Nice One Night Spot between Munich and Langenargen?

Oberstdorf is a slight detour along the way. A winter ski resort and summer hiking resort with the Neberlhorn cable lift into the mountains. You can get there with a Bayern Ticket if you leave after 9 am from Munich airport.
https://www.oberstdorf.de/en/

Using regional trains, for which you could use a Regio-Ticket Allgäu-Schwaben (€31 for 2P) most of the way (in Bavaria), the trip from Munich Hbf to Langenargen takes about 3½ hours on the route with a change in Lindau., so making it in one day would be very doable. However, your time gap does give you some time to see something additional.

I've been to Oberstdorf many times; it is located in the Illertal, one of my favorite places in Germany (and my first "back door"). The route to Langenargen goes through Immenstadt im Allgäu. The side trip from Immenstadt to Oberstdorf is about a half hour each way. I think Oberstdorf, being a resort, is a little pricey. You might find a less expensive place to overnight in Fischen, which is just a couple of km before Oberstdorf on the trip from Immenstadt. If you are going to the Allgäu using the Regio-Ticket, you could check in in Fischen, and still go up to Oberstdorf and back that day after checking in. The same could be said for Immenstadt. In 1988 I stayed in Immenstadt,in Hotel Hirsch, and would recommend it then. In 2002, I had lunch at Hotel Drei König, talked with the owner, and saw a room, and I could also recommend it. Both are within short walking distance from the Immenstadt Bhf. The Bahn ticket from there (Immenstadt) to Langenargen would be €34,60/pP.

The place I would really prefer is Lindau. Lindau is an beautiful island town located just off the shore in Bodensee, and you could get there for the same price using the same Regio-ticket. There are some really pricey hotels right on the harbor and some more reasonable ones on the back of the island. From Lindau, which you can reached the first day in 2½-3 hours by regional train with the Regio-Ticket, it is only 15-20 minutes (less than €4 with a local ticket) the next day from Lindau to Langenargen.

The best way to find accommodations in Lindau is probably the town tourism webpage or preferably, Google Maps. In 2017, we stayed at the back of the island at Hotel Möve and can recommend it. You don't have a view of the harbor out of your room, but the price is right. It's a short walk to the harbor and the bus stops nearby.

A third possibility might be Oberstaufen, which is on the rail line from Immenstadt to Lindau. I've never stayed there, so I don't have a recommendation.

Hi Melanie,

Your name rang a bell. Is this perchance, for the International Master Class for Violin? Lindau and Langenargen are only about 13 to 20 minutes apart by train. I see there is a concert Wednesday night in Lindau at 19:30. There are 2 trains every hour between the 2, the last train from Lindau to Langenargen is at 23:41. It is a local network ticket, 3.45 EUR each way.

You will be close to Lindau when in Langenargen so I'll suggest the pretty market town of Landsberg am Lech.

?? Lindau is nowhere close to Landsberg a.L. Landsberg is way back towards Munich.

Thanks, everyone!! I will look into all of these options. Sam, yes it's me again haha!! You are right about the Lindau performance! :) I think we are staying in Langenargen as a base, and the performances are in four different German towns. So I will see Lindau then, but it does sound like it might be a good place to visit before as well.

My biggest remaining question is about the trains - a couple of you mentioned that Lindau to Langenargen is a short train ride, but I don't see that on the DB Bahn website. When I put Munich airport to Langenargen, for example, it mentions a bus for the part of the journey between Landau and Langenargen. Plus the train route itself, before it even reaches Lindau, has many stops which is not ideal given that we will have luggage. Am I missing something? It is not a long route, but I prefer a more direct commute if possible. I was hoping if we decided to go to Lindau, we could go directly there and then finish the train route the next day, but I don't see that as an option on the app.

Make sure you use "Lindau", not "Landau". They are two different places.

The bus you found is an "SEV" (Schienen Ersatz Verkehr = rail replacement transport), a bus that is used to transport people around a section of track which is closed for maintenance. That is a common occurrence for German Rail. If you look at the details of the SEV, you will find that it is through Feb. 29. When is you trip? Use that date.

