Munich for Xmas
 

We are planning a last second Xmas trip to Munich. 4-5 days tops; leaving on the 25th...

Question- should we drive or take train to Salzburg???

any other ideas for things to do besides seeing the churches and the Xmas markets...

I've not been to Salzburg, but I will note this:
My parents just returned from Munich, where it was gray, cloudy and foggy almost every day, with some intermittent snow. They drove to Stuttgart and said it was foggy the entire way and extremely foggy in some areas - so much so that they could not take in any of the scenery on the drive. My trip in December 2005 was similarly gray.

If you were considering driving to enjoy the view, please note that the weather may keep you from even seeing it.

Are you leaving FROM or FOR Munich on the 25th? If it's the latter, forget about the Christmas markets.

Take the train to Salzburg. Why bother with driving?

> the weather may keep you from even seeing it.
By the end of January, the fog will not be as frequent anymore. Fog is (the) one typical thing of local weather in fall season. And you may find that while the "town fog" has cleared by late morning, the outskirts remain foggy during the whole day.

Several years ago (December 20th if I remember correctly) we rented a car from Munich and drove to Garmisch. It was incredibly foggy for about 100 kilometers - and then we suddenly came out of the fog into sunshine, like driving out of the inferno into heaven.

This year we are sticking with the train to Salzburg from Munich.

we are leaving on the 25th arriving probably the 19th or 20th...
we are thinking of making Munich as our base and taking 1-2 day trip. Is that advisable???

You could easily spend all you time in Munich for such a short trip but there are plenty of other wonderful things to see and do in the area.

If you are into Christmas Markets you might think about a daytrip (Bayern Ticket on the train E27 for up to 5 people) to the Christmas market at Nuremburg.

You can also use the Bayern ticket to daytrip to Salzburg to a quick overview.

Plenty of other daytrips are available by car or train to see Ludwig's castles, Bertschesgaden, Oberammergau, Mittenwald, Garmish or even the Andechs Monastery.