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Munich Airport to the German Alpine Road - 1 night stop on 15

Hi, my husband and I will be arriving in Munich at 5pm on Sept 10th. We want to rent a car at the airport that night and hit the road for a 2 1/2 week German/Austrian/Italian Alps roadtrip. We only want to drive 30-45 minutes after an international flight and I've narrowed it down to somewhere between Dorfen and Wasserberg am Inn on 15. I've hit analysis paralysis and can't figure where would be best (and hopefully speak a bit of English - I know a few words in German but not enough to understand anyone). There are very few reviews for this area so I'm having a hard time figuring out where would be best and am hoping someone has some experience in the area. We would prefer a small Inn or B&B close to the highway with easy access and preferably a nice mountain view. We also don't expect to arrive before 8pm so we would need a place that has a later check-in as well as either a restaurant or one within walking distance. We know this is ambitious after an 11 hour flight but we prefer to get going rather than staying in Munich or Freising the first night and then heading back to the airport for the car (we don't want to rent the car at the train station and actually drive IN Munich). Also, last year we flew to London and spent the night then went back to the airport the next day for a car and wish we would have just gotten it when we arrived so we are somewhat confident we can drive a short distance upon arrival. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Posted by
19092 posts

First, if you are looking for information on a town in Germany, it might help to spell it correctly. German town names often end in -berg (for mountain or hill) or -burg (for castle). The two endings are not interchangeable and contrary to American pronunciation, don't sound the same. The town is Wasser burg (bourg) am Inn.

Second, Wasserburg is not on the German Alpenstraße, which starts (or ends) in Berchtesgaden and runs to the west well south of Wasserburg, crossing the Inn near Brannenburg, ending at Lindau on the Bodensee. At one time or another, I've traveled on most of the Alpenstraße (all by public transportation, I might add).

Here is the website(in english) for Wasserburg am Inn. Unfortunately (for you) the section on Unterküfte (accommodations) is only in German, but some of the properties have websites in English. With others, if you send them an email in English, they might respond.

Posted by
12040 posts

I've driven by Wasserburg am Inn, but I can't say I remember anything about it. If you're having trouble finding information about the town, consider going a little further south to Rosenheim. It's a quite attractive small city, if typical for the region. You're likely to find more lodging and eating options there. And this long running German TV show takes place in the town. I dare you to try to get the theme tune out of your head.

Or Prien on Chiemsee. That would make a good stop also.

Posted by
12040 posts

Hmm... now that I Googled pictures of Wasserburg, I wish I had stopped.

Posted by
4407 posts

Thanks, Tom, for Die Rosenheim-Cops; I don't think I need to understand German to follow this show ;-) And that is a snappy little theme song!

That Wasserburg am Inn is too stinkin' cute! That little island...I may need to check it out on my next trip to Munich and/or Salzburg...

Posted by
32757 posts

Well there's another place for the summer road trip.

Thanks, Tom, for messing with my song memory...

Posted by
980 posts

I've been to Wasserburg am Inn for a day trip and wished I'd stayed longer. Very quaint town and a better tourist infrastructure than Dorfen. You should have no issues with limited German language in there.

Interesting side note, the Panoramaweg Isar-Inn is a cycling path that runs from Munich to Wasserburg am Inn that can be done in one day for those interested in cycling vacations.

DJ