MUNICH TO SALZBURG

Do you really have THREE full days in Munich? Dachau would take a half day, but there would be a little time left over for sightseeing. The Königsschlösser (Ludwig's Castles) in Füssen will take at least a long day. Two days with an overnight stay might be preferable. There is a LOT to see in Munich itself. If you decide to go to Salzburg for a day, you could do it, but you would be short-changing Munich. I think you are cramming in too much.

Karen,

I definitely agree with Lee! A visit to Salzburg is very easy from Munich, but there's SO much to see and do in Munich I'm not sure that would be "time well spent" (especially as you indicated that you want to "hang out in Marienplatz").

Touring Dachau and the Castles in Fussen will take at least one full day (you'll have to allow for travel times back and forth as well). In addition to Marienplatz you could visit some of the Churches (including the "onion dome" Church), Viktualien Market, Hofbrauhaus, Deutsches Museum and other historic buildings once inhabited by royalty. There are also historic sites associated with the Third Reich, as that's where it originated (the Swastikas on the ceiling of the Hofbrauhaus have been painted-over). You might consider the Munich Walks tours (check the Radius Tours website for details and costs).

Plan to visit Salzburg on a future trip, when you can spend some time there and really enjoy the visit (which could include some side trips to Berchtesgaden and/or Hallstatt).

Happy travels!

I had 3 nights (really only 2 full days) in Munich. We did spend the night before we arrived in Fussen and did the castle from there. For our 2 full days in Munich we did Dachau in the morning/early afternoon, and then the Marienplatz the rest of the day and evening. The following day we took the train to Salzburg for a day trip. I agree with the others that if you do this you will not see much of Munich, but if you don't care about Munich then that doesn't really matter. I would highly recommend you do a tour of Dachau through Radius Tours. They are located in the train station and have native English speaking guides. It was worth every penny for what extra the guide brought to the experience. She was very good. We liked the tour so much we did a Salzburg tour through them too. That guide was not as good and I felt we could have done it ourselves just as well.

karen, the posts above are right, spend your last day visiting Munich, there is so much to see and do. you could also go on a mike's bike tour, it is a very different way of seeing Munich but lots of fun. Salzburg is worth 2-3 days, i would keep it for a futur trip. we also did Dachau and King Ludwig's castles and enjoy it very much!

Karen, when are you traveling and what time of the year? Also, where else are you going on this trip? We just returned last week from a 7-day trip to Frankfurt-Rothenburg-Munich-Lower Bavaria-Salzburg by car and I would highly recommend that you consider Rothenburg as a day trip from Munich rather than Salzburg. Salzburg is a great city, but requires a couple of days.

thanks all for the info...I thought it might be pushing it to squeeze in Salzburg ...so that will be sthg to look forward to on another visit ! We have 3 full days in Munich out of 2 weeks which the rest will be divided between Paris,Versailles,and Bayeaux area...WW2 is the theme with of course a must see Paris stay...I am taking my 17 year old niece who has never travelled anywhere before but has an interest in WW2 so hence the kind of different itinerary...trying to give her castles and a concentration camp and Normandy beaches and cemetaries,along with the culture of Paris !

From the Munich Hauptbahnhof to Salzburg takes 1½ hours (minus one or two minutes) by Long Distance train (IC)(ref: German Rail website). Regional trains, for which the Bayern- or Schönes-Wochenende-Tickets are valid do the trip in just about 2 hours. Even the ICE that leaves Munich Hbf at 5:23 PM takes 1hr 30min.

salzburg is one hour away by train.

thanks once again to all who responded...I very rarely hook up with organized tours(unless...such as the Battlebus ones that everyone raves about and makes sense when one does not have a car!)and so am planning on using the rails alot...it is so much more realistic to hear from others who have been to a place before to help with the "little" but often turn out to be the "big" things when travelling to a new place ! My feeling is that the eagle Nest is not worth the time unless combined with the documentation center and one may be heading in that direction anyway ? With only 3 days I figure...the day we arrive we will be dead and simply wander around Marienplatz etc and retire early...day 1 we can do Dachau and then more Munich in the afternoon...day 2...King Ludwigs...day 3 ...museums etc in Munich and also I thought riding a luge would be fabulous...are they too far from Munich to be worth the effort ?...day 4...flight leaves noonish...so last minute shopping whatever...any suggestions on fine-tuning this tentative itinerary ?