r/travel Aug 08 '19

Advice r/travel Region of the Week: 'Bavaria'

Hey travellers!

In this new series of weekly threads we want to focus on regions that have a lot to offer to travellers: the towns, nature, and other interesting places whether they are lesser or more known. If more known provide more in depth suggestions like tours, things to do, places to eat, etc.

Please contribute all and any questions / thoughts / suggestions / ideas / stories / highlights about this travel destination, whether it be places you want to see or experiences you have had.

This post will be archived on our wiki destinations page and linked in the sidebar for future reference, so please direct any of the more repetitive questions there. Please click here for list and dates of future destinations. If you notice an area of a region is not listed it is likely it will be a future topic or it may have been a prior topic as a country or city. Please focus on the specific regions in the submission unless it was not a prior or future topic.

Only guideline: If you link to an external site, make sure it's relevant to helping someone travel to this city. Please include adequate text with the link explaining what it is about and describing the content from a helpful travel perspective.

Example: We really enjoyed the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. It was $35 each, but there's enough to keep you entertained for whole day. Bear in mind that parking on site is quite pricey, but if you go up the hill about 200m there are three $15/all day car parks. Monterey Aquarium

Unhelpful: Read my blog here!!!

Helpful: My favourite part of driving down the PCH was the wayside parks. I wrote a blog post about some of the best places to stop, including Battle Rock, Newport and the Tillamook Valley Cheese Factory (try the fudge and ice cream!).

Unhelpful: Eat all the curry! [picture of a curry].

Helpful: The best food we tried in Myanmar was at the Karawek Cafe in Mandalay, a street-side restaurant outside the City Hotel. The surprisingly young kids that run the place stew the pork curry[curry pic] for 8 hours before serving [menu pic]. They'll also do your laundry in 3 hours, and much cheaper than the hotel.

Undescriptive I went to Mandalay. Here's my photos/video.

As the purpose of these is to create a reference guide to answer some of the most repetitive questions, please do keep the content on topic. If comments are off-topic any particularly long and irrelevant comment threads may need to be removed to keep the guide tidy - start a new post instead. Please report content that is:

  • Completely off topic

  • Unhelpful, wrong or possibly harmful advice

  • Against the rules in the sidebar (blogspam/memes/referrals/sales links etc)

25 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

19

u/swollencornholio Airplane! Aug 09 '19

First I have to post probably the most epic list of trips from Munich done by no other than /u/travel_ali . Very extensive list with tons of point of interests.

If you make Munich your base you could look into most of these as daytrips though it could be nice to add a few overnight stays for proper exploration. If you are renting a car you could stop at a few of them on the way to other destinations, even do a couple in a days for instance Oberammergau, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein could be done in a day with a car and there are several tours out of Munich that do this... it would be impossible to do by train however.

If you want to use the train you can use the Bayern Ticket which is a train pass that’s good for up to 5 people. It costs €25 Euro for a single ticket and you can add more people to it for 6€ for every additional person. The ticket is valid Mon-Fri from 9am-6am (the next day) and Sat-Sun All Day (lasts for a day until 6 am the next day) anywhere within bayern including transportation within Munich. Covers Buses, trains, trams, etc). Use the deutschebahn site to figure out departure times.

There's also the Regio-Ticket Werdenfels and Guten Tag ticket. Pulling from /u/travel_ali's list of trips:

The Regio-Ticket Werdenfels is valid in the Werdenfelser Land (the area south of Munich around Garmisch-Partenkirchen) and for the S-bahn and some other transport in Munich itself. It is cheaper than the Bayern ticket (22 euros + 7 per extra person), does not have a starting time in the morning, plus for an extra 7 euros you can extend it into Tirol and to Innsbruck.

The Guten Tag ticket is like a cheaper Bayern ticket (23 euros + 7 per extra person, so it cuts 2 euros off the base price) but it is only valid on the regional trains run by Meridian, BOB, BRB (this map might make that clearer) and is not valid on the MVV (so no trams, buses, or underground in Munich). For the tiny saving you have a massive reduction in where it is valid, I would avoid this in favour of the Bayern ticket just to prevent any confusion on validity.

I ordered the below in importance to tourists. In the end they all are really unique places with a different perspective of Bavaria and I would recommend adding one to your trip.


