gump13

So we started out big and have been slowly narrowing down our itinerary for a late August/September trip, but now I have decision paralysis and could use some more help. I know it is still an ambitious itinerary.

So far we have booked our arrival and 3 nights in Geneva, and a flight home from Munich about 2 weeks later.

From Geneva we plan to spend 5-6 nights total in the Bernese Oberland. Kandersteg for 2-3 nights, stopping for lunch and sight seeing maybe in Thun on the way? It looks to be 3 or so hours of travel.

After Kandersteg we would like to spend the remainder (3-4 nights) in one of the car-free towns, like Murren or Wengen as a base for exploring some more of the area; there's something really charming about a car-free town

After that... is the paralysis. The original itinerary crammed the prior stops into fewer days (2 nights per) and went on to far too many places (Vaduz, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Fussen...).

We are now leaning towards heading straight to Munich (full day of travel), and then using it as a base for day trips until we fly out (4-5 nights later), since I haven't been able to identify (ok, choose...) a second destination to stop in before Munich for 1-2 nights.

Question 1 - any route recommendations? Any place we should try to stop for lunch at?

Question 2 -Since cities aren't my biggest "thing".. is there a place near Munich anyone would recommend as a base instead that is easily accessible and easy to get to the airport from? If not, recommendations on where to stay, where to grab a drink and/or eat we get back each night, would be greatly appreciated.

Question 3 - day trips. I'm probably hopeless and will end up having to leave it until the last minute... but I'm open to suggestions/itineraries... Neuchwanstein, Berchtesgaden, Nuremburg, Dachau, Hohenzollern (long one...)....

I should probably mention we intend to rely on trains/public transportation throughout.

Thanks in advance!

flpab

Garmisch-Partenkirchen is car free, train is a little over an hour to the airport. I love Munich though and you can enjoy the city but vist Garmisch on a day trip. Same with Nuremburg.

I like http://www.augustinerkeller.de/home/?L=1 not overly pricey for beer and dinner. Always a friendly crowd.

PalenQ

Since you are not in a hurry to get to Munich why not pop into Lindau, lovingly jutting out Lake Constance and a neat old charming city - you could go from there by train to Fussen and base there for 2-3 days - lots of nice day trips by train or bus - take a bus/train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen which would also make a nice back for even hopping into Munich - about an hour by train and to the airport if you plane is not too late.

But better perhaps with the spate of German train strikes to be right in Munich itself though strikes are previewed and announced far ahead of time.

Or go to Munich and bite the bullet and stay in a big city and do day trips to the places you mentioned and even Rothenbrug by train.

Anyway for train info in those two countries check www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. A Swiss Pass seems a no-brainer in your case - covers trains/conveyances in full up to Wengen and Murren and in Bavaria check out the Lander Passes - where for 30 euros or so up to 5 or so folks can travel unlimited all day on regional (local) trains and city buses, S-Bahns and U-Bahns - buy that at any DB train station.

swandav2000

hi gump13

Huh. Garmisch isn't car-free, and I admit that I almost choked when I read that (I live in Garmisch, and I don't have a car . . . but most other folks who live here do). It's also more than 2h from Garmisch to the Munich airport, whether by train or by car.

One place you might use as a base is the city of Augsburg, which I think get overlooked too often. It's a small city, about 200,000 folks, and it has oodles of charm and meandering streets in its old town. Getting to the airport from Augsburg will take about 1h40, to Füssen about 2h, to Garmisch about 2h.

Another option for a sweet town is Murnau, which was an important artist center in the 19th century. It also has a sweet little pedestrian street in town. Murnau is about 2h or 3h from Füssen, about 30 minutes from Garmisch, and about 2h from the Munich airport.

I think you're looking at making a compromise between convenient to the airport, size of city, and convenient to other sites in the area. Munich is most convenient, but it is large.

Anyway, have fun as you plan!

s

PalenQ

Yup Garmisch may be carefree but not car-free! Certain sections of it are perhaps car-free?

swandav2000

Like most (all??) German towns, there is a pedestrian footpath in the center of town; well, one in Garmisch and one in Partenkirchen. But that's it.

s

Tabernash2

A hotel I can recommend in Munich is the Hotel Uhland. It's a charming boutique hotel, in a nice neighborhood right by the Oktoberfest park. They offer free parking and free use of their bicycles. We used their bikes and took a nice ride in that neighborhood. Breakfast is included in their rate.

Hotel Uhland is an easy 10-minute walk to the train station, for day-trips. We went to Fussen and to Salzburg on separate days. Very easy by train.

It's a small hotel which fills up fast.

gump13

Wow- thank you all for your replies so far!

