nhartist

My friend and I are going to Germany October 3 until October 17. Is it possible to stay in Munich for 6 nights and see Fussen, Schloss Neuschwanstein,Nuremberg, and Oberammergau on different days doing day trips and public transportation. We are planning on seeing October Fest the first 2 days and then the city of Munich the next day or 2. How many days will we need? Can any of the side trips be combined and seen on the same day?should I plan on moving from Munich to see these? Is Oberammergau worth the trip if it is not the passion play? What order would you suggest.
From there we go to Salzburg for 3 nights and then Vienna for 5 days. Any suggestions? We would rather not have to change hotels more than we have to.
NH Artist

flpab

Oberammergau is well worth a visit, you can get the train from https://en.rail.cc/murnau-railway-st...ion/13556/2609 to Oberammergau, beautiful scenery. Do a walk around Murnau, good brewery there. Nuremburg is also very interesting to visit. About two hours north on train and the train station is right by the old walled city. I would try and go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, about an hour 15 min on the train. http://www.zugspitze.at/zugspitzbahn...zugspitze.html
You could try and do this with Oberammergau. You daylight hours are getting shorter that time of year.

I am not a big Neuschwanstein fan. Long trip for a palace but tours from Munich to go there. Linderhof is close by Oberammergau. Think you can go by bus to it. Beautiful gardens. Ludwig lived there.

nhartist

Great. My friend wanted Garmish so we'll tag it together with Oberammergau. I've seen many castles so I'll put Neuschwanstein at the end of the trip if there is time.
Is the Eagles Nest out of the question or can we do public transportation from Salzburg
Thanks

Travelforbeer

Hi Artist-

You can find the Salzburg- Berchtesgaden bus & train information on this webpage-

http://harrimantravelbooks.com/BGD.html

Have a great trip!!!

Dukey1

If you are going to go to the Eagles Nest then I strongly suggest you look into taking one, if not the only one, of the officially sanctioned tours of the complex, the underground bunkers, etc. You can book it on the web in advance.

Oberammergau is filled with the woodcarver's shops and having been there for the Passion Play, etc., once you've seen a couple of those shops you have, literally seen them all. The local Roman Catholic church has a wonderful baroque interior which is worth a visit.

Frankly, other than the very iconic exterior, IMO, Neuschwanstein would not be worth the trip. Linderhof, more worth it; Herrenchiemsee, the largest and most beautifully decorated of all most definitely worth it.

flpab

Berchtesgaden, we took bus from there to Salzburg. Left the car parked. I am not sure how you get to Eagles nest without a car as we had one for that. Well worth the trip there. Do the museum and the bunkers.

AisleSeat

You may want to put pins in the maps to see that your desired locations are in almost all directions from Munich. ViaMichelin.com might help. You mention several locations that could easily be done on a loop by car. Drive toward Garmish on the autobahn. Just before you get there take the smaller road that goes by the Ettal Monastary, Schloslinderhof, Oberammergau, Wiesekirche and then Fussen (Schwangau) for Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. The tickets for the two castles are for specific times so you have to be sure you are there for your specific tour.

nhartist

This info is great. We were wondering if Leave the luggage in lockers in Nurnberg and spend the am touring then take a train or rent a car and get to Wurzberg stay at a hotel for a night then drive The Romantic road to the south staying somewhere in Fussen. From there try to get to the Eagles Nest, Oberammergau, Garmish may be eliminated. We then leave the 2nd morning drive to a train station and turn in the car. Is it doable? Is it realistic or shoul we eliminate the drive and rely on cars.
Thanks

PalenQ

Wurzburg to fuessen on the very un-romantic IME Romantik Raod would be a long long tiring day - two-lane road with lots of traffic and yes nothing romantic about it exceot the towns that are just off it - like rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl and Nordlingen - reconsider that

The Romantic Road was a creation of the German Tourist Office in the 1950s I believe as a tourist ploy - now the towns are neat but Rothenburg is easily accessible from Nurnberg by train or Munich - but would be too much to do both in one day.

As for Fuessen I love Neuschwanstein Castle and have gone several times and always amazed at the interior - a surprise at every turn - no toy your typical caslte and castle purists disdain it as such - it's an Ersatz medieval castle.

