My 19 year old son & I will arrive evening of 6/2 in Munich and fly out of Munich 6/8. We would like to tour the following areas:
1. Dachau
2. Marienplatz square/tour
3. Zugspritz
4. Neuschwanstein
5. Salzburg tour
6. Berchtesgaden/Konigssee lake/Eagles nest
Is this reasonable to cover in basically 5-6 days? Should we base out of Munich for a few nights, then stay a few nights in Berchtesgaden? Car or train?
Can #3 & 4 be done in 1 day? I believe we can cover Salzburg in 1 day. So a possible itinarary could be:
Sat - Dachau/Munich
Sun - Neuschwanstein/Zugspritz
Mon - Salzburg
Tue/Wed - Berchtesgaden
Thur - back to Munich and depart
Recommendations for hotel would be appreciated as well.
Thank you!
I like the latter half of you itinerary better than the first. I saw everything I wanted to see in Salzburg in a day, but you need to research it and plan well. I've done Berchtesgaden three times in two days each. Plan to spend a whole day seeing the Eagles Nest and the Dokumentation Center at the base of the mountain.
However, I don't think one full day would do Munich justice even if you did not include Dachau the same day.
What are you going to do at Zugspitze? Go to the top, say "Zugspitze, check", then come back down? By the time you spend enough time on the Zugspitze to justify the $100 plus cost of the round trip to the top, you won't have time for Neuschwanstein, particularly if you have to leave Hohenschwangau early to make it to Salzburg before too late.
I guess I'd do it Neuschwanstein-Zugspitze-Berchtegaden-Salzburg to avoid doubling back.
No way can you see Dachau and Munich in the same day. You can probably do this by train/bus, but you will have much more flexibility with a car. Without a car I think you'll have to pare down your wish list.
If you are staying in Fussen or Garmisch and have a car I would think that you could do Neuschwanstein and the Zugspitze in one very ful/longl day. You would need to book your Neuschwanstein tickets well in advance in order to get a specific tour time, and also allow time to walk or take a bus or carriage up to the schloss from the town of Fussen. So a round trip from Fussen to Neuschwanstein and back, including the tour will probably take the best part of four hours, maybe longer.
I would think (I have not been up the Zugspitze so I would expect others can help) that a round trip of the Zugspitze would also take about four hours from its base. If you allow an hour for the drive from Fussen to the Zugspitze base then it would take nine hours +/-. So I think it's doable in one day.
I was disappointed by the interior of Neuschwanstein - others do not agree with me! I would recommend an alternative, but it will probably take as long - if time is a concern. There is a bus which will take you up to the Marienbrucke. This bridge has an excellent view of Neuschwanstein and the plains and lakes beyond. After enjoying the view you can then either take the bus back to town or walk down the footpath to Neuschwanstein and then the road back to Fussen.
Assuming that you have booked your Neuschwanstein tour at 9am (i.e., you pick up your tickets at 8am!), you could be back to your car by 11:30. Driving time to the Tyrolean Zugspitzbahn in Ehrwald is approx 1:15 so that you might get your tickets by 1pm. The cable car goes up to the summit in approx. 15 minutes, last descend is around 5pm. From the Bavarian side (Garmisch) it would take longer, since from 3rd of April the cable car will out of service (reconstruction work) and only the cog wheel train will be operating.