Neuschwanstein Castle

From the outer appearance, adaptation from Disney and the landscape around this definitely could be considered the most iconic castle in the world. Here's a picture.. It's a 2 hour train ride out to the castle, it's worth it. There’s a tour of the castle. The tour is average, if it’s a nice day I would recommend hiking around the area over doing a tour. There are several awesome hikes to do. I have done the Tegelberg Hike... it's epic http://imgur.com/a/n76Z7 | DB (Bayern Pass)

Salzburg, Austria

Though not in Bavaria, it's on the border and accessible with the Bayern pass. Beautiful city with a fortress on top, salt mines nearby, home to mozart and the place they filmed the sound of music. Around 2 hours outside of Munich. If you are here a couple nights I that would be a good opportunity to get to Hallstatt though spending a night in Hallstatt is also recommended. | DB (Bayern Pass)

Mittenwald

This is a small Bavarian town on the Austrian border known for its incredible hikes and their handmade violin's. There's actually a violin museum there. There are really cool hiking areas where you can see various waterfalls and canyons. Mittenwald can also serve as a launching point for a hut to hut adventure through the Karwendel Mountains. | DB (Bayern Pass)

Oberammergau & Linderhof Palace

Story book town in Bavaria famous for their Passion play every ten years. The buildings throughout the town have unique fresco murals. You can find one of two locations of Käthe Wohlfahrt, a Christmas store that's open year round. Linderhof Palace is a short bus ride from Oberammergau and is worth a stop. | DB (Bayern Pass)

Rothenburg Ob Der Tauber

One of the most preserved medieval old towns. Likely too far for a daytrip from Munich but can be tacked onto to a trip from the Rhein region to Munich or added as a stop down the Romantic Road. | DB (Bayern Pass)

Berchtesgaden

The main attraction here is Hitler's Eagle's Nest however the Königssee probably deserves as much attention. There are several huts located in the national park where you can grab a beer after a hike or spend the night if you brought your things.

Garmisch-Partenkirchen - Nice village with loads of hiking and skiing during the winter. Points of interest include the tallest mountain in Germany, Zugspitze and the Partnachklamm.

Nuremberg - This is closer to #1 in December for their most famous Christmas markets however Nuremberg has interesting sites on it's own. The old town is mostly rebuilt but there are a few older buildings that survived WWII. Also the castle on top of the hill offers some amazing views. If you're into WWII history check out thee Reichstagsparteigelände which is the site of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. It's a museum now and the sheer scale of the site is astonishing.| DB (Bayern Pass)

Chiemsee

Yet another one of King Ludwig's palaces is located on an island in the center of this lake. | DB (Bayern Pass)

1

u/BingoBango_Actual Aug 14 '19

Can attest to all of these. Been to all of them this year living in Bavaria. A1 List.

8

u/tee2green United States Aug 08 '19

Outside of Munich is a place called Andechs Abbey. Put simply, I had one of the best days of my life there.

The Abbey is a pleasant monastery that’s on top of a hill overlooking the gorgeous Bavarian valley, surrounded by mountains. It has a huge terrace with picnic tables where they serve delicious beer along with pretzels, cheese, sausage, etc.

My friends and I visited on a glorious Fall day with perfect weather. We sat on the terrace and shared a pitcher of every beer. Then when we discovered the incredible Apfelweisse (Apple cider essentially), we ordered only that for the rest of the day.

If you’re in Munich and get a day of nice weather, I’d definitely pay the place a visit.

3

u/travel_ali Engländer in der Schweiz Aug 09 '19 edited Aug 09 '19

Whilst I agree that it is a really nice spot, I think that saying it is "surrounded by mountains" is a little bit misleading. It is surrounded by gentle rolling countryside and lakes. The mountains are 40km+ away. On a clear day (especially in cooler months) the alpine panorama to the south would indeed be impressive, but if it is cloudy or there is summer-heat haze then you might not seen anything taller than the hill that the monastery is sat on.

6

u/Euler_Bernoulli USA/New England Aug 08 '19

Everyone knows Munich for Oktoberfest and the beer gardens, but there's so much more to do. When we visited, we really enjoyed the Botanical Garden next to Schloss Nymphenburg. Also we really enjoyed the Palaeontological Museum: huge fossils and many complete skeletons of large animals like dinosaurs and mammoths.

