Haven't done much research yet on Germany, but taking the train there mid-October after 8 days in Venice. Thinking of staying a night in Innsbruck on the way, then last 5 nights in Munich. Does the pocket guide to Munich & Salzburg cover day trips outside Munich/castles or would it be better to get the full Germany book? Also, if anyone has thoughts on best place to stop between Venice and Munich or alternates nearby via train, we haven't fully decided. Thank you!
Posted by
Paradise
8230 posts
Castles near Salzburg: be sure to visit Hohenwerfen with falconry exhibition (in the town of Werfen)
If you are thinking "castles" and Munich are synonymous, they aren't. Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau (the "King's Castles") are actually residential palaces that lie far outside Munich near the town of Fuessen. If you wish to visit/tour those, then staying in Fuessen or nearby is the way to go.
Nymphenburg Palace and the Residenz Palace are both in Munich.
In between Munich and Salzburg is Herrenchiemsee Palace, on an island in Lake Chiemsee (huge lake near Prien, also known as the "Bavarian Ocean."
The Rhine River Valley and its tributary the Mosel is Germany's hot spot for real medieval castles. On the Rhine there are 40 castles in 40 miles of river valley, including Marksburg Castle. Burg Eltz is the top Mosel-area Castle.
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
12429 posts
If it were me and I was going from Venice to Munich, I would probably stop in Salzburg and spend at least one night there, if not more. Salzburg is just beautiful, and it's a lovely town to visit. It's a little more than half way, but it would still be a good stopping point. It would be about 6 1/2 to 7 plus hours by train from Venice, and a little less by car. I would choose the train as you really don't need cars in the cities and ithey can be a hindrance.
With regards to guidebooks, Rick Steves actually has a very good guidebook for Germany, especially for your destination. I don't think you can go wrong using that. You can get a lot of information here on the website as well. For example, here is his section on Munich from the forum: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/germany/munich And here is the Salzburg page: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/austria/salzburg
That would give you a start, but if you want a more in-depth look, you might want to check out your library's collection of guidebooks there. A lot of them can be found via Libby so that you can save them to your Kindle or your phone and read the e-books.
Posted by
Maryland
1190 posts
For Munich area castles for day tripping you can always look at the Bavaria Palace Administration website which has lots of information.
https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Wow. Thank you all for your great rundowns of the area and ideas and resources!! So much to decide on. Much appreciated! :)
Posted by
297 posts
"If it were me and I was going from Venice to Munich, I would probably stop in Salzburg" in that case you would probably be lost, Salzburg isn't on the way from Venice to Munich by normal train.
Innsbruck is a good choice for the stop, there are a few direct trains from Venice to Innsbruck, the best departs at 11:35 and takes just shy of 5 hours. Tickets from https://www.oebb.at/ cheapest several weeks in advance
And by staying in Innsbruck you can continue to Munich on regional trains via the mountain route through Garmisch
Posted by
Duluth, MN🌲
12429 posts
in that case you would probably be lost, Salzburg isn't on the way from Venice to Munich by normal train.
No, I don't think I would be lost. Some of us still use maps and know where we're going. 😊 The OP could easily get to Salzburg from Venice. It's a long train ride, but it would be an even longer one directly to Munich, and is certainly not much more difficult than stopping in Innsbruck (one quick connection). They could stay in Salzburg for a couple of nights, which is well worth the time as it's a lovely city with gorgeous scenery, wonderful architecture, and so much to see and do there. They could then be in Munich an hour and a half later.
If the OP wants to visit Innsbruck, that is their option, of course, but that is no reason to discount other options that are available.