City of Munich vs day trips (with kids)

I am voting for a home base but also allowing one overnight in Salzburg .( or just do Salzburg). having been to both - I found Salzburg so charming for children . My family did a trip where we based ourselves in Paris (rented an apartment0 and then added one night in a hotel in Normandy (which gave us 2 full days). It was one night of extra expense but well worth it as we just put pjs , clean undies , socks and tee shirt , toothbrush in an overnight bag and went.

Considering that you have 2 young children, I would want to stay put and do day trips.

Munich itself has lots to do, kids will like Marienplatz, Viktualienmarkt (beer garden for adults!) ,The English Gardens ( a huge park complete with surfing).

Zugspitze is a nice day trip, kids might like being in the mountains.

And, there is Salzburg, about an hour and 1/2 by train. Kids love train rides, BTW! You know what your kids will like, and be sure to include them in your planning. Even the 3 year old:)

Diane - good thoughts on Salzburg. I have also read that Hallstatt is pretty spectacular, but also a little tough to get to, and would be especially difficult if it were only a day trip from Munich.

Charlotte - Zugspitze was also definitely on my list to consider, but it is competing with Rothenburg as well as Fussen (castles). Just not sure how many of those I should try to fit in and still be based in Munich - but definitely agree that is preferable with the kiddies (staying in one home base).

We did do a similar week in Barcelona when we only had one 3 year old. We only did one day trip (to Montserratt), and the whole week was great; I guess I was thinking that Munich would have a hard time measure up to Barcelona beyond 3-4 days.

Which do you and your children prefer, cities or the countryside/alps? I'd skip Rothenberg in favor of the Zugspitze and either Neuschwanstein or Linderhof palace (or all of them). You could base in either Fuessen, Garmisch or Mittenwald for 3 nights and see all of these and maybe more. For basing in Munich, Salzburg would top my list of day trips. "Mad" King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee palace combines some alps in the distance, a 15 minute lake ship ride to and then again from the island the palace is on and the palace is well worth visiting.

My suggestion, coming from one who doesn't really care for cities, would be a farm stay in the Berchtesgaden area for 4 nights. With a car, Berchtesgaden is a nice old town, plus it's only 30 minutes to Salzburg by car. Day trips could include Salt Mines, Konigsee boat trip, Eagles Nest, Rossfeld Panorama Road (scenic drive above Berchtesgaden), Hohenwerfen Fortress, Hallstatt (1:30 away, we did it from here), the Wolfgangsee about an hour away (including St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang), and more. We've stayed in the Berchtesgaden area 5 times for a total of 18 nights so far. As you can see, I am biased to the area.

We loved:
www.mayringerlehen.de/englisch/index.php

and:
www.friedwiese.de/enska/isl.htm

Paul

I vote using Munich as your base with maybe one night overnight somewhere if you find a place you feel as if you can't miss. My 4 year old daughter is a great traveler but I still like staying in one place if possible. I love Munich with her, she's been going there since she was 9 months old. She loves walking around the Viktualienmarkt and looking at all the fruits, veggies, cheeses, etc. She loves being able to pick out whatever fruit she wants to eat. Its also a great place for a bite to eat at the outdoor cafes. She also likes to watch and listen to the Glockenspiel in Marienplatz. Our favorite place to go though is the Munich Zoo. Lots of animals, some we don't have at the Atlanta Zoo and a beautiful walk across the river from the closest SBahn stop. The English Garden is a great place for just running around and if you walk past a Euro Store (like our Dollar Trees) you should be able to find a ball or other outdoor toys that they could play with. My husband and father-in-law always take her to a park near our hotel while I get ready in the mornings for our days out or while I'm doing laundry one day,

The past two years we have also being going to the Zugspitze. Its a beautiful ride there, no more than 2 hours one way and in our opinion worth the ticket cost. Our daughter loves the train ride to Garmisch and the cog train ride to the cable car that we ride up to the top (you can keep riding the cog train but we haven't done that yet). She loves looking through the binoculars on the top and since we go in March there is usually a big pile of snow up there that she loves to try and climb.

