halllis

I'm trying to figure out the best/fastest/simplest way to get to Zugspite and Mittenwald from Fussen. It seems the trains are too lengthly due to the Alps even though they are close together. Is it possible to do both of these in the same day? Would a bus be better or perhaps we should just rent a car. Not crazy about driving in Germany, language thing you know.

The Bahn website is so confusing, please don't give me the link as people have on other forums, it just makes me more confused.

Thank you!

Palenque

One way from Fussen is to take the bus to Reutte, in Austria and about five miles away, and hop on the train and go right to the Zugspitze train station (just before Garmisch) and then if going to Mittenwald go to Garmish and change there for a train or bus for Mittenwald.

Travel time: Fussen to Ehrwald Zugspitze station (train up Zugspitze here) is 1 h 35 min - Fussen to Mittenwald is 2 1/2 hours - no quicker way by train

there are RVO buses that run between Fussen and Garmisch but i do not think they would be any faster.

the Bavaria Pass should be valid even on the trains from Fussen to Garmisch from info i have, even though they run thru Austria - consider a German and Bavarian train - but check on this - the Bavaria Pass, buy it at Fussen station - allows up to five people to travel for either 29 or 39 euros for the whole day on regional trains like these are. If the bahn.de site is confusing try this link http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/ - on their home page they have several tips for using the bahn.de that may help you understand it and a link to the English page of the bahn.de site where you put in Fussen and say Mittenwald - change the date to the day you want and time to start searching from and up will pop the schedules i've just accessed. Any questions, i'd be pleased to try to answer.

joannyc

Driving in Germany is very easy and will be the least time consuming. I drove all over as a solo traveler: Munich > Fussen > Oberamergau > Rothenburg OT > Stuggart > Baden Baden > Heidelburg > Rudesheim > Cologne > Frankfurt.


Language wasn't an issue for road signage. If your referring to speaking German, most speak English. But, it is nice for us to know a few of the pleasantries in the native language.

Palenque

and the direct drive is again i believe thru Austria where they always have speed limits on their autobahns - only about half of Germany's autobahns have any speed limits and if you do not stay in the far right lane expect constant horns and catcalls IME

the driving i agree should be easy anyway in this area

logos999

Pal, driving is easy. Stay right except for passing and either follow the trucks or the 130kmh crowd or the 160kmh crowd. There are only very few people going much faster.
And the name is "Fuessen", not James, just Fuessen.

Palenque

logos - i agree - i used to drive a huge van on German autobahns and it could not go more than 60 mph or so - and even in the far right lane i was the constant recipient of horns and even on one occasion a German lorry driver waved a knife at me - they just could not tolerate someone going so slow - the fastest i could!

joannyc

Sorry, logos999... as I clicked the Submit button I thought I didn't check my spelling!

Russ

Are you staying in Füssen two nights? and trying to see both M'wald and Zugspitze in one day, then return to Füssen? That will take a lot of time.

It would be smarter perhaps to stay in Mittenwald for two nights. Arrive early in Füssen on day 1, stow your bags in lockers at the station, see what you're there for, and leave on the 18:00 bus. It goes to Reutte, where you change buses for Garmisch, where you get off for the train to Mittenwald. You'll arrive there at around 20:30. Then see M'wald and the Zugspitze the next day. Check the Bahn schedules for these buses and train connection.

It would be a little simpler, of course, to overnight in Garmisch, then do Zugspitze and M'wald as daytrips.

Roger1x

I recently found that the bahn.de website has a link for car rentals at a good rate. You can get a Smart car from Sixt for about 20 euro a day. Even with a pick up at MUC a 3 day rental was only 70 euro.

Note that the Smart car holds only 2 people and 1 not huge suitcase. Also it's not very happy going over 130KM so stay in the right lane except to pass slow trucks. If you don't like stick shift, it can run as an automatic but it's not as much fun to drive that way.

bardo1

Roger,

How is the smart car at climbing mountains??

Bird

I agree that driving a car in Germany is pretty easy. (I prefer to travel with a GPS nowadays.) If you drive into Austria, you will need one of those international permits as well as pay for a sticker if you are on an expressway.

The bus that runs between Fussen(my way of spelling)and G-P might be your best option if you prefer to use PT.

Roger1x

In the manual mode it does fine going up hills, but on the autobahn the lack of pick up makes it tough to pass slower trucks if there's lots of traffic.

Also I forgot to mention that good rental rate included 300km per day so it wouldn't work for long distances.