fussen or mittenwald

Need to see your itinerary. I think Füssen is nice if you want to see Ludwigs castles. Mittenwald is nice village. Touristic, but not overcome yet. No castle there. Wilder in south of Bavaria.

We always stayed in Garmisch.

Most of the Alpin cows are higher up in the mountain pastures. Hard to say, but many ski hills that the lifts are running in summer will get you there. Maybe Ehrwald or Berwang, Austria? You need to get up were the Alm are. You don't have to be a mountain climber. Listen for the bells and watch your step. Don't touch them or provoke them. Talk to them.

We stayed in Füssen in 2019 at Mein Lieber Schwan as a guest of Herr Blechauer. It was recommended in the guidebook at the time (IDK if it still is). We only stayed one night and I was deeply sorry that we didn't stay longer. Herr Blechauer was such a lovely man who was (rightly) proud of the accommodations. And, they were so plush and lovely for just one one night. There's a döner place in Füssen where brothers are quite friendly and offer a comfortable and casual atmosphere - all the school kids eat there on their lunch break. It was easy to walk to many things and there was more to do than just the palaces.

I can't speak to Mittenwald. I'm sorry that I can't offer a comparison. I simply wanted to share that I chose for us to go to Füssen in our trip planning and I enjoyed it so much I wished I had stayed longer.

ETA: We walked from Neuschwanstein to the cable car nearby. It was an easy walk through woods and fields and we got to go right by many cows with their bells on. I remember texting my Vati a video of "Alpen Musik". It was one of my favorite travel memories. So, you could see cows in Füssen too. ;)

Last September we stopped off at Mittenwald en route from Chiemsee to Fussen. We had thought we'd spend half a day there, and ended up spending most of the day! If you are interested in the violin "family" there is the Geigenbaum Museum (Violin Museum), featuring both music history and craftsmanship. The old town was a great area for shopping and lunch. In the afternoon we headed to the Leutaschklamm Gorge, where we spent a couple of hours hiking in a beautiful area that was not at all busy. We didn't see any cows in Mittenwald, as we were there too early in the month.

When you say, "see cows", are you talking about the annual Viehscheid or Almabtrieb, where the cows are driven down from the meadows to the town for the winter? It occurs in Mittenwald on Sept 17 in 2023.

I don't know about trying to stop in Mittenwald and time it with the arrival in town of the cows. It might be better to plan on staying in Mittenwald for an entire day and passing through Füssen on the way to Munich.

However, due to track maintenance between Mittenwald and Garmisch-Partenkirchen and between GaP and Reutte, traveling between Mittenwald and Füssen will be problematic at that time.

By the way, I don't know why it is such a big thing when they bring the cows down from the meadows for the winter in town. I was in Schölang, Germany (just down the river from Oberstdorf) in the early spring of 2002, and the cows were still in the barns. The town reeked! I would think after smelling cows all winter, the big celebration should be when they finally get them out of town and back to the meadows.

Having seen both (while staying in Garmisch), Füssen struck me as the place to go for plenty of services for tourists - lots of hotels, places to eat, etc. Lots of tour groups as a staging area for the castles (and it's very convenient to the castles). Mittenwald was much quieter, and like another commenter, I ended up spending a lot more time there than I had planned. Both towns were pretty but I found Mittenwald much more charming. Can't help you with the cows.

Thank you for your replies.
I have decided to stay in mittenwald and maybe see the cows and hike the gorge.