Germany and Switzerland

One easy and very enjoyable way to save money is to rent apartments instead of staying in hotels. Germany apartments are very reasonable - I know we paid less than 300 euros for one of our weeks in Germany. Switzerland will be more, but you will still save - especially if you plan to do some limited cooking in the apartment. Apartments are also more enjoyable than hotels because you can spread out and not be cramped in one room.
A half fare card for trains in Switzerland is also a money saver.

I'm well versed at changing money in Europe. I was just asking for suggestions on how to make my money go farther in Germany and Switzerland. Renting an apartment is definitely an option we're considering. Any suggestions on day trips by train?

A vacation apartment or Ferienwohnung ("FeWo") will save you lots of money in Switzerland (over staying in hotels). Most rent by the week, often from Saturday to Saturday. but in June, which is not yet "high season" in most of Switzerland, you may be able to find 3- or 4-night rentals if you wish to base yourselves in 2 areas instead of just one.

If you have an idea where you like to be in Switzerland, or what you would like to see and do, I might be able to make some suggestions for appropriate towns or villages for your visit, and how to locate chalets or apartments there.

For daytrips from Munich, the Bayern Ticket is your money-saving friend:

Bayern Ticket

For tips on accommodations you can't do better than Ben's website:

Bavaria Ben's Bavaria accommodations

Here are a list of hotels frequently recommended for Munich:

Blauer Bock
Viktualienmarkt
Royal
Seibel
Münchner Kindl

Uhland is a nice place, but I would not put it in the category of "bang for the buck". Actually, I think you can do far better, economically, with a Ferienwohnung outside Munich than a hotel in the city. Almost every town has a website, usually at www.town_name.de. There you will find a listing (Verzeichnis) of accommodations (Übernachtungen, Unterkünfte, Gastgeber). Look for Ferienwohnungen. Many accommodation websites will be in English, and the owners will speak English, even if the town's website is only in German. There are some resort towns south of Munich, Hozkirchen, Bad Tölz, Tegernsee, Schiersee, with good rail access to Munich. If I wanted to stay near Neuschwanstein, I would look at Pfronten. It has good bus service (~½ hr) to the Füssen Bahnhof and some nice, reasonable priced places to stay.

Russ ~ Thanks for the info on the Bayern ticket. That's the kind of information I'm looking for. I'll check out the recommended apartment connections and see what I can come up with.

Here is another source of information on the Bayern-Ticket, from BEG, which actually issues it.

You can use the Bayern-Ticket to go to almost anywhere in Bavaria. Most destinations within Bavaria are either accessible only by regional trains, which are the trains for which the Bayern-Ticket is valid, or can be accessed almost as quickly by regional trains.

The Bayern-Ticket is also valid for all conveyances in the metro districts (such as MVV in Munich) and for regional buses, such as the bus from Füssen Bahnhof to Hohenschwangau (the castles).

Ops: BEG has changed their website. It still has good infomation on the Bayern-Ticket, but it is now only in German. No problem, right?

Good stuff. Thanks. I'm going to get to work on finding a reasonable apartment.

I just pulled up the Bayern-Ticket website and it's in English. I guess my MacBook Pro translated it for me, huh? It looks like a great site. It will definitely come in handy for me.

Gregory, I've spent 16 weeks traveling, mostly single, in Germany in the last 10 years and my total expenses, in Germany, not including my airfare, have averaged about €70 ($100 +/-, depending on the exchange rate).

The key to saving money is planning.

If you figure out the public transportation system, using it it much less expensive than renting a car or, usually, a rail pass.

Have where you are going to stay arranged in advance. If you just blow into town, you can probably find someplace, but not the least expensive. Remember, a lot of people have been planning, and they have found the most economical accommodations. They didn't say, "this is a good deal, I'll save it for someone who comes in at the last minute". They took it.

In Germany, I save by staying in Privatzimmer and small family run Gasthäuser, and occasionally a Ferienwohnung, but they are not so economical for one.

Learn some German. The most economical places are often run by older Germans, who do not speak English. In Germany, a hotel with 3 or more stars has to have a "bilingual staff", whatever that means, and charges accordingly.

Learn to read a German menu. Get Marlings Menu Master. Avoid restaurants with English menus. The cost of translation is somewhere in the prices. If you can read the menu, there are a lot of traditional dishes for less than the price of what you might recognize (Beefsteak). Schnitzel is often a bargain; I love Schnitzel.

Your best options for finding an apartment is going on the local tourism website for the town you'll be visiting. About half of the websites will be in German only, so if you don't speak it, you'll need to translate it. Look for a British flag on the page, if there is one, that'll bring up the page in English.

When looking at apartments, look at all of the "fine print" -- does it include linens and electricity in the charges? Some charge extra for this. And check if there's a cleaning fee you'll have to pay when you leave. Email the owner, ask to be sure.

But check into privatzimmer, too. We get apartments because we have 2 kids, it costs less for us. For the 2 of you, there may not be much of a price difference. Weigh all the options. Yes, with the apartment you'll probably have more room, plus a kitchen and laundry facilities. But with the privatzimmer comes breakfast. You can have breakfast there, stop by a market or brat stand for a cheap lunch, and have a sit-down dinner somewhere.

"I just pulled up the Bayern-Ticket website and it's in English."

"The website". You were given two links, one to the Bahn's description, and it is in English. However, it's information is incomplete. The one I gave you, from Bayerische Eisenbahngesellschaft, has much more complete information but is only in German.

In addition to regional trains in Bavaria, the Bayern-Ticket is valid on some stretches outside Bavaria, such as into Salzburg Hbf and the section through the Tirol, from Pfronten to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Bayern-Ticket is also valid on regional buses in Bavaria, including on the Regionalverkehr Oberbayern (RVO), which has a rather extensive network of routes south of Munich, from Füssen to Berchtesgaden.

I don't particularly like translation software. Beside it's not getting word order correct (throw Mama from the train), German words (like English) often have multiple meanings. The software doesn't understand context and often uses the wrong meaning. But I guess if you have no other choice.....

Dear Gregory, I would suggest you visit Salzburg and stay there if you like smaller places than Munich. I fyou ahve time, visit Cezney Krumlov in Czech. Their is a limo service from Salzburg. This little presevered town is wonderful and incredibly cheap with great food and a great strolling place. If you are going to Switzerland, We stay in Zermatt at the Hotel Julien , a romantik group hotel with a wonderful spa. If you have limited time, stay in Wengen for many days and buy a 7 day peak pass which gives you unlimited Mountain cable car rides. You will love it.