25+ years ago my husband and I took a road trip in this larger vicinity. I remember more about Vienna because we spent more time there and not so much about Munich because we just had a day there (I think), and it was the end of a three week-long trip. Now I am looking at a return to both places, but I am on my own and they would be bookends to a guided cycling trip.

The tour starts in Vienna with 1.5 days there (no cycling here) and an entire afternoon of this is free time. At the end of the tour (after cycling ends) we'll drive from Passau to Munich, stopping at Berchtesgaden on the way. Other than dinner and the evening, there is no time at all in Munich.

My dilemma is how much time to spend in these starting and ending cities. I am looking at time in Vienna as a chance to relax, revisit a few favorite places, and recover from jet lag prior to starting a pretty intense tour. I am also contemplating a day trip to Bratislava where I have never been. So, 3 or 4 nights maybe?? What are your thoughts about Vienna for someone who has visited before? I've seen plenty of fancy palaces in my time so most likely wouldn't re-visit Schonbrunn.

Munich at the end of the trip is another dilemma. Honestly, I just remember walking around, seeing the clock and having a beer outside somewhere. Maybe that is really all we did. I don't know if I should just exit Munich immediately without staying to see a bit more or if I should stay a day or two. A major issue is that my tour ends Friday morning the last weekend in September. So I would be looking at a weekend stay right in the middle of Oktoberfest. I am old, am alone, am not a beer drinker, and am not a partier; I also would not be doing any daytrips from Munich. Plus, hotels during this period are terribly expensive. What do you think?

Thanks.

you can have 4-5 days in Vienna so that on arrival day you take rest from jetlag.
2nd day you can visit internal Vienna like Schonbrunn Palace,Sisi Museum, Hofburg etc
3rd day : take a trip to salzburg & hallstatt
4th Day : take a trip to bratislava
5th day : you can depart to munich

For my first visit to Vienna, 4 very full days seemed insufficient. For my first visit to Munich, 3 very full days seemed insufficient. I suggest that you get a good guidebook, decide what you want to see, and plan accordingly. Enjoy!

When is this trip scheduled for? 2026? Or 2025?

If 2026, I strongly consider booking your accomodations in Munich early if Oktoberfest is going on at the end of your tour. Accomodations often book up as early as March/April. If it is 2025, you may be too late.

Not sure what your interests are but a guidebook should help you in both. Both cities have a lot to see with good museums, palaces, etc. Edit: Bratislava is often overlooked and is worthy of a day trip. Cute stari grad.

I now see that you dont like "fancy" places and plan to skip palace - totally fine. Again, beyond that, not sure what your interests are to assist you further. Art? Churches? Shopping?

A day trip from Vienna to Salzburg makes zero sense to me...

I find that a few days on the front end of a trip are great, and always worth it. Adjust to the time zone, recover from plane travel, get used to the different environment, and have a little fun. I would not be worried about trying to see everything in Vienna, but rather focus on how many days you'd like on the ground, and then make a plan to enjoy them, not the other way around - with a list of must sees/must do's...

Bratislava is an easy 1hr train ride from Vienna with trains all day long once or more an hour. So you could certainly do that at a day trip then take whatever train you want back to Vienna, without having to move hotels.

For Munich, I find that at the end of big trips it is often hard for me to get a lot energy & enthusiasm to explore a new place in depth for more than a short stay. You may simply want a few days of post tour R&R, enjoying open spaces, strolling, eating, and maybe even some pampering. That's all good. I would do one or 2 nights at the end of the trip.

To clarify:

My cycling trip begins in Vienna, and 11 days later we will end up in Munich. In between we'll be doing a variety of sites (a Viennese heurigen, Melk, Klosterneuberg, Krems, Durnstein, Spitz, Melk, Danube Bend, Malthausen, Passau) and will be cycling between Vienna and Passau.

Bratislava is the only day trip I am thinking about from Vienna. There would be no daytrips from Munich.

I like art, interesting architecture, gardens, history, walking in interesting neighborhoods that aren't touristy. And, I often choose to visit smaller, less well-known sites that are a tad more quirky and not on every must-see list. I am not a shopper, but I certainly am interested in window-shopping in areas of unique architectural interest and unique goods like antiques.

