shaurya72

We are planning an eleven day trip to Germany & Austria in the first week of Sep with our two year old son. Leaving aside the travel time we will have nine full days to spend. I would appreciate some suggestions on my rough itinerary:

Arrive in Munich from sfo Day 1
Spend full Day in Munich Day 2
Day trip from Munich Day 3
Drive to Salzburg for Day 4 & 5
One day in Hallstatt Day 6
Day 7/8/9 in Vienna
fly out Day 10 from Vienna

I am debating flying in Frankfurt and doing the romantic road down to Munich via one night stay in Rothenburg (*) while reducing Vienna stay to two days ... but wonder if it would be too much to cover ???

Any suggestions on the drive from Munich to Salzburg if we could cover part of Bavaria on the way similar to Rothenburg town ...

We would like to do a mix of driving through scenic portion, seeing a couple of castles and spending time in the towns just getting the feel of the place

Suggestions ... thanks !

rex

Seems pretty good to me. I recommend fly into Munich, not Frankfurt.

Best wishes,

Rex

shandy

I would suggest you stick with flying into Munich. I think your itinery sounds preety good. For your day trip from Munich you could easily manage going to say, Neuschwanstein castle, and driving up to Nordlingen. Nordlingen is on the Romantic Strasse. It is a walled city like Rothenburg. It is probably not as good as Rothenburg but is still in an excellent state of preservations, you can walk around the tops of the walls, see the old town etc. and has the bonus of having a lot less tourists because they are all at Rothenburg. On leaving Nordlingen the trip back isn't very long because you can jump off the Romantic Strasse on to the autobahn and direct back into Munich.

It is a long drive to Vienna so I don't think you should be adding an extra day in Germany. As you have a two year old you might want to consider spending one night on the road to Vienna, timing it so you should still be in Vienna by about lunchtime the next day. That way you don't feel as though you have lost a whole day by stopping overnight somewhere.

Between Munich and Salzburg is Berchtesgaden which is where Hitler's Eagles Nest is located. I really enjoyed our trip up the mountain to it and the view. Also in the immediate vicinity is Salzbergwerk, a salt mine. Your son would love it - dress up in special miners clothes, ride on a little train, go down big slides and a raft trip across an underground lake.

I was just thinking, that if you do like the idea of going up to Nordlingen, you might be better off going to see Linderhof, another one of Mad Ludwig's completely overdone castles. You will not need to set aside nearly as much time to see it because it is a lot smaller than Neuschwanstein and when I went you could just wander around yourself. There is no waiting around for your turn in the guided tour with the several hundred other people who will certainly be there and no big hike up the hill to the castle. I think it took us about 20 mins. (or did it just seem like that) to walk up the hill and certainly wouldn't want to push a stroller up it.

Riffic

Sounds like a good itinerary.

I agree with a flight directly into MUC. To add the drive between FRA and MUC would probably make you feel too rushed.

Berchtesgarden is a good stop-over idea between Munich and Salzburg. Another possibility is Chiemsee, where you could visit another of Ludwig's castles (about half finished, but still quite spectacular).

For your day trip from Munich, I think it would be tough to NOT see Neuschwanstein, if you have never seen it. However, I have visited all of Ludwig's castles more than once and I prefer Linderhof for the overall feel. In September, the 'grato' (a man-made cave Ludwig built to listen to Wagner music) is still open for touring and you can buy a combi ticket to visit it along with the castle.

I've read that people have visited Linderhof and Neuschwanstein in the same day, but with a 2-year old, that might be difficult.

bettyk

Based on some research I've been doing for our next trip to Germany & Austria next year, I would suggest a visit to Landshut which is only about an hour northwest of Munich. It looks lovely. You can do an Images search on google.com for Landshut and there are a number of great photos.

RufusTFirefly

You don't have to walk up the hill to Neuschwanstein. You can take a horsedrawn wagon or a shuttle bus.

shaurya72

thanks for all the input, I am getting a cheaper flight to Frankfurt so I may end up doing Frankfurt to Rothenburg and then to Munich on the romantic road. I'll extend the trip by another day !

Any suggestion on what part is best done on car vs train, I was thinking of doing the Romantic road on car and dropping it at Munich, then continue to Salzburg, Hallstat and Vienna by train ... any thughts ???

thanks again !

MaureenB

We were in Munich and Vienna this past month. We flew into Vienna and out of Munich, kind of the reverse of your plan.
We took two day-trips by train from Munich: to Fussen to see the Neuschwanstein castle, and then to Salzburg the next day. The Bayern rail pass is the way to go-- it's about 39 Euro for up to five people, round-trip in one day. We had planned to rent a car in Munich for those trips, but were much happier using the train so we could all relax and sightsee, use bathrooms and club cars, have beer with dinner, etc. Our kids are teenagers, so easier to travel with now, but still so much less stressful for all of us than driving.
Fussen is a charming little town to see, surrounded by gorgeous mountains. Ludwig's castle is beautiful and oddly interesting. Salzburg's fort is a must-see, as well.
We spent four nights in Munich, which gave us one day to see the Marianplatz and old Munich (plenty of time). Preceded by five nights in Vienna (my husband had a conference), and three nights in Prague. We would have preferred four nights in each city, but had the conference schedule to work around. You'll love your visit.
p.s. Our hotels were very nice: The Hotel Uhland in Munich and the Kaiserin Elisabeth in Vienna.

MaureenB

p.s. Sorry, I misquoted the Bayern Pass price. I think it was just 22 Euros for a party of five, not 39 Euros. It was about 39 Euros if you wanted to take a train earlier than 9 a.m., which we didn't do.