The track work must be taking place right at Langenargen, since there are SEVs from the west (Friedrichshafen) and from the east (Lindau).

I see that one of the connections from MUC to Langenargen includes the Lufthansa bus from the airport to Munich Hbf. That is an option with any connection, as is the S-Bahn, since they both go between the airport and the Hbf. That is you don't have to take that bus; you can always use the S-Bahn instead. The bus lets you off on the north side of the Hbf, next to the Starnberger "wing" Bahnhof (tracks 27-36), from which regional trains to Lindau leave. On the other hand, the S-Bahn station is underground on the north side, so you'll have to come up escalators to the Starnberger Bhf.

I was hoping if we decided to go to Lindau, we could go directly there

There is really no direct rail connection from the airport to Langenargen. If you use the connection I prefer, via Lindau, you will at least have to change at the Hbf and at Lindau. There are some direct regional connections from Munich to Lindau, but I don't see them shown on the website (maybe, because of timing, these connections take longer). I see connections with changes at Buchloe or Kempten. The Buchloe is a same track connection; you get of the train, wait for the next train to come, and get on it. The connection at Kempten is cross platform; you walk to the other side of the platform to get on the connecting train.

Looking at Munich airport to Lindau, there is only 1 change in Munich if you book the EC train on Tuesday. April 6. But that is only 1 train per day, leaving Munich Hbf at 12:13 pm. What time do you expect your plane to land? That train is 45 EUR per person, unless you buy an advance Super Sparpreis Ticket, which is nonrefundable. If you miss it, you are out the 25.90 EUR and will have to buy new tickets, and those all have an extra connection anyway. If you go with the Bayern Ticket, the cost is 26 EUR for the first person and 8 EUR pp for each additional person. It is completely flexible and like I say, there is only one more connection at Hergatz. Just leave the airport after 9 am.

Thanks Sam. I finally found the train you mentioned and think that is very appealing. We land at 7 am, so we could grab breakfast somewhere and then get on that train. Would we be best getting breakfast at the Hbf or the airport? If we take the train right away to Hbf and then hop on the direct train at 12:13, is that still considered one ticket or is it better to purchase a ticket to the Hbf and another from Hbf to Lindau?

If you just want to take that EC train at full price, then you can buy that ticket when you you arrive at Munich airport. Just make sure the ticket says Munich Flughafen Terminal to Lindau Hbf with the EC train at 12:13. Then you can take the S-bahn to Munich Hbf right away. Its called the principle of "Vor-und-Nach-Lauf". You can take any regional train to make your long distance train. You will save about 7 EUR doing it this way. Just a ticket from the airport to the Hbf is 11.50 EUR and a ticket from there to Lindau on the EC train is 40.50 EUR. So it would cost you 52 EUR that way instead of 45 EUR buying a through ticket from the airport.

Munich Hbf is being rebuilt right now, and I don't know what the state of the inside is. There are several restaurants right by the main track concourse. I don't think they are effected.

Several things to consider about taking the EC.

1) The EC will be a long train, and the back end will be nearest when you board, but farthest out from the station when you arrive in Lindau. You'll have to walk the length of the train somewhere. It would be the same with regional trains, but they are shorter than ECs.

2) The full fare for 2 for the EC (€90) is substantially more than for the regional trains (€34 + 2 x €3,85 = €41,70). (You could take the EC for a lot less if you fly on one the airlines (Lufthansa is one) that issues Rail&Fly tickets for $33/P, and you can still get it after you've already bought your flight tickets.) I would not try to use one of the Saver Fare tickets as these are train specific ticket,and you lose the ticket if your flight is late.

3) The EC will probably be a more comfortable train than the regional trains, and you can get reserved seats for a little more.