Last time in Vienna (which was a looong time ago) we visited all the typical tourist sights. I don't need to re-do all of those but would visit a couple--perhaps the tombs of the Hapsburgs, the Klimt exhibit, and a place I just read about--Kunst Haus Wien. And, if I can find something good that matches my dates, I may attend a concert. Last time all we did was take the tour of the Vienna Opera House. As I was typing this, I started thinking about one of my favorites--Venice away from the super packed tourist areas. I have been there maybe 4 or 5 times and always keep myself busy. But, it's main attraction for me is just walking around rather than visiting "sights". I can't remember if I would feel the same way about Vienna.

Yes, we're talking about 6 weeks from now; this is a very last minute plan. I have only glanced at Munich hotels, but prices in desirable areas for a tourist visit seem extremely high. I guess at this point Oktoberfest is my main qualm. I have no idea how much that would interfere with what a typical tourist would plan to do and the logistics of visiting places. I also really dislike huge crowds of people. Everyone all around the world knows about Oktoberfest and I just question whether it might make what would normally be a pleasant place to visit a nightmare (for me).

You could also spend a night or two somewhere outside the city of Munich. I don't have any places in mind, but somewhere north of the city, with a direct train to the airport could fit the bill.

Not sure how helpful this is, but last September I spent about five nights In Munich at the beginning of the Festival.
Prices are extremely high for hotels which you already know. We paid a fortune for one of the old historic hotels. While I was attempting to book, I watched the price rise by the minute for one of the last rooms available at the hotel we wanted.....(Amex deal..). Literally the price dose and rose before I could complete the booking form!!

BUT: Neither of us drink beer and neither of us is keen on nightlife. My only point here is that, apart from the excitement of seeing people dressed in tracht, and the was great, we would never have know that Oktoberfest was happening. We did not visit the grounds and we went on as if it were any other time of year. I went about a bit on my own at night, with taxis, mostly at night, and as you know the city is clean and safe.....

I was SO glad we had the opportunity to visit, as I had not been in many years (since my stay at the Olympic Village during that horrific time..that's a tale I've never discussed..)

Such helpful and friendly people, so easy to get around on one's own, either by taxi or train...loved the food,.....so happy we took the chance to visit...ooh, one more mention of the food!!! I miss it as I write this!!

I know most of this will not have bering on your own query but if I could take the time and had the funds, I would not miss a few days, Oktoberfest or not....

Of course Vienna offers several outstanding museums. When we visited our daughter during her study abroad we were able to get standing room tickets for a performance of Carmen. Of course the cafe culture in Vienna is charming and we did take her to the Hotel Sacher for a sachertorte. St Stephen's Cathedral is impressive and we walked over to the Holocaust Memorial. It happened to be Kristallnacht anniversary but because we hadn't registered in advance we could not gain admittance to synagogue for a service.

They're high because of the festival. If any lodging you're looking it is near the festival grounds or the train station (which are fairly close to each other) it can be loud by the inebriated well into the morning. Stay farther away to avoid this.

If you're interested in Salzburg, maybe consider staying there instead of Munich - it is closer to Munich than Vienna, iirc. Not sure if you can fly home from Salzburg but might be worth looking into, probably with a connection. Or if you can get a later flight, fly home from Munich and travel from Salzburg. Don't normally suggest this, but there are very frequent trains between the two cities.

Both cities (Munich and Vienna) have a plethora of museums for your art interests. I did not go to any in Salzburg to provide feedback. All I remember of the city is the fortress (which I enjoyed) and the views from it. Sound of Music-centric, which I am not a fan, so, not a valuable resource on that front but Mirabell Garden is pretty.

Note that many people will be going to/from Salzburg and Munich for Oktoberfest - mostly locals but some tourists too. If you can avoid being around on a weekend, it will be overall less busy and quieter.

I appreciate all of the advice, especially the first hand knowledge of visiting during Oktoberfest.

Salzburg is not on the agenda because I visited there fairly recently.

Just Vienna and maybe Munich.