Würzburg is a nice, smaller city. Lots and lots of churches. You can also tour the two castles, the Festung and the Residenz. It's also nice to walk along the Main riverfront.

Finally, the Bayern Ticket is a great, inexpensive way to get around Bavaria on regional and S-Bahn trains, and trams, buses, and U-Bahn. The price per person decreases when you have a larger group (up to 5).

1

u/cerrajean Aug 08 '19

How much is the Bayern ticket per person?

3

u/Euler_Bernoulli USA/New England Aug 08 '19

Webpage here. It's 25 EUR for the first person and 7 EUR additional per person, up to 5 people total. So it ranges from 25 EUR per person to 10.60 EUR per person.

1

u/cerrajean Aug 08 '19

That's super helpful, thanks! I was looking at far more expensive train tickets and individual trips.

4

u/kienemaus Aug 10 '19

Bavaria is quite large and very beautiful! Spring is lovely, and it's also an offbeat December destination and all the Christmas markets are up and people are out and about late. The weinachtmarks are beautiful and highlights included candied nuts, marzipan, and gluhwein (mulled wine served hot). You pay a deposit for a little mug that you can carry around and sip while enjoying the market

Like all of Germany, the beer and wine is excellent. Try local always. And bakeries. Sooo many excellent pastries.

Käsespätle is a regional specialty. It's a house made noodle served in cheese sauce. Every town has their own version and they're all good.

Knudeln are a potatoes dumpling with a very starchy texture. I wasn't a fan.

In general, smaller towns were very affordable, especially for Europe.

The rail pass suggestions are good, and also get you on some busses to smaller towns.

If you want to really get out of towns and cities, you will need to rent a car. Especially if you want to hike and enjoy nature.

I lived in Northern Bavaria for a year during University, these were my highlights:

If you like biking there is a beautiful trail on the Main from Wurzburg to Bamberg. Paved, no traffic.

The Main is also an under rated Wine valley. In spring there are federweisser festivals, with partially fermented "field white" wine.

The palace in Wurzburg is lovely and often overlooked.

Bamberg cathedral is excellent, and very old. Bamberg is known for its Rauchbeir (smoke beer) which is distinct and has a taste you'll either like or not ... This is a beautiful biergarten that overlooks the town: Spezial-Keller Sternwartstraße 8, 96049 Bamberg, Germany +49 951 54887 https://maps.app.goo.gl/ugxzaQTgMKtuSeeTA

The old fortress in Nuremberg is also excellent, it was actually functional at one point with super thick walls and an ancient well that allowed the castle to withstand seige. Go on the tour. Also, Nuremberg Christmas market is excellent and fills the whole main square.

Other parts of Bavaria: Ulm - cathedral is one of the highest in the world, the steps are hard but very cool the get to the top of.

Rothenberd on see tauber is a beautifully preserved old town, and goes all out for the Christmas market

I would recommend the small town of Grainau over Garmish-Partenkirchen if you like nature. Beautiful hiking. This gorge is super cool - Spezial-Keller Sternwartstraße 8, 96049 Bamberg, Germany +49 951 54887 https://maps.app.goo.gl/ugxzaQTgMKtuSeeTA You have to request the train the stop at the little places, so pay attention.

Lindau and the bodensee are so worth going. The old town of Lindau is amazing. There is also good fishing in the bodensee and restaurants will serve fresh fish overlooking the water.

Munich is probably my favourite city. Quite pricey, but amazing. My highlights: Alte and Neue Pinakothek art museums Schloss nymphenburg The English garten - there's a particular phenomon that causes a continuous barrel wave and you can watch urban surfing

2

u/flagada7 European Union Aug 12 '19

I agree on most accounts, but I have to say a few things about food.

First of all, Kässpatzen are a local dish only in the region of Allgäu. And I don't know what kind of different recipes you mean. I'd say it varies in quality more than it varies in different variants. Also it's not a cheese sauce, it's just cheese slowly melting between the cooked Spätzle.

