Munich for 2 nights

Awesome! Great to hear it's your fist time... there's never anything like the first! But let's back up a minute. Answer a couple questions for me:

How much total time do you have to travel with?
When are you going?
How did you select Munich and Rome?
Are there any other stops in this trip or are these the only two cities you're looking at?

We have 9 days in total. We wanted to start in Munich and end off in Rome, then we can fly from Rome back home. We are going May 6th. Everything in between is not decided on yet so any help would be appreciated. We did want to make some stops along the way, but again, still undecided so this trip may be completely changed at the end haha. We definitely want to start in Munich because it's just a place we have been talking about for a long time.

Just "winging" it might turn out to be the most expensive option if you arrive on a busy day.
As for prices, there a two pensions on the Jakobsplatz which have a certain reputation on the RS forum, viz. Pension Lindner and Pension am Jakobsplatz. Look up prices to get an impression of the price level of a cozy accommodation:
http://www.pension-lindner.com/preise.htm.
If you cannot book in advance go to the Munich Tourist Information either at the airport or the train station (Hauptbahnhof) and ask them to find something convenient for you.

There are a lot of people today who search online for accommodations. If they find a place they think is good they don't say, "That's a nice place. I'd like to stay there, but I'll leave it for someone who is just winging it." No, they book it for themselves and wingers get what they didn't want.

I tried winging it (in low season, btw). It worked but I don't think I got the nicest, least expensive, or most convenient place.

Hi,

Yes, hostels with private rooms do exist. One such place in Munich is a couple of minutes from Munich Hbf ( central station.). I stayed there several years ago but in a dorm room. The place is Wombats Hostel, a private, independent hostel which has private rooms and dorm rooms. If there are two of you, the private is fine since you pay by the bed. The private room only comes as a double.

The absolute cheapest is a dorm room in a hostel. Wombats has no curfew, only a couple of hours shut down for cleaning (Reinigungssperre). Lockers are in the room as well as coin laundry facilities on the bottom level of the hostel. I would suggest reserving at Wombats, they do book up, ie, no bed available. I've seen this, callers being told that no room is available at the front desk. either in person or over the phone. . When I am in Munich, I stay at a Pension near Munich Hbf. There are numerous small hotels near the station as well other hostels.

Sara,

If you have a Library close by, see if they have a copy of the RS Germany guidebook. That has lots of good information not only for hotels but also sightseeing, local transportation etc. Have a look at the RS Italy too.

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd also recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It provides a lot of good information on how to travel well in Europe.

I wouldn't suggest "winging it" for accommodations in May as it will likely be busy. Especially coming off a long international flight, it's really nice to know where you'll be sleeping on your first night.

Like Fred, I stayed in a hostel, Hostel 4 You, literally 300 M from the HbH. For the 2 of us, it was 70 E in May. We had a private room. Many hostels these days are basically slightly less formal hotels, with a lot of young people. 2 nights for Munich for the first time is a short stay - I would consider 3-4 nights in Munich, rest of the time in Rome. You don't really have time for a 3rd stop.

Munich can be expensive, since hotel/accommodation charges change when big conventions come to town, as they often do in Munich. In rural areas or smaller cities, you can wing it, but it is best to be prepared in Munich, and as someone said, you want to come off the plane with a hotel already set.

Wow thank you all for such great input! It's really overwhelming since this is our first time in Europe so these are great tips :)

We will definitely stay in Munich for 3 to 4 nights now and then go straight to Rome or even Vice versa. Is there an overnight train from Munich to Rome?How many hours would this take? Would it be better to fly if we could get a good fare price? Thanks again!

Hi,

There is a night train going from Munich to Rome, EN 295, Night Jet train run by OeBB (Austrian Rail). It leaves Munich at 20:10 , arriving in Rome 09:22. This night train is direct, you won't need to transfer in the middle of the night. I take night trains but only direct ones arriving after 6 am.

I stayed in a hostel in Munich, very near to the centre. It calls something Smart Stay...
Anyway, it feels like a hotel rather than a hostel, clean and nice lovely staffs, which made me surprised because most of the German..are not.