Day trips from Munich

First place, you can go almost anywhere worth going to in Bavaria by train. The few places not accessible by train are accessible by bus. Look up schedules on the German Rail website.

You don't need to use a rail pass to get to these places. You can use a Bayern-Ticket, an all day pass for regional trains in Bavaria, for €20 for a single person, €28 for 2-5. With a Bayern-Ticket, regional buses and all of the conveyance of the metro districts, like MVV in Munich, are included. A rail pass includes only trains and the S-Bahn, like in Munich.

BTW, Dachau is a Munich suburb. You can get to the Memorial (KZ-Gedenkstätte) in less than 40 min with the S-Bahn (S2) and a city bus (#728). All this you can do with a Munich MVV XXL Tageskarte (day ticket), Partner up to 5 people for €12,30, Single for one person for €7,-.

Thank you! I am actually considering purchasing an 8 day Benelux-Germany pass as I will be traveling to the Netherlands and Belgium as well. However, maybe I can save some days by purchasing tickets for shorter trips within Bavaria.

I really think you can.

If you only want to do day trips from Munich, it is going to get difficult quickly. You can easily do the castles, or Salzburg. After that, Rothenburg would be a long trip, and you would miss the evening, the best time. Rothenburg is best done as an overnight trip. Similarly, Berchtesgaden is worth two (or better, three) nights. You could do Nürnberg as a day trip, but I'm not sure there is anything there of real interest. You could easily do Herrenchiemsee in a day. I think Burghausen could be done in a day.

If you REALLY like beer [;-)], I dream of someday spending the better portion of a day at historical Andechs Monastery/Brewery/Restaurant. It's very beautiful there; it's on a hill, and the scenery is gorgeous. It's also very peaceful; you'll need to take a taxi (or a bus - check the bus info on the website) from the train station to the monastery - it's not far at all. Some people walk it, but I'm not some people! Take the S-5 from Munich to Herrsching...

I don't know what your other plans are, but you could also go to Salzburg. The town is historical, pretty, easily walked, and you can end up at Augustiner Monastery/Brewery for dinner and, ummmm, BEER! My absolute favorite place in the entire world, I think. Seriously. It's 2 hours or less each way from Munich.

I've ticked off historical sites, good food, great beer, leisurely hiking (to, from, and around both places). You could investigate biking around Munich - I recently read that it's a great city to tour by bike, and I can understand why.

Go to Neuschwanstein. We rented a car to get there, so I can't help you on other ways to get there. The drive to Shwangau (the town below Neuschwanstein) was spectacular thru the German Alps.

I personally would recommend a train side trip to Salzburg Austria..it is only just over one hour trip ( 90 mins if you take a train with more stops) that is relatively cheap. I love the old city, the castle/fortress and its views are sooo nice...also if you like the sound of music there is the gardens where some of it was filmed and the nunnery (I had no interest in those)....I have been there twice and am enchanted with it and love spending a night in one of the old hotels. I do think Dachau is important also, and with our car it only took half the day with time to visit more upbeat sights nearby. I never spent time there but from what I saw the town the prison is in looks lovely also.

We spent 3 nights in Munich. We did Dachau & Neuswanstein. We mostly only got to enjoy Munich in the evening, but that was ok for us.

If you are going to Munich and are interested in beer, I highly recommend going to beerdrinkersguide.com and possibly buying the book "The beer drinkers guide to Munich". I found the book fasinating and WELL worth the purchase. It covers the best beer gardens and beer halls in Munich. It also covers beer drinking day trips from Munich, such as Andechs and Salzburg.

Getting to Füssen and the castles is easy, and cheap, with the train. Read how to do it here.

We really loved Berchtesgaden, Königsee and Hitler's Eagles nest. Fabulous views, fabulous scenery and there is a National park there too. Best of all you won't share everything with 1500 other people.

One thought...I did not know how quiet it would be in the Marienplatz area on Sunday...and anyother place where the main attraction is shops...Most were closed on SSunday...or closed early. So that it was eery in the evening...the only show in town was the Hofbrauhaus. So you may want to think of this if any day you are planning in Munich is Sunday....but the English Gardens is wonderful to get the flavor of the city ..and the life of the local people (that I found wonderful to talk to and very helpful- they WANT you to like their city) Sunday is great there is good weather.

One thought...I did not know how quiet it would be in the Marienplatz area on Sunday...and anyother place where the main attraction is shops...Most were closed on SSunday...or closed early. So that it was eery in the evening...the only show in town was the Hofbrauhaus. So you may want to think of this if any day you are planning in Munich is Sunday....but the English Gardens is wonderful to get the flavor of the city ..and the life of the local people (that I found wonderful to talk to and very helpful- they WANT you to like their city) Sunday is great there is good weather.

I also think Salzburg is a perfect sidetrip from Munich. You can use the Laender or Schoenes Wochende passes for up to five people to get there - it's considered the last German Rail (DB) stop.

Having just returned from our European trip I can concur with those who say to visit Dachau and Salzburg and the two ( or three ) castles south of Munich. Note- Dachau requires sturdy shoes of a gym variety for you to walk comfortably outside- large pebbles. Skip Eagles Nest.It was a mass of people with a lovely view but you can get the same view other places in Bavaria, like the lovely Garmisch area.Do not miss Schloss Nymphenberg- it is a treasure and in a lovely part of the city.

another vote here for Garmisch. Not sure how the weather would be in October, but it is a delightful town used for skiing in the winter; during the summer some of the lifts are open and you can ride up and hike down. Unfortunately on the weekend we were there (in June a few years back) it was raining so we didn't get a chance to try the hiking.

I know I just mentioned something similar earlier...but when I thought more about Dachau I remember why I did not go this year when I went to Munich....it is closed on Mondays.....just make sure ANY place you want to go is open...and the hours before you go...

"I am actually considering purchasing an 8 day Benelux-Germany pass as I will be traveling to the Netherlands and Belgium as well." Reconsider. Rail travel in Belgium and the Netherlands (assuming you're not taking Thalys high speed trains) is pretty cheap to begin with. If you're going to make several trips within Belgium (or if you're traveling in a group), you can purchase a 10-trip domestic pass for about 70 euros. The biggest advantage is that more than one person can use the pass simultaneously. So, a round trip for 4 people from Brussels to Brugge would count as 8 of the 10 trips. You can buy this pass at any rail station.

The downside of shops closing in Germany on sundays is outweighed by the wonderful experience of lorries being banned from the roads and Autobahns on Sundays so if driving or biking within Germany on a Sunday you are far less likely to be caught up in a traffic jam. Should there be a traffic jam ahead on a German motorway you will often get prior warning on an overhead gantry which will read STAU. Should you find yourself in a traffic jam you can leave the motorway at the next exit and follow a yellow sign with a U number on it, following this sign on the normal roads will lead you to the next junction on the motorway where you can rejoin it and thereby hopefully avoid the STAU! Great idea I think.

I visited Munich 3 years ago. In addition to what's already been posted here, I will put a vote in for Dachau -- if you have interest in that sort of thing, and if the other part of your trip is balanced out by other types of activities. It is easily accessible by train.