Best overnight trip from munich?

If you like the outdoors, Garmish is a great spot for hiking. The Zugspitze is nearby and offers some great views too.

I second the recommendation for GaP. Great resort town with generally affordable prices.

I spent one night in Rothenburg and enjoyed walking the wall, seeing the torture museum, the Christmas shop for a few ornaments and the night watchman tour in the evening. On the way back to Munich we stopped at Dachu for a tour.
I also have done a two night stay in Salzburg and Berchtesgadan, and Garmish Partenkirchen that are wonderful too. The Eagles nest, bunkers and the saltmine tour is fun in Berchtesgardan. I had a car so I am not sure on the train situation.

I vote for Berchtesgaden. It will take you just under three hours by train from Munich and there is so much there to see. If you want spectacular scenery, you've got the boat trip on Königsee. Take the boat all the way to Salet and walk over the bar to the Obersee. You've got history - Kehlsteinhaus, Hitler's Eagles Nest. If you want hiking, take the 846 bus towards Ramsau and get off at Wimbachbrücke. From there you can hike as far up the Watzmann, Germany's 3rd highest mountain, as you're able. If you want to see an old castle, take the train 2 hrs via Mühldorf to Burghausen, on the Austrian border. The 13th castle there, toughted as the longest castle in Europe, occupies over a km on a high peninsula of land overlooking the Salzach river.

How to choose, how to choose? All 3 places are fabulous. If you are short on time, GarmishP or Salzburg are probably best. They are each only an hour or so from Munich by train and the trains run frequently (maybe even every hour or so). Once you were in either place you could pretty much get everywhere by foot or chairlift. Garmish would probably offer more budget options, it's a beautiful little town and has some great hiking from right out of town. Many years ago, I went to GarmishP for the weekend and stayed nearly 2 months. :-) Save Berchtesgarten for next year when you are living there and have more time to enjoy it without rushing! Have a blast! Karen

I would go over to Lake Constance - Lindau or anything along the lake - Unteruhldingen, for example, where you can catch the ferry to the island of Mainau. Beautiful. Plenty of tourists, but fewer than Munich and more of them are German. All the little towns along the lake are pretty, pick any one. (We did most all of them last summer.) Konstanz is not as pretty, it's a larger town. Or go a bit farther to Freiburg, in the black forest. Gorgeous university town on the border with Switzerland. Lively and lots of fun. Lots of younger people. We only spent one night there, I would have stayed longer Either of these choices will get you a bit closer to seeing the 'real' Germany you might be living in. Though for that, I'm afraid you'd really have to leave Bavaria...

I only got to spend one night in Garmisch-Partenkirchen but loved it! Lovely little town, enjoyed the food and the beauty of it. Definitely would have liked it even more if I had had more time to explore and hike. I stayed in Hotel Mercure, and it was around 80 euro for both my friend and I (40 each). The hotel was very nice and comfortable. They have a buffet breakfast in the morning that was incredible (especially after spending 4 weeks in Italy with simply bread and coffee). Lots of fresh fruit, cheese, yogurt, bread, pretzels, etc. Personally, I considered the breakfast alone to be worth 10 to 15 euro, so the room seemed even cheaper then. It is not a quaint, small hotel, but it was very nice and we enjoyed our stay.