We are arriving in Munich around 3:00pm after touring the Rhine & Mosel river valleys. We will be staying in Munich for three nights, which gives us two full days plus the arrival evening to see the city and environs.

What are your suggested itineraries? We would love to see the old town, and take a day trip out of town to see one of the areas great castles. Since there are four of us traveling together (thus fairly economical when divided four ways) we might be interested in a private guide/tour of the old city, as well as a tour (private or otherwise) to one of the castles as part of a day trip.

Your suggestions are always remarkable and I look forward to the replies.

PS Any suggestions for a small hotel or pension near the city center are welcome as well. we will be arriving by train if that makes a difference ...

http://www.hotel-daniel.de/html/location.html We stayed here last Nov and it was great for location and train. I would stay and enjoy Munich. The BMW tour is excellent. We love eating and drinking at all the beer houses. This hotel was very close to the Augustiner one which was our favorite. Nice shopping on this street also. We fly in and out of Munich spending a night most trips but this trip we stayed and enjoyed two nights which was perfect. There is a lot of history but not sure what you would enjoy.

The highlights of my trip to Munich were the Asam church (surely included in any good walking tour of the historic center) and the Bavarian National Museum, which is unique. I am an art museum lover, and Munich has several exceptional ones, in particular the unique Lenbachhaus. Despite staying a week, I didn't visit the BMW museum, so no opinion.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I did look at the Hotel Daniel on TripAdvisor.com, but am sorry to say that it rates very poorly on that website.

Do you have hotel BUDGET constraints?

In terms of the "old town" as you put it you can easily walk a lot of it but having a guide for the highlights would make it more meaningful perhaps.

The Ludwig builds are four in number; I suspect you have Neuschwanstein in mind when you say "castle" since the others are often described as palaces. No matter, all four can be reached easily by rail.

Take the TripAdvisor reviews with several grains of salt.


Don't miss the Nymphemburg Palace--really, really beautiful. We especially admired the room for the palace dogs: what a life they must have led! Watch out for the slippery ground around the pond in front; I almost joined the ducks in the water.

I had to go look at TA and they were first time reviewers on many. I had a broken foot and I could get all over Munich and where I needed to go from there. Top priority for me. We did not eat breakfast there, so many other places close by and didn't need internet except to print our boarding passes which they did for us. Staff was great to us. Our room was large, comfy and clean. We are not picky and the noise issue is because you are in a city. I think most travelers expect silence at night. You don't get it. Loved the bookstore on the corner, floor after floor of books and all the places to shop and eat.
"the Castles" are ok but if I were to travel anywhere I would head to Garmish and go to the top of the Zugspitze. Beautiful.

I did the free tour with: http://www.newmunichtours.com/
just tip the guide at the end; very enjoyable.

I stayed at http://www.motel-one.com/en/hotels/munich/ -
they have 4 motels in Munich; modern, clean, free wifi
& breakfast (extra cost) is very good.

Unless you have your heart set on seeing Neuschwanstein, I would skip it with just two days in Munich. It is pretty much a full day's excursion.

I would be picky about noise if noise bothers you. Hotel Daniel gets poor reviews on booking.com too. Here's the most recent one:

" I wasn't able to sleep because of noise coming in my room. A disco is just next to the hotel, and the sound just coming in the room making the sleep impossible. A Nightmare. Check it out if disco will be open when you will be there, otherwise is just not worth. - room was ok but not worth for the price"

and this from last week:

"The room is in extremely bad condition. There was a half opened water bottle and the windows dont open and close properly. It was just really a old and terrible room."

I think the Motel One is a good tip. I stayed next door to a Motel One in a Marriott, and I thought they looked quite good for a budget hotel. The one where I was staying was in the far west of the city, so you might want one located elsewhere, but I think it is worth checking out and reading reviews. Munich has an excellent public transportation system.

My fav hotel is Kempinski if someone else is paying but Daniel was great for us in Nov and would stay again. I never heard a thing. We might have lucked out. No ac so would look for that if it is warm. We have stayed closer to airport and there are some quieter places.

Thanks for the hotel reviews. TripAdvisor has not steered me wrong yet.

Hotel One looks like a very interesting choice. We will be traveling in the last week of July or the first week of August, so I can probably anticipate needing AC? To be honest, humidity bothers me very much but heat not so much if it's dry, but I assume it will be fairly humid in Munich that time of year?

Yes, get ac in your room. That is a big thing. Make sure they have it. We stay in Bavaria a lot and usually only go fall and winter. My husband was over for the Navy in the summer one time and the hotel he stayed in had none. I have had it hot for Oktoberfest but seems to always cool down enough for the evening to sleep.

Did you decide what to do for the day? This last trip my husband did a WW2 history walk. He enjoyed it. You have to reserve the BMW tour for the English tour.

It's been decided: Hollywood Beach, Florida!

Fussen is two hours each way by train - a great day trip to see Mad Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle - the world's most famous castle and according to the German Tourist Office the number one tourist site in Germany.

Buy a Bavarian pass at the train station and up to five people can travel all day on regional trains that serve Fussen - just hop on and you can also ride the S-Bahns, U-Bahns, trams, buses in the great Munich area - all for 29 or 31 euros total or about that.

https://www.google.com/search?q=neus...w=1455&bih=977

With just two days in Munich you may want to stay there, especially if doing Dachau as a short-in half-day trip but if you really want to see a castle you can easily do it on your own by train - just make a booking for entry time or even in off-season face a long wait to get in. - book on the official site.

I gather you are IGNORING my question about budget constraints, is this CORRECT? I am IN Munich as I write this. Would you like a hotel recommendation which includes one that is within TWO blocks of the center of the "old town" has a great breakfast, and is air conditioned (yes, it WILL be humid and hot here when you are visiting) or not?

Dukey1: Sorry, not ignoring just missed it! I'd love to hear your suggestions and insights - sounds perfect!

Dukey1: Sorry, not ignoring just missed it! I'd love to hear your suggestions and insights - sounds perfect! Our budget would feel comfortable at $200 USD per night.

Is that $200 USD/night total for 4 people? In one room or 2? All four adults?

$200 per room.