It looks like I may be going to Munich in November. I want to tack on another location to this trip. I want to have a reasonable train trip between the two.

I'm thinking Vienna makes the most sense, but I am a bit nervous about the weather.

I'm also thinking of taking the train from Munich to Venice via Verona. I know this can be done at night, but I'd prefer not to (traveling with laptop and other stuff) as it would be too nervewracking for me.

Any other ideas when I have 3 nights in Munich, and maybe 4 nights somewhere else?

I think Vienna is a great idea, but I'm confused by your comment that you are nervous about the weather. It seems like Vienna's weather won't be any worse than Munich. Please help me to understand your concerns.

Personally I would be a lot more concerned about November weather in Venice. November is the season for Aqua Alta, or flooding. I was there in November 2002 and we completely lost a day in Venice due to flooding. The water was so high it was over the platforms and even the gondolas weren't running, as they couldn't get under the bridges. Of course it's not always that bad, but I would still go for Vienna in November.

It's Munich, because that's where I have to go , so I can't complain about the weather. I'm just tacking on a few days on my own.

Good point about acqua alta. I'm also thinking of just going to Padua and Verona.

How about Salzburg? Gorgeous and a 90 minute trip from Munich main station. It is also a good base for daytrips into the Alps.

Somewhere above the fog ;-)

WillTravel:

You can't go wrong with either Verona or Vienna, In my opinion.

Vienna is a fascinating city if you have interests in history, art, or
music. You will be kept busy for days
trying to take it all in. If you choose Vienna, I suggest that you read
a good biography of Franz Joseph.

Verona is also a good choice. We used it as a base in 2007 and went to Padua, Vicenza, Bellagio, and
Trento as day trips from there. It would also be possible to go to
Venice as a day trip frome Verona.
Verona itself is very interesting.
We stayed in a hotel that was mid-way between the train station and the historic area. We could walk to both.

If you choose Verona, I suggest that you make reservations soon. It is a
trade city and the hotels fill up
quickly for trade show days.
Pat

Vienna makes sense, you can add Salzburg and Melk in between.

The weather will more than likely be cold in November. No way to get around the weather unless you add somewhere in Italy.

All of these are great suggestions, and I'm sure I can adapt to the weather, being a Canadian after all.

I am thinking of another possibility - Strasbourg (which would probably be the coldest of any option mentioned yet).

Logistically, it looks like the combination of cheapest and easiest is to fly to Frankfurt (which I can do nonstop), and take the train to Munich. If I decide to do this, it's a fairly short train ride (~3 hours) from Munich to Strasbourg, and a little less from Strasbourg to Frankfurt. Lodging is in short supply in Strasbourg in particular (must be an EU meeting or something), but it still looks possible right now.

Logos, is the Munich area foggy in November?

Anyone in favor of spending a full 7 or 8 days in Munich?

The city is usually a little warmer and there may be sunny days. But yes, it's usually either dark and rainy or foggy in November. Worst month of the year, weatherwise.
Sunrise/Sunset hours and length of the day are about the same as Vancouver, BC.

7 or 8 days in Munich would be long for a tourist.(my opinion). We were there this summer for two nights and I think 3 would have been plenty. It is a very nice city, and if I were young and taking German language classes, wouldn't mind spending some time there. It looks like a nice city to live in.

We also went to Austria from Munich. We drove with family, but Salzburg is near and Vienna isn't too far away. I would suggest either Vienna or Salzburg as your next stop. They are both very nice cities. Vienna will have a little more to see for 3- 4 nights. Salzburg is nice, especially if you liked the Sound of Music story. I liked both cities and would like to return to spend a little more time. We were moving around a lot to see the different towns and so we didn't stay in one place too long.
My pick would be Vienna for all there is to see there.

Standard day trips from Munich:

Zugspitze
Castles
Salzburg
Eagle's Nest

Nuremberg is probably also quite close (at least trave time wise, maybe 1 hour?).

Done the first two, not the others. Not sure if these are appropriate for November.

How long is the train ride to Vienna?

Another possibility: Rothenburg o. d. T. (forget how far this is from Munich -- look up bahn.de?).

Strasbourg is interesting for a day or two (I mean, I was only there for a few hours ), but I don't think that I'd want to spend 4 days there.

Must say that I don't find Munich or the environs or Vienna to be the most exciting (except for the Vienna Philharmonic).

Also why not investigate where you can fly to from Munich cheaply? There's really no reason to stay within Germany or Austria given that you can probably find a cheap carrier to fly somewhere.

We were in Vienna during Thanksgiving in 2006. It was chilly but not unbearably cold. We spent a lot of time indoors in museums, so the cold weather wasn't a huge issue.

7 days in Munich is way too much. I really am not fond of it, period.

Not quite sure what you're looking for on this trip, but I had a very enjoyable week in the N. Bavaria region last year (Nuremburg, Bamberg, Bayreuth and Wurzburg).

If cost is an issue, then lodging in the smaller cities/towns in Germany will surely be much cheaper than Vienna or Venice/Verona.

This is my current plan:
* 3 nights in Munich, with a daytrip to Salzburg - I actually probably won't get to see much of Munich, other than what I can do early in the morning and at night, and I will be visiting Salzburg with a friend so don't want to skip that.
* 1 night in Passau, enroute to Vienna (Munich to Vienna is a 4-hour train ride, but I want to do this trip late at night, and this seems like a nice town to break at)
* 4 nights in Vienna (but really only 3 full days) - my plans are to see and hear the usual art, music, and architecture sights.
* On my flight home, I'll have a 6.5 hour break in Copenhagen, which is enough time for a brief return visit, I think.

For Vienna, I have a tentative reservation here, which works out to 41 Euros per night (single room, private bathroom). If the location is good, I will deal with the shortcomings (unless I find something clearly better):
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...nz-Vienna.html

For Passau, I have a 49.50 Euro per night reservation at Hotel Passauer Wolf.

That's a really good price for the pension in Vienna. Does that include breakfast also?

I can't really tell exactly where it's located, but based on some of the reviews on tripadivsor, it sounds convenient enough.

I think you'll enjoy Vienna... I know many people feel indifferent towards it, but it's one of my favorite cities. Not cheap though.

Yes, the price includes breakfast, and by the reviews, it seems to be a good one. I do feel a little bad about bypassing Italy and Strasbourg, but logistically this works out best for me, and I do want to see Vienna.

I think the Pension is a little outside of the Ring? Probably if you don't go out late you should be fine.

http://tinyurl.com/4q4exp

It looks like it's close to a U/S-bahn.

yk, I know you stayed at Pension Suzanne, if I remember correctly. I will consider that one too. 111op, where did you stay?

Yes, we stayed at Pension Suzanne. It's quite a bit more than the place you've reserved. Suzanne is still pretty basic, but we just love the location as we pretty much walked everywhere during our stay, rather than taking the subway or tram.

A few other places I have bookmarked during my planning are:
http://www.pertschy.com/h_pension1_e.html
http://www.carlton.at/hotel-vienna.php
http://www.residenz.cc/englisch/index.htm

I've been to Vienna twice. The first time I stayed in Hotel Wendl (with my mom).

The second time I think it was Hotel Austria, which I booked last minute through the tourist office. It was actually fine and I think it had good reviews on TA. Actually now the ranking is even higher -- it's ranked #10!