We will be in Munich in May and are thinking about doing a day trip to GP to see the Alps up close and personal.
Would you suggest taking the train or bus ourselves - is it an easy trip to do? Or should we spend the money on the coach tour with Panorama?
Thank you for you help.

Train from Munich to GP is convenient. Question though is what do in GP, and what does the Panorama tour offer?

Once in GP, you can take the Zugspitzbahn up to the top of the Zugspitz - I don't recall if it departs from the same station that the MUC trains arrive at, but if not it's pretty close and easy to walk.

In May, the summit will still be very cold and snow covered. That time of year a day spend wandering (hiking) in the lower mountains near GP is wonderful. A great thing to do is take a funicular to the summit of one of the ski mountains, then hike down. Bring a picnic lunch, plenty of water and it's an invogorating but not strenuous walk even kids can do.

There are also several gorge hikes near GP - not sure how you'd get to/from the train station, but they are popular hikes. Others may know about public transportation.

There's loads of info a the GP website www.garmisch-partenkirchen.de

FYI, GP is a relatively small town. The beauty of the area is the open space and mountains above the town. I recall many tour buses dropping off their loads in the small village, crowds walking 100 yds down the main pedestrian street, turning around to return the 100yds back to the restaurant booked for group lunch.

I suspect they also took the tourists on a drive through the foothills, perhaps to a lake, but I doubt any organized tour will give you 6hrs free time to wander in the hills at your leisure.

Great! Thanks for the tips. We will probably just take the train out there ourselves so we can wander and hike on our own.

By cold, do you mean winter coat weather or just a warm sweater?

We are two girls from Canada so we can handle the cold pretty well. But we weren't planning on bringing a winter coat with us - do you think we should? Or will warm sweaters (maybe a fleece hoodie??) be sufficient?

The Zugspitze is the highest mtn in Germany, topping off at near 10,000 feet. Be prepared for freezing temperatures. It is far better to shed the winter coat than to huddle up freezing wishing you had one.

If you don't go to the top of Zugspitze you won't need winter coats, either in town or on one of the local ski area/mtns reachable directly from GP by cable car.

Is it possible to go to the top of Zugspitz around Christmastime as a daytrip from Munich?
We are used to cold weather...

Yes, you can go to the top of the Zugspitze in at Christmas time. In winter it is a major ski area.

Be aware that the sun sets very early near the solstice, so you will need to get an early start from Munich.

It should be ppossible--the cogwheel train runs year-round; in winter there is skiing up there. Here is the website for information (and schedules):

http://www.zugspitze.de/main_en.php