Knödel is just the general term for dumplings. Kartoffelknödel the sort you had, is only one of them. I agree that they're not the most tasty thing. It's just carbs you gotta soak in the roast sauce.

2

u/kienemaus Aug 12 '19

Thank you for your corrections! (Not sarcastically, I was writing this on mobile while trying to chase my child, also my German has suffered due to neglect) It's been a few years since I've been in Germany.

I had Käsespätzlen in various parts of Bavaria and Baden Wittenberg. Every town did them a little different, all we're delicious. Sorry if I was confusing!

1

u/flagada7 European Union Aug 12 '19

That's great to hear.

3

u/deezhoops Aug 08 '19

I really enjoyed my time in Munich. I was there for the final weekend of Oktoberfest and an additional 5 days after. One of those days was spent on a day trip down to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwengau, which I loved. The trees were lovely shades during that time of year! Be careful, look for construction warnings for the castles. I also took an overnight trip to Salzburg, Austria, which is now one of my favorite cities ever.

2

u/derpingpizza Aug 08 '19

Was it worth it to be there during Oktoberfest?

2

u/deezhoops Aug 08 '19

Without a doubt. It was a bit expensive, but some of that was due to me being lazy and booking accommodation later than I should have. However, since I only was there for the last weekend, the price dropped dramatically after that Sunday.

1

u/Wake_of_the_Flood Aug 15 '19

How bad was the traffic getting in/out of Munich during Oktoberfest?

Looking at hitting Munich at the beginning or end of an upcoming trip, but don't want to get stuck in traffic trying to get out of town when we're not going to the festival.

1

u/deezhoops Aug 15 '19

I can’t really speak to that since I didn’t have a car, and I didn’t leave Munich until the Monday after Oktoberfest was over

4

u/Macchiato99 Aug 09 '19

Munich is nice an all, but if you're looking for something smaller, I'd recommend Regensburg, Bamberg or maybe Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Those are still tourist destinations, but it's not as crowded as Munich. All those destinations can be reached by train (have a look at BayernTicket). You might also stop in Nürnberg along your way, since you'll have to pass it anyway if you go by train to Bamberg.

5

u/HumpingTheShark Aug 11 '19

Neuschwanstein is an obvious trip, but I’ll let you in on a secret: while the surrounding landscape is amazing, Herrenchiemsee is a much more beautiful castle inside and out. It’s located on one the Herreninsel in the Chiemsee. Definitely worth a visit.

Apart from that, the Königssee is amazingly beautiful, easily one of the prettiest spots in all of Germany. A very easy and comfortable hike (really more like a walk) will take you to the Obersee, which is also absolutely gorgeous.

There’s also the little town of Burghausen which has Europe‘s longest castle and offers a very pretty view over the river Inn to Austria on the other side. The old town is also worth strolling through.

I would definitely recommend renting a car, if at all possible. Public transport outside of the bigger cities isn’t great, and so much of Bavaria‘s charm lies in its gentle landscape.

I’ll conclude with some other pointers for you: Regensburg, Augsburg, Landshut, Tegernsee, Starnberger See.

3

u/cerrajean Aug 08 '19

How great! I'm planning a trip there now for late november and wondering If I'm crazy for leaning toward a rental car for side trips to Neuschwanstein and Rothenburg. It's looking like the time isn't much different than the train, but the train is going to be twice the price and half the flexibility.

Thoughts?

5

u/[deleted] Aug 08 '19

I rented a car for my trip through Bavaria, so I can only speak to that experience. But I loved having a car!

The drives were beautiful and I really enjoyed having the flexibility to pull off to the side of the road and explore other areas outside of Neuschwanstein. There are all sorts of cute little towns, churches, etc. along the way and in the general area.

3

u/cerrajean Aug 08 '19

I'm REALLY tempted to just rent a car, but my main concerns are parking and weather. We're only in Bavaria for a few days, unfortunately, flying in from Paris, landing around 9am on Sunday. Then we're taking the train Wednesday morning to Innsbruck.

My current plan (thought?) is to fly into Munich, get to our hotel near the main train station, then head straight to Rothenburg by train. The more I'm investigating though, we may not even get there until 3:30 and with late november daylight, it'll be completely dark by like 5:30. We would try to do as much as we could and come back to Munich that night and hit the Hofbrau or something that's open late. The next day would be similar for Neuschwanstein, and then the last day would just be stuff around Munich before heading to Austria.

