Bayern pass and Bavaria
 

After spending 3 nights in Munich,(Dec 18, 19, 20) I and my 2 daughters plan to head down to Fussen for the start of 3 nights in the Bavarian Alps. Our plan is to arrive in Fussen as early in the morning as possible, put our carry-ons in storage lockers at the train station, and do the tour of Neuschwanstein Castle. Following the tour, we plan to take a bus from Fussen(after some exploration of the town) to Garmisch-P. We will spend 3 nights at the Gasthof Fraundorfer.

I am fairly certain the Bayern Pass will get us all down to Fussen for about 30 euro. My question is, will it also cover the bus trip to Garmisch? Does anyone have any info on the bus route from Fussen to Garmisch?

Finally, while staying in Garmisch, what are the highlights which we absolutely should not miss? Any good restaurant recommendations?

Thanks all!

You'll find the timetable here:
http://www.rvo-bus.de/file/3192064/data/9606.pdf

The Bayern ticket is valid on those buses. But if you travel on a Saturday (Dec 21st) note the limited number of services (the service with the blue headline "Samstag außer Feiertag"). And some services require a change at Echelsbacher Brücke.
If you wanted, for example, leave Füssen at 5pm, you'd first need to take the #73 bus to Echelsnbacher Brücke. And change there to the 18:08 #9606 service to Garmisch.
As it will be dark by then, you will hardly see anything along the route, though.

In Garmisch, you can go up Zugspitze mountain (really expensive), visit/hike the gorge (weather/ice conditions permitting), make a short trip to Mittenwald ("quaint" town, and base for cable car ride to Karwendel - less pricey than Zugspitze). Also many short or long trails in short walking distance from Garmisch are groomed in winter for hiking.

Hi lorijv,

When you arrive in Garmisch, please be aware that the Bavaria Ticket is not valid on the town busses. You'll probably want to take a bus to the Fraundorfer as it will be about a 30-minute walk. The bus tickets are about 1,50 per person (once you get to your inn, you'll get a pass for all the town busses). Or you could take a taxi from the train station.

Yes, the Zugspitze should be a good thing to see in December -- be sure to take the cable car down to the Eibsee (beautiful) and maybe walk around the lake (about 90 minutes) and have something to eat or drink in one of the restaurants at the lake.

*Some* hiking trails, though not many, are groomed in winter. One that is groomed is the beautiful Kramerplateauweg. I hope you'll spend some time in the pedestrian zones in Partenkirchen (where you'll be staying) as well as in Garmisch; they'll be pretty lively as the tiny Christmas market will still be going on.

One great thing is the night-time torch hike trough the Partnachklamm -- the frozen ice falls are spectacular.

Have fun!

s

"I am fairly certain the Bayern Pass will get us all down to Fussen for about 30 euro."

Yes, it will - with a change of train on the way. And it will get you to Garmisch too - with a change in Echelsbacher Brücke, perhaps. You'll also need to catch a bus from Füssen to the "Hohenschwangau, Schwangau (Schlösser)" stop to reach N'stein, then use the same bus to return to Füssen before boarding the bus to Garmisch for the 2.3-hour bus ride to Garmisch (where it looks like you'll arrive at around 19:30.)

The "castle" tour (it's a late 19th-century residential palace, not a castle) requires a mere 30 minutes (and $16 each.) The English tour I took was narrated with such a heavy accent that the content was unintelligible. But even if your guide is terrific, you might reconsider the merits of hopping off and on trains and buses all day and of 6+ hours of sitting in 6 different vehicles, much of that time in the dark, probably.

If you took the train from Munich to Garmisch, you'd be there in less then 90 minutes - and it takes only one train - and you'd have 2 days for Garmisch and a day in wonderful Mittenwald.

Alternatively, the Bayern ticket you used to reach Garmisch could be used that same day for a scenic ride through Tyrolean Austria, if, say, the weather wasn't right for being outdoors. The ride from Garmisch to Reutte on the Ausserfern Railway would cost you less than 60 minutes (the same to return) and not a single Euro more - and you still have plenty of daylight hours to enjoy the scenery.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ausserfern_Railway