Help with Bavaria Itinerary

Clarifying so we can give better advice:1. You say 6 nights but that you have to spend the 1st and last nights in Munich--so are we talking about 4 full days actually available for sight-seeing?2. How are you traveling: rental car, train, or undecided at this point?

If, as Kent points out, you only have four full days in Munich, that is not much time for the things in Bavaria you should see. Forget the Black Forest.

You need to spend at least two full days in Munich, 2 full days for Rothenburg (so you get a night there), a full day to see Neuschwanstein, a day for Salzburg. See what I mean.

Don't bother to try to do the Romantic Road. It's not worth it. The best parts are Füssen (the castles) and Rothenburg. Just do them as a day trip and an overnight trip from Munich.

Wait a minute. With six nights, you have five full days in Munich. Still not enough time.

1 full day in Munich is enough unless you plan to spend hours in any museum.

1 day for Fuessen/Neuschwanstein castles

1 full day for Rothenburg unless you want to do the Nightwatchman's Tour, in which case, stay the night.

1 day for Salzburg

You know, if you rented a car and drove, it could save you some time that you'd otherwise use to wait on train schedules. Depending on which trains, and then adding in the cost of sleeping every night in Munich (can get $$$ fast), it's probably the same price or possibly cheaper to rent a car and drive around to the previously listed sights.

I think one of the greatest marketing coups of all time was to rename that highway "The Romantic Road". Yeah, its a pretty drive, but its far from the only pretty drive in Germany.

To clarify, we fly in late Thursday and fly out early on Wednesday. Was planning on trains as transportation but think it may be too limiting. Is driving in Germany fairly easy? Would love to get a car if it would not be too stressful. Thanks for info on Romance Road ... sounds like I could hit Rothenburg and get a good feel for it.

I would definitely spend nights in various towns rather than day trip, though I think you could spend all the time in Munich if you like large, multifaceted cities: parks, palaces, biergartens, architecture and museums.

You could travel by car or train, or both. I think a car might be handy but not necessary near Füssen (Neuschwanstein). Rothenburg and the not so Romantic Road are also accessible by car. Trains are IMO more convenient in Munich and Salzburg.

For me Munich, Salzburg and the alps (including the royal castles) would be a very full 5-6 day trip. If you want a closer medieval city than Rothenburg try Regensburg, an easy train ride from Munich.

Regards, Gary

Munich needs at least two days. I took my wife there a few years ago. We arrived in the evening of the first day, had three full days, one of which we did a day trip to Salzburg, and left early morning on the fifth day. So we actually had two full days in Munich. We spent a morning in and around Marienplatz, walked the Fussganger Zone from Marienplatz to the Hbf, took the streetcar to Nymphenburg, had lunch one day at the Hofbräuhaus, then saw the city museum of Munich (very interesting, but in German only). So, we did one museum, but we didn't see any other museums, we didn't see the Residenz or Frauenkirche. didn't go up the church tower at St. Peters, and didn't see Dachau.

Two days was not enough.

If you stay in Munich and do day trips to Rothenburg and Füssen, you have the advantage of having a base of operation where you can unpack your thing one time, but accommodations in Munich are probably more expensive.

If you would do the trip as a loop from Munich to Rothenburg to Füssen to Munich, you have to move every day. That's stressful. You have to take your luggage with you, which means carrying it on the train. If you have a car, there is a little less carrying but you will need a larger (i.e. more expensive) car so you have a trunk. The smallest cars are usually hatchbacks, which aren't adequate for concealling luggage.

You could stay outside of Munich (say Augsburg or Landsberg), but then you will have less time in Munich.

It's all a trade-off.

If there's 1 or 2 of you and you're only bringing carry-on luggage, then the smallest rental car will hide your luggage (as long as it's not a Smart car, well, actually, it might work).

Honestly, we did Munich in 1 day the first time for an overview and it was fine. We have an aunt in Munich who's a professional tour guide, and while she wasn't with us, she did say what we wanted to do was do-able in one day. We walked all over the city center, went in all the churches, cruised the markt, had lunch, saw the outside of the big museums, had a lovely stroll through the Englischer Garten, watched the surfers, saw the Sophie Scholl memorial, and still had time to spend 2hrs at a friend's house before dinner back in the 'burbs at 7pm.

Disclaimer: We only spend about 20 minutes (give or take) in any given church. We find they all start to look the same (esp the Baroque ones) at the 20 min mark. However, if the organ is going, then we're staying.

How much time you devote to Munich depends on your energy level and what's on your must-see list.

If I were doing it, I would go by train from Munich (9:29) to Rothenburg (2:59), spend the afternoon and evening seeing Rothenburg, and spend the night. The next day you could see a little more of Rothenburg, then take the train (less than 5 hours) to Füssen and spend the evening and night in Füssen. The third day, you would have plenty of time to see both castles (Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau) before going back to Munich late in the day.

