ORDNorth

Will be in Munich with wife and two teenage kids over Easter and I am wondering about good ideas of "Easter" parades or festivals. Plan to head to Salzburg one day and Garmish/Castle area on another. Any speciafic advice on getting to both and any sort of local parade/event is very much appreciated, as much will be closed.

etch5895

Both are about an hour and a half away from Munich Hbf by train. For the Garmisch trip, you could purchase a Bayern Laender ticket and the whole family travels on one ticket for 28 euro, all day.

http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/pri...r-ticket.shtml

For Salzburg, I don't believe a Laender ticket will cover you outside of Germany, but I could be wrong on this. You might be able to buy the ticket to the German border, and then buy another ticket into SZG.

You could also rent a car, but then would have to deal with traffic, and also would need to buy an Austrian autobahn sticker for your rental. A ten day sticker will run you Euro 7,90.

http://www.adac-shop.de/vignette_mau...duktliste.html

Can't help with the fests or parades, but it should be a nice time of year to visit. Generally the weather is warming up and the days tend to be pleasant.

Kathrin

>For Salzburg, I don't believe a Laender ticket will cover you outside of Germany, but I could be wrong on this. You might be able to buy the ticket to the German border, and then buy another ticket into SZG.

Allow me to correct... Salzburg IS the border station and German trains to/from Salzburg central station are covered by the Bayern-Ticket. Public transport within Salzburg is not covered, though.

ORDNorth

Kathrin & Etch5895, We will be staying at the Sheraton Wetspark in Munich, and wonder if the Bayern Laender ticket, allowing travel on the regional or local trains, would take much longer then quickest train option? The wife thinks it may take significantly longer, who cares, we are on vacation!
I used to do a car on every visit to Europe but now with a couple teenagers, I find I can relax more with them, if we travel by train! It is also a much more European experience for the whole family. Still wondering about any small town festival/parade/market, that could be reached by train, to add to a true "Duetsch" experience?

szg

That's true !! ^

Kathrin

Look up train connections on http://www.bahn.de. Switch to English. Tick "only local transport" to fiund those connections the Bayern-Ticket is valid for. The direct RE trains take two hours.

Train travel requires a little planning, which is something car freaks are not used to. On the other hand, I don't think you'll be much faster by car. Besides, there is the environmental aspect. Then the train allows both of you to relax - by car, the driver has the stress on crowded roads. And renting a car plus petrol, parking fees and everything will cost maybe 3 times as much as the train ticket, maybe more - treat your wife to a nice lunch in Salzburg, and later coffee and cake in a fancy café, for that money...

jspira

For Easter, everyone will be at home with family. What kind of market or parade are you expecting to see?

mamb0

There will be non. In christian dominated countries the easter days are high holidays which are classified as "silent". That means no parties and entertainment festivities allowed.

The munich arch diocese of the roman catholic church organises a traditional "Karfreitagsprozession". I do not believe that this is what you expect, but have a look:
http://www.ganz-muenchen.de/phpgraph...4%2Fkarfreitag

On saturday there are traditional easter bonfires at Ampertal, where they symbolically burn Judas for ratting out J.C. (this is so wrong)

There is a easter egg hunt at Tierpark Hellabrunn for kids up to 12y.o. on Eastersunday

Bad Toelz has a famous Easter Market, closed on black friday, open on saturday and sunday.

On Sunday the the boats of Bayerische Seenschiffahrt start the boat season on Starnberger See with a nice easter brunch excursion.

jspira

I actually didn´t expect anything as I indicated that most people would be at home with family in my post.

I should add that the custom of Easter Eggs comes from Germany and that many bonfires signify the end of winter (symbolically).

ORDNorth

I appreciate your frankness, but I doubt Munich will be empty of visitors? Many parts of the world have different celebrations, at a variety of times of the year, and was just looking for some ideas?

mamb0

There will be visitors, but expect Good Friday to be like shabbes in .il where public life comes to a halt.

Saturday is a peak shopping day because all shops are closed on sunday and monday and most of the people are preparing for big family lunches and dinners.

Sunday and Monday are predominantly spent with visiting families and at home. Some public places and restaurants will be closed because they do not expect much traffic.

bluebear1608

Theres a parade in Traunstein on easter monday. It seems like the kind of thing you were after. Heres a video clip of it
http://vimeo.com/groups/hfseries/videos/4776065
i think it starts at 10am and its quite close to Salzburg, only 30min by train so you can head here for an afternoon after the parade.

Starwood Lurker II

Hi all,

Sorry to dig this out from its grave.

It has been 6 years since the last post, so I wonder if I can ask the same question again.

Are there any special events or activities on Good Friday in Munich? We know many shops are closed that day but are the markets, museums, churches and attractions like castles opened?

oliver2002

Post #8 still holds. The city of Munich compiles all the events that happen in and around Munich in a very useful overview here: http://www.muenchen.de/veranstaltungen.html

Everything is closed on good Friday. Bavaria is catholic thru and thru, and that day you will not have any option to do any events or activities.

SunshineStay

But if you are looking for visiting a Castle in Southern Germany like Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof or Hohenschwangau those are all open on Good Friday and the other Easter Holidays.

Just be aware that those aren't directly in Munich, but require a 1-2h drive depending on the castle location.