SIDE TRIPS FROM MUNICH
 

We will be arriving in Munich mid afternoon on 5/9. We were planning to do a Food and Drink Tour the first evening. On Saturday, we were planning to go to Austria to do the Sound of Music tour and then go to the Salt Mines and return to Munich. On Sunday, we thought about taking the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for the day. On Monday, we thought we'd visit Neuschwanstein and return to Munich until we have to head to the airport at 5:30. Flight leaves at 8:30. Is this possible? I am open to others suggestions. Thanks

Hi K,

www.bahn.de says that it is 2 hr from Fuessen to Munich by train.

Figure 0:30 hr from Schwangau to Fuessen by bus.

I suggest that you BE at the airport by 17:30.

Dachau is only 0:20 min from Munich.

((I))

Garmisch itself on a Sunday (stores are closed) can be somewhat boring unless you plan to
> take the cogwheel train up to Zugspitze mountain
> use additional bus connections to see Ettal monastery, and/or Linderhof castle.
Yet, while the latter is perfectly "doable" with trains plus buses, I would prefer to have a car for that one day.

If you simply want to see a nice mountain village or town, I would stay on the same train for (I guess) two more stops until you get to Mittenwald.

Your schedule for Monday may be a bit tight, but only for my taste.

Ira,

Is it really necessary to be at the airport 3 hours prior? I thought two hours would be plenty.

Cowboy,
Would it be better to Garmisch on Saturday and Salzburg on Sunday? Does the SOund of Music tour run on Sunday? Is the Hallein salt mine open on Sunday?

Another question, is there enough time on one day to visit the Neuschwanstein and then head to Garmish-Partenkirchen and maybe Obergammu on the same day. Would you do using the trains or get a car.
This would free up Monday to maybe visit Dachau and see more of Munich

Your help is greatly appreciated.

I love all the areas you are considering but don't miss Munich in the hustle and bustle. It is a great city with some interesting attractions on its own.

If you haven't already booked your Munich hotel you might consider getting a rent car Gemut.com for three days (@$150 plus gas) and make a loop. Go to Salzbueg one day, stay the night there then go to Mittenwald and on to Linderhof, Oberammergau, Fussen and back to Munich.

make that "Salzburg"

IMO, it does not make much of a difference to go to Garmisch proper on a Saturday or Sunday. It will just be a bit duller on Sundays, but also on Saturdays the stores will close around 2-4pm already.
While Garmisch is an excellent "hub" to explore the area, the city itself is far from breathtaking.

Sorry, I ignored half of your questions.
Yes, if you had a car you could do a loop from Munich to Neuschwanstein, Oberammergau, (Wieskirche, Linderhof castle, Ettal monastery are also on that loop) all in one day. But it can be a bit stressful, depending on how busy Neuschwanstein is.
I would not do this loop with train, bus, another bus, and finally train. It may be "doable" but not very relaxing...

A good idea is what AisleSeat suggested.
Salzburg+Salt Mines in one day. Next day drive to Mittenwald and so on.

For Dachau you don't need a car. It's within the reach of Munich's suburban train system.

For check-in deadlines, I would rely on your airline's information.

This link has a nice map of the loop. Its starts in G-P but you can adjust.
http://theshadedside.com/maps/Garmis...20Garmisch.htm
I highly agree with Cowboy1968's thoughts on G-P. We use G-P as a base. Its nice and has a nice shopping area, but for the time your there, do the loop.

My reaction is the same as that of some others: you should try to arrange things to spend more time in Munich itself. It is an interesting and fun city and I would recommend spending at least a day exploring it. I would probably cut out the Garmisch -Partenkirchen day trip of the ones you have considered.

You mentioned doing a food and drink tour on the first night in Munich. The Hoffbrauhaus has a Bavarian Evening show on the third floor every evening at 7pm for €19 that includs an all-you-can-eat buffet. Beer is extra. It is a fun show.

I appreciate all your input. I might have more questions for the experts later. Thanks.

