MUNICH??
 

I am considering taking a trip to MUNICH. I'd like to take a few day tours that leave from Munich. One is Neuschwanstein Castle. I'd also like to do a tour of Auschwitz ... I think there are tours from Munich but I'm not sure.

I'd love to hear thoughts, opinions and suggestions. I'd also like to know if Munich is safe for a single female traveling alone.

Dachau is the nearest concentration camp to Munich. It is less than a half hour away.

Auschwitz is just outside Krakow, so pack a few lunches for that day trip :-)

There is a daily tour bus across the street from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) that taken you to Neuschwanstein & Linderhof castles with lunch in Oberamergau (12 hr tour 7 am to 7 pm).

Typo from self correcting foreign keyboard: ... that takes you....

Thank you Dax - that's good to know!

Safety in Munich? Looks like you are from SC? There is a statistical view and personal view. Statistical data is just that, a compound data of all type of reported incidences. Comparative data is hard to come by. You can find proxies, but inferring to individuals lead to different implications. Nevertheless you can look at national statistical comparison between the two countries like this one where not all the data are adjusted to per capita: http://www.nationmaster.com/compare/...d-States/Crime
And where does Myrtle Beach stands within the US? This one claims not so good: http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/sc/...e/#description
And Munich stands better according to this view: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20130513-49671.html

There is also the state government view of this matter: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_p.../cis_1123.html

I think this is a kind of things many find it difficult to digest based on statistics alone. From time to time I also travel in a group tour as a part of a special interest trip and those coming from the statistically high crime rate country (US) are often very much worried about safety in traveling to statistically significantly lower crime rate countries in Europe.

Of course, individually, you can end up the one making up part of the lower crime rate. This is the nature of the statistically data.

It is very safe. I live in Florida and there is no comparison or stats needed. Love Bavaria and you will have a fab time.

My husband and I moved to Bavaria from Virginia almost 4 years ago. You have nothing to worry about as regards personal safety. They have gun control and a prosperous economy here, no worries about getting robbed at gunpoint ;) The alertness that keeps you safe in the US will be good enough for this country as well.
Def visit Dachau, Auschwitz is in another country and way WAY far away.

GREG - I never go according to what statistics say. I've read some statistics that say SC has a high crime rate. but living here I know that the crime rate primarily goes up in the off season (when people are cut from their already minimum wage jobs because there are no tourists coming in) and I know that most of the crimes are no violent. Therefore I view Myrtle Beach SC as a fairly safe place. Particularly in comparison to Los Angeles where I lived the first 20 years of my life. That is why I posted on here... I wanted to know any personal experiences with regards to safety and being a woman traveling alone. For example, I probably wouldn't travel alone to certain parts of India or Africa where women aren't valued and/or often have violent crimes happen against them.

YODABABE - thank you for your feedback. I found it to be super helpful :) And thanks for the clarification on Dachau / Auschwitz. I think I had my geography all mixed up after looking at quite a few viator.com multiple day tours.

Since you're in Bavaria, i would love any recommendations (from a "local perspective") that you'd like to give ...

Viator is a seller of tours created by other companies. Save your money and go with the companies themselves. Why pay Viator a commission?

Pick your cities, travel by train in between them and go on tours in the cities themselves. This will be a far better and memorable experience than riding a bus around the country.

You take the S-2 to Petershausen from the Munich train station to get to Dachau, the trip takes 18 minutes. The S-2 leaves from platform 20 in the main train station. It is worth a visit to Dachau, it is quite different from Auschwitz which still has buildings intact. The buildings at Dachau were demolished in the 1960s but the site will affect you strongly nonetheless. My husband went there yesterday, he hadn't been before.

If you are in Munich on a Saturday, you might want to check out the flea market in the Olympic Stadium. And if you go anytime in December, the Christmas markets are to DIE FOR. Munich has 8 of them, our favorite is the Middle Ages Market which is pretty close to the train station.

And of course you will want to see the clock in Marienplatz. It is something all tourists do with good reason. It is freaking amazing.

Be sure to check if there is a festival or holiday weekend when you travel, the hotel rates tend to skyrocket during times like Oktoberfest. You can save a lot of money if you avoid those weekends, at the same time you might want to be there for the festivities. Just plan on paying a lot more for hotels then.

Our favorite Munich beer is Augustiner although most Americans will want to make a visit to the Hofbrau brewery too, it was a huge favorite with the US military. The breweries sponsor big beer halls that are a lot of fun to visit. The beer is strong--5-6% alcohol (think American craft beer strength), but you can order Radlers (half beer half sprite and they taste really good) or a small krug if you don't want to drink a liter of beer at a time. Outside of the beer halls you can get beer in smaller amounts, 1/3 or half a liter which is like a 12 ouncer or a pint of beer.

We actually live about 90 minutes south of Munich and don't get there much, Nuremberg is only 20 minutes from our door, so we don't know Munich as well as we would like to. But there are Germans on this forum who could probably give you exact details on any experience you would like to have--you just have to ask the specific questions.

A great daytrip from Munich is Salzburg. It is about 1 1/2-2 hours by train and it is included in the Bayern ticket which give you cheap all day travel anywhere in Bavaria, including Salzburg after 9 am. Munich is like any big city in the world. Stay out of dark alleys when you are alone and you'll be fine.

I agree about the Augustiner beer. Excellent beer and a number of great Augustiner restaurants around town.