Bavarian Alps
 

I am planning my trip from USA to Bavarian Alps for this summer for 7-8 days. Here is the high level trip plan. Is this too aggressive? Am I missing any key site seeing in this area? Any help would be great...

Munich Area (1 day)
• Nymphenburg Palace

Fussen Area (2 days)
• Füssen - Trains are available from Munich to Fussen
• Hohenschwangau Village
○ Take Taxi or Bus from Fussen to Hohenschwangau
○ Hohenschwangau Castle
○ Neuschwanstein Castle
§ The Royal Castle Walk
§ Marienbruckle Bridge for Grand view of Neuschwanstein Castle
§ Hike five minutes past Marien Bridge for a better view and complete solitude

Garmisch-Partenkirchen Area (2 days)
• Garmisch-Partenkirchen
○ Partnachklamm Gorge, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
○ Aussichtsplattform AlpspiX, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
○ Train or Gondola to Zugspitze, Garmisch-Partenkirchen
○ Hiking at Eckbauer Peak
• Oberammergau Village
○ Linderhof Palace
• Ettal
○ Benediktinerabtei Ettal or Ettal Abbey
○ Gothic Church
○ Brewery
• Mittenwald Town

Berchtesgaden National Park Area (2 days)
• Herrenchiemsee Castle
• Berchtesgaden National Park
○ Königssee Village
○ Boating in Lake Königssee
○ Kehlsteinhaus - Eagle's Nest
• Therme Bad Aibling, Bad Aibling - Thermal Spa
○ Bad Reichenhall - Spa

Hi patenik2

I don't think you'll be able to do everything you've noted for Garmisch; most of your activities will take 1/4 or 1/2 of a day --

Partnach Gorge hike is half a day
Oberammergau is half a day (at least). If you add in Ettal and Linderhof, that's a full day.
Mittenwald is half a day
Hiking the Eckbauer is 1/4 day
Zugspitze is 1/4 day, if you rush it (train in each direction is about 45 minutes)
Alpspitze is about 1/4 day

I think you need to do some thinking & prioritizing here!

s

You can combine Eckbauer and Partnach gorge. I did that - lift up to Eckbauer, hike to the upper entrance of the gorge and back through the gorge to GaP.

Definitely too much on your agenda. Scratch AlpSpix if going up to the Zugspitze.

Scratch Mittenwald, unfortunately a bit out of the way in your case.

Scratch the spas in Berchtesgaden area.

Thanks Guys for the response. I am still working on the plan and your advices would be really helpful. I can stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen area for 3 days if needed. I would like to slow down and really enjoy these areas on backcountry road. Do you think having my own rental car would help?

Where do you think I should stay in Fussen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen area?

I been told that hiking further on the Partnach gorge to the Konigshaus am Schachen is really beautiful.. does anyone done it? any feedback?

Hi
Several years ago we stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen area for several days. These are two seperate cities, we stayed in Partenkirchen at a hotel in the center. we walked to town and had a rental car that we used for day trips. It worked out very well having the rental as it was on our own schedule. We stopped at places we liked and if there a place we didn't care for, we left. We find a car for a trip like this invaluable as you can reach everyplace you want in your own time.

The hike up to Schachenhaus is really long and exhausting. Would take up the whole day. Not sure you will want to do that.

Hi again,

In contrast to alan43, I don't think having a car is particularly useful, particularly for the places you want to see. These are not out of the way places, and they are pretty much centrally located. The problem with doing what you listed is that it simply takes time; you just can't ascend the Alpspitze or hike the Partnach Gorge in 10 minutes.

Yes, you may be able to get to more places in a single day with a rental car, but I personally don't like that kind of travel. I like to go slowly, linger, meet folks, soak up the views, wander down back streets, discover shops, and really take my time.

I live in Garmisch, don't have a car, and get around perfectly easily. You can get all the schedules you need ahead of time using the town's site for town busses or the German rail site at

www.bahn.de

That way you'll be able to see how convenient and easy the transport it.

Have fun!

s

Thanks Guys.. I think I have decided to fly to Munich from Chicago and take train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen area. I would like to see if I can rent a car in Garmisch-Partenkirchen area and drive around the bavarian alps and southern romantic road. I personally think it would give me both options of leisurely travel and easy move around from one place to another. I think I will just put the skalaton around my trip and will decide what I need to do when I get there..

I agree with you swandav2000.. I would love to soak and slow down.. Is there any other small pictureque towns in the area you would recommand?

Hiking to the Schachen house is a beautiful way to "slow down". But I would not do it as a day trip, unless you are a really fit and experienced hiker. But you can break it up in two 1/2 days.

It's much more easy (and shorter!) to use the trail from Elmau (paid parking lot at that remote luxury hotel near Garmisch). There are some steep parts, but the trail itself does not require any skills.

There is an alpine guesthouse on Schachen.
Start your hike after midday, so that you arrive there around 7-8pm. Have a hearty dinner and watch the sun set over the mountains. As there are no cable cars going up there, and no motorized traffic is allowed, you and the few other guests will share the scenery all by yourself.
Spend the night up there (they have regular rooms, not only a dorm)
Visit King Ludwig's Schachen "castle" (only with guided tours at 11,13,14,15 hrs) and the Alpine Botanical Garden next morning. The garden opens quite early (8hrs).

This whole trip makes only sense when you got fair weather and some good visibility, though. Everything up there won't open until early June. So I would not book anything in advance but decide on the spot in Garmisch if you want/can go.

I think the revised plan is better. Prioritizing your list is a great suggestions - then think of it more as a "framework" instead of a rigid plan to be followed at all costs. For example, you may decide to see just one of the two castles.

One idea that may help is to simply rent a car at the Munich airport (assuming you don't land in Munich at night) and head straight to Garmisch and then return the car to the airport for your flight home. The driving will be easy and there is ample free parking at all the places you listed. You'll see more.

Is there any aerial tours - helocopters or hot air ballon rides.. It seems like many towns and palaceswould provide great site seeing from air.. Any tours available?

Don't miss Dokumentation Obersalzburg when you're on the way to the Eagle's Nest. In addition to a presenting a fantastic, but sobering, history of Nazism it also provides access to a portion of Hitler's bunkers under Obersalzburg.

http://www.obersalzberg.de/obersalzberg-home.html?&L=1

Garmisch is one of my favorite towns in Bavaria. Good base to explore the area.

A real tourist stop for dinner I would recommend the "Frauendorfer" in Partenkirchen for a fun evening!

-john