Another thing I'm considering, but would be a little more cumbersome since we'd be moving our luggage with us- Fly into Munich from Paris, landing around 9am. Head straight to the train station and head for Rothenburg. Stay the night there, then take the train early the next day to Neuschwanstein, then head to Munich for 2 nights after the castle. This plan would also work with a car, and then I could just drop the car off after Neuschwanstein and not have to worry about parking in Munich.

My concerns with weather are minimal- I've been told that aside from rain and limited daylight I should have anything unusual to worry about. I grew up in Oregon, so I'm familiar with dark rainy nights, (though being in a foreign country does up the ante a bit.)

Anyway, I'm interested in opinions and suggestions. I'd even considered just hiring a car for our excursions instead of doing the whole bus tour thing to save some time, but that's looking financially inadvisable.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 09 '19

Ah yeah I'm really not familiar enough with the area to be of much help, unfortunately. My trip was structured a bit differently; I started in Munich, then picked up my car on the way out of the city and spent the next few days driving around smaller towns in Bavaria. So that worked really well!

From what I remember, it seems like parking in Munich could be a bit stressful and expensive. I know the trains are great and in seems like in your case, they may save you some headache? Maybe someone else who is more knowledgeable will chime in.

2

u/kienemaus Aug 10 '19

If you want to leave Munich the car is helpful. In Munich it's a waste. I believe you can still rent train station lockers to store bags for a few days. Otherwise, book the same hotel to start and end your time in Munich and see if they'll store your bags.

I wouldn't do a bus tour (I hate tours so I'm biased) your destinations are touristy. People will speak English.

I'd rent a car, see Nuremberg for a morning. Go to Rothenburg in the afternoon and stay the night.

Neuschwanstein was my least favorite castle. Super touristy, insane your system and the inside was never completed so small. Southern Bavaria is stunning with rolling hills and perfect little towns at the base of the mountains. Depends how much you like to see cities and towns vs. nature.

Your plans involve a lot of travel for a few days time. You may consider skipping Rothenburg and spending a day or two in Munich. Rothenburg was a nice afternoon, but not worth 8 hrs travel.

1

u/cerrajean Aug 16 '19

I understand why people would want to skip Neuschwanstein, and if it were just me, I'd probably not be going to Rothenburg OR Neuschwanstein since I've been to both.

My mother, however, has never been out of the US and these are the two places she put at the top of her list, so I'm not going to take that experience away from her just because I got there first. :)

1

u/kienemaus Aug 16 '19

I get it, but nothing about newschwnstein is authentic at all. It is well marketed though.

I totally agree that it all depends on your/her travel goals. Super nice that she's able and interested in traveling to Germany

1

u/cerrajean Oct 03 '19

okay new blip -

We decided to just take the train from Munich to Rothenberg, and everyone recommends the Night Watchman's Tour. The problem is that the tour begins at 8pm and the last trains back to Munich depart at 8:06pm, so obviously that's not going to work.

So I think we're back to renting a car, even if it's just for the day. :-/

Any tips or help are appreciated!

3

u/vagrantheather United States Aug 09 '19

I am more a fan of nature than history/art, so my favorite parts of Munich were the river surfers in the English Garden and our day trip out to Neuschwanstein. Hofbrauhaus has really cool history but I thought it was too loud and smelled like pee, wouldn't go again. We stayed in a decent hostel immediately southeast of the main station (Hackerbrücke) and while the location was good for easy access to old town, the vibe in that area was kind of awful.

Best food we had was at Yum Thai Kitchen and the addictive little Italian pastries at Eataly across the street from Yum. Not very German, I know.

3

u/DDDD6040 United States Aug 11 '19

I fell in love with Bavaria much more than I expected to last October when visiting. We had a car for the trip and spent 3 days in Munich (wonderful city and day tripped to Neuschwansteinn) , after driving down the romantic road stopping at some towns like Wurzburg and Dinklesbuhl on the way to Rothenburg for the night. An overnight in Rothenburg was so fun. We stayed in a hotel from the 13th century which was right on the main square and ate delicious pork shoulder a building over also right on the main plaza. We are 100% NOT ‘tour people’ but we took the hour or so Nightwatchman’s Tour and it was so, so, so good. Highly recommend because the tour guide is just so good. After Rothenburg we went to Salzburg and the lakes area in Austria which is another tremendous place to visit nearby. On the way into Austria we went to the Eagle’s Nest/ Berchtesgaden.

