We will be in the Regensburg/Munich area and wondered if a short detour to the town of Landshut is worthwhile. If so, how long should we plan to spend there?

I don't think Ladshut is worth a separate trip. However, if you want to make it part of a day's loop trip, then you could include it, perhaps for a a couiple of hours.

The loop would be: From Munich Autobahns A-9 and A 92 to Landshut exit 13, Landshut, then Route B-15 to Wasserburg am Inn (interesting city, worth a couple of hours), continuing on good, but unnumbered highway to Bad Endorf and Prien at the Chiemsee lake. From there short road to the docks for the boats to the Herrenchiemsee island palace of King Ludwig (of Neuschwanstein fame). From Prien to Autobahn A-8 to Munich. Allow 2 1/2 hrs for Herrenchiemsee, Prien to Prien.

We stayed in Landshut a couple of nights at the end of a trip so we could take the dedicated bus to the Munich airport. We found it to be a very pleasant and enjoyable place. Nice castle, St. Martin Church with the tallest brick bell tower in the world, the main street in Alstadt was wide with colorful buildings and some interesting Gothic architecture, shopping, restaurants and outside cafes. The street over from the main one runs along the river Isar and has a walkway, benches, little park, etc. I think the landscape around Landshut lacks the beauty of the nearby scenery since the land becomes more flat. I think it would definitely be worth at least a half day visit since you will be so close.

We spent two days in Landshut as well and found it nice. It was Christmas Market season and that gave us a bit extra to do. The weather was nice and we had a long outing on a walk up to the castle. Our pictures:

http://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Christm...0635634_WwvXRT

Regards, Gary

Gary, great pics. I have lots of pics also but not computer savvy enough to know how to post them on Fodors. That walk up to the castle was quite a workout for us, but so worth it. Thanks for sharing your pics.

I think it depends on what time of year you are going.
I wasn't impressed with the Christmas market or general Christmas atmosphere and would prefer to spend my Christmas market time in Regensburg, Munich, or some of the other towns in the area.

In the summer or fall, Landshut is worth a 1/2 to full day. Lots of lovely and interesting shops and outdoor cafes. The candy colored buildings glow in the sunlight. Decent local beer, too!

The Christmas Market was definitely more of a small town affair. We liked it for what it was: kids riding a little train, a local choir singing carols, etc. We also liked the multiple markets in Regensburg and Munich. The Haidhausen Christmas market in Munich reminded me of the Landshut market, both community oriented.

Regards, Gary