Three of us are heading for Munich for a long weekend (Thursday to Sunday) at the end of the month.

Any ideas for daytrips out of the city? Ideally we'd like to see the mountains or the forests, and we'll be using public transport.

Any ideas?

Definitely take the train to see Neuschwanstein (sp?) Castle, it's gorgeous and the scenery on the way is beautiful with all the mountains. I think it's about an hour and a half train ride, but it was five years ago when I was there so my memory is a little rusty! Have fun

Three days is a good amount of time for Munich. Its such a great city. There are a lot of thing that can keep you busy right in the city.

I recommend Neuschwanstein if you want to make the trip but remember you will spend a lot of time in travel. Another must see is Nymphenburg Palace (Schloss Nymphenburg) which you can get to by public transportation. They haver a good audio tour that you can take to see the palace.

One thing I don't recommend is a day trip to Salzburg. I know some will disagree with me but but I felt that I spent more time traveling to the city than I actually spent within the city.

Also Munich is a shopping mecca, you can send your entire time in the shops. I am not sure when it begins but it is sometime near the end of the month.

They have a great bicycle trip through the city. If your into the bicycle thing.

In addition to see the previously mentioned castles here are a couple of shorter trips that I would recommend: Dachau to visit the concentration camp. Andechs to visit the Benedictine monastery and sample some holy beer. Both of these places could be visited in a half day.

Hi ter,
I have just come back from my trip to Germany, and almost missed out on the Munich experience because I felt that there wasn't much there to see there. Wrong!! I found the people friendly and very helpful, the scenery beautiful and the history amazing. Apart from the Olympic Stadium and lots of churches (my faves being the Assamkirche and the Munchen Dom) there are lots of museums. Sights to see - Marianplatz and the Glockenspiel, the Residenz (well worth exploring), the Englischer Garten, the Altes Raus, Victuelianmarkt and of course the Hofbrauhaus. There is also a museum about the history of teddy bears, and another called 'The Collection of Unusual Exhibits (or something similar).If you are looking for something a bit different, I suggest taking a train to Lindau. It is on the edge of Lake Constance, and is a beautiful town. I found it small enough to wander around without getting fatigued, but large enough to spend several hours looking at. There are some roman ruins, and the Town Hall (Rathaus) has to be seen to be believed!!!I spent a wonderful day there. It is a couple of hours from Munich by train, so maybe this won't fit the bill timewise, but it is another option for you. From Lindau, there is also a ferry that takes you to the island of Mainau, which was once the summer residence of the Bavarian kings, and has THE most beautiful gardens I had seen. The last ferry unfortunately leaves Lindau at 11:30am to go there, but there are trains from Munich at regular intervals to be able to catch it. Dachau is another option; as is Neuschwanstein and Hohenswangau. Nymphenberg and its gardens was a solace for this solo traveller. Sorry if this is a bit 'teachy & rambling', but what I read about these didn't come anywhere near doing them justice. Whatever you choose to do you will enjoy.

I took the train to the lakes region, including the Starnberger lake where Ludwig perished. You could also go to Chiemsee Lake and take in the Herrenchiemsee