The food exceeded my expectations and this area just has such a charm and appeal to it. I will definitely go back. It would be great to come back during December one year for the Christmas markets. We went in October but after Oktoberfest- my goal was to give it a pass due to increased crowds and hotel costs.

2

u/__uncreativename Aug 11 '19

How was driving around Bavaria? Were the rules easy to understand? I'm tempted to rent a car but a bit anxious

1

u/DDDD6040 United States Aug 11 '19

It was easy. The roads are so well maintained and we really had no trouble. We used our phones for gps. Having a car just gives you so much more flexibility- you can stop where you want, stay as long or short as you want, not wait for trains to come and go.

3

u/LUXURYPOETRY Aug 13 '19

I don't tend to connect as much with wealthier cities like Munich (compared to Prague, Kraków, Zagreb, etc.) but what made the stop entirely worth it was the Viktualienmarkt. It's exceptional, and there are very few cheap or mass produced goods as are typically found in tourist-oriented markets. I went in early November and took care of Christmas gifts for everyone in my family and could have bought myself quite a few things if I'd had room. There are also seemingly endless shops with beautiful produce, cheese, meats, wine, bretzeln (Karnoll's arguably has the best). There is a big, casual beer garden at the center where you can get a meal of wurst, sauerkraut, and a stein of beer at a counter and eat outside — and beer gardens are great for solo travelers as you can easily end up meeting other people in communal dining.

Munich's other notable place is the Englischer Garten, which is one of the most beautiful parks I have seen, especially within a city. It was stunning in late afternoon on a crisp November day, and I spent far longer there sitting next to streams and little waterfalls and later, watching the surfers at the Eisbachwelle from different angles as dusk came on.

I stayed in Wombat's hostels in four different cities, and Wombat's Munich was probably the nicest. There is a perfect atrium in the middle with trees, sofas and tables as a common area. As in every other Wombat's where I arrived around 7 a.m. after a night train, I promptly passed out for a few hours in a quiet corner of a sofa and was mercifully never bothered. There are charging spots everywhere, and a nice breakfast for a little extra (though if you stay in multiple Wombat's, get the frequent traveler card and you can get at least a free breakfast or two).

You certainly can't beat the cleanliness and efficiency of German train stations, and Munich's is very well served. If I went back to Bavaria, I would get out of cities entirely and check out some small towns, but Munich is still a good, central home base with a lot of connections.

1

u/flagada7 European Union Aug 14 '19

You certainly can't beat the cleanliness and efficiency of German train stations

Not sure if I missed the sarcasm, but I have never witnessed stations as dirty and trains as late as in Germany. I lived in Ukraine and Romania, and even there it's much better.

1

u/LUXURYPOETRY Aug 15 '19

Not sarcastic. All the trains and train stations I was in were impeccably clean, and Germany is pretty widely known for timeliness. My experience was only in the east and south of the country though.

4

u/Cat_piss2187 Aug 08 '19

Christ, for a second I thought that was an itinerary

2

u/[deleted] Aug 11 '19

I'm going to Munich in February for a few days so this is perfect!

2

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '19

By far my favorite place in the world. More than happy to answer questions if anyone has them.

2

u/psyche_13 Canada Aug 13 '19

The locals in Munich will tell you the best of the "Big 6" breweries is Augustiner (and yeah, it's good). The Augustiner Biergarten isnt right in the city centre but it's the one not-to-miss. It's over a city block in size, with big chestnut trees, good Biergarten food, and tons of locals.

Also, people have mentioned Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, and I definitely recommend staying overnight. It's a small town but worth it. Go on the Nightwatchman's Tour at 8, and have the fairy tale village practically to yourself afterwards and in the early morning.

2

u/EightballBC Aug 13 '19

We just returned from a two week vacation in Bavaria with our 3 sons (13, 12, 7). Very kid friendly area. Unfortunately we also went when they were having a heat wave so it was miserably hot and most places didn't have air conditioning. Broke it into a few stops where we basically set up camp, mostly using AirBnBs.

