Village to stay in within train/bus ride to Munich

Landsberg am Lech is maybe a little larger, but pretty, interesting, and about 50 min by train from Munich Hbf (change in Kaufering). Website is at www.landsberg.de. Home page is only in German, but click on "Tourimus" for tourism with an English option. I stayed at Augsberger-hof, just off the town square, Hauptplatz. A double there is about €70.

I'm not sure how well the people at Augsburger-Hof speak English. Probably pretty well. They started to speak English to me when I arrived, but I insisted on using German, and they let me. But that might be a problem in the villages. Although everyone in "Germany" (the touristy part of Deutschland) speaks English, overall only about half in Deutschland do.

You might also consider a town in the area south of Holzkirchen (Bad Tölz, Tegernsee). It's in the foothills of the Alps and very accessible to Munich (the S-Bahn comes out to Holzkirchen).

It is a matter of taste whether you stay 'in Munich' or in a village and visit Munich.

If this is your first visit to Munich I do recommend actually staying in town, and recommend you stay within walking distance of the Viktualienmarkt. I'd recommend staying outside of town on your next trip -- Munich is worth enjoying in the early morning and late evening.

If you want to stay near Neuschwanstein castle, the Gasthof zum Schluxen is nice, but I don't recall how convenient it is using public transportation (we had a van).

I didn't know you were so interested in Neuschwanstein, but I found Pfronten (www.pfronten.de), just over the German/Austrian border from Reutte and the Tirol, to be a delightful little cluster of villages, very scenic. Like Reutte, it's on the Ausserfernbahn (train line from Kempten to Garmisch), and there are regular buses from Pfronten to Füssen Bahnhof (25-30 min), many of which go on to the castles at Hohenschwangau.

The town of Gauting is 30 minutes south of Munich. You can take public transportation using the S-Bahn into the city. Look at www.gauting.de for accommodations. Have fun on your trip.

Thank you for all your suggestions - you have given me some homework here! Lee, (sorry to ask for more), but can you tell me very roughly how far your suggested villages are from Munich. Are they all on train/bus lines? Also we are slow travellers, so are going to stay for a week in the same place.
Thanks again

Margaret, you really need to 1) find a good map of Bavaria, and 2) learn how to use the German Rail website. Here is a good schematic map of the rail system in that area. It's not real geographically accurate. When I last bought a railpass (2000), ETBD sent me a rail map of Germany, which is more accurate. I've used it until it is falling apart at the seams. I have a scan from it here, but the resolution is not real good.

I think I already told you how far Landsberg is from Munich. Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB) runs the trains from Munich down to Holzkirchen and on to Bad Tölz and Tegernsee. Bad Tölz is about 50 min from Munich; Tegernsee is 1h02m travel time. Only thing, these places are major resort areas, and might be a little pricey.

I might also suggest you try Herrsching, near Andechs Monastery, or Starnberg. They're a little closer in.

Landsberg, BTW, was where Hitler was imprisoned after the "Beerhall Putsch" and wrote the first part of Mein Kampf.

Most towns in Germany have a website, usually under www.[town_name].de. Sometimes the website will have an English language site, linked by an American or British flag. If not, accommodations will be found under "Tourismus", then "Unterkünfte" or "Übernachten", maybe "Gastgeber". If you find a list, look under "FeWo" or "Ferienwohnungen", "vacation apartments". Sometimes they will have a link to their website. If it's in English you might have a possibility. From what you say you want, FeWos might be ideal. They are apartments that rent by the week, sometimes shorter, usually for less € than a hotel room. They'll be at least a studio (sofa bed), maybe one or two bedrooms, and a kitchen nook so you can fix your own food.

If you want to compromise between city and country, there are some lovely villages that are more like suburbs, on the local s-bahn or bus lines from Munich. Try Gruenwald or Strasslach, or anything south of Munich along the river Isar. There's lovely green space along the river and it's only 20 minutes or so on fast, cheap local transit into town.

We have booked a Hotel in Augsburg, which is about an hour from Munich by train. The main reason being that Oktoberfest is being held in Munich during the time we will be there and accommodation costs are set accordingly. Also, we like the intimacy of smaller towns.

Rosenheim. About an hour south of Munich on the main railway to Innsbruck. Delightful little town with friendly natives! Railway station at the bottom of the main street. Take a look at www.rosenheim.de. Has a C&A`s which my friends were thrilled at.

Check out a hotel in Aying, 'Brauereigasthof - Hotel Aying', owned by the local brewery there - it's about 35" from Munich on the S-bahn. http://www.ayinger.de/

It's one of the Karen Brown recommendations

The suggestions for staying in a nearby village are good. However, if you have any second thoughts about perhaps staying in Munich, I would recommend Pension Westphalia; right across the street from the Octoberfest Meadow. Owned by my old friend Herr Hoos who retired and sold it to a nice young couple. Rates were reasonable; accomodation excellent. Close to the subway for easy access to the "downtown." Great local restaurants nearby. I think years ago Frommer used to refer to it as one of the finest pensions in Germany.