Spicy B

I have a week at the end of July (23-30) where I have free to roam in Germany. I originally decided on a few days in Frankfurt and a few in Munich, but much to the advice of friends and what it seems is many people on FT, I should just spend almost no time in Frankfurt, and more time in Munich and Salzburg.

That being said....I have only been to Amsterdam, and that was only for 16 hours over a long layover. Some background for me: Went to university for music at a major US conservatory (probably influencing me to stay longer in Salzburg), and I like activities/adventures that extend my comfort zone....such as renting a car to go from Munich to Salzburg and return without knowing German (took a year of it in college, but don't remember most of it), and still needing to learn how to drive a manual transmission car...or eating food that one could see Andrew Zimmern eating on Bizarre Foods.

My flight is out of FRA at night on July 30, so I need to be back in Munich at least by the morning of July 30 to take the train to FRA.

1. How would you split up 6 nights between Munich & Salzburg?
2. Is it a bad idea for me to rent a car to go to Salzburg from Munich instead of taking the train? (I already know it will probably cost more after paying for gas, parking, tolls. And of course I'll have to use a navigation system.)
3. If I should just use the train everywhere, would it be smarter to get a train pass for the week? Does such a thing exist for my travel plans?

I will be in the Basel area performing in the Basel Tattoo prior to this trip, so I would probably need to take a train from there to Munich, too.

Any help/insights would be greatly appreciated!

(alot of the adventures I seek is to challenge myself, to say I did it, and for my blog: Get Gowing)

Stewie Mac

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I'm sorry that I can't actually help with your question (never been to Munich) but I am cheekily jumping in to ask my own related question which might be helpful...
I need to get to Salzburg later in June, and direct flight timings don't work so am flying into MUC and then hiring a car. I vaguely recall that there's a highway toll in Austria, but I've always hired within Austria before so the cars came with the ticket. Will a hire car from MUC (Hertz) have the Austrian ticket ? If not, how can I buy one easily ?
Thanks

EventHorizon

The Bayern ticket, which is 25€ I believe and good for up to 5 people, covers all public transport in Bavaria, including Salzburg too. Just go to the Hbf in Munich and stand near the shop by the end of the tracks on the north side of the station, I forgot the number of the tracks, but they are probably in the 20s. You will see a bunch of people standing around waiting, and just start asking if any are going to Salzburg. The Bayern ticket though, does not allow you to travel on the ICE, but you can save a ton of money.

My professors in Munich had said Salzburg can be a daytrip if you take the earliest and latest trains there and back, so I don't know how many nights I would stay. Maybe one night if any? I would try to stay in Munich as long as possible though, and just enjoy the biergartens, bier, food, and culture. I would visit Schloß Nymphenburg as well, very nice, and is just outside the city.

2 hours away is Castle Neuschwanstein, and again is accessable via Bayern Ticket, there is also Chiemsee and Linderhof nearby which are supposed to be beautiful, but I haven't visited yet.

I studied for 5 months in Munich, and currently intern in NRW, if you need any more info, just ask, and there are a couple other knowledgeable people on here too.

If you venture a little further, Prague is 4 hours away (2 nights will do it), and you can get there quite cheap with a Bayern-Bohemian ticket which is 33€, again for 5 people, and takes you to the Czech/German border, and from there it is about 8€ on top of that. Can take a night train there or back, or even to Vienna. That two less nights to pay for, and you can visit another city if you want.

JoostvD

There is much to see in both cities (Munich and Salzburg), especially if you like music, so, for your first trip, I would suggest three days in each. Perhaps after this experience, you will change it next time. Three days is not so long for either one.

I think it is silly to rent a car. The train ride is about 1.5 hours and costs (with discount) as little as €19 (each way) if you buy your tickets in enough time. If you like a challenge, try booking your ticket from the German web site in German (http://www.bahn.de/p/view/buchung/fa..._buchung.shtml).

The German railroad has many price offers (http://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/an...bkanal_020=1#3) and, again if you buy your ticket in advance enough, the prices may even be cheaper than a rail pass, especially if you buy the US one.

Good luck.

Scrooge McDuck

I grew up in the area between Munich and Salzburg. Quite a nice area. It all comes down to your interests. For a start (for places besides Munich and Salzburg), I would suggest to have a look to an answer I gave quite some time ago:

If you have specific questions, pls. feel free to PM me.

Miles Hunter

I would split it 3 and 3. Both great cities. Obviously the train is the cheapest and right thing to do. Then again how often does a guy from NJ have the chance to drive a German Autobahn WITHOUT a speed limit? They do have automatics for rent. It is a fun and very scenic drive. I would not worry about the German, almost everybody speaks English like Arnold Schwartzenegger ;-)

mp2

I second the option of a BayernTicket.

We were in Munich and Salzburg for 10 days over Christmas. Our base "camp" was at Munich, and we were planning to rent a car to see the castles as well as Salzburg.

We were happy we chose the BayernTicket. The trains are amazing, frequent, and fast. The price is very cheap too. 25 for 1 passenger and 29 for upto 5 people (Yes, 5 people can travel for 29). These were the prices in late 2008.

In terms of things to see, I didn't like Salzburg quite a bit. Yes, if you like Sound of Music, there are a few things to see there. If you venture a bit beyond Salzburg, you'll be rewarded with some awesome views.

Munich: Ton of things to see here. The Flight Museum is a good place to visit. So is the Auto museum, and a few other museums. The castles (Neuschweinstein and Hohenschwangau) are great places to go too. And then there are good beer gardens, restaurants etc.

We had stayed one night in Salzburg, and 5 in Munich, as we used Munich as our base location for venturing out.

Do try to get hotels near the train station (main or subway). You'll thank yourself for it later

Kathrin

Your car does not care in what language you swear at the surrounding traffic. If you want the 'adventure' of dealing with the German language, try the train wher you'll deal with real people. (You will soon fid out that most people here speak at least some English, though.) Besides, the train is notably cheaper and more environment-friendly.

Track

Unfortunately the Munich/Stuttgart/Frankfurt-Prague night train no longer runs. I always found this train and its branches very convenient and well patronized. why was it dropped? Although it was made up of almost all Czech cars, I suspect the Germans found it too costly to operate.

ChrisMuc

The Autobahn to Salzburg has quite a lot speedlimits. Better take the train. Besides parking in Salzburg is quite pricey

Flying Lawyer

If a guy from NJ wants to travel without a speed limit this guy should avoid the Autobahn from München to Salzburg, which is one of oldest and most crowded highways we have to offer.

Scrooge McDuck

Do we have