9 Days in Munich

I've spent almost a month in Munich, but not all at the same time. Nine days is a lot. You could probably use up 4 or so days in the town itself (see www.germantravel-info.com/munich.htm). With that much time I'd definitely spend a day in the Deutsches Museum. For the rest of the time, go to Rothenburg, the castles at Hohenschwangau, Salzburg, maybe Berchtesgaden.

Thanks Lee, are the train routes/schedules easy to figure out? I speak a little German.

You can find the schedules here, http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en. The website is in English and pretty tolerant as far as spelling is concerned. I would suggest Salzburg and the castles as day trips but Rothenburg as an overnight trip. It you run into any snags, PM me.

Thanks again Lee! Would Garmisch and Zugspitz be a day trip?

I did it in a day trip from Munich in 1988. The train to the top leaves from the GaP Bahnhof. You might consider an overnight trip to Mittenwald, then come back through GaP and do the Zugspitze.

Consider day trips north from Munich to Regensburg or Landshut. Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage site for its medieval buildings. It is about 1:30 hours from Munich by regional trains. Landshut has an attractive Altstadt and castle (Burg Trausnitz). It is 45 minutes by regional train. You can travel to either or both in by day trip using a Bayern-Ticket.

By the time we're through advising you, you won't think 9 days is enough.

I appreciate all of the advice! We want to see the Alps, Castles, a few Cathedrals, Salzburg Austria is a must (wife is a huge Sound of Music fan) so I really want to get a great sense of Bavaria and see the best sights the area has so keep the suggestions coming!!

Thanks

If Salzburg and Sound of Music is a must; then seems as if you should spend at least one night there rather than try and do it as a day trip. We have flown into Munich a couple of times,, its a nice airport. seems less hectic than Frankfurt

I second spending at least a night in Salzburg. I would also recommend taking one of the SOM tours since your wife is a fan. You see the places from the movie and get out into the beautiful area surrounding Salzburg.

Thanks ya'll!! I have bought a few guide books including one on Daytrips from Munich. All this advice is helpful too.

We are still deciding as to what Towns to visit. I am a big Beer drinker so that will influence some of the trip trying the different Beers and Beer Gardens.

Thanks again,

Myron

Hey Rob,

Yeah I bought that book when I first starting planning our trip. It looks like I will be busy!

Thanks,

Myron

Being an avid beer drinker myself, I would highly suggest you purchase the book Beer Drinkers Guide to Munich. They have a website beerdrinkersguide.com and you can purchase the book from there. It is 240 pages of beer drinkers bible for Munich. Check out the Tram 17 tour! Email me direct if you need further...

One morning I did Frommers walking tour. It ended just outside a (either S or U) bahn stop just north of the main train station. I headed to the main train station and picked up the Tram 17 for the tour as listed in the book. By combining the sightseeing of Frommers and the Tram 17 tour, I had a great day in Munich.

We just got back from 5 days in Bavaria.... it was SUPER and I could easily have spent 9 days there. We spent 3 days in Munich with a day trip to Salzburg (loved it) and a day trip to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein Castle (loved it even more).... enjoy! 9 days could easily be filled in this region. If you have an interest in WWII history - Dachau is also an easy day trip. We would have loved to go but no time.
Happy Travels!

Hi Shannon, did you use trains for your daytrips? Figuring out the right train, track, car etc concerns me a bit.

Myron

We did a similar trip a few years ago. Enjoyed traveling by train to Nurnberg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Mittenwald, Garmish, Oberammergau, Fussen for the Castles, Berchtesgaden, and into Austria to Salzberg and Hallstatt. All are easy day trips from Munich.

Would Garmisch and Zugspitz be a day trip? CHECK the weather charts first. As for the beer gardens? Tons of them. We visited no less than 10 in 5 days. Weather was terrible but the beer was fantastic.

If you run out of things to see, put Innsbruck on your list, it's worth a day.

Myron,

As the others have said, there are LOTS of choices for touring in and around Munich. A few choices you might consider:

> Deutsches Museum - 16 kM of exhibits at the main site. One could easily spend 4-6 hours looking around as there's LOTS to see.

> Munich Walks Tour - an interesting way to spend a few hours learning about the history. You could also do the Third Reich tour.

> Castles - travel to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles. You can do this either with a tour company (Radius Tours) or on your own.

> Berchtesgaden - an easy day trip. You could visit the Eagle's Nest (the view is the most spectacular part, the building not so much), the Dokumentation Centre, the Salt Mines or just have a look around the town.

> Salzburg - as your Wife is a huge SOM fan, I'd also recommend spending at least one night there.

> Munich - there's lots to see in Munich as well. The Viktualien Market, Hofbrauhaus, English Garden or just enjoying the city.

I doubt that you'll have any problems finding things to do in the Munich area on a nine day trip! You might want to have a look at the "Germany 2011" Guidebook to see if anything else interests you (the 2011 edition will be released on Nov. 23rd).

Happy travels!

One additional point....

Regarding travel on trains, you might want to have a look at the "Rail Skills" chapter in "Europe Through The Back Door". You may also find it helpful to download the free PDF Rail Guide from this website (click the Railpasses tab at the top). Finally, have a look at * www.youtube.com/watch?v=moLGxdId9uU * for a tutorial on riding the rails.

You'll generally only have to worry about the car number and seat number if you're using a reserved seat (which are compulsory on some trains, usually the fast trains). Most of the time you'll only have to board and find an open seat.

Thanks everyone for the great advice!

Myron