We arrive in Fussen on the morning of 30th August and will see both castles during the day. We then pick up a hire car at around 4pm that day.
The next accommodation we have booked is in Rothenburg for the night of 1st September.

The question is what to do with ourselves on 31st August. My travel companion is keen to spend the day in Munich if that's possible.

One idea is to drive part of the way to Munich on the night of 30th and stay there 2 nights - catching a train in to central Munich on the morning of 31st and then returning in the evening. Is this possible? If so, does anyone have a suggestion for a good place to stay?

Does anyone have a better itinerary to suggest?

If you're willing to read a suggestion from someone who has not actually made this drive, I'll start. I think your idea is fine. I'd consider staying on the small Ammersee, which is not far from your driving route from Schongau to Augsburg and on to Rothenburg. I see there are rail connections from Herrsching into Munich, and the famous Andechs Monastery is just near there (beer and views). Maybe you check train connections at the db website and also use michelin.com to see how long it would take to drive from Ammersee to Rothenburg via Schonburg and Augsburg. You'll receive more experienced advice soon. J.

insert "could" you know where.

Thanks J. I've checked ViaMichelin and your suggestion looks very possible. It seems like Ammersee to Rothenburg is only about 3 hours drive.

Well, I haven’t done it yet either but here is what we are planning on doing. We are going to see Munich first then driving to and staying in Schwangau to see the castles and that area. We will be going during Oktoberfest so we cannot find a good hotel with parking in Munich. We are staying at the Hotel Frey in Ismaning. The hotel is right by the train station and it is a 15 min ride on the S-Bahn. That is the closest, nice hotel I could find and I did not want to spend more time than that on the train. The cost is 110 euros with breakfast and parking, but could be even less when you are going.

If you stay in Hohenschwangau instead of Schwangau you'll be in walking distance of the castle ticket center. There are parking lots in Hohenschwangau if you choose to stay in Schwangau and drive, but I'm not sure how full those lots get in late August.

I think it would be fun to stay right in Hohenschwangau - the setting is really beautiful and I imagine it would be nice to be there after the tour buses and day trippers have departed.

Hi C,

Check out
http://www.hotel-mueller.de/index.php?id=68

http://www.alpenstuben.de/

Also look up Haus Weiher at www.bensbauernhof.com/

Thanks Rufus, J. and Ira for your suggestions, but I think you've misread my question.

We want to travel towards Munich after we pick up the car in Fussen (at 4pm on 30th August). The idea is to travel far enough to reach somewhere we can stay overnight, leave the car for the day on the 31st while we go to Munich for the day, then return and stay overnight again before heading to Rothenburg the next day (1st Sept).

One suggestion is to head for Ammersee. Any other ideas? Thanks.

I meant to say that we are planning on catching the train to and from Munich on 1st Sept. as I don't want to drive there. So we need to stay somewhere near a rail connection.

Doh!! It's 1am here in HK so please forgive my typos!! Munich by train for the day would be 31st August!

Did you miss my post? The Munich part says

We are staying at the Hotel Frey in Ismaning. The hotel is right by the train station and it is a 15 min ride on the S-Bahn. That is the closest, nice hotel I could find and I did not want to spend more time than that on the train. The cost is 110 euros with breakfast and parking, but could be even less when you are going.

Munich is only a few hours away from the Fussen area. Wouldn't it just be easier to leave the car in Fussen, train to Munich for the day, come back, stay the night, and head up the Romantic Road towards Rothenburg the next day?

I'm looking at a map, and if you want to stay somewhere in between Fussen and Munich it does look like Ammersee could be a good choice. Another place that you may want to consider is Augsburg. I've never been there but it looks like it would be a good place to stop.

Tracy

Hi Dohlice. Yes, I saw your post (thank you) but it seems that Ismaning is to the North-East of Munich. I'd rather stay somewhere to the West of Munich, which is the direction we'll be heading towards Rothenburg.

Tracy, I think it takes 2 hours to get to Munich from Fussen by train. If so, I think that would be too long to make it a day trip from Fussen. I can also see Augsburg on the map and it would be a possibility too. I'll work with ViaMichelin a bit more to find out driving times. Thank you.

It looks like Herrsching on Ammersee is 48 minutes from Munich by S-bahn (commuter train). If you do decide on this option, be sure to save time for supper at Andechs monastery (I suppose you'd better check to see how late it's open) --I've never been, but my friends say it's the perfect place for bratwurst and beer. J.

http://www.ammersee-region.de/herrsching.html

http://www.regio-augsburg.de/wwweng/.../frameset.html

Augsburg is 37 minutes from Munich by train. Farther from Fussen but closer to Rothenburg. A bigger city than Herrsching, no lake, but historic.

You see, I'm an equal-time researcher, desperate for reasons not to work on school stuff. Crunch time is near. Monday to be exact. Sigh. J.

Thanks Mr. J! I understand how it's so much more interesting to spend time here than working. In fact, it's nearly 3am here in Hong Kong and I'm STILL playing around in this forum! Guess I really should get to bed!

Thank you for your research. I'll have a look at those web sites in the morning. But it seems that the trip is a possibility, so that's good news.

I thought the 2 hours from Fussen was too far as well. I think Amersee and Augsburg are both 30-40 minutes by train from Munich. Be careful to ask how close the hotels are to the station. I wonder if the book I used to find hotels had a bad map. Since we are coming from Frankfurt down the Romantic Road I had hoped to be North of Munich. I took the place in Ismaning even though it seemed to be South! It would be nice if one of my mistakes finally ended up putting me in a better situation.

Are you going to the Monastery? I hope we will be able to.