Lyn95

A friend of mine is traveling to Munich for work and will have a few days on her own. She has been to Munich previously and would now like to explore other places. She has asked me to recommend a few good day trips from Munich. She does not want to rent a car and would prefer to not be apart of a group tour as she likes to explore on her own. If there is a particularly exceptional group tour maybe she would consider it. So far I've only thought of Salzburg which should be a easy day trip from Munich. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you!

Lyn95

I failed to tag this for Germany and have correctly posted it to Germany. Sorry

PalenQ

When is she/he going?

Salzburg would be at top of my list

and Fussen for Mad Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial right in Munich's suburbs

Rothenberg for a classic but very touristed walled medieval town.

Garmisch to ascend Zugspitze by train.

In any case tell her to research the Bavarian Pass which gives unlimited travel on regional trains and buses and city transports for about 30 euro a day. Covers to Salzburg:

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/...-tickets.shtml - good sources of info on German trains and where to go on them - www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

Whathello

I second PQ : Salzburg is nice

I loved Garmish and you can hike in the mountain - so relaxing.

Dachau was for me underwhelming. Too clean you (I) didn't feel the weight of monstrosity there as I have felt it in numerous other barbaric testimonies of Nazi cruelty.

And Muenchen itself has to keep you busy of course.

Lyn95

She is going mid October

Thank you very much for the suggestions

PalenQ

She is going mid October>

Tad too late for Oktoberfest which is largely in September, being moved long ago for better weather I read.

Lubitsch

PalenQ is giving you the American tourist's cliche list of Germany also without any regard to convenience regarding public transport.
Neuschwanstein is already a problematic day trip from Munich, Rothenburg an absurdly exhausting one with public transport. Neither destination is as unique or outstanding as the Disneyesque perception may make them seem, both are also overrun with tourists. Adding "Sound of Music" Salzburg and a touch of Nazis with Dachau completes the cliche check list though both are worthy destinations in itself.
If your friend has a little more imagination, I suggest Regensburg which like Salzburg has an UNESCO world heritage old town. Also Landshut is one of Germany's nicest towns though few people are aware of it. And Augsburg was the first city in Germany influenced by the Renaissance.

massimop

Was quite sorry I didn't make a day trip to Augsberg during my multi-day visit to Munich. I found the sights of Munich to be very interesting & thus decided to spend the day I would have spent in Augsberg seeing more of Munich. But the next time I go to Munich, Augsberg will be at teh top of my list of nearby places to see (and I will look up Landshut & possibly make that #2)

Whathello

Yeah. Maybe PQ did give a list of cliches. But he gives good advice and regularly and it is the first time I see you post.
And sorry if the destinations most recommend are touristy Ines.
Might be the reason why they are touristy : they are great so people flock there.
And about 90pc of the tourists in Muenchen do visit dachau.
Not everyone sleeps in Neperlach to profit from the excellent subway.

Lubitsch

Whathello, as far as I can see you have nothing to say here except I should post more and tourists go to touristy places which might have a reason (or have not).
Some American tourists have a perception of germany that can be summed up with Oktoberfest, beer, Lederhosen and Dirndl, cars, Nazis and Disneyesque castles without really understanding the difference between old castles and 19th century reimaginations. Those who flip through a guide book sometimes add cute old towns for which apparently a single town, Rothenburg has to stand in, being inundated with tourists.
I can't say I think much of people who basically go to a place to find all their cliches mirrored by running to the places which have settled into touristic machines confirming these cliches. While Neuschwanstein does look great from a distance, so do lots of other castles in Germany. While Rothenburg is a great historic small town, so do lot of others in germany which don't see a hundreth of its visitors.
So if you think touristic places are often visited for a reason, you're not totally wrong, but especially in the case of Germany not always right.

Dukey1

Rothenburg USED to be THE Number One tourist destination: <B>for the Germans</B>. Has that changed?

I think the four Ludwig builds are worthwhile but I would not put Neuschwanstein at the top of that list for a variety of reasons. For decoration and size, Herrenchiensee easily surpasses it.
There are sites within Munich which haven't even been mentioned: the Rezidenz, Nymphenburg Palace are just two of several.

Whathello

Lubitsch you are missing the point.

You are attacking posters bascially telling them they give a wrong description of Germany.

Just be polite, add your input and
don't tell PQ his contribution is worthless because touristy
don't tell me I have nothing to say when I reply to a post you place on a public forum
don't be upset if Germany is touristy
don't have judgments about people who visit clichés
don't be upset if people visit the Nazi heritage
It all belongs to Germany like it or not.

So yes, I visited Dachau whilst in Nurmberg and Auschwitz whilst in Krakow.

I loved Neuschwanstein, esp because it is touristy and has been copied by Walt Disney. I didn't see many other castles, but I saw that one for sure. and I like Aachen and also GP and a lot of touristy places. Don't tell me what is cliché what is nice to see and what must be avoided.

Now I also found myself in Hanau - didn't see one tourist. Maybe I should tell people to go there. Or Torgau - nice castle there, with a bear welcoming you. A little bit boring though. But real German.

PalenQ

Ah locals who cannot put themselves in the shoes of a foreign tourist - most of whom would love Neuschwanstein inside and out - it is the number one most visited site in Germany and that is why Lubitsch disses it I guess - Nurnberg, Augsburg, Regensburg, Passau, etc are all really neat large cities but most Americans would actually enjoy IMO the places I mention more for whatever reason.
Like it or not.

PalenQ

And don't go to Oktoberfest or Haufbrauhaus or Marientplatz for clock show, etc because foreign tourists are rife there. Even Dachau was largely foreign tour groups when I was there -in fact Munich itself probably makes a poor base because so many foreign tourists flock there.

Lubitsch

You two still have very little to say and you're putting up an endless series of straw man arguments which you then enthusiastically work on knocking down. I think everybody who reads that will consider it carefully before following any travel tips from you.

PalenQ

Well I have been posting and reading here for years and the places I mention are ones that zillions of folks here have loved -I base my recommendations on their liking a place and thus mention it.

You haughtily come here and say these many many people - like many who really like Rothenberg and Fussen- are idiots for falling for such tourist Kitsch.

Personally yes I would find a Nurnberg or Regensburg more appealing but I was reflecting a consensus that you pooh-pooh and there is a way of making a point without being so bombastically on the attack. You seem to come here to provoke.

Whathello

You sure Lub ?
Est its mihr ganz Wurst.

PalenQ

If your friend has a little more imagination, I suggest Regensburg which like Salzburg has an UNESCO world heritage old town>

Yes if your friend likes larger cities more than fantasy castles and Bavarian Alps Regensburg would be a great choice - on the Danube and said to have more historical 'old' structures in it than any place in Italy (not sure that is true but when researching an article I once wrote on it that's what local tourist office stuff said)- anyway not your typical German city at times boringly rebuilt from WW2 rubble.

Pegontheroad

At this point, I just have to say that Palenque is one of the most knowledgeable posters on this site. Pay attention to him. He's usually right.

4sammy234

I didn't read all of the above but I got the gist. Second PalenQ on all suggestions. We went to Munich in mid-oct and maybe all those were cliche things but there's a reason for that. All are doable, memorable experiences. We had a blast in fussen and garmisch and we're humbled and in awe of the horrors of Dachau. Overall our few days in Munich, doing much of what palenQ suggested, remains a wonderful vacation memoeybthat we still talk about years later.

One wonderful thing we took away was - even if we got on the wrong train (we didn't) - you can't go wrong in Bavaria. Absolutely magical.