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Vienna to Bavarian Alps to Munich: Seeking travel and itinerary guidance

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I have found this forum to be highly informative. I appreciate any helpful suggestions and insight for our upcoming trip.

My husband and I will be doing the 8-day Munich to Vienna RS tour starting September 15 (Part I). We will have a full day before the tour starts and plan to visit Dachau. On the last full day of our RS tour in Vienna our son and his girlfriend (in their 20’s) will arrive and be on their own for the day.

Family trip (Part II) will begin in Vienna on September 22 and end in Munich on September 28. Our family enjoys being outside, hiking, sightseeing iconic sites, visiting locally run establishments, where we can be immersed in local culture and eat the local food. We have beer lovers in our group who want to experience Oktoberfest and other recommended biergartens. Our itinerary for Part II so far is as follows:
• Sun: We will spend a full day in Vienna sightseeing. Staying overnight in Vienna.
• Mon: Drive (3hrs?) to the Eagle’s Nest in Kehlsteinhaus and spend the recommended 2 hours touring and then drive (3hrs?) for a three-night stay (place to be determined) in the vicinity of the attractions recommended in the RS tour book (see below).
• Tue: Tour King’s Castle Neuschwanstein (2hr), climb up to Mary's Bridge, Tour Castle Hohenschwangau (2hr), Drive to Ettal Monastery, Tour Linderhof Castle, Drive along scenic Plansee Lake
• Wed: Hike up or ride up to highest point in Germany Zugspitze, explore alps and vicinity.
• Thu: Drive or take a train to Munich. Tour Oktoberfest in the afternoon and do some other sightseeing in the evening.
• Fri: Our last full day we will possibly do some sightseeing during the day and in the evening go to the Oktoberfest.
• Sat: Flight departs from Munich in the late afternoon.

Questions:
1. For our first full day in Munich: Any other recommendations/tips for sightseeing, etc. (in addition to our visit to Dachau)?
2. Bavarian Alps: What location do you suggest for our three-night stay in the Bavarian Alps? Füssen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen or should we stay somewhere else? We are looking for nice views but also somewhat convenient to the attractions listed above. (FYI in 2022 we stayed in Gimmelwald (Swiss Apls) per RS recommendation and loved that vibe.)
3. Transportation: Should we rent a car in Vienna and drive to our three-night stay in the Bavarian Alps? Would it work to take a train part way and drive the rest of the way? Also, should we drive the car all the way back to Munich or drop it off in Füssen/Garmisch-Partenkirchen and then take the train the rest of the way back?
4. Oktoberfest: Our last two days we will be staying at the Ibis Munich City West in Munich which is 1.6 miles to Theresienwiese. I’ve heard it’s manageable to do Oktoberfest without a guide, however do you recommend doing an Oktoberfest tour, getting a local guide and/or renting seats in a tent for our Friday night?

Thank you.

Posted by
578 posts

Well, I don't think you need a guide at Oktoberfest if your main goal is to drink
beer and eat sausages :) But I would definitely consider reserving seats in
one of the tents so you don't spend time wandering around looking for a place
to sit.

Regarding car, another option would be to take the train to Innsbruck, rent the
car, and return it to Innsbruck, then take the train to Munich. You then avoid a
dropoff charge since you return it to the same place you got it, and a lot less
driving.

You certainly won't have any need for the car in downtown Munich, and finding a
office to drop the car off will be more difficult in a large city. Also, it sure looks like
the Ibis is less than a mile to the Oktoberfest grounds. Nice location, but I'm
not sure how much sleep you're going to get.

Posted by
5393 posts

I think Tues is too much. When we saw both palaces, it was a whole day adventure. There's a lot of waiting in line, even with timed tickets, and moving about also eats up a lot of time. Do you already have tickets? We had problems coordinating times, so there was a few hours between each palace. And - the tours are about 30 minutes each, you cannot wander on your own inside. Honestly, I thought N'stein tour was a dud, but the other palace was very interesting, and these structures are really not that old. Check for renovations, especially in N'stein, which would really detract from the experience. St Mary's Bridge is not always open- walking on the bridge is a wild ride, really, as it's packed with people and sways as anyone takes a step.
I'd advise seeing the Hohen... Palace, and then hiking up to N'stein Palace for the scenery, but not touring the latter.

Are you going to Berchtesgaden and Koningsee? It's amazingly beautiful on and around the lake.

Have a wonderful trip and safe travels!

Posted by
557 posts

Friday at Oktoberfest will very busy. If you can get 4 seat reservations before you go, do so. Converselly, you may be able to walk into a tent on Thrusday evening without a reservation.

Posted by
1300 posts

I'd plan on staying in Garmisch. But you're really late getting a hotel for next month no matter where you stay. The advantage to Garmisch is that you can take a train to the Zugspitze, and it's close to Ettal, Linderhof, and the other castles. But Neuschawstein and Hohenschwangau are going to take 4+ hours, not counting travel, and you're going to have to cut something from that day. You'll need a car to do all that running around; I'd arrange one from where you stay for just that day.

I doubtful you'll be able to get an Octoberfest reservation for a table in a tent at this point. And getting a whole family in without a reservation after 4pm will be almost impossible.

You might consider taking the train from Vienna and then getting a car in Garmisch to do the castles and the Eagles Nest (multiple day rental).

Posted by
8059 posts

Stay in Garmisch, consider the Fraundorfer.

" Wed: Hike up or ride up to highest point in Germany Zugspitze, explore alps and vicinity."

Take the cog train or cable car, hiking up to the top of the Zugspitze takes two days. I did that twice with my children in 1990.

Posted by
17 posts

We loved Oberramagau - stayed in a quaint hotel and walked the town which is beautiful. We also spent a day at the alpine coaster and beer garden at the top.

Lake Hintersee & Ramsau were surprising and so beautiful. Lake Konigsee boat tour was a fun day.

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