Day trips from Munich

If you want to see really spectacular mountains and a beautiful lake, go to Berchtesgaden. Only thing is it is a bit of a long trip for a day.

For lakes, there are lakes in the foothills south of Munich - Kochelsee, Tegernsee, and Schliersee - the lakes are beautiful, but the mountains are a little less spectacular than those of Berchtesgaden. You can get to that area by taking a regional train or S-Bahn to Holzkirchen, then one of the three branches of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB).

Another trip might be to take the train south to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, to see the Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany, and then take the RVO (Regionalverkehr Oberbayern) bus to Kochel. The ride alongside of the Walchensee is very pretty, as is the trip down the switchbacks to Kochelsee. Continue by bus to Bad Tölz, then take the train back to Munich.

Actually, Füssen has a pretty large lake and the mountains behind it, although nothing like in Berchtesgaden, are pretty, with Neuschwanstein perched on the side.

Lastly, no lakes, but lovely Alpine mountains. Take the train south-west to Immenstadt and take the spur line up the Illertal to Oberstdorf, one of Germany's major ski resorts. Take the Walserbus up into the Austrian valley, Kleinwalstertal, for some great mountain scenery.

Sorry, Charles but you're missing one of the great cities of Europe--one worthy of a 4 day visit. Munich has great beer halls, the Nymphenburg Palace and the downtown palaces are a real treat. It also has the Deutsche's Museum which is one of the really great science and engineering museums. The English Gardens is a great park to spend the afternoon in. Dachau is another site that's well worth visiting. The Bavarians are very lively people and a lot of fun.

Southern Bavaria is very beautiful scenery with cities like Fuessen and Garmisch. But it's the western Tirol 100 miles south of Munich that I really enjoy traveling through--by rental car. I went to college in Innsbruck, and could see 50 peaks over 10,000' tall outside my dorm window. The Austrian Alps is absolutely stunning. You can also go east and north to Salzburg which is another very popular tourist town.

Thanks, Lee! Googled some of those suggestions and they are beautiful. Will prioritize based on the time and ease of access. Do we need to book train tickets in advance?

Thanks, David - I will spend a day in Munich and see the sights you've recommended. I gave up beer due to health issues and somehow museums are not just our thing. So probably the palace and the English garden and may be a walking tour.

Appreciate your help Lee and David.

Cheers

Charles

Do we need to book train tickets in advance?

No in fact there are many inexpensive tickets available at the time of travel. First is the Bayern Ticket which costs 23 EUR plus 5 EUR for each additional rider, up to 5 maximum traveling together. You must travel after 9 am weekdays. Then you can travel the rest of the day on all regional trains, buses, trams, U-bahns, S-bahns in Bavaria. On weekends, travel anytime. You have to buy out of a kiosk (vending machine), other wise a flat 2 EUR service fee when using the manned ticket window. And write all your names on the back of the ticket.
https://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany-regional/bavaria-ticket.shtml
There are also other slightly cheaper tickets for specific areas. Like the Werdenfels Ticket.
http://www.gapa.de/blobs/flyer_tickets_werdenfels_en.pdf

Booking in advance will get you discounted prices for express trains (ICE/IC/EC/RJ), not regional trains (RE/RB/ALX/Meridian, et al). You can also book reservations for the express trains, but not for the regional trains. Almost all of the trains that run in southern Bavaria are regional trains. (You will find a few express trains on the routes Munich to Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Lindau, but in my opinion, they are not fast enough to justify the higher cost.)

Kochelsee, Tegernsee, and Schliersee - ... You can get to that area by taking a regional train or S-Bahn to Holzkirchen, then one of the three branches of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB).

Actually just take the BOB from the Hauptbahnhof and you'll save time and hassle. You can get a day ticket for the BOB only or a MVV inner zone plus BOB day ticket to get to these areas. Personally I'd recommend these areas over Berchtesgaden for a day trip (Berchtesgaden needs more than a day trip). Tegernsee is my favorite. If the weather is nice head there for lunch at the Tegernsee Bräustüberl and then take the cable car to the top of Wallberg for a nice hike. All within an hour of downtown Munich.

DJ

Appreciate your helpful suggestions. Have decided to add a couple of more days in bavaria to see bertchesgaden.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Charles

Here are some suggestions for day trips from Munich.

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 S1 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.

Not sure if this is your cup of tea....we highly recommend renting bikes in Fusson and spending time riding around the lake. Nothing nicer than listening to cows and their bells on Bavaria hillsides and meadows. We took our time, stopped for lunch. It was a blast.

Spent 2 weeks in Munich in June 2013. Check out Mike's Bikes Tours, we enjoyed their city tour and the castle tour. Going back this summer to enjoy more of the city. PS you can enjoy the Bier Halls without drinking beer.

Maybe group tours aren't for everyone, but they're for me. I sit back, relax, somebody drives me somewhere and tells me what I'm looking at. I've down 3 Evan Evans bus daytrips in London, and in July I'll be in Munich for 6 nights and have Radius Tours booked -- all day to Neuschwanstein Castle, all day to Nuremburg, and half day to Dachau. Plus a 3-hour city tour and a beer dinner. Can't wait!

we just got back from two weeks in Germany/Czech and spent about 4 days in Munich. We did one really long day trip using the Bayern ticket--which is a great deal--to both Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. We caught the first train after 9am from the Oost station to Berchtesgaden and spent a couple hours visiting the Eagles Nest. The weather was perfect and the scenery was probably some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The view from the top of the mountain is breathtaking. From there we caught a bus from Berchtesgaden to Salzburg and arrived in town around 4pm. I know we didn't do the city much justice, but we spent the first hour or so walking around the gardens and old town. My fiance suggested going up the elevator in the museum of modern art and that was the best move we could've made with our time. The view from the top of the hill was extraordinary and we took some amazing sunset photos of the castle, etc. We finished with dinner and beers at the Augustiner beer garden and caught a 9 or 10pm train back to Munich. It was a very long and exhausting day and may not be for everybody, but it was probably our favorite day on our trip. As far as other things to do in Munich, we spent a ton of time in the English gardens. Renting bikes and cruising to the different beer gardens within the park was a blast. Each beer garden had cheap beer and really good food. After said beer gardens, I also jumped in the river after watching a few Germans do it, so that was fun lol. The current is insanely strong so i don't really recommend it unless you don't mind floating down the river for a while or jumping in a calm part of it. It was very refreshing after a few beers on a hot day though!