Itinerary for trip to Bavarian Alps - Help?
 

I have spent all weekend researching after reading through this forum. My wife and I are both 40, very active, prefer outdoor scenery, hiking, history, etc. We are not into art museums. We are flying into Zurich (this is set) and have decided to visit the Bavarian Alps instead of Switzerland this time. Any recommendations regarding this itinerary? We will do all travel via train.

22 May - arrive Zurich 8:30 am, travel by train to Salzburg, explore Salzburg late afternoon and evening

23 May - explore Salzburg and region

24 May - Move to Munich, explore Munich

25 May - Day Tour to Neuschwanstein and Linderhof (Viator Tours)

26 May - Dachau and Munich

27 May - Move to Innsbruck, explore Innsbruck and region (this is where we need the most advice!)

28 May - Explore more Innsbruck region, or maybe Garmisch daytrip

29 May - Travel Innsbruck to Zurich, explore Zurich or Rhinefalls

30 May - Leave Zurich back to NYC

We could also take a later train 26 May late afternoon or evening to Innsbruck and spend an extra night there instead.

Any thoughts? Should we base ourselves in Garmisch instead of Innsbruck? And are the castles worth a full day trip via Viator Tours?

Thanks for any and all advice.

You say you want to visit the Bavarian Alps, but the only place you seem to be spending any time in Germany is Munich?

If you prefer outdoor scenery, why spend so much time in cities?

Salzburg is fine but suggest you allow a couple of days for the area surrounding Salzburg such as St. Gilgen and St. Wolfgang on Wolfgangsee as well as some of the other lovely villages in the Salzkammergut. There are lovely mountain areas for hiking. You can reach St. Gilgen by bus from Salzburg. Once there, you can take a steam paddleboat over to St. Wolfgang and a steam train up to Mt. Schafberg.

Other recommendations would include the Berchtesgaden area including a boat ride on the Koenigsee.

I would also recommend that instead of the Innsbruck area, you stay either in Garmisch or Mittenwald, Germany.

If you do decide to visit Innsbruck, I suggest you look at staying in Hall in Tyrol just a few kilometers east of Innsbruck. It has a much lovlier "old town" than Innsbruck IMO. From here, you can visit Innsbruck, Mutters, Rattenberg and even travel into the Italian Alps.

If it was me, I would skip the castles on this trip. Spend your time taking in the lovely outdoor mountain scenery.

What Betty said!
I would skip both Innsbruck and Zurich. Have you looked at the time to train to Salzburg?

I would cut back on number of home bases to three (and stay in Garmish instead o Innsbruck). You also REALLY want a car to for the middle part of this trip (but not in the large cities).

Something along the lines of:

22 May - arrive Zurich 8:30 am, travel by train to Salzburg, explore Salzburg late afternoon and evening

23 May - explore Salzburg

24 May - rent car - explore Salzburg region

25 May - check out of Salzburg hotel - explore area en route to Garmisch (both the Germany route and Austria route are very nice - you can't go wrong). Arrive in Garmisch before nightfall. Dinner out and see the town on evening walk.

26 May - Active pursuits, outdoor scenery, hiking in Garmish area

27 May - More active pursuits, outdoor scenery, hiking in Garmisch area (really you could do this for a week).

28 May - Day trip from Garmisch - maybe Mittenwald and Oberammergau (a 20 minute drive) or even Neuschwanstein (a 60 minute drive from Garmisch that goes through a most beautiful part of Austria).

29 May - Travel Garmisch to Zurich. Drop off car and explore, Zurich or keep car and see Rhinefalls

30 May - Leave Zurich back to NYC

A total alternate to the above suggested plan would be to substitute Munich for Salzburg.

Who will pay for the car drop in Zurich?

Excellent point!

This trip still demands a car, however.

Mjknycmjk should rent a car for week pick up and drop off car at Zurich airport. Driving to Salzburg instead of Munich is the simplest option.

Thank you for this info. I am takig it all under advisement and talking to the boss (aka my wife). I do have to say that I have never rented a car in Europe before. Is the driving easy for an American who only drives automatic transmission and doesn't understand a word of German?

You'll be fine. Just get a good map(s) that covers the area you'll be covering and make sure you reserve a car with automatic transmission BEFORE you leave US and get the GPS with the car.

Autoeurope is what we use - highly recommended.

German isn't needed. Europeans don't rent cars with automatic transmission. As said, if you don't plan ahead, they may only have a real car available. :-)

We visited the Salzburg and Garmisch areas in summer 2007. Like you we are more outdoor/countryside people than city/museum types. See our trip report (link attached) for some ideas of what we did - days 11 to 22.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-and-czech.cfm

I am thinking a car would be a good idea, if you are open to driving a manual. Personally, with only 8 days I would stay at maximum 2 locations and travel out each day.

Let us know what you finally decide.

Thank you so much for posting your trip report. We are going to be traveling to Germany and Austria in the Fall and I appreciate the information you shared. I am still putting together our plan of what cities to visit in our limited 10 days there, and found your detail to be just what I needed to narrow down our must see list!

Thanks for the trip report. I am going to read it tonight for idea. FYI, we did reserve an automatic transmission car via autoeurope, total price of around $600 including GPS. Won't be too much more than it would have been with train travel, but with much more flexibility. Thanks for everyone's input!

You are welcome. Happy planning and let us know what you decide. I am sure you will find the car very useful, especially outside of the cities!

We didn't have any problems renting or driving a car in Germany (we did have a stick shift though).

We stayed a few days in the Berchtesgaden area took the boat ride on the Lake Koenigsee. HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS!

I agree with bettyk above about staying in Mittenwald, love this town, or stay in Garmisch, but we preferred Mittenwald.

>Koenigsee
It's "Koenigssee", think "Tennessee" and you'll never make that mistake again. The "ss" is even pronounced just as in "Tennessee" :-)

1. Rent a car. You can request an automatic transmission. It will cost more but will be worth it if you cannot do the stick. Buy a good atlas with the road signs included. They are not difficult but it is good if you have a reference piece to know what the detour sign looks like. A Garmin would also help you.
2. Stay in Garmisch instead of Innsbruck. We have been to Innsbruck numerous times. Garmisch is the better location. You wanted Bavaria...this is Bavaria. Linderhof Castle is close by.
3. Salzburg is a great town. Good to walk and explore. We stayed in the Bristol Hotel. Nice location and good people. Do the corny Sound Of Music tour. You will enjoy it and it gets you out of town. Great scenery. Watch the movie again before you go.
4. Berchtesgaden is also a good stop. The Koingsee boat tour recommened above is fun. All electric boats. Scenic lake. You can also so the Salt Mine tour. Fun, especially if the weather is bad as you are in a cave.