Bavarian Tour

Here are some suggestions for day trips from Munich without throngs of tourists.

My favorite is to take the S8 southwestbound to the end of the line at Herrsching. Walk a couple hundred meters to the lakefront and board one of the stately paddlewheel ships which cross the Ammersee to my favorite untouristed Bavarian village, Dießen am Ammersee. Dießen is a popular destination for German weekenders, but it's not on the international tourist grid at all. Walk through Dießen up to the baroque-rococo Marienmünster Abbey (1730). Return to Herrsching by ship and take a taxi or bus, or walk three miles up a forested trail, to Kloster Andechs, where Benedictine monks have been brewing great beer since the 15th Century. (Photos of Herrsching, Dießen and Andechs here)

Or take S2 about 20 minutes from Hauptbahnhof to Oberschleißheim, and visit the magnificent, colorful Schleißheim Palaces, summer home of the Bavarian royal family. Aviation history buffs will enjoy Flugwerft Schleißheim (aviation branch of the Deutsches Museum), a short walk from the Schleißheim Palaces.

Tourists have yet to discover Ingolstadt, a charming, friendly town about halfway between Munich and Nürnberg. There are many historic buildings in the old center, including the former Anatomy Building of the University of Ingolstadt, now the German Museum of Medical History. Gardens in the courtyard are made up of medicinal herbs and plants. The building was the setting for Mary Shelley's original 1818 novel Frankenstein. Tours are available of the Audi factory, just outside the old center. Ingolstadt self-guided walking tour available here.

In Munich itself, the self-guided walking tour in Rick's Germany guidebook is excellent. It can take anywhere from two hours to two days, depending on your level of interest and curiosity.

For insight into Munich's dramatic role in the rise and fall of the Third Reich, visit the new NS Doku-Zentrum, which just opened last May. It's on Briennerstraße, on the site of the Third-Reich-era Nazi headquarters building. Führerbau (Hitler's office building, where the 1938 Munich Accord was signed) is next door, repurposed as a High School for Music and Theater. Historic Königsplatz is across the street. The City's website offers free downloadable maps and audioguides for self-guided walks tracing the history of National Socialism in Munich.

You might want to consider the Bahn Intercity bus from Prague to Munich. It's a nice bus, with a reserved seats, a bathroom, snack bar, and attendant. It goes non-stop and is about an hour faster than the train. You might get a fare as low as 19€/person.

I might suggest that you make an overnight side trip to Nördlingen. Nördlingen is a medieval town with Fachwerk buildings, an intact wall you can walk on almost completely around it, and a church tower you can climb. It's kind of a less touristy version of Rothenburg. From there you can take a day trip without luggage to Harburg (Schaben). It's an authentic castle, never destroyed. There is no public transportation in Harburg and the train station, which doesn't have lockers, is about a 1 km walk south of town. It's kind of messy to do without luggage. Or you could do just Harburg as a day trip from Munich. It's a 1½ - 2 hr trip each way from Munich. There is also a bus from Nördlingen to Dinkelbühl, but doing all this as an overnight trip would be a little too much.

Another side trip I might suggest is Munich to Oberammergau by train (change in Murnau), see Oberammergau, bus to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, then a train to Mittenwald.

Burghausen, with another intact castle, is about a two hour trip one-way from Munich.

off of the beaten path.

Lee beat me to Burghausen. The castle there is advertised as the "longest/largest" in Europe, which I guess depends on one's definition of "castle". Still, worth seeing.

Other options that pop up in English-language tourist literature less often... Landshut is a beautiful small baroque city not too far from Munich. Very colorful and large Altstadt. The main site in town is Burg Trausnitz, which overlooks the town. This castle survived centuries of warfare unscathed until a fire severely damaged it in the 1960s. What you see today is extensively renovated, and the effort to restore the interiors will be a long-term project. I visited Landshut shortly before I saw Salzburg for the first time, and the much loved city of the Sound of Music was actually a disappointment in comparison. Landshut's Altstadt is large and very colorful, Salzburg's is small and rather monochromatic.

Consider Passua as well. It's not completely off the metaphorical beaten path, because many river cruises stop there, but still worth a look. The geographical layout of the city is very similar to Pittsburgh, but of course, filled with Bavarian baroque.

Thank you all for your posts. Has anyone visited Bad Tolz, Bad Reichenhall or Ettal? any other charming towns between Munich and Salzburg? Btw - do you advise looking for a Gästhaus instead of booking a hotel?

"Has anyone visited Bad Tolz, Bad Reichenhall or Ettal?"

Well, I've been in all of them, but never overnight. I'd prefer Berchtesgadem and Oberammerbau to the last two.

A Gästehaus or a Pension is usually as nice as a hotel but lacks some of the frivolous extras like 24 hour desk or room service. If you don't need these things, a Gästehaus or Pension would be fine.

I was in Bavaria the year before last I loved it. A must see is the Konigsee..don't miss it! The surroundings are awesome and after the boat takes you there the scenery breathtaking. Restaurants are very good! I enclosed a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgn2elYuPRA