Day trips from Munich on train

You can easily get to Salzburg, Neuschwanstein Castle, Mittenwald, etc

A family can also get a day pass very inexpensively to do those day trips outlined above--leaving after 9:00 a.m.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Oberammergau are a couple of Bavarian towns that can be combined into a single day trip if you don't mind a long day. Train from Munich to G-P about 1-1/2 hrs, bus from G-P to Oberammergau about 30 mins, train from Oberammergau back to Munich about 2 hrs. I was going to do this last summer but ended up not having an extra day in Munich to do it in.

Mittenwald is a typical Bavarian town with a cable car up the Karenwald on the edge of town for spectular views. You can even get a beer and a bite to eat at the top.

Mittenwald is home to several luthiers (builder of string instruments). There's even a violin museum there I think. On a previous trip we purchased a violin from one of the local shops. It was a great instrument and a very good price.

My favorite day-trip from Munich is to take the S8 southwestbound to the end of the line at Herrsching, about 40 minutes from the Hauptbahnhof. Walk a couple hundred meters to the lakefront and board one of the stately paddlewheel ships which cross the Ammersee to my favorite Bavarian village, Dießen am Ammersee. It's a popular resort for German weekenders, but little known to international tourists. Walk through Dießen up to the baroque-rococo Marienmünster Abbey (1730). Return to Herrsching by ship and take a taxi or bus, or walk three miles up a forested trail, to Kloster Andechs, where Benedictine monks have been brewing great beer since the 15th Century. (Photos of Herrsching, Dießen and Andechs here)

Or take S2 about 20 minutes from Hauptbahnhof to Oberschleißheim, and visit the magnificent, colorful Schleißheim Palaces, summer home of the Bavarian royal family. Aviation history buffs will enjoy Flugwerft Schleißheim (aviation branch of the Deutsches Museum), a short walk from the Schleißheim Palaces.

MVV passes are all you need for the short rail trips above; 12 rings to Herrsching and 6 rings to Oberschleißheim.

Nürnberg is a good day-trip by regional train from Munich on a Bayern-Ticket. RE 4014 departs München Hauptbahnhof at 9:19 AM, and arrives Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof at 10:52 AM. That leaves plenty of time to explore the old city, then take Tram #9 (also covered on the Bayern-Ticket) to the Doku-Zentrum and Nazi Party Rally Grounds, and catch an evening train back to Munich in time for dinner.

Tourists have yet to discover Ingolstadt, a charming, friendly town about halfway between Munich and Nürnberg. There are many historic buildings in the old center, including the former Anatomy Building of the University of Ingolstadt, now the German Museum of Medical History. Gardens in the courtyard are made up of medicinal herbs and plants. The building was the setting for Mary Shelley's original 1818 novel Frankenstein. Tours are available of the Audi factory, just outside the old center. Ingolstadt self-guided walking tour available here.

If you have a free Sunday, go to the spa town of Bad Wörishofen, birthplace of naturopathy. Therme Bad Wörishofen is a wonderful spa/sauna/waterpark complex. Then go to the open-air cafe on the small grass-runway airfield on the north side of town and watch skydivers do their thing, while you wait for your 45-minute ride in a classic 11-seat, Russian-built Antonov An-2 biplane (advance reservation required; photos here).