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Advice needed for first-time Munich/Salzburg/Fussen trip this July

Posted by (Pittsburgh, PA) on

I'm in the very initial phases of trying to sketch out a mother-daughter trip to Germany in early July 2025.
(FYI, daughters are 20 & 22. 22 yo will be taking the train to meet us from Florence, after finishing up a study abroad trip.)

We want to both do a combo of the popular/touristy things (Sound of Music tour in Salzburg and King's Castles in the Bavarian Alps), plus wander around off the beaten path and get the flavor of the little towns in the Alps/hike/bike, and explore the rest of Salzburg.

Right now, my research is showing flights aren't that available to/from our location in the US to Salzburg, but Munich seems to be no problem. While I'm hearing great things about Munich, I'm wondering if three sleeping destinations in 10 nights is too hectic, along with the travel between locations? IF we can fly into Munich and out of Salzburg, or vice versa, would could split our time evenly between the Fussen areas of the Alps and and Salzburg instead. I'll be keeping an eye on SZG flights to see if more are scheduled as we get into the new year...

Here are two possible ways it could work out... any thoughts??

10 nights-- four in Fussen area, four in Salzburg, 2 in Munich
july 2: fly overnight
july 3: arrive Munich/train to Salzburg (2 hrs)
july 3, 4, 5, 6-- four nights in Salzburg/ three full days
july 7 -- depart szg/ train to Fussen (4 hrs)
july 7, 8, 9, 10--four nights in Fussen/alps/ three full days
july 11-- depart for Munich/2 hrs.
july 11, 12, -- tour Munich--2 nights, 1.5 days
july 13 --depart Munich for home

OR
10 nights-- five in each location
july 2: fly overnight
july 3: arrive Munich, 2 hr. train to Fussen-- stay july 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
july 8: 4 hr. train to Salzburg
july 8, 9, 10, 11, 12
july 13: fly home from Salzburg

We'd also *like to keep to public transportation, unless someone can convince me driving around the Alps would be easy/not stressful. On past trips to Europe, when we've gone as a whole family, my husband drives.

Posted by
9075 posts

Noting that Salzburg is a small regional airport with few flights. It's close enough to Munich that R/T from Munich would be more doable. You could do Munich>Salzburg>Füssen>Munich by train to save some time.

Posted by
7167 posts

Prior to planning your hotel nights, I would suggest you look in greater detail at your activities. Wandering, getting the flavor of places, and hiking/biking are all nice things to do, for sure. But I think it's best to pin things down a little more. The SOM tour is a small part of a 4-5 night stay... what else will you do there on the other days, and what besides the King's "castles" will you want to undertake in Füssen? It could turn out that you will want extra time for Salzburg (if Hallstatt, or Hohenwerfen Castle/falconry show, or the SOM Trail, or the Koenigssee, or the Eisriesenwelt Ice cave, or the Eagles Nest are priorites.) Or maybe you are going to want some day trips from Füssen (Highline 179? Linderhof Palace? Or...?) which may call for more time there.

Often left out of the frenzy over King Ludwig II is Herrenchiemsee, the island palace in between Munich and Salzburg. Is that on your list? If so, you'll want to build in a stopover in Prien en route. Not hard to do, just requires some planning.

Munich > Füssen: this is actually a THREE-hour journey from MUC Airport with 2 or more changes of train. MUC to Salzburg will take 2.5 hours with at least one change of train. I would choose to stay in Munich on that first day/night. There's no way to know up front whether or how much your flight will be delayed, and a long train ride after an overnight flight is an aggravation. You could see some of Munich on Day 1 and more of Munich the next day if you wish, then travel at whatever hour you wish to either Salzburg or Füssen on Day 2.

If you end up flying rt out of MUC, that's not a bad thing. Your final day could be filled with sightseeing/activities, followed by a pm train from Salzburg, Füssen, Prien, or wherever, to an airport hotel location, or to Freising (small nice town near the airport, easy ride to the terminal.)

Posted by
576 posts

I used to fly in and out of the airport in Salzburg with some regularity. I never had a problem doing that.
Public transportation is pretty good in the area and the taxi service to and from always worked for me. The airport is very close to town.
If you think it makes sense to fly in and out of there, go for it.
I generally took a flight from Frankfurt but I also connected there from Spain and Portugal.

Posted by
113 posts

Thanks for the food for thought!

I'm definitely delving deeper into activities to determine how many days for sure we want in each place.

However, I'd say we typically don't plan our Europe trips to the hilt, but rather have a few booked activities/must-sees in each location and then a "menu" of possible choices on other days, which we choose from, depending upon our energy level, recommendations we might get from a local host, etc.

But, it does seem like the more I look into it, the more Salzburg and the surrounding area has to offer! Far more than just a token SOM day trip from Munich (not that we ever wanted to do just that, anyway!)...

Posted by
217 posts

Planning hike in the Füssen area I can recommend a trip to the Kenzenhütte near Halblech a small village 12km/15min northeast of Füssen.Go from Füssen by car via Schwangau Buching towards Halblech (alternate Bus 73 from Füssen)

The tour starts from the Kenzen Car Park a the Halblech River 500m after you have left the Village of Buching
Signposted on the road Follow sign to Kenzenparkplatz (Car Park)

From there a small Bus takes you to the Kenzenhütte were you can have refreshments and or a meal and walk to the Waterfall
and or start hiking tours in the mountains

Here some reviews on tripadvisor

Another short walk to castle ruins 12km/15 min west of Füssen

Drive to Eisenberg-Zell and there to the Schlossbergalm (alternate Bus56 from Füssen)

From there start the walk to the ruins of the two castles next to each other
Afterwards have refreshments and or a meal at the Schlossbergalm

Reviews on tripadvisor

Also recommended a walk around Alatsee alternate up to Salober Alm 40 min hike up from Car Park Alatsee

Lake Alatsee 6km/10min from Füssen Restaurant at the Lake Walk round the Lake 45min

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