Which town as a base to explore the Bavarian Alps?
 

I am looking for advice about which town to choose as a base for exploring the Bavarian Alps. We (husband and I) have 3 days/4 nights and will have a car.

Our plans are to tour Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau, wander around some towns, do a little hiking (nothing strenuous, more like a couple miles through the woods here and there), take a tram to the top of one of the peaks, maybe go to Lake Elbe(?).

We are looking for a town with a little bit going on, but nothing too busy - interesting shops, some restaurants and pubs, picturesque setting.

Thanks.

We used Garmisch as our base to explore that area, and liked it very much.

We just returned from a trip to the Bavarian Alps. Garmish-Partenkirchen was a little pricy for us, because of ski events taking place. So we stayed in Imst, Austria at the Best Western for about 80 Euro a night double occupancy. Rooms were large, clean and great restaurant with an Austrian Chef serving reasonable meals. 4 course dinner was 15 Euro. It's about 40 min. south of Garmish.

We stayed in Hohenschwangau, near the base of Neuschwanstein, and really enjoyed it. There really isn't a "town"; but we were within 5-10 minute drive of Fussen. We really liked our stay at the Romantic Pension Albrecht (http://www.albrecht-neuschwanstein.de/). We had a nice double room with en-suite bathroom and a balcony with a view of the castle.

You may also want to consider staying in the town of Fussen or perhaps Reutte, on the Austrian side.

Tracy