We will be in Munich for a couple of days in July and have thought about taking a rental car from the train station (staying near there) to Fussen (to see the castles). The only country I have driven in (other than US) is Ireland, not much traffic. Train verses car, which is best?

Its been several years, but I rented a car to see the castles and the driving was a breeze.

Topping for you. The castles around Fussen can be done by a combination of train and use of local transport (either the busses or taxis) but I suspect you'll have greater flexibility if you do so by car.

If your quest is merely to get to Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwangau in Fussen then you can easily get there by train with just 1 transfer out of Munich Hbf. The beauty of Bavaria, however, is in exploring other sights, villages, shops, activities along the way, so I highly recommend a car.

If I had taken the train to Fussen and not a car I never would have; stopped at the summerrodelbahn nearby, picked fresh strawberries, stopped in the wood carving shop, detoured to several small towns for lunch or a beer, etc. The journey is just as memorable as the actual castles ,and a car gives you great flexibility.

If you just want to see Fuessen in 1 day, take the train (http://bahn.de)

You can also drive it in one day (Munich, Landsberg, Fuessen, Steingaden, Murnau, Munich),but you'd miss the opportunioty for a scenic loop: Munich, Garmisch,Leermoos, Fuessen , Oberammergau, Linderhof, Ettal - Oberau - Munich. That would take 2 days with an overnight in Fuessen. However, plan on possible problems in finding lodging in or near Fuessen in July.

Possible other overnight locations: Pfronten, Reutte, both about 10km from Fuessen.

We had an easy and pleasant time driving from Munich to Hohenschwangau where we spent two nights. Drove first to Linderhof Palace--stopped in a couple of small towns along the way to shop and take pictures. Had lunch along the Plansee in northern Austria on the route to Reutte. Arrived in Hohenschwangau in time to see Neuschwanstein Castle that evening. If we'd been in a rush we could have seen Hohenschwangau Castle that same evening.

You could see a lot in a long day.
Munich to Hohenschwangau is only about 2 hours driving time. So if you left early--say 8 a.m. and made no stops, you could be at the castles by 10 a.m. You could see both castles by 1 p.m. or so (make reservations on the internet in advance) and be back in Munich by 3 p.m. if that's all you wanted to do.

But it stays light pretty late in July, so you'd really have a good 5 or 6 hours of additional sightseeing/dining/gawking time if you wanted to use it on places like Linderhof Palace, Garmisch, the Wieskirche, etc.

I rented a car. There were 3 of us, and the per capita cost was probably about the same compared with the train. The huge advantage of the car was flexibility and timeliness. We stopped at Die Wieskirche coming back, and missing it would have been a big error. It is a beautiful if small Baroque style church.

The car also cut our travel time.
The train takes 2 hours to Füssen and then one must travel to the castle(s).

I am going to rent a car, and will spend Sat night in/near Fussen (on the way likely try luging, Ehrenberg ruins), Sunday morning see the castles and then head back with stops at Linderhof, Oberammergau and anything else on the way.

Any other suggestions.?

Instead of staying in Fussen you could stay in the valley near the castles. That would give you an early start at the castles. Look for hotels in Hohenschwangau.

Gee, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the green factor.

Yes, you can get there by car, and driving is generally as easy in Germany as it is in the USA.

But you can take a road trip practically anywhere. Using an efficient and fun rail system is getting rarer and rarer. And it's quite a lot of fun -- instead of sitting inside your isolated bubble, you get to interact with the locals and people-watch along the way. You'll also be able to converse with everyone in your party, and everyone will be able to enjoy the scenery.

And naturally the trains are more **green** yaaay. You'll be helping to preserve the beautiful Alpine scenery.

Have fun!

s

Hi,

Fuessen is only 10 minutes from the castles. You could be at the castles before the ticket office opens, or reserve tickets ahead of time. There's a cable car trip and Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride) about a mile from the castles at Tegelberg.

We stayed twice at the Hotel zum Hechten in Fuessen and can recommend it.

www.hotel-hechten.com

Either on the way to Fuessen or back to Munich, Andech's Monestary is a very nice place to stop for an hour or two.

www.andechs.de/kloster-andechs.html

As mentioned earlier, the Wieskirche is superb.

(click on "Panoramic view" and use your mouse to scroll on the photo's to view the interior)

www.wieskirche.de/eframset.htm


Paul