PalenQ- Lindau looks lovely! I will certainly look into making our way through there.

Swandaav - I like both towns you suggested - but I believe the est. travel times have convinced us to go for convenience and stay within Munich once we get there. After a week in mountains it will probably be good to experience some city time, even if it can be overwhelming (I grew up in a town of 8,000 and then moved to town of 600)- I guess that is part of the excitement of travel! Plus, being in Munich will help me not worry so much about the possibility of a strike - good call!

Tabernash2- I definitely will look into Hotel Uhland- having use of a bicycle sounds fantastic! I had heard there are places to rent them, of course as well.

We have roughly looked at (for budgeting) a 10-day swiss flex pass, and a 10-day 2 country pass. We have not delved into the details of either pass to see how much we would have to supplement each in order to work out the final math- we were just getting a very rough ballpark at the start of our planning to make sure we could still afford to eat- but I will certainly add looking into the Lander pass on my to-do list as well.

Thank you all for the suggestions so far, I'm still certainly open to additional ideas and help!

Tabernash2

Has anyone recommended BudgetEuropeTravel.com? Call their 800 number, which is in the States, and they really know how to suggest most cost-effective train tickets/passes. We bought paper tickets from them years ago, and really appreciate their advice.

From Hotel Uhland, the bike rides are very nice because it's a low-key business/residential neighborhood. It's not crazy busy. At least not unless Oktoberfest is in full swing!

The bike ride we took was on flat streets, along the waterway. Very pleasant. Neighborhood restaurants were easy to get to, as well.

It was a LONG walk into the main square of Munich. We walked in and cabbed back.

Dukey1

Munich: can be hot and HUMID in the summer. Now, if you really don't care about having air conditioning that is up to you. Be aware that not every establishment in Bavaria offers it. The oft-heard (around here) 'raionale' is, "It isn't necessary."

if that's the case then why do so many hotels have it? And I believe one mentioned upthread may not.

flpab

<there's something really charming about a car-free town.>

I read that as the op wanted a town or village that you did not need a car to get to a store or sites.

SO, excuse me, interpretation not clear.
You can do that in Garmisch. Trains and buses make it possible.
I don't live there but have visited and stayed there many times.
We have had a car for some visits and been car free other times.

Tabernash2

Good point about heat. I am fairky positive that we had A/C at Hotel Uhland.

swandav2000

Ah, flpab, now I understand. You meant, "You don't need a car in Garmisch." Now that makes more sense. I really believed you knew Garmisch better than to say it is a car-free town.

Have you ever been to Zermatt, Wengen, or Mürren in Switzerland? They are actual car-free towns; you can only get there by train or by cable car. When you said Garmisch is car-free, I thought you were saying it was like Wengen or Mürren.

s

flpab

Swandav, got updates on facebook this am about the G7 summit. Hope you do ok with all the protesters and restrictions. Do you see a big difference?

swandav2000

Ooooh yes, big time. For the past week, we've had about 1,000 extra police in town. More police vehicles, vans, wagons on the road than civilian cars. Tent city for the media at the Kreuzech cable car parking lot. Nests of communications vans at empty lots on high ground. I haven't seen any tourists in town for a few days. Road blocks on roads.

s

Dianedancer

I am sorry for hijacking this thread, but reading that Munich can be hot and humid I'm wondering if it will be like that when we are there September 16-18. We live in NYC and summers here are hot and humid too. We have reservations at Hotel Schlicker and it doesn't have AC. It's hard to get a room reservation anywhere as it is Octoberfest, a fact we didn't know when we did our planning. But perhaps we can change to another hotel if we need to in order to get AC. Prices are crazy for those days!

flpab

Ocktoberfest starts the 19th but am sure they are getting in gear and many in town. I have needed ac in Sept but if there is a fan it is not real bad. Not like NYC. It just means the windows are open and you get street and city noise. Most hotels have fans.

Swandav, that is crazy. Hope businesses are't suffering from this. Guess all those news people have to eat though.

Gump, if you can do Nuremberg that is a hour or so train ride form Munich. Good day trip.

Travel_Nerd

And two years ago I was in Munich the same week (around September 20th) and I froze. So...bring layers just in case, Diane.

PalenQ

Nurnberg is a fantastic day trip, especially for those who relish seeing remnants of the Third Reich - the largest such intact groupings of which are just south of town - the old parade grounds where Hitler from his balcony - which is still there on the stadium overlooking the parade grounds - and several edifices and a museum.

swandav2000

Demonstrations planned in different areas of town on 5 June, 6 June, 7 June, & 8 June -- expecting around 1,500 demonstrators at each.

Some businesses in town are closing up from now until next week, some covered their shopfront windows with plywood. Banks closed.

s