Hi ky,

>Is it really necessary to be at the airport 3 hours prior? I thought two hours would be plenty. <

If you are flying on a US carrier, you will have to go through a separate screening process in addition to the usual security.

When we flew out of Stuttgart, we got there 3 hrs early and had a 0:45 min wait.

If you arrive 2 hr early, you might not make it.

Or you might.

((I))

Hi ky,

>is there enough time on one day to visit the Neuschwanstein and then head to Garmish-Partenkirchen and maybe Obergammu on the same day.

It is possible that you could fly through all of them in one day, but I don't recommend it.

We did Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau one day, and Linderhof and Oberammergau the next.

((I))

Ira,
We are flying Air France to Paris and staying in Paris for 4 days and then heading to the Brittany coast for 3 or 4 days and then back to Paris to fly home.

Munich-Paris is an intra-Schengen flight, which means no passport control, regular security, like on a domestic flight within Germany.

Arriving 2 or 3 hours prior to departure for an intra-Schengen flight is nuts.
Air France says no later than 30 minutes prior to departure you have to have your boarding pass and have checked in your luggage.
Do add some safety cushion I would recommend to be at the airport 1 hour prior to departure.

Your flight to Paris with AF will depart from Terminal 1, Section D, which is a 5 min walk from the airport suburban train station.

Cowboy,
I have only flown to Paris in the past. This is my first time flying from CVG to CDG and then picking up an Air France Flight to Munich. Will slightly less than 3 hours be enough time to get through whatever we have to go through at CDG and then catch our flight to Munich? On the return we will follow your advice and be there at least 1 hour maybe an hour and a half but no longer. It will be great to have a little more time to explore. Thanks
kygirl

You should have plenty of time in one day to visit Neuschwanstein and then go on to GaP (Garmisch-Partenkirchen). RVO (Regionalverkehr Oberbayern) runs a bus from Füssen to GaP. It stops on the way at the bus stop in Hohenschwangau, just below Neuschwanstein. The trip takes 2 hours and cost €8,50 per person for a Tageskarte (day pass), €20 for a family pass for 2 adults and all their own children. Buses leave Hohenschwangau every day at 4:06 and 5:16 PM, on weekdays also at 2:10 PM. If you take an earlier bus, you can stop at Oberammergau for an hour (or two) and look around.

I agree with the other posters - why keep traveling back/forth to Munich? Make a loop if you want to see the other things. The castles are delightful and that area is very pretty.... very full of tourists, too, but perhaps in May it will be much less crowded than summer.
We rented a car at Munich airport, traveled around, and returned it at the station in Garmisch prior to our stay in Munich. Took the RE train from Garmisch back to Munich.

I would recommend that with all that you want to do in a few short days, rearrange your schedule to visit Munich, rent a car and visit other areas, return to the airport. All that back and forth to/from Munich via train or road is going to wear you out, IMO. You will be so focused on the train schedule and returning to the city that you won't get to enjoy what you are visiting.

In my heart I know if would be so much more freeing to have a car. How easy is it to navigate from Munich to Salzburg to Garmish to Fussen and back to the Munich ? We will fly in Friday mid afternoon,take the train to the city, settle in our hotel, probably take a walk around Munich, have dinner and drinks at the Hofbrauhaus and then get a good nights sleep. We would rent the car from early Saturday until 7:00 pm on Monday. This would give us almost 3 full days of seeing the area. Your thoughts?

If you have a car, visiting Garmisch, Oberammergau, and Neuschwanstein would be easy in one day if you get an early start. We rented a car in Munich and visited Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, plus a couple of stops in small towns along the way (including Oberammergau of which I had vague memories from attending the Passion Play as a 13-year old in 1960). We also had a pleasant lunch along the Plansee in northern Austria on the way to Hohenschwangau (the little village where Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are located).

We made advance reservations for both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau on the internet for the morning after we arrived there. But because we got there quicker than we thought we would, we ended up touring Neuschwanstein the same afternoon that we arrived.