We spent the first part in Nuremburg at an amazing AirBnB inside the town walls. Some highlights:

  • The Imperial Castle - very impressive castle with a great tour.
  • The Germanisches Nationalmuseum - one of the most impressive collections of historical artifacts related to the area throughout history, stemming from the origins of man in the area, to Roman times, to medieval times, to modern. The audiotour was awesome.
  • Took a daytrip to Regensburg. Very beautiful old town with it's famous old stone bridge.

Then headed out to Rotenburg OTB - preserved old medieval walled city. Really cute. Overrun with tourists but calmed down a bit at night. Lots has been written about here. It's small so it's a one day visit only.

Munich was next. Spent several days here - visited the BMW Museum/BMW Welt, then multiple trips to the city center.

Salzburg for a day - lots of tourists as well, but one of my favorite cities due to the view from the imposing castle overlooking the town and Salzach river.

Final stop was a small town called Grainau. Rented an airbnb where the back balcony looked right at the Zugspitze. We used this as a base to visit Berchtesgaden/Eagles Nest, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwangau castles.

Visited Ulm on the way back to Frankfurt to fly out. Highly recommended trip - the time just flew by and we really enjoyed it.

2

u/PM_ME_YOUR_DOGPHOTOS Aug 13 '19

Is it possible to share links to all your Bavarian airbnbs? I'm looking at booking some soon.

2

u/EightballBC Aug 13 '19 edited Aug 14 '19

Yeah absolutely. I will omit the Munich one because we didn't like it very much. The others were great.

Nuremburg: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/799225?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1

The apartment was great, but the hostess was awesome. The location is right inside the city walls, in an area that has a lot of Turks (so there are a lot of good Turkish restaurants right nearby). The street behind is the start of the redlight district, so if you have kids be mindful (on the way there I took the wrong street during the day and my older boys saw the outside of some burlesque clubs lol)...but you never have to walk that way. In case you're curious it is super safe area as a giant police station is very closeby. It's 4 floors up, so you have to do some stair climbing, but otherwise everything worked great.

Rothenburg OTB: We stayed at a really cute hotel built into the city walls. Because we needed more space, we rented one of their apartments from them. Very nice. 2 bedrooms, etc. Host was so nice. Burg Hotel - https://burghotel.eu/index.php?id=8&L=1

Salzburg was a hotel, but we similarly found a hotel that had apartments to rent. https://www.salzburg-hotel.at/en?_wb=en&lang=EN. Very nice, and easy 5 minute walk to the river and then into old city.

Grainau: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/21305872?s=67&shared_item_type=1&virality_entry_point=1

This airbnb was our favorite. In a little sleepy town right outside Garmisch-Partinkirchen. In the mornings the church bells would ring (and you'd hear the bells from the cows and goats on the hillside outside). The view was insane from the back balcony - it looked right onto the Zugspitze. Very rustic, and had two hammocks my kids loved.

Hope that helps?

1

u/PM_ME_YOUR_DOGPHOTOS Aug 13 '19

Yes absolutely! I saved the links, the Grainau views look superb. I love cows, it just sounds like such an idyllic getaway for us.

1

u/PM_ME_YOUR_DOGPHOTOS Aug 13 '19

Did you have a car? Would we need one to get around Grainau and to the airbnb? We'd be coming from Munich

1

u/EightballBC Aug 13 '19

We did rent a car. I think you'd want one honestly. The shopping market isn't walkable from there (very short drive but long long walk...).

1

u/Lovin_Europe Aug 14 '19

My sister and I are going to Munich in May. We are planning several day trips. Do you recommend a German rail pass or just buying the day you travel? Thank you

3

u/flagada7 European Union Aug 14 '19 edited Aug 14 '19

For day trips inside Bavaria use the Bayern-Ticket. As many rides you want within a day for two people costs 32€. On weekdays you can start as early as 9am, on weekends as early as you want.

1

u/Lovin_Europe Aug 14 '19

Thank you

3

u/flagada7 European Union Aug 14 '19

Salzburg and Ulm are also within the area of validity btw.