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Recommendations for 5 nights in Bavarian region? Which town as base?

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Hi,

We we land in Frankfurt Friday, Sept. 5 (it's nonstop from our hometown.). We have a hotel that night. We plan to rest & explore Frankfort for one day, then get out and head south early Saturday morning (Sept. 6)

We have a bicycle trip already booked and paid for that starts on Sept. 12 in Balzano Italy. Now, I'm looking for recommendations for Sept 6-11 in Bavaria and I'm a bit overwhelmed by options.

We'd like to pick one town as a "base" so we can minimize time spent changing hotels. We like to explore small towns on foot. We like hiking, biking, scenic nature, cable cars, river gorges, etc. We're not big on museums. A castle visit sounds fun, as long as it doesn't take the entire day. We don't want to rent a car.

Tentative schedule:
Saturday morning
- train from Frankfurt to Garmish-Partenkirchen (approx 5.5 hrs?)

Saturday afternoon - Wed afternoon
day trips by train, bus & foot to:
-- explore G-P. What is must see?
-- Zugspitze & Partnach Gorge Hike
-- train to Mittenwald + Leutasch Gorge Hike
-- train to Fussen, visit Neuschwanstein? (maybe)
-- rent bikes and cycle around Forgensee, weather permitting

Wednesday - Thursday night
Train from G-P to Innsbruck. Explore city on foot. If we're brave enough, book a paragliding adventure

Friday morning
train to Italy to meet our cycling group.

Thoughts? I haven't booked any lodging yet aside from the first night in Frankfurt.

Should we split lodging into 2 towns? Fussen & Mittenwold? Skip G-P? It seems to get mixed reviews as being "too big".

Some friends recommend we make Munich our base. But, I'm concerned we'd spend at least 3 hours a day on trains.

Speaking of trains, I'm also confused about tickets. Buy them individually each day? Or get some sort of pass? Bayern? Are the rail passes overkill for a 5 day trip?

Thanks in advance for input on an itinerary and thoughts on a base town.

Other background.
On past trips, I've over-planned and we tried to do too much. On a recent trip to Scotland, we changed hotels every day and spent the bulk of each day in the rental car. We saw a lot of the country but didn't get to be in any one spot to relax for long. Now my goal is to do the opposite. Pick a smaller area, skip the rental car, and venture 45 min by train or bus from our base each day.

all comments welcome!!!!

Posted by
7582 posts

Should we split lodging into 2 towns? Fussen & Mittenwold?

With your eyes on both Füssen and Mittenwald, staying in (G-P) (which is the best travel base for the area) will waste a lot ot travel time; the round-trip from G-P to Füssen and back will usurp around 4.5-5 hours on trains/buses. Mittenwald, the Zugspitze, the Partnach Gorge: G-P is great for those. G-P is also great for the attractive town of Oberammergau (40 minutes) as well as for Linderhof Palace (another King Ludwig II palace, and a better choice than Neuschwanstein IMHO.) And for biking, there's plenty near Garmisch-Partenkirchen:

https://www.gapa-tourismus.de/en/Summer/Cycling%20and%20mountainbiking

So I don't think you are missing out on anything by using just the G-P base and leaving Füssen out of your plans.

I would make a point of hitting the Fraundorfer Inn for Bavarian Evening:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XD8SvqNDZxE

As for the day trip to Innsbruck.... No - just stay in Innsbruck - no sense in backtracking if you are heading south afterward.

Posted by
943 posts

I'd always recommend Füssen or Mittenwald as a base before Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but that's just my personal preference.
What I definitely agree with, though, is that if you go to Innsbruck, you should stay there over night as well.

Posted by
9134 posts

Garmisch would be better than Fussen if you don't have a car.
Also, do up to the top of the Zugspitze.
There are two of King Ludwig's castles in the area to see.
Oberammergau, home of the Passion Play is worth a stop, but without a car, not sure how you would get there.

Posted by
2 posts

This is great info. Sounds like I should:
- skip Fussen
- make G-P our base
- check out new suggestions in the comments (Oberammergau, alternate castles, etc)
- move to a new hotel in Innsbruck for 2 nights when we’re ready to head in that directions

Does this seem to capture the overall sentiments of the group? THANK YOU THANK YOU

Does anyone have a favorite hotel, inn, or apartment rental in G-P?

Posted by
7582 posts

Does this seem to capture the overall sentiments of the group?

Can't speak for the others' thoughts, but that summarizes mine.

As for "alternate castles"... There are very few genuine castles that merit tour/visit in this part of Bavaria. N'stein (with its whimsical castle-look facade,) Hohenschwangau and Linderhof are residential palaces that were built much more recently. For a true medieval-period castle/fortress experience, you'd need to look elsewhere... like around Salzburg...

https://www.festung-hohensalzburg.at/en/

https://www.burg-hohenwerfen.at/en/ (in Werfen - great falconry show)

Posted by
943 posts

As Russ says, you won't find a medieval castle in this part of Bavaria. Instead, you will find the fantasies of the Wittelsbach royal family, and above all, those of King Ludwig II, who was the king of Bavaria from 1864 to 1886. So, everything you see reflects the monarch's fantasy, and you can like it or not. UNESCO apparently liked it and therefore honored all of the king's fairytale castles and his admittedly very unique imagination this year.

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