But if you study up on Mad Ludwig who built it as a fantasy castle to live a fantasy life in it makes it more compelling - plus the area around the castle is so so nice - nesteld literally at the foothills of the Bavarian Alps - walk up behind the castle to the famous Marienbrucke -a bridge over a stream high above the castle to take in the marvelous view of the castle framed with lovely lake far below - Mad Ludwig used to go here and sit and ponder his fantasy castle being built.

Poor Mad Ludwig though only got to stay in his unfinished castle a few days before Bavarian authorities pulled the plug on his extravaganzes that were bankrupcting the Bavarian Treasury and had him drowned - allegedly - they called it a suicide at the time I believe - in a lake near Munich.

The mad man and his story add life to the castle which in any case is the world's most famous castle and according to the German Tourist Office the #1 sight in Germany. Disney modeled its Sleeping Beauty Castle after Neuschwanstein.

Often too many folks crowd in lessening its lure but for me there is a weird delight in every room - not your ordinary castle that is for sure!

Not your average castle:
https://www.google.com/search?q=neus...=1600&bih=1075

For day trips within Bavaria and all yours are you can use the bargain Bavarian Lander Card or whatever it is called - bought in any German train station - for around 30 euros up to I think 5 people can travel all day on regional trains and city transports like S-Bahns, U-Bahns, trams and buses - regional trains are not nearly as comfy as high-speed trains and take significantly longer but some destinations like Fuessen are only served by regional trains. You can even go to Salzburg, Austria on one.

There is BTW now a S-Bahn train linking Salzburg and Berchetsgaden that may be more faster and comfy than the bus (or not?)

Anyway for loads of great stuff on Bavarian and German trains - some good sites: www.seat61.com; www.bahn.de/en - the German Railways official site with schedules and fares if you do not use the Bavarian Pass; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

I really like Herrenchiemsee, Mad Ludwing's Ersatz Bavarian Versailles set on an island in a lovely lake - the Chiem See - the boat there is part of the fun - take a train to Prien - about an hour from Munich and walk or take a steam train to the boat dock.

Linderhof is nice too but would be last on my list of these three Mad Ludwig creations.

don't forget Dachau in suburban Munich if that kind of think attracts you - it does not some but to me it is a mandatory thing to do in Munich - very sobering if not fun.

Oh Garmisch makes a nice base or day trip - the town is nice but not much in it but the Zugspitze is just out of town and trains go there and then a mountain railway climbs Germany's highest Alp.

I based in Garmisch once and took trains into Octoberfest - for most at most a 3-4 hour thing - and to me fantastic.

nhartist

Thank You! Great info. I love the links would you recommend going by train then? I have just eliminated the unromantic road from our trip. I noticed they have luggage lockers so after Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, Marienbrucke and the musuem ? where would you recommend staying over night? Fussen or should we get a car?

PalenQ

Fussen is a really neat town that few of the hoards traipsing thru it to get to Mad Ludwig's fantasy castles ever see it.

That said I have stayed in Swangau, on the lake near the castle and found it really nice - in evening in summer the town band was playing on the shore - lots of hotels there but as in resorts they may be aloof for one-night stays in high season.

Reutte, Austria is just a few miles away from Fussen thru the gap in the mountains and is a really really neat town - it's on the main rail and road route to Garmish-P too.

PalenQ

Note that the Bavarian Pass that you can buy locally also comes in first class for not that much more and IME on regional trains which you are limited to using with the pass 2nd class can always be a times SRO - and first class IME will always have many it seems empty seats. That said not all regional trains may have first class so look at www.bhn.de/en the German Railways schedule site which indicates which trains have 1st and 2nd class and which are '2nd cl only'.

A problem I've seen twice now on train to Fussen from Munich is that these often act as school buses and swarms of kids will come on for a few stops - going from a large regional town with a high school to smaller town stations that - again 1st class is a nice refuge to have in this case which has happened to me on several other regional trains. And at commuting hours these trains can also be mobbed in 2nd class.

nhartist

Great info. I'll definitely look into first class tickets and Fussen or Swangau

PalenQ

That said not all regional trains may have first class so look at www.bhn.de/en the German Railways schedule site which indicates which trains have 1st and 2nd class and which are '2nd cl only'.>

That site should of course been www.bahn.de/en - I left out the a in bahn, Germany word for the German railway system I believe - the state-owned Die Bahn! Or De Deutsches Bundesbahn!