Munich plus what?

I recommend taking the train from Munich to Vienna. It is a beautiful ride through rolling hills and along the Danube River. Vienna is a great destination and worth a couple days.

I would suggest taking a direct train to Prague (6 hours) and spending the night and return on a direct train the next day. You can purchase a Bayern/Barvarian Ticket for the trip from Munich to the Czech border and also in Munich purchase the ticket for the travel from the Czech border to Praha.

According to the Die Bahn timetable...the 1st direct train leave Munich Main (hbf) Station @ 8:44 and arrives Praha hl.n @ 14:44.

Return trip:

Departs Prague Smichovhov @ 13:25...change in Schwandorf and arrives Munich hbf @ 19:19.

CR Train Timetable:
http://www.vlak.cz/JRCis.asp?tt=c&cl=E5

Die Bahn Timetable:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

I have to put in a vote for Berlin for the longer stretch. This city is so dynamic. You can see twentieth century sites or check out Potsdam and go back further in history. The museums are wonderful, the food is great, the beer is good...And the whole notion of what it was 20 years ago and what it is today continues to boggle the mind.

Pam

Although Wien and Praq are about the same distance from München, Wien is served by a couple of fast (EuroCity) trains per day that make the trip in just over four hours. Full fare is €70 and up per person, one way, but if you book in advance on the German Rail website, you can get that for €58 round trip per person.

Praq, on the other hand, is only served by regional trains. The fastest, as pointed out by JB, are direct, or one change, and take 6 hours. There is a Bayern-Böhmen-Ticket, which is like the Bayern-Ticket but it also covers travel into the Czech Republic as far as Plzen. It costs €32 for five people.

There is also a discount Prag-Special-Ticket from München to Praq and return (return up to a month later) for €62 per person RT. Unlike the Bayern- or Böhmen-Ticket, it has no 9 AM weekdays limits, so you can take the 8:44 out of München without having to use point-point tickets to cover your travel before 9 AM.

But, in my opinion, there is plenty to see in Bavaria. To the north there is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Würzburg, Bamberg, Nürnberg, Regensberg. In the south, in addition to the castles at Hohenschwangau, there is Linderhof, Oberammergau, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and, a little east of there, the national part of Berchtesgaden, with the Königssee and Eagles' Nest. I thought the castle at Burghausen, on the Austrian border, was very interesting. You really do not need to go beyond Bavaria.

Karen,

There are LOTS of choices for locations to spend six days! I'd suggest choosing places that are relatively close, so that you don't waste valuable touring time travelling between cities. I assume you'll be flying home from Munich?

What are you most interested in seeing in that immediate area? I'm sure that will be a significant influence on your sightseeing choices?

For the four days prior to your husband's project, tour Munich (you might consider a walking tour to get a better picture of the history), tour the Castles in Fussen, tour Dachau (if that part of history interests you?), or visit the Deutsches Museum (16 kM of exhibits!). Radius Tours offers walking tours, Castle Tours and Dachau Tours - check Rick's book for info. Just walking around the main part of the city (Marienplatz) is interesting. I'm sure you'll be able to find lots to do in four days!

For the last six days, again there are LOTS of choices. If you want to see Prague, that's certainly one option but the travel time will be a bit longer. Lago di Como (Varenna?) is also possible, although again the travel time will be longer.

Another possibility and a much closer destination would be Salzburg. It's a wonderful city (especially if you like Mozart), and you could easily spend 2 - 3 days there and another couple of days in either Hallstatt or Vienna. I spent the better part of the afternoon exploring the Hohensalzburg Fortress above the town - it was great!

From Salzburg you could take a day trip to Berchtesgaden (I used Bob's Special Tours - see Rick's book for info). It's only a short trip to Munich, so it would be very easy to get back to the airport for your flight (use the S-Bahn to the Airport - an easy 30 minute trip and no worries about traffic).

Another choice would be Rothenburg. It's an easy trip from Munich. Don't miss the Night Watchman's tour (I assume it will still be operating then?).

Happy travels!

I've been thinking about this further. You've really got a nice amount of time on either side of the project. You could also go west and visit the Black Forest, Freiburg would be good. I spent 6 months in a small town in Germany south of Stuttgart and the Neckar River Valley is very nice. Heidelberg is an interesting town. Also, Rothenburg ob der Tauber on the Romantic Road is lovely. You could also look into doing a Rhine Trip. Think how wonder Napa is at that time of year! I loved Vienna and Salzburg, but Germany has a lot to offer. BTW when we were there we took regular night trains from Stuttgart to Amsterdam, Paris, and some even traveled to London for a long weekend. Of course, we were students sleeping in trains in second class and still having energy the whole weekend. But you have two more days than our long weekends for the end of the trip! ; )