logos999

"Sound of Music" is something fictional, exclusively american, locals outside of the tourist industy don't know this hollywood movie. You can do everything on your own, a guided tour hopefully gives you some real background info.

swandav2000

Hi again,

About your question about flying out of Zürich -- no, not a good idea as it's not close. I live in Garmisch and travel to Switzerland once or twice a year -- the trip takes about four or five hours.

You can check the exact train schedules at

www.bahn.de

Hope all of your planning works out ok!

s

JC98

Hi swan, we decided to fly from Munich to London with a 3 day layover in London, since my DH has never been there. I wasn't able to get a ticket out of Zurich anyhow. Thanks.

Underhill

The Sound of Music was set in Austria, not Germany.

While King Ludwig's castles may be touristy, that's because they are very interesting. Don't let the number of visitors put you off, and do include Linderhof--be sure to see the grotto where the king floated around in a boat listening to Wagner, as well as the peacock pavillion.

Hez

If you like hiking walking either up or down the back trail at Neushwanstein is stunning and a nice break from the throngs of tourists. I walked up it and would do so again as there are views of the castle on the way up, not to mention the fact that it's part of the last leg of the fabulous 80 mile King Ludwig's Way.

The trail that goes past King Ludwig's favorite lake and then on to Fussen is mercifully tourist free, beautiful, and provides a different perspective to the castle. It's rumored that King Ludwig's favorite view of the castle was from the other side of the lake, and it's easy to see why.

JC98

Thanks, all, for the great tips! Would definitely try to do the hike. I love to see the famous sights from unique and beautiful perspectives. How to go that lake?

Also, the underground grotto is in Linderhof, not Neushwanstein? I remember hearing about it before, but was puzzled why the guidebooks didn't mention it for Neushwwanstein.

Thanks and love to hear more tips like these--for Munich, Salzburg, and surrounding areas.

Thanks!

Hez

I'm quoting here from the book King Ludwig's Way by Fleur and Colin Speakman.

"Begin at Hohenschwangau Castle drive, through a gateway on the right as you leave the castle entrance, signed 'Alpenrosenweg'. It's a well waymarked path, winding its way through craggy wooded slopes high above the beautiful little Schwansee - a favourite haunt of both Kings and swans. Look out for the point where it forks left, away from the main path down to the Schwansee. It climbs a little knoll, then becomes a beautiful path contouring along a rocky shelf across the wooded hillside, giving glorious views between the trees..."

"The Aplenrosenweg continues for more than a kilometre beyond the Schwansee. You are now within a kilometre of the Austrian border and the mountains you see are all in Austria. At a junction of paths look for the signs right, indicating the way to Fussen. This path dips down over the shallow valley floor. Keep ahead in the same direction no, northwards, ignoring branching paths left and right, to where the path dips down through this beautiful woodland, finally meeting the road just a short distance from Fussen bridge. Before going into the town you might wish to look at the famous falls on the River Lech just below town."

In Munich we really enjoyed Mike's Bike Tour.

JC98

Thanks, Hez, for typing out those directions from the book. I'll print it out and bring it with me. Thanks a bunch!

JC98

Is it better to take a train to Salzburg from Munich, sightsee Salzburg for 1 day, and then rent a car from Salzburg to go to Berchtesgaden or Hallstatt, and take the train back to Munich? That way we only rent the car for 1 day instead of 2?

Doing this way will avoid the hassle of parking in Salzburg, and it makes it more convenient to see the rural areas?

logos999

Sounds good! On those few days like yesterday, when the Salzburg autobahn was almost empty, driving there is a delight on all other days, the train is a good alternative.

JC98

Trying the same question here instead of on a separate thread.

For the castle trip, we have Thurs night and Friday, but need to get back to Munich airport hotel on Friday night. Struggling to figure out whether we should drive or take the train, as both are not very convenient for what we need to do.

Option 1: Drive to Fussen
* Thurs 6 p.m. Pick up car from Munich and drive to Fussen
* Fri. See castles, hike around, and possibly see other sights nearby--the Unesco church (I still don't have to spell it) and/or the monastery.
* Problem: We need to return the car by 6 p.m. in Munich, which means we need to leave Fussen by 4 p.m. So we're not spending that much time in the area.