Unfortunately, the timing for Munich is such that it has to be over a weekend. And, I am thinking that the idea of extending my stay in Munich is rapidly being eliminated. I just took a 10 minute scroll through booking.com. Regular hotel prices are sky high; even a bed in a dorm room in a hostel (not that I would be interested) is close to $200 per night. It's looking as though my best bet is going to be going straight home at the end of the cycling tour. Financially I could afford a stay, but for a place that truly isn't immediately calling to me it seems silly to spend that kind of money on a hotel.

“At the end of the tour (after cycling ends) we'll drive from Passau to Munich, stopping at Berchtesgaden on the way.”

Not sure if you mean to see the Eagles Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) or not, but we were bitterly disappointed that our planned tour there was cancelled due to snow in the mountains ~ would have been a highlight for us. Our visit was the exact same time as you’re considering, Oktoberfest.

We thought Munich was great, but probably one and done for us.

Some ideas close to, but not in Munich that might work - Augsburg (less than an hour), Mittenwald (1:22), Garmisch-Partenkirchen (1:05).

Yes, the tour group is going to visit Eagles' Nest. nyse Unbelievable that your tour was cancelled because of snow. OTOH, the last time I visited the area was around the first of October, and I will never forger how freezing cold, rainy and miserable it was the day we visited Auschwitz. It really put in perspective what those prisoners endured in the camps.

I haven't decided for sure, but right now I am strongly leaning in the direction of going into Vienna 4 days before my tour starts and completely forgetting Munich; I will just fly home the day the tour ends in Munich. My goal wouldn't be to rush around to try to see tons but rather to recover from jet lag, have some low key days, and perhaps attend a concert. And, I would go check out Bratislava for a day. Plus, room rates in Vienna are downright cheap in comparison to what I was seeing in Munich.

Once again, thanks all.

I think that is the best solution julies. I get the feeling Munich doesn't appeal much no matter what the hotels cost, which would make paying Oktoberfest prices just for a couple of days at the end of your trip seem daft.
I hope whatever you decide you will have a lovely time. I admire your get up and go attitude.

Bratislava is a good day trip, not a lot to do, but the parks are pretty, the vista from south of the river is especially nice of the castle. Still very much recovering time behind the curtain. Great public transport. Cycling, on the other hand is pretty good.

I think your decision to skip Munich is a good one.

I have been there a few times, at various times of the year and enjoyed it. I was there last year during Oktoberfest and unless you’re attending the fest, I’d skip it.

Hotel prices were outrageous, dinner reservations were required, restaurant staffs were polite but distracted and public transport was overcrowded. All things I didn’t expect or experience during other visits.

If you want a couple of days to recover before heading home, consider taking the train to an outlying location. Be sure you get seat reservations. Trains will likely be crowded.

Yes, Munich is now off the table. I also realized that in the past couple years I have flown into the Munich airport from the US a couple times and then immediately taken the train from there to other locations I was visiting--Salzburg once and Innsbruck the other. In neither of those instances did I even think about first spending some time in Munich. Perhaps it was timing and logistics of those trips, but I am realizing if I truly were that driven to visit Munich I might have made more effort one of those times.

And, as someone upthread mentioned, enthusiasm about more visits and sightseeing tends to wane at the end of a fairly strenuous trip. goingthere2 your comparisons of Munich experiences in differing timeframes really reinforced what I was thinking.

I will limit my supplemental alone time to 4 nights in Vienna before starting the cycling tour. I have done a little bit of preliminary research and found some interesting places to visit that are a bit off the beaten path and not on the typical itineraries. This one in particular is an Art Nouveau masterpiece that sounds very appealing.

https://www.visitingvienna.com/foots...e-am-steinhof/

I can add to your Vienna list:
Jubiläumswarte (only in good weather)
Ernst Fuchs Museum
Hermesvilla (wild boar roam a fenced portion of the park that you can wander through).
Gartenpalais Liechtenstein (if you can get a tour)
Heidi Horten Collection

For a lovely heuriger experience: Heuriger Kierlinger and Heurgier Schübel-Auer, adjacent to one another. One is usually open if the other is not.

I will definitely check out these suggestions. Thanks so much.