The total time on the train would be just under 11 hours, 4½ hours more than the fastest route by car, but the total train fare using Bayern tickets would be €81 for all three days.

With a car, the cost of fuel alone, according to via Michelin, would be about €71. On top of that, you would have three days, maybe four, of car rental plus the time and inconvenience of spending time renting the car.

It would definitely be less expensive, and more comfortable and relaxing, with the train.

Hi,
I did the following trip on a recent 9 day trip which also flew in and out of Munich.

1. Flew into Munich. Took train from airport to HBF. Found hotel. Toured Munich in afternoon--Marienplatz, Glockenspiel, Hofbrauhaus.
2. Took train to Fussen. Spent day in Fussen exploring. Night in Fussen.
3. Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles. Took train to Salzburg.Night in Salzburg.
4. Toured Salzburg. Bought Salzburg card. Went to HohenSalzubrg Fortress, visited city sites.Night in Salzburg.
5. Toured Hellbrunn Castle, went to Untersberg.
Night in Salzburg.
6. Left Salzburg for Prien. Went to Herrenchiemsee Castle. Night in Munich.
7. Left in morning for Rothenburg. SPent afternoon touring Rothenburg. Night watchman tour at 8 pm. Spent night in Rothenburg.
8. Back to Munich. Shopped and went to Alte Pinothetok. Night in Munich.
9. Flew out of Munich.
Traveled using the Bayern train ticket. Very inexpensive way to travel and really part of the experience of being in Germany.

Well planned trip, Mary, but longer than Laura's.

By the way, I have spent 84 nights in So. Germany, half of it in Bavaria, in the last eight years, and went everywhere I wanted to go via train and bus. I never felt the need for a car.

Last October, I spent a week going from Munich to Würzburg. I started by going to Oberammergau (Linderhof), then went to Wieskirche and started a five day, 10 "stop" trip up the Romantic Road to Würzburg, all by train and car. The best car rental estimate (w/o CDW) I got, plus fuel estimate from via Michelin, was $350. Using Bayern-Tickets and local bus fares, my total travel expense was $126 (€90 at $1.42/€). I saved $224 by NOT renting a car, and I didn't have any liability to worry about.

hi Laura,
I know my itinerary is longer than your stay but I provided it to give you an idea of what you could do. Of course, you can't see everything. I think I might skip Rothenburg for another trip and you could shorten up the time in Salzburg. Neuschwanstein is just so cool to see so I wouldn't skip that. We really did enjoy the Herrencheimsee Castle by Prien also.The boat ride to the island is picturesque. I think Prien might have been a nice place to spend the night. IT is located half way between Salzburg and Munich. Also, I agree with Lee, the train is really inexpensive, convenient and just such an unstressful way to travel.

When we stayed in Munich for 6 nights, we split our time between day trips (www.grayline.com) and staying and seeing Munich. Grayline partners with a local tour bus company and also a local walk tours company (the guide to Dachau was excellent) so you are sure to find several interesting things to do. The nice thing about day trips are that they give you a flavor of a place and you can decide if you want to go back at a later time and see it more in depth. They even have day tours to Salzburg and Rothenburg!

One fantastic thing about Munich is that it is very organized and easy to navigate around in. The day tours / hop on/off bus tours, etc. all depart across from the main train station, and the walk tours depart from in front of Marienplatz (10-15 minute walk). If you stay near the train station (we stayed in the recommended King's Center hotel) you'll find it very easy to get around.

I realize you want to see as much as you can given your tight schedule. After all, you are probably spending a lot of money to fly there and you have limited vacation time from work. So, with that in mind here is a possible itinerary that packs it all in. Thursday a.m. arrive Munich and do a museum (if you slept on the plane), the Hofbrauhaus and walk around the city in the evening. Friday spend the day in Munich, take the train to Fuessen (2 hrs) in the early evening. Saturday tour the castles during the day, take evening train to Salzburg (4 1/2 hrs). Sunday spend the day and night in Salzburg. Monday morning take the train to Rothenburg (5 hrs). Spend the day & night in Rothenburg. Tuesday see more of Rothenburg or take an earlier train to Munich (3-3 1/2 hrs). Spend Tuesday night in Munich in preparation for flight out on Wednesday. Of course, you can switch the cities around in the middle of the itinerary. So, from Fuessen to Rothenburg then Rothenburg to Salzburg, then Salzburg to Munich. In trying to decide to drive or take the train brings a question. Have you driven in Europe before? It can be tricky. Like everything, there are adv. and disadv. to both. I drive because I do like my flexibility. However, I have driven in that area on many previous trips and have lived in Germany, so I'm somewhat used to the signs and roads. If you go by train, use this website to check out the possible schedules and print them off for easy reference on your trip. PM me if you have any questions. Have fun making memories on your trip!