Berchtesgaden area.

scenic drive ideas

The Rossfeldpanoramastrasse was built in the late 1930's for the purpose of showing off the beauty of the Berchtesgaden area to foreign dignitaries who came to visit Germany's WWII leader at the Obersalzburg complex. Included on the highway is the film location where the movie von Trapp family crossed the Austrian Alps into Germany under the watchful eye of... uhh... Eagles Nest to... uhh... escape the Nazis. There is a small fee to drive the road.

Shawna's recommendation on the Königssee boat ride is a good one. Take it to the Salet stop at the far end of the lake and take the flat, easy 15-minute walk to see the Instagram-perfect boat shed on Obersee (along with a lot of Instagrammers getting their Instagram-perfect photo). To avoid the Instagrammers, get to Königssee in time to catch the first boat across the lake in the morning.

If you have an interest in the WWII history of the area, consider a group or private tour with Eagles Nest Historical Tours. https://www.eagles-nest-tours.com/

Enjoy your trip!

Since you’re driving, we love staying in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden at Pension Mayringerlehen. We’ve stayed here 5 times for a total of 18 nights. Beautiful alpine area, wonderful family are the hosts/owners, and it’s a real working organic farm with not shortage of animals! Goats, cows, chickens and more.

Rossfeld Panorama Road, Konigssee, Jennerbahn, Salt Mine, Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride), Eagles Nest, and Salzburg is an easy 40 minute drive away. You could spend your entire time based here and never run out of things to see and do. We still want to go back!!

www.mayringerlehen.de

We can also highly recommend staying in nearby Schonau am Konigssee at:

www.friedwiese.de

We stayed here for our Christmas Market trip in late Nov, as the Mayringerlehen was closed at that time. Loved our stay here also!

Want to stay in a remote spot but not far from Füssen the lakes and castles`?

Check Eisenberg-Speiden im Allgäu a nice little village of about 40 homes with

Hotel Christine

the Local Brewery

Wood carving shop

the local church

two castle ruins near Schlossbergalm 4km from the Hotel

Something beside the huge tourist attractions like Neuschwanstein Castle 15km from the Hotel

Check Eisenbergs tourist website

Edit says its a 3hrs senic drive from Zurich with stop in Bregenz or Lindau at Lake Constance

Who needs AI when we have RSTI (Rick Steves Travelers' Intelligence)?

Many thanks for all the great information!