As part of our Christmas trip, we plan to use Oberammergau as a base for also visiting Ettal and Linderhof, the Wieskirche, and Fussen with it's castles. We would please like advice about either renting a car in Garmisch or using the local bus system from Oberammergau to reach these destinations. Has anyone taken local busses from Oberammergau to these places? Your thoughts? Is snow an issue for driving in December? All input is welcome!
Noone can predict weather conditions for you. This will help:
https://www.ammergauer-alpen.de/urlaubsplanung/anreise/zug-und-busfahrplaene
If there is snow at all in December then you usually have a lot of snow in the area around Oberammergau. Since the rental cars have winter tires, it shouldn't be a problem to drive when there's a lot of snow.
Has anyone taken local busses from Oberammergau to these places?
It's been a few years now, but in 2007, I spent two nights in Oberammergau. For the day between nights, I took the bus from Oberammergau to Linderhof. I took the morning bus, about 9 AM as I remember. There were several return buses in the afternoon, so I could stay as long as I wanted to and still get back.
Then, on the day after the final night I started my trip up the Romantic Road, beginning in Wieskirche, which I reached on a bus from Oberammergau. On the bus to Wieskirche were two people from my Gasthaus who were going on to Füssen for the day.
It was just that simple, really. I did it in October. I have no idea about the weather will be like in December. I was in southern Germany in late December, early January, 2001-2, and we had considerable snow, but everyone said it was unusual.
However, the days were really, really short. That will be the same this year, too.