Help again - you brilliant people !!!!

"is there a better city in Germany than Munich to have your 50th ?* - NO. Go for it. Couldn't think of a better location for a Geordie to spend his 50th.
You then have a choice; South to Neuschwanstein and the other castles at Füssen, and onwards to Austria. Possible en-route stops on way to Füssen: Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, Dinkelsbühl.
Or north to Prague, Dresden, Berlin, Hamburg and the ferry back to Newcastle.
The Austria option probably requires a flight back, or a very long re-trace of your steps.

I'm 50/50, I think you are old enough to make your own choice. Either way you are in lands of "good beer and hearty local food".

Don't miss Salzburg on this trip. It's a short train trip from Munich. It's one of the most beautiful little cities anywhere and very walkable (train station is a little hike into the old center). Spend at least a full day there before going on to Hallstatt.

Ingolstadt is about halfway from Munich to Nürnberg. Its historic center is colorful and quiet -- tourists haven't discovered it yet. Download an English-language brochure for an Ingolstadt Old Town walk here.

Or go to Bad Wörishofen, about an hour's train ride west of Munich. There you can take a flight over Neuschwanstein or the Fünfseenland in an airplane older than you -- a classic 1958 Soviet-built Antonov An-2 11-seat biplane! Advance reservation required, see here; video from last month here.

I was going to say Salzburg as well! There is a great beer hall that is in an old monastary - you MUST go there. http://www.augustinerbier.at/index.php?id=geschichte_augustiner&L=1 . Salzburg is easily accessable from Munich by train, so you could celebrate your birthday over several days... sounds wonderful to me !! There are a number of interesting sites both within and neighbouring Salzburg, so you could spend several days here. We were here for a week 25 years ago, and are going back this October - can hardly wait.

I also agree with Salzburg.

In that general area I am a big advocate for Regensburg. There is a sausage kitchen under the stone bridge which has been churning out great sausages and kraut and beer since the 1300's. Fabulous location.

You could do worse than Bamberg too; and Nuernberg is worth more than a short day trip.

Andechs just south of Munich.

Thanks folks, already some brilliant ideas, mouth watering at the thoughts of the beers and sausage. I should of added flights of anykind are out of question - my partner will not fly. I dont mind retracing steps, last year we dragged cases off train in Munich to my favourite beer garden. So already i am thinking Munich, Bertchesgarden, Salzburg as main bases-with trips from all of these. Thanks again all ideas welcome, i will try to fit as many as possible.

I'm so sorry that your travel partner is not willing to fly. The invent of the European budget air carriers has opened up travel to far away places to inexpensive and efficient travel. And they also allow you to stop at one of the big gateway airports and then fly to the end of the continent for very little money.

To those visiting London, EasyJet flies down to Munich on the cheap. And those in Munich can also fly down to Rome cheap. Flughafen München is one of those airports that has many, many air carriers with just a few flights to many, many places. Lufthansa is the only airline with many flights, but they're not inexpensive.

We took trains from Budapest to Bratislava and from Vienna to Prague in April. I'm sorry, but our train rides were hot, congested and the trains were very slow. I was just glad we were not going long distance.

Its not so much that she is not willing to fly…..she is absolutely terrified of flying, to such an extent it is bad for her, me and others around her if she flies lol. I travel extensively, its my passion, so travelling by train is a compromise (I drive trains for a living in the UK for DB Regio Tyne and Wear). Personally we found train travel from UK to Germany, cheap, efficient, pleasant, exciting, sometimes scenic and much less hassle than going through airports. We paid 30 euros each to travel first class from Cologne to Munich, 5 hours plus journey in style, read, relax, walk about when you want, have a beer when you want……..so i think both methods of travel have their own benefits, for us its going to be the train. It may well be that the trains in Germany are superior to other parts of Europe - they were certainly an improvement on much of the UK rolling stock.

I thoroughly support your other half's preferences. I hate aircraft and I hate airports. When I go to the UK (how much longer will that name be valid :-) ) I go by train if I have a choice.

My question would be, is there a better city in Germany than Munich to have your 50th ? (I like good beer and hearty local food)

Well, you get beer and hearty food in every German town. As long as you don't expect dirndls, oompah bands and pretzels I see no reason why Munich should be better than other cities. To me Berlin for example is a much better place to spend a birthday, simply because there is a much bigger variety. Just like Munich the city offers beer gardens (not just the traditional ones but also two or three newer "Bavarian" gardens, and many of them on lakes), but also beach bars, a revolving restaurant, a restaurant on top of the parliament, ship restaurants and river cruises, restaurants in palaces, citadels, transformer stations or water towers, the Adlon restaurant (great brunch!), the chocolate restaurant at Fassbender & Rausch, the restaurant at the Zoo Aquarium (great fish, no joke)... the list is endless.

I am just starting to formulate ideas, i could go onwards to Prague and Berlin and travel back to the UK via Amsterdam

This alone is a 3 weeks trip. Prague deserves at least 3-5 days, on your way from Prague to Berlin you cross Saxony and miss Dresden, Saxon Switzerland and a number of perfectly preserved towns, Berlin deserves a full week, and from Berlin to Amsterdam you cross the Harz mountains, which offer more picture-perfect towns than the Romantic Road (here is a gallery (see Quedlinburg, Stolberg, Goslar, Wolfenbüttel, Celle, Duderstadt or Wernigerode)).

Martin

To be honest i can see us coming back to Germany year after year for our main Summer holidays (we are also coming back this winter to Cologne). I think we will head for Munich and stay down in this area this time, next year i think we will head for Berlin and some of the other wonderful places you mention. I also plan to fly to Szczecin alone next year (i know its Poland now), as i have finally traced my surname to there (we are the only Kapke's in the UK).

Cheers

Paul

About train travel, I would like to address David from AL: I've not read a post about train travel being hot, congested and slow! Not what I pictured for my April trip covering the cities you mentioned. Can you elaborate?
Paul, we are traveling to celebrate my 60th :)
Thanks, Deb