Itinerary update - Feedback needed

Driving or train ?

Too much to do on one day - Oct. 2

I'll be traveling on trains the whole time.
I can skip Wurzburg & Bamberg. Just spend the whole day around Rothenberg on Oct 2nd.
How does that sound ?

I really like Rothenburg so I think that's a good idea

Oct-3 : Travel to Munich early AM- Day sightseeing (Store locker in some station) . Check in hotel late night(Sleep @ - Munich)<<

Why not just check into your Munich hotel in the am? We have always been able to at least check in/drop luggage even if room is not ready.

4.Is Fussen a ideal home base for Bavarian castles & hiking trails at Garmisch ? Or should I avoid Fussen and stay at Munich and do day trips ?

Other's may disagree but personally I would stay in Munich and just do the castles as a day trip by car for a couple of reasons (I've done it both ways several times):

• The trip to Füssen is less than 2 hours by car so its still a reasonable day trip so not packing and unpacking.
• Car allows you to take your time and stop along the way there or back, I always recommend people stop at the Wieskirche for a picnic lunch and a nice walk.
• Munich is as good as a base for Garmisch as Füssen (maybe better). Direct train connections every hour. Munich has good connections with other Alpine areas as well if your heart is not set on GaP. I'm partial to hiking in the Tegernsee and Lenggries areas using the BOB train.

If you stay in Munich the whole time you can probably bump that last travel day and give yourself an extra day in Dresden.

DJ

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes. I'll try to do early check in at hotels wherever possible to avoid using the lockers.

Making Munich as the base instead of Fussen sounds good. Can I still manage that if I don't have the car and need to take trains everyday to Castles / Garmisch / Alps regions?

I would be glad to add a day for Dresden but not sure where I can cut a day ? Berlin / Munich ?

Making Munich as the base instead of Fussen sounds good. Can I still manage that if I don't have the car and need to take trains everyday to Castles / Garmisch / Alps regions?

If renting a car is an issue it's still possible to do Füssen as a day trip by train you will just miss out on the ability to stop along the way. The train takes just over 2 hours with one change. You can do the whole trip using a Bayern ticket as long as its after 9am on a weekday. So one option would be to take the train at 9:53 arriving in Füssen at 10:55am, grab some lunch, walk to the castles (if you are a runner like me the 5km is not an issue plus you get to see a to more walking than taking a taxi or bus), take an afternoon tour of the castles, take the 5:52 or 6:62pm train back to Munich arriving at 7:55 or 8:55pm. It's a long day but I'd prefer that to packing up and staying in Füssen then doing day trip from Füssen.

Similar day trips can be had to Garmisch/Alps regions but the train ride is direct and shorter.

DJ

DJ, That sounds great. I'll just make Munich my base Oct 3-10th. Thanks for tips.

Advice- keep a flexible schedule if you want to hike in the Alps. You can never count on suitable weather unless you have a short-term weather forecast, and even then, the Alps make their own micro-climate. If this is an important activity to you, then don't try to pin-point it to a single day in advanced. Let the weather dictate your schedule while you're there.

Although I think the hiking is better around GaP, it's still pretty good around Füssen. If you're staying in Füssen anyway, I wouldn't waste the transit time just to go to GaP for hiking. Also, if you decide to use Munich as a base for daytrips to the Alps, it will likely be mid-day to early afternoon by the time you hit the trails, and the weather may have already changed by then.

Even with a car, you can't see Rothenburg, Bamberg and Würzburg in a single day. If I had to prioritize, I would go for Bamberg.

Finally, if flying out of Munich, consider spending your final night at the fabulous Therme Erding resort. It's only about a 15 minute taxi ride away from the airport.

I forgot to add one more thing, if you are planning on keeping up you training even after the race, in Munich there are foot paths that follow the Isar that are great for running if you are stying near the river. I usually stay in Haidhausen partly just for this reason. I'll run up the right bank to the Englischer Garten and back down the left side taking some paths into the park. There are lots of place to cross the river for 5-10-20km runs.

DJ

Edit: And Therme Erding would be a great exclamation point for ending your trip and a personal "reward" for running the marathon!

Tom, Yes. Hiking is kind of important activity for me. But its a bummer I cant hit the trails till noon. Are there no early trains from Munich so I can get to GaP area by 7:30-8 am and start hiking earlier ? Would it be same story if I were to stay @ Fussen ? I'm a solo traveller and can wake up/get ready quickly though.

I was leaning towards staying at Munich the whole 7 nights instead of moving around to Fussen and other places to stay. Staying @ Munich the whole time can help keep a flexible schedule depending on the short-term forecasts @ the alps.

I figured I'll only do one of the three(Rothenberg, Bamberg & Wurzburg). I was inclined towards Rothenberg.

I'll look into the Theme Erding resort. Looks great though :)

There are early morning trains to GaP and other alps hiking areas.

For GaP the daytime DB hourly trains start at 6:32am but there are even early ones that take a little longer starting at 4:53am! the only catch is you can't use a Bayern Ticket on the early trains during the weekday.

For other hiking areas from Munich look into using the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB) train. The first BOB train leave the main station at 6:05am and gets to Lenggries and Tegernsee just after 7am and Bayrischzell just before 7:30am (just be sure to board the correct car as they split up during the trip). You can get a BOB day ticket for 17€ or a BOB-MVV combo ticket for 21€ that will cover all the Munich local transport plus the entire BOB line but it has the same after 9am restriction start time on the week day. If you want to leave on the early times you can just get single tickets as well.

DJ

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I just finalized a Airbnb rental for 6 nights(Sep 23-29th) at Central Berlin on Potsdamer Straße. I heard its 5 minutes walk to Tiergarten park where the marathon starts/finishes. I was surprised how most of the hotels / airbnbs are already booked for the race. I'll stay in touch with the forum as my plans starts taking shape for remainder of my trip.

"I'll try to do early check in at hotels wherever possible to avoid using the lockers."

If you are staying at a hotel as opposed to an Airbnb or other apartment, you can always leave your bags at the hotel, even if the room is not ready. However, if you not staying at hotels, you usually cannot leave bags before the room is ready - that's when the lockers will be needed.