Option 2: Train to Fussen.
* Thurs afternoon. Train from Munich to Fussen. Stay overnight somewhere convenient w/ luggage in tow. (Any recommendations?)
* Fri. See Neuschwanstein and the other castle nearby. Hike around.
* Problem: After this, how do we take public transport to go anywhere else nearby? Which sights would be easy to do by public transport?

Option 3: Train to Fussen and back on Friday. Leave luggage at Munich hotel.
Problem: Too short a trip? Or it's still ok?

Please help solve our dilemma! Thanks

Hez

Other than the constraints of the rental car being for 24 hours do you have to be back in Munich at 6pm? It seems (although I'm no great expert on Munich) that you're going to be driving into Munich at rush hour.

What about renting the car early Friday morning and then getting back to Munich later that night? You then won't have to muck around with luggage etc. Also, it will be light until 9pm or so.

I would try to stop at Weiskirche (UNESCO church - http://www.wieskirche.de/eframset.htm) and Kloster Andechs (http://www.andechs.de/kloster-andechs.html) on the way back, and maybe dinner in Herrsching (http://www.herrsching24.de/english/).

You could also swing by the site where King Ludwig II was found drowned, it's in Berg on Starnberg See. There's a cross memorial in the lake (See means lake) which is pretty cool.

JC98

Thanks, Hez, for another great suggestion! Would we be getting to the castle too late? Would it get too crowded on a Fri (next Fri in fact)? The reason we want to get to Fussen the day before was to spend more time in Fussen and also to get an early start on the castle, but if people think it's not worth doing, then we can just do daytrip, via car seems to be easier.

Also, if we rent on Thurs, we need to return it by 6 p.m. to meet the 1 day rental. Otherwise, afraid they'll charge us a lot more, and the rental office near our hotel will be closed by 6 p.m. anyhow.

Hez

Neushwanstein will be crowded no matter when you get there. Book your tickets online prior - that will save a lot of time and hassle.

You said you need to be back to a Munich Airport Hotel - Avis at the airport is open from 6:30am to 11:30pm. I'm sure there are many others in that area with better hours, but you can always rent early friday morning (assuming they open at a reasonable hour) and then return on saturday morning.

I didn't personally think Fussen was all that great - lots of shops if you're into that though.

FYI - there is a bus from Fussen to Neushwanstein so if you wanted to do that lake walk you could park at Neushwanstein, take the shuttle up the hill, see the castle, walk down the back way (highly recommend - it's very cool), see Hohenschwangau (I didn't do this so not sure if it's a must do), walk around the lake - to Fussen, and then take the bus back to your car. A picnic on the other side of the lake, looking back at Neushwanstein would be awesome.

Here's a link to a Google maps route for the way back. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...34589&t=h&z=10

That will take you to Wies, Kloster Andechs and Herrshing as well as Wildsteig (http://www.wildsteig.de/index.php?id=318&L=1) which is a lovely little town, and Rottenbuch which also has a famous monastery (http://rottenbuch-boebing.de/).

JC98

Thanks, Hez, for the great detailed info! I'll bring it with me. It might not be bad to rent the car on Fri then and come back to Munich late.

We have a flight out to London on Sat at 9:30 a.m. Would 1 hour advanced arrival at the airport sufficient? We don't need 2 hours, right?

Thanks!

Hez

You welcome. I hope you have an amazing time!

Having never flown out of Munich airport I really can't say. I would check with your airline and follow their advice. We leave less time when departing from home as we know the airport, but usually stick with the guidelines in places we don't know well.

JC98

Thanks, Hez! I've printed out all the stuff you sent to bring with me.

madamtrashheap

Munich Airport isn't super huge in relation to other airports, but if you end up dropping your rental car back at the airport agency, then I'd be getting there at least 1.5hrs before your flight.

madamtrashheap

Munich Airport isn't super huge in relation to other airports, but if you end up dropping your rental car back at the airport agency, then I'd be getting there at least 1.5hrs before your flight.

JC98

Hi again,

For the first weekend of our trip (this weekend!), we'll base ourselves in Salzburg for Sat and Sun nights. If we rent a car, what is the best way to see Salzburg, Hallstatt and/or Berchtesgaden?

How about this:
* Sat night: Salzburg
* Sun morning; Salzburg--church, walk around old town.
* Sun afternoon: Better to drive out to Hallstatt or Berchtesgaden? Should we spend the night outside of Salzburg (haven't booked this yet).
* Mon: Full day but need to drive back to Munich by night. Better to do Hallstatt or Berchtesgaden?

Thanks!