Driving from Munich to Berchtesgaden after dark
 

I screwed up in the planning of our upcoming trip - we will be in Munich from Nov. 25 til Nov. 28, and we had expected to attend the first day of the Christmas market on Nov. 28 before we have to head to Berchtesgaden for 2 nights there. However, I just recently read that the Xmas market won't open til 5 p.m. that night, which means if we want to attend it at all we'll have to drive to Berchtesgaden when it's dark out. My husband is very paranoid about this. I know we can just look up directions on viamichelin, however I'm wondering if anyone has done this drive and if so, how difficult would you say it is at night?

Nothing to be paranoid about, you won't be alone on the road. :-). However, it's amazing that people come to Munich for the christmas market. Yes, I've been on the road at night, who hasn't? :D.

Asymmetric headlights are the law, there are no cars without them in this country. (unlike the USA, where diving is a "night"mare)

Not bad at all. Most of the way will be on Autobahn (70 miles on A8)and if I'm not mistaken, truck traffic is curtailed after dark. The road from the Autobahn to Berchtesgaden (B20) is a little twisty and goes through some hills, but even in a snow squall it's easily negotiable. I don't like driving at night either, but this will be less than a 2 hour drive from downtown Munich. Just be sure to stay in the far right lane and let the maniacs get by.

Thanks. And logos, we're not "going" to Munich for the Xmas market, it was just part of our plans to do while we were there for three days. We'll be attending a lot of other markets in our 15 days in Germany and Austria, but I'd hate to miss this one!

Which Christmas market do you plan to visit in Munich?
Besides the main one in Marienplatz, there will be also a medieval Xmas market in Wittelsbacher Platz and the Residence. And it will already open Nov 27.
http://www.mittelaltermarkt-muenchen...008/index.html

Going from Munich to Garmisch is easy on a Friday night. Just follow the other thousands of cars ;-)

Sorry, Otzi, from Munich to Garmisch you take A95 which will turn into B2, a 2 lane federal highway for the last 10 kilometers.
Maybe you mistake that with another trip, but even the section of the federal highway is a straight road with no hills to climb. Truck traffic is not curtailed after dark but only on sundays.

OP is going to Berchtesgaden, not Garmisch.
There will be a lot of traffic on the road on Nov 28, a Friday, and getting onto A8 towards Salzburg will be a hassle with heavy traffic, mainly with commuters and weekenders. Try to leave Munich as early as you can, preferably early afternoon, and you will be in Berchtesgaden before dark (around 5.30 pm).

Hi Jen,

Will you be driving from Munich to Berchtesgaden? Or someplace else? Driving in the city of Munich can be a nightmare, but once you are outside the city, it is pretty easy.

Last year I decided to get a car with a GPS and it made driving in Munich and evirons much easier.

Happy Anniversary.

BTW - I do go to Munich for the Christmas Markets.

My experience has been that there are far less big trucks on the Autobahn after dark.

You all shoud read about the germs in the Glühwein mugs, due to to improper cleaning, no fresh water in those small stalls.

Free herpes for everybody or worse. :D

We will be picking up our car on the last day in Munich, so we won't actually have the car while staying in Munich.

We have a GPS that we are bringing with. :)

I've driven it many times and it is a fairly easy drive. Stay away from the gluhwine ... you do want to have your wits about you

>You all shoud read about the germs in the Glühwein mugs, due to to improper cleaning

Just combine it with a Gammelfleisch-Döner, Logos, and let the bugs fight it out :-)

Apologies to jenblase & Otzi:

Must have had one bad Glühwein too much to give you directions to Garmisch instead of Berchtesgaden...

Cowboy1968, you scared me. :)

Sounds like it won't be too bad of a drive. Another question - anyone know if I will be able to acquire the Austrian vignette at a late hour (7 or 8 in the evening?). I want to make sure we pick it up on the way to Berchtesgaden since we'll be passing through parts of Austria on the way there.

Jen, the vignette can be purchased at any gas station and you won't have problems finding them open so you should be fine.

Tracy

I would understand if you had 2nd thoughts about trusting me giving you directions, but:
When you drive from Munich to Berchtesgaden, you do not have to go into Austria. You can wait until next day in Berchtesgaden if you want to buy the sticker and not waste one day of its validity for nothing (if that should matter).
BTW, gas is considerably cheaper in Austria than in Germany, so I would always try to fill up on the other side of the (nowadays non-existing) border.

Salzburg has a fairly large Christmas market and we liked that more than the market in Munchen. Berchtesgaden has a very small market.

If you stay on the autobahn and drive past the Berchtesgaden exit, and exit at Salzburg, you can turn right at the end of the exit ramp and head toward Berchtesgaden. I am sorry that I don't know the name of the route. It is a straight road that goes directly to Berchtesgaden. We have found this route much more direct than going thru Bad Reichenhall to get to B-Gaden.

I do not see a problem driving at night. The autobahn is well lit, with good signs.

Enjoy the markets!

Hi jenblase,

The trip is fairly easy from Munich to Berchtesgaden.

It took us about 2 hours to get from Munich airport to Ramsau (just 5 miles from Berchtesgaden).

I can't imagine how you're going to drive through any part of Austria on this drive though.

We drove from Munich on the Autobahn in the direction of Salzburg, took the exit for B306 towards Inzel then the B305 to Berchtesgaden. You don't cross into Austria at all.

We've driven these roads at night at night without any worry.

Hope this helps.

Have a great trip!

Paul

Both of you are right.

You can take exit #115 on A8 (last exit in Germany) and follow federal highway 20 to Berchtesgaden and avoid to need to purchase the Austrian motorway sticker that day.

Or you get the Austrian motorway sticker while driving on A8 towards Salzburg (several gas stations along the motorway where you can get it), stay on the motorway to go into Austria, pass Salzburg on the Southern edge, take exit #8 on the Austrian side, road #160 towards Berchtesgaden which will turn into federal highway 305 once you got back into Germany.

The second option is a bit more comfortable since you drive less time on 2-lane highways and the highway 160/305 is a straight route (as liebeBayern explained).
But you must get a motorway sticker before you cross the border into Austria because Austrian highway patrols has regular checks and fines for not having the sticker are steep, even though you will just drive some 10 kilometers on the Austrian motorway.

You can get both routings with viamichelin.com when you choose "options" for driving directions, and either tick the "avoid tolls" option or not.