Munich Logistics

Hi Laura-
Just a question on your plans for the second day after a long international flight- Do you really plan to Rent a car, return to your hotel to pick up your bags, drive to Nymphenburg and tour the palace, drive to Dachau and tour Dachau, then drive to Fussen and find a hotel all in one day? Of course you didn't mention time for a few meals and bathroom stops.... Good luck!!!

We’d hope to just check out of the hotel, walk to the train station (like I said, we will be in a hotel near it hopefully, we plan to travel light), get the rental car and just head out, but yes, otherwise that’s the plan. We will not be doing this on our arrival day. Driving on arrival day is something I’ve learned to avoid.

But that is part of why I asked if this plan was feasible, for advice. If it’s not, we will sacrifice one or the other.

That all being said... my mom and I are relative troopers and we split driving fairly easily. She is definitely not a frail 59 year old. So the idea of driving to Dachau (30-40 minutes or so?) and a drive to Fussen (1 h 50 min) isn’t that intimidating. One good night sleep is generally all we’ve needed in the past to feel ok in a new time zone. Obviously, I recognize this isn’t true of everyone.

As for eating... I have no problem eating at the onsite cafe at Nymphenburg, even if it’s overpriced. I presume they have bathrooms there and at Dachau. I assume the town of Dachau has some places to eat or we can wait until Fussen for dinner. We generally have snacks with us too. We also won’t be searching for a hotel there... we already have one.

Just as heads up: at this travel date you will compete with a few million German tourists, partly spending school summer vacation by car in Bavaria (overview of German states' summer vacations 2019). Also our dutch neighbors will have summer vacations and are very active travelers by car.

Also be aware that you will need a Pickerl to drive a car on Austrian motorways.

From your description I got the impression that you will stress yourself through. Example: A combination of Nymphenburg Palace and Dachau on one day is a very strange one for me. I suggest to ask yourself which combinations of sights would improve the experience of the single ones. Local nearness is not necessarily the best criteria. The NS exhibition, the Jewish Museum or Stolpersteine would be a more appropriate combination with Dachau Memorial.

early Sunday morning wouldn’t be so bad

I'm afraid that won't make much of a difference since there is no truck traffic on that route and cars are around all time. If you decide on going by car I'd plan to arrive shortly befor N. opens to secure a parking lot (afaik they are accessible to everybody, not just visitors).

As for lunch, you are not depending on the Palmenhaus Café. There is a bunch of restaurants around (look at tripadvisor for "Restaurants in der Nähe von Schloss Nymphenburg" - I think reviews can be set to English). Personally, I prefer the »Schlosswirtschaft Schwaige« over the Palmenhaus or the »Metzgerwirt« a bit further away.

A quite good hotel just opposite the station is Hotel Wolff Eden. It's to the nord of the station, not in the somewhat seedy area south of it.

I really don't think traffic will be a big issue on an early Sunday morning. It's not just the trucks - there are also few cars around.

The rental car office at the train station is on the 2nd floor. The building in which you pick up the car is about 1 block away in a separate location. In 2012 we drove from the train station to the palace. It's been long enough ago, that I don't really remember the traffic but I do remember parking very close to the entrance of the palace. We have driven through Munich a couple of times and I do try to avoid it when I can. The other drivers aren't very patient with drivers who don't exactly know where they are going. We got honked at quite a few times.

Nymphenburg AND Dachau will make for a day with a lot of walking--both are very spread out if you want to see everything. I'm good for 8-10 miles a day and clocked 7-8 on each of the days I visited these two places. I did Nymphenburg my first day there, arrived around 10 am and took a tram from the Hbf to the palace, about a 15 minute ride. There is indeed an enormous amount of car parking there. Spent time watching the swans, toured the palace, had lunch at the Palmenhaus, explored a couple more of the smaller residences and the little church and really loved the Marstallmuseum full of fabulous carriages. I spent perhaps 4 hours there, about the same as at Dachau the next day.

I chose the Hotel Metropol on Mittererstrasse, about 2 blocks from the Hbf and I loved it--very spacious clean & modern room, the most incredible free breakfast I've ever encountered and a very helpful front desk. It was an easy walk into the Marienplatz area, and being close to the Hbf was perfect as I used it daily for buses, trams, U bahn and trains, also arrived there via the Lufthansa airport bus.

Driving in Munich seems feasible (I've been a passenger through Munich, although not a driver, but it's not like, Paris!) but it seems like it would be just as easy to do the palace and Dachau by public transport, spend one more night in Munich, then pick up your rental car in the morning and head to Fuessen. Both sites are large, involve a lot of walking, and it would be a long day to do that and drive to Fuessen, I think.

What Sarah said about picking up the car the next morning.

You don't mention whether you have visited any camps before, but after wandering around Dachau for an afternoon all I wanted to do was sit in a quiet room and recuperate.
Both Nymphenberg and Dachau are easily reached by public transit.

Do you need to stay in Munich?

You arrive in the morning: rent a car from the airport, drive to Nymphenburg and after to your hotel in Dachau, wake up visit the Dachau Concentration Camp, grab lunch and head to Fussen. It is a great drive from Dachau to Fussen and may want to stop at a place that draws your attention. There really isn't a need to go into Munich if you just need a hotel and meal.

Tom Hank's autobahn experience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SctKa44xlY

longer version here: https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/life/surviving-the-autobahn-ten-guidelines

@schroeder0503... if there is one thing I’ve learned through several international trips, it’s that it is a terrible idea to drive a longer distance on the day of arrival after 7-9 hour overnight flights. My dad nearly crashed our car on the way from Paris to Rouen a few years ago because neither of us could stay awake very well, and that’s about the same length as Munich to Fussen. For safety, I think we need one night in Munich to recuperate and adjust. We would also like to get a little taste of Munich even if we aren’t staying there long. I’d rather see the old town/center if that’s the only thing we can see vs Nymphenburg. Our flight arrives at 730 am so we will at least have a good portion of that day to wander (We stay up as long as we can tolerate on arrival day to get adjusted to the new time zone)

Based on the advice given here, I think we are going to forgoe Nymphenburg and plan to go straight to Dachau after picking up the rental car that morning. Then we’ll drive to Fussen, perhaps stopping at some of the more minor sites such as Andechs Monastery or Wieskirche along the way. Less stress and less driving late in the day. We will still get to see plenty of castles/palaces through Germany and Austria, as our trip is a solid two weeks, and it’s an incentive to return to the region that were leaving some stuff ‘on the floor.’ :)

Thank you for the advice everyone!