Where to go between Munich & Geneva?
 

We have had our itinerary set for our 2 week trip to Germany in September for nearly a year. My husband recently found out that he needs to be in Geneva, Switzerland 3 days after our vacation ends. Our last stop is Munich. We our now trying to figure out where we could go for 3 days that would be on the way to Geneva (probably by train). Our itinerary so far is:
Sept 3:Fly into Frankfort. Rent car and drive to Beilstein
Sept 3-6:Beilsein
Sept 7&8: Rothenburg odT
Sept 9& 10: Fussen
Sept 11 & 12: Oberammergau. Drive to Munich and drop off car.
Sept 13-16: Munich (including day trip to Salzburg)

We need to be in Geneva by Monday Sept 19th. I wouldn't be opposed to trimming a day off of Munich but that would probably cut our the day trip to Salzburg. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

No need to trim time off Munich, but you essentially have 2 full days to play with, so are realistically only looking at one extra destination. It would help to know what interests you have in order to suggest more accurate ideas, but for the time being you could:

1. fly Munich to Zurich (check Air Berlin) and go straight to the Bernese Oberland (Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Gimmelwald, Grindelwald) for some time in the mountains (train to Geneva from Lauterbrunnen will take around 3hrs). As a comparison, for a train from Munich to Luzern, you're looking at 6.5hours with min. 2 changes.
2. train to, say Strasbourg or Freiburg, and enjoy the food, wine and scenery in either place before going to Geneva (train around 4hs, including TGV section, from Strasbourg to Geneva, a little less from Freiburg)
3. Do something completely different and fly to, say Berlin or Amsterdam or somewhere else of interest, have 2 days (which is short, but a good start) before flying to Geneva (check direct flights from chosen city to Geneva).

Hi myturn2go,

Flying from München to Zürich won't be any faster than the train, which takes 4h30 and has at least one connection daily without changes. In contrast, if you fly, you have to figure in getting from München to the airport (at least 45 minutes), sitting at the airport for an hour or two, then flying, then waiting for your bags.

As for your route, I would suggest going from München to Scuol, which is a trip I took last year. The train route is spectacular through the Tyrolian Alps, and then you can have fun in the Lower Engadin for a few days, seeing Scuol and Guarda and doing some hiking if you'd like. Then continue on to Geneva (about five hours by train).

Alternately, you could fly from Zürich to Geneva and spend those three days around Lake Geneva, which is one of my favorite places!

Good luck as you plan!

s

<i>Alternately, you could fly from Zürich to Geneva</i>
Really? Fly this short route yet not fly Munich-Zurich? Je suis confused?!!

As swandav mentioned, Lake Geneva is another area to consider for your additional days - but stick to the north-eastern end (Montreux, Vevey, etc) as you can do day trips from there, then while in Geneva you can concentrate on those surrounds (not that they are far apart by train).

Agggh, brain cramp! Thanks for catching, madame!

I meant, fly from München to Geneva. That train trip is more than eight hours, so flying might be appropriate (unless you simply love trains. . .!)

s

Aha! Brain pauses are annoying. Was wondering how that would work, and yes, that route would be best flown, unless you're a trainspotter (not that there's anything wrong with that!).

myturn2go, there are near-endless possibilities to occupy 3 days, just need to work out what might interest you the most.

Thank you for your thoughts. Although flying sounds the easiest, that would put us in Geneva for nearly a week ( my husband's meeting is 3 days). After looking around the boards, it seems that Geneva would not warrant that much time (17th-22nd). My husband"s meeting starts on the AM of the 20th, so that only gives us two 1/2 days and 1 full day of sightseeing before we need to be in Geneva. The Tyrolian Alps plan sounds like it would suit us. Would Lindau be doable? I guess that I was thinking of trying to see a quaint medium size town that would be enroute to Geneva. It does, however, waste a lot of time on the train.

Hi again,

Well, time on a train is more fun than a waste. You get to munch a picnic, view the pretty scenery, people-watch the folks, strike up conversations, or even have some down-time with a book and an iPod. I love it, even the eight-hour trips!

Yes, I think Lindau would be a great choice! I think I'll be stopping there on my next trip from Garmisch to Switzerland.

Have fun!

s

Sorry; another brain cramp.

Here is a list of my favorite things to do around (or from) Lake Geneva --

Montreux old town
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Lavaux
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Promenade Fleuri
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...reux_Vaud.html

Morges
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...rges_Vaud.html

Gruyeres
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR..._Fribourg.html

Saanen
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

Gstaad
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...wiss_Alps.html

s