German itinerary - few more questions!

"Somewhere with beautiful mountain scenery (early April)?" If you just want some great Alpine scenery, Munich isn't close enough, but you don't need to go all the way to Salzburg. It's only about an hour by train to Prien, which lies on the Chiemsee, a lake with islands, one of which houses one of Ludwig's palaces. Here's a pic: http://i.ittvoltam.hu/p/00/03/48/84/11923a.jpg http://tourismus.prien.de/en/detail/culture,4788.htm You can try Garmisch and Mittenwald too if you want to get closer. Mittenwald is particularly fetching, Garmisch larger. However, spring weather in the mountains can be pretty unpredictable.

You don't really get the mountains in Salzberg even though there is a mountain just at the edge of town. Its about 90 minutes by fast train from Munich. Edited time.

I don't think of Salzburg as mountain scenery. However Berchtesgaden Nat. Park is only an hour away from Salzburg and definitely is beautiful mountain scenery. You can stay overnight in Berchtesgaden. It's less than an hour south of Freilassing, which is 8 min across the river from Salzburg, the last stop coming from Munich (or Nuernberg)

BTW, Russ, beautiful as that first picture is, it's not the island, Herreninsel, with Lugwig's palace, Herrenchiemsee. It's the smaller Fraueninsel. The large building is a nunnery.

Berchtesgaden. It's less than an hour south of Freilassing, which is 8 min across the river from Salzburg Or under half an hour from Salzburg by car, most of which is the road south out of town.

If he wanted to stay the night in Salzburg, the RVO bus, Watzmann Express, leaves from the Salzburg Hauptbahnhof hourly. With half a dozen stops in Salzburg (e.g. Mirabelleplatz and the Rathaus) the trip to Berchtesgaden take 46 min. I can't find the one way fare, but for €9/P you can get an RVO Tagesticket, which not only covers RT from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden that day, but all of your bus travel in Berchtesgaden, such as out to Königsee.

We were in the Berchestgaden area last month and the scenery is absolutely spectacular!! One of the best Guesthouses, which we found through a recommendation from another traveller on this site: http://www.friedwiese.de/enska/isl.htm
Happy Travels!

"BTW, Russ, beautiful as that first picture is, it's not the island, Herreninsel, with Lugwig's palace, Herrenchiemsee. It's the smaller Fraueninsel. The large building is a nunnery." Ahem. You are correct about the island with the nunnery and buildings in the foreground, but it was not my claim that this island was Herrenchiemsee or that the nunnery was Ludwig's palace; I hoped merely to provide a photo that displayed the lake and the nice scenery, and lacking one myself, I found one that served this purpose. Herrenchiemsee in fact IS in the picture - perhaps you focused on just the one island, but there are three islands in the photo, and it's the large one behind the other two, closest to the mountains.

Since you're looking for alternatives with lakes and mountain scenery I would suggest near Herrenchimsee, Garmisch-Partenkirchen/Oberammergau, Innsbruck or somewhere in that general vicinity. All 3 are beautiful in their own way. If you're looking for a place with amazing scenery and things to do, consider more of the Garmisch or Innsbruck area. There are tons of little towns with gorgeous areas near there that are quiet and great for a day off. I know that's really general, but I'm not sure if you want to just enjoy some scenery and hang out or if you want scenery and things to do.