As for breakfast, they will probably serve you something on the plane just before you land, so you might not be ready to eat again at the airport. The breakfast on Lufthansa has always been pretty good, for airline food; American flag airlines, not so good. If the food court at the Hbf is operating, it's a good place to catch a quick meal. If you take the EC, there will be an onboard restaurant car.

Sam and Lee, you two are both always so incredibly helpful!! Thank you both for all this great information!

There are some direct regional connections from Munich to Lindau, but I don't see them shown on the website (maybe, because of timing, these connections take longer). I see connections with changes at Buchloe or Kempten.

@Lee
That's because the Munich - Lindau line is still under repair (until dec. 2020, cf. details), so the number of regional trains has been reduced and the three remaining direkt EC's per day (plus a single Alex in the evening) have to take the detour via the old and slow line through Kempten and Immenstadt. If you depart from Munich by local train you always have to transfer either in Buchloe to a train originating in Augsburg or in Kempten to one originating in Ulm.

@Melanie
Sorry but due to the reconstruction situation there is no alternative to that single direct EC departing at 12:13

there is no alternative to that single direct EC

You mean there is no direct (no change) alternative. She can still take one of the less expensive, regional connections with one simple, same- or cross-platform change.

It looks like the change at Hergatz is also a cross-platform change.

There are three tracks in Hergatz. Essentially, track (Gleis) 1 is for northbound trains. Track 2 is for southbound trains from Munich, Augsburg, and Memmingen to Lindau. Track 3, which shares a platform with 2, is for trains going between Wangen (Ba-Wü) and Lindau.

When I changed in Hergatz in 2001, I was coming from Aulendorf (Wangen) and going to Immenstadt (north). So we had a change from track 3 to track 1, where our north bound train was already waiting. Right after our train arrived on track 3, before we had a chance to get to track 1, a southbound train pulled in on track 2. This was before the underground tunnel was added and there were paved paths between the tracks; the only way we had to get to our train on track 1 was to go through the southbound train on track 2! (And hope the southbound train didn't leave while we were in it.)

@Lee, my blood pressure went up just reading about your experience in Hergatz haha!! We had a similar situation once where we got off on the wrong side of the train (which happened to be really tall) and had to quickly climb back on and over to the other side while fearing the train would leave with us on it. We always have too much luggage too, so that made it 100% worse.

@sla019, are you saying the 12:13 train is my only option all day, or just my only direct option?

are you saying the 12:13 train is my only option all day, or just my only direct option

Sorry - yes, wanted to say: your only direct option.

"?? Lindau is nowhere close to Landsberg a.L. Landsberg is way back towards Munich." - Lee, I never suggested Lindau is close to Landsberg. Landsberg is about an hour outside Munich, about another hour and a half from Landsberg to Langernargen. The OP is asking about a nice spot en route. He can visit Lindau from Langenargen.

Another nice stop would be Kempten, right at the (Munich-)Buchloe-Lindau train line. Historically it consists of two towns, a Protestant civil town and the center of a Catholic prince bishopric. The difference between the two can easily be seen in the architectural style. While the Protestant one is rather modest, the Catholic one boasts a cathedral in pompous counter-reformatory baroque and a prince bishop's residence of the same style. The place has been inhabited since Roman times and there are extensive excavations and reconstructions of the Roman settlement Cambodunum.

In 2007, when I did the Romantic Road using only public transportation - trains and buses, - proving that you don't need a car on the Romantic Road, I spent my first night in Landsberg am Lech. Although I picked Landsberg because it was an obvious stopping point, I was surprised to discover that it is a beautiful and interesting town on its own.

So, I would not be against the OP stopping to see Landsberg on their way to Langenargen, but to backtrack 70% of the way back to Munich after getting to Lindau, in my opinion, would not be warranted. Also, there are so many worthwhile things to see and do in Lindau; I would not recommend leaving it once there.

Thanks for all the continued suggestions. We are going to be in Germany again in August, so I'm filing away all the suggestions we aren't able to do this time around. :)

I second the Oberstdorf or Fischen region. One of the most beautiful regions if not the most beautiful in Germany.