We have not done the castle tours yet, hoping to maybe do that next year. Your kids might also enjoy the Deutsch Museum, lots of interesting things to see in there. We also always go to Karstadt and/or Galleria to go through the toy department. There is a huge toy store and a toy museum but we didn't get the chance to do those on this past trip.

Some more Munich museums to consider are the Spielzeug (toy) museum in the Old Town Hall on Marienplatz; the Verkehrszentrum (ground transport branch of the Deutsches Museum - take U4 or U5 to Schwanthalerhöhe stop); and Flugwerft Schleißheim (aviation branch of Deutsches Museum - take S1 to Oberschleißheim stop). As an added bonus, the spectacular Schleißheim palaces (summer residence of the Wittelsbachs) are just a few steps away from the Flugwerft.

Munich is not an especially good base for day trips. With a car you have traffic of course. And many of the places you can day trip to from Munich by train take quite some time. Neuschwanstein will require 5 hours of trains and buses - plus a 30 minute walk each way to the castle - all for a 30 minute tour (not that I recommend N'stein at all!) One GOOD day trip from Munich is Ludwig II's Herrenchiemsee Palace, on an island of the same name in Lake Chiemsee - an hour on the train to Prien plus a tourist train and ferry. (Never done it with a 3-year-old, however!)

I think you'd be wise to split your stay - maybe 3 nights in Munich and 4 nights elsewhere. If you book in Berchtesgaden, besides in-town activities, you can visit the Königssee (free transport around B'gaden area with a Salzburg visitors card) and travel into Salzburg on Bus 840 quite easily (less than an hour by direct bus.)

Königssee

To get from Munich to Berchtesgaden by train, use a BAYERN TICKET day pass - €28 for the family.
BERCHTESGADEN INFO
BERCHTESGADEN ON TRIPADVISOR
BERCHTESGADEN VISITORS CARD

These are great suggestions from everybody - very helpful! Based on these I am going with Munich as base the whole time; it will give us more flexibility to decide whether to take 1 or 2 (or 3) day trips after we get a feel for how much time we want to spend in the city. Worst case we'll spring for a hotel/pension somewhere and basically double-pay for one night. Also as some have pointed out, everything will be slower with the little ones.

I am a little surprised to see the one comment that it is difficult to get to Neuschwanstein - google indicates it is about 2 hours (not 5), so I may be missing something? Regardless I will definitely look into your suggestions!

We made a day trip to Neuschwanstein from Munich; the train ride might be a fun jaunt for the children and, while the edifice is not at the top of an architectural aficionado’s list, it is visually fairy-tale like. In addition to the train trip there is also a bus trip, that is necessary. It may be a bit of a hassle with kids but not overly so. We also did a day trip to Kloster Andechus, (again a train trip and a bus). The Kloster is more an adult destination, but the beer is superb. The S-Bahn is not a long ride and the entire trip is easily done in a half-day. I agree with the suggestions to definitely visit Salzburg, perhaps even spending at least one night there. An alternative might be: to use Munich as your home base for the day you arrive plus 3 additional days (4 nights) including a day trip to Salzburg (might be a long day for the children), then reserve the balance of your time for at least a day and a half (2 nights) in the Bodense. This is about 2 hr and 45 min train travel away, but I believe there is a Bayern train pass available that will go as far as Lindau (others would know more about this than we do). You might stay in Konstanz or Friedrichshafaen with ferry rides or short bus/trains to Lindau and Meersburg. The children would likely enjoy the beach and water transportation between your visits to the lake-front towns. While we’ve not visited there, we understand Lindau and Meersburg are pleasant. At the end of your stay, you’d have a 2 hr, 45 min train trip back to Munich with the balance of that day and night in the city before departing Germany.
Just a thought.

"I am a little surprised to see the one comment that it is difficult to get to Neuschwanstein - google indicates it is about 2 hours (not 5), so I may be missing something?"

I am the one who commented that it's 5 hours - "5 hours of trains and buses" - plus a 30-minute walk up and another one back - for a round-trip outing to Neuschwanstein. Sample schedule from the DB itinerary webpages:

Lv Munich 9:53
Ar 12:15 at Hohenschwangau stop after a change in Füssen.
Lv H'schwangau stop 15:47
Ar Munich 18:05
So if you see the castle and have a quick lunch there, your whole day is pretty much toast.

Total time on trains and buses = 4 hrs. 40 min. Some take a little longer depending on connections.

I don't know what google says but I imagine it tells you it's 2 hours each way driving. Add some time and looking for (paid) parking. You still have to walk up - and it will be further if you are parking than if you are taking the bus. There's a carriage ride (€6 each) goes up part way but you still have 300 m. or so to walk after the carriage ride. Admission: Kids are free but adults pay €12 each for the crowded 30 min. tour.

All in all it doesn't sound like much fun for a toddler or his/her parents. And keep in mind that N'stein, despite its castle facade, isn't a castle, at least not a real castle. In German it's "Schloß" Neuschwanstein or "Palace Neuschwanstein" and that's because it was built in the late 19th century, several hundred years later than real castles were built, as a private home for King Ludwig II (who moved into his new fake castle and promptly died. That's about all that ever happened there.)

If you want to see a fine palace then try Nymphenburg, Ludwig's birthplace. It's right in Munich and has much more to see.

ok; I think I misunderstood you to mean 5 hrs each way - makes sense now. Thanks for the tips!

So, I realize it has been a few days since the last post in this string and you may have already booked your accommodations but I thought I would pipe in with my thoughts having travelled to this area with two young kids (now 2 and 4.5) a half dozen times.

With young kids we like to create home bases as well, so I can see the advantage of basing yourself in Munich for the whole time. However, if I were planning this trip I would be splitting my time between Munich and a base south of Munich (Mittenwald? Oberammergau? Garmisch?), which I would choose depending on whether you were traveling by train or car. Train travel will be fun for the kids the first few times but chances are having to take a 1-2 hour train trip each way on most days of your holiday will quickly become boring for them. I also like to stay in places where I can feel comfortable letting the kids (especially the 3-year-old) walk on their own without worrying about losing sight of them or having them accidentally step into traffic - it just makes for a more fun and relaxing trip for everyone - and I find this to be easier in smaller towns.

Unless you have an extremely patient, predictable and calm 3-year-old I would skip pretty much every museum - even toy museums - on this trip.

I would completely skip the tour of Neuschwanstein (it's not as great as it is hyped up to be in my opinion, anyway). Visit the castles and tour Hohenschwangau (the more interesting of the two in my opinion) but the 3-year-old's patience will likely be exhausted by the time you get to the Neuschwanstein tour and you won't be able to enjoy it properly. I would spend a fair bit of time at Linderhof Castle instead. The grounds make for a great (safe!) place for the kids to run and play, the fountains are fascinating to little ones and the castle and other tours are relatively short and still very impressive. Take a picnic for your lunch and eat it on the lawn overlooking the fountains and palace if you go!

Herrenchiemsee Palace would make a fun day trip for everyone, too. The combination of boat ride, exploring the island (possibly seeing deer) and then suddenly coming upon the Versailles-like palace would make a great adventure. By then you would probably have bought yourself enough 3-year-old good will to actually enjoy the tour of the Palace, too!

I love the suggestion of Andechs. It is a lovely walk to get there, the Kloster is stunning, and the setting in the beer garden is fun for both adults and children. In Herrsching, where you start your walk or pick up the bus to Andechs, you can take a lovely walk or boat trip along the lake, if you have time.

Definitely take them walking in the Englisher Garten, stop to watch the surfers, rent a paddle boat and plan lunch at one of the beer gardens there - the Chinesischer Turm biergarten often has live Oompah-music. There is a big toy store at Karlsplatz (one end of the pedestrian zone from Marienplatz in Munich) that might be fun to visit and pick up a treat for them. Our kids loved the Munich zoo.

Oberammergau was a nice visit for us, as the town is wonderfully charming and it is small enough that there was limited traffic so we felt comfortable letting the kids wander on their own a little further than usual. There are a couple of bridges over the river with ducks swimming in the current. Oh, and there are a couple of fun Eis Cafes where you can get them a fancy-schmancy ice cream sundae.

I hope you find some of these suggestions useful. Enjoy your trip!