Beautiful scenic countryside/villages near Munich

I was thinking since Mittenwald and oberammergau are so nearby we could visit both in one day, but we do not have a car and it seems trains are not easily connected between the two.

There are buses from Oberammergau to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (approx. 40 min.), where you can transfer to the train to Mittenwald (you can do that in Oberau, between Oberammergau and Garmisch as well). From Mittenwald there are hourly direct trains to Munich, leaving Mittenwald at minute 36. For details look up www.db.com.

We found Oberammergau to be a disappointment for us. Way too many religious themed wood carving shops. Seems the entire place is for tourists wanting to buy souvenirs. Just our take on it. Garmisch and Mittenwald are easy together. Mittenwald, in our opinion, is the post card perfect Bavarian village with and alpine backdrop. We've stayed there twice. Have lunch or coffee and pastries at the Der kleiner Kartoffelsack in the pedestrian zone. Sit outside and relax and people watch. Salzburg is beautiful, and easy to see on foot in a relatively short time.

Paul

Oberammergau is easy to get to from Munich (change trains in Murnau). From Oberammergau it is about 20 minutes by bus to Linderhof. Go out to Oberammergau and visit Linderhof the first day, spend the night in Oberammergau, then go to Mittenwald the next day.

I'd stay here. It's about a block from the train/bus station and very reasonably priced for Oberammergau.

This region is special to me. Both Oberammergau and Mittenwald are worth a visit but I would not consider either breathtakingly beautiful villages. Oberammeragau is pretty, Mittenwald even more so. By public transport I'm assuming a long day on the road to visit both.
A few other options, small towns with pretty centres, all within easy reach by public transport: 1) Landsberg am Lech, with a stop at Kloster Furstenfeld along the way. 2) Weilheim and onto Murnau. 3) Bad Tolz. I love towns on rivers in general.

Try this. http://www.tourismus.prien.de/en/chiemsee/herreninsel.htm Nice little walk from the train to the dock, then boat out to the Island. Nice little restaurant on the Island and a copy of Versailles!!

We did this several years ago, stayed in Munich and took day trips, all using trains, all easy...Wurzburg and Salzburg, Nuremberg.

Thank you everyone for the excellent responses. I will look into each suggestion and plan accordingly. We already have our hotel booked in Munich, these are all day trip suggestions I needed.

Try this. http://www.tourismus.prien.de/en/chiemsee/herreninsel.htm Nice little walk from the train to the dock, then boat out to the Island. Nice little restaurant on the Island and a copy of Versailles!!

The Chiemsee trip combines nicely with the cable car ride up to the Kampenwand. Short train trip from Prien to Aschau, short walk to the station at the bottom, great views, several alpine huts that offer drinks and snacks.

ok, so a few more questions, albeit a bit confusing.

We have our hotel in Munich for 6 nights. We plan to spend two full days in Munich. Rest would be surroundings.

So these are the trips we have sort of narrowed down now:
Salzburg (from the replies it seems worth it)
Neuschweinstein castle
Mittenwald + Garmisch

Now for the 4th day, I will look into some of the above mentioned suggestions, but I have a question about Neuschwenstein castle. It seems Linderhof castle is way better. Even though it is near to the other castle, there is no train or bus connecting the two. So the only option is a conducted tour which is pricey. Or rent a car perhaps. Any suggestions on doing it on our own? Both castles in one day?

Second question, how is Innsbruck? Is it more of a big city or something like a postcard picture town? I should have stayed in the south instead of Munich so these were easily doable but now our choice is to stay in Munich and only do day trips, all in the same region.

Is there any place in Tyrol other than Innsbruck which is very scenic that we can visit via train/bus?

Any place near Salzburg that we can visit via train? To keep in mind that Salzburg itself is a day trip.

Thank you all in advance.

Lubitsch-thank you. I agree, they are all in the same location and hence I mentioned that I made a mistake of booking all nights in Munich. But we will be flying to US and spending 5 days in Barcelona before heading to Munich. This means we would have seen a lot of museums and focus would be buildings and architecture. Hence want to see more of countryside. Regensberg was dropped off (or not considered for that reason) and hence want to spend time in places like Mittenwald and Garmisch. Would you have such suggestions?

A very easy and inexpensive day trip from Munich would be to go to my favorite Bavarian village, Dießen am Ammersee. The town is not on the international tourist grid at all, though it is quite popular with German weekenders. It is known for its sailing schools and annual pottery market. It has changed very little since my first visit there in 1968.

Take the S8 southwestbound from Munich to the end of the line at Herrsching. Walk a couple hundred meters from the S-Bahn stop to the lakefront, and take one of the stately paddle-wheel ships across the Ammersee to Dießen. Walk through the town up the hill to the baroque Marienmünster Abbey (1732).

Returning to Herrsching by ship, take a taxi or bus, or walk some 5 km up a forested trail, to the Andechs Monastery, where Benedictine monks have been brewing great beer since the 15th Century.

Looks interesting. Will need to write it down. Thank you.