Where are you staying in Munich? If you rent a car at a lot that is NOT at the airport or train atation you will save a 19% surcharge. The main hassel driving will be getting out of Munich. After that you will have no problems.

The loop around Munich has a break in it at about the 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock arc. That means going through traffic in that area. If you are headed for Salzburg you will be headed out from about the 4-5 o'clock position on the loop.

BTW the Hofbrauhaus has a Bavarian Evening show will music and folk dancing every evening at 7pm on the upper floors. It is €19 per person and includes a buffet dinner. Beer is extra.

kygirl..
sorry I did not connect from an US flight at CDG for many many years now. But I know many others did. There must be several threads on this topic here, or you re-post your own.

Aisleseat,
"BTW the Hofbrauhaus has a Bavarian Evening show will music and folk dancing every evening at 7pm on the upper floors. It is €19 per person and includes a buffet dinner. Beer is extra." We will check into this. The one I originally saw was more expensive and did include something about how beer was brewed but this sounds good also.

We don't know where we are staying in Munich at the present moment. I know if we rent a car we will do so from downtown and avoid that 19%. However, I understand you can return to the airport without paying the 19% - that is good.

Explorefamily the only reason for going back and forth to Munich is to avoid having to haul luggage - that would really be a pain.

Jake - It's good to know you can do so much in one day if you have a car. Did you go to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles first and then onto G-P. I would like to overnight in G-P if we get a car. The next day we would head to Salzburg and the Salt Mines and maybe or maybe not do the Sound of Music tour. With the car we probably could see the sites ourself and spend more time at each. Sorry to be so long winded but I want to make the best use of time so that we really SEE things the best we can with such a small span of time.

Thanks to all of you for your help thusfar.

kygirl

Hi, kygirl--we did not stop in GP. On the way from Munich to Hohenschwangau, we stopped in Oberammergau and a couple of other small towns that just looked interesting (one had a very interesting antique store). We then went to Linderhof Palace. From there drove into Northern Austria and had lunch along the Plansee.

We got into Hohenschwangau mid-afternoon and went to check on our castle tickets for the next day. The ticket clerk then said that we had time to visit Neuschwanstein that afternoon if we wanted to. We stayed in Hohenschwangau a couple of nights and then headed up the Romantic Road to the vicinity of Rothenburg.

Hi kyg,

>Will slightly less than 3 hours be enough time to get through whatever we have to go through at CDG and then catch our flight to Munich?

Yes.

>Munich to Salzburg to Garmish to Fussen and back to Munich...... We would rent the car from early Saturday until 7:00 pm on Monday.

You can plot the driving time at www.viamichelin.com or www.mappy.com.

I suggest going from S to G via Sankt Johann in Tirol.

In Salzburg, I highly recommend the B&B www.ammoos.at

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

Rent the car - you have too much you want to do in too few days! :-)

We've rented a car $147.00 with Avis (3 days) - now suggestions on which way to go first. Go to Salzburg first and then to G-P and then to Neuschwanstein or the reverse or something altogether different?

I would perhaps recommend that you come up with 2-3 different itineraries and then watch the weather... going in May, you might want to arrange your travel based on whether or not it is clear in G-P so you can see the Alps and in Neusch. so you can see the castles. It was very hazy during our visit in July and it was difficult to see anything around G-P. Also, I wonder if the higher mountain roads will still have snow??? We took the mountain roads from G-P to Fussen and it was an easy and enjoyable ride.

kygirl: We went the other way. Munich to the vicinity of Oberammergau/GP, then Linderhof, northern Austria along the Plansee, and finally ended up in Hohenschwangau. We stayed in Hohenschwangau within walking distance of the ticket center.

ira,
The B&B Am Moos was booked. We were able to get into Haus Ballwein. In Garmisch we are staying at Gasthaus Fraundorfer. We still need to find a room for the Friday night in Munich. Thanks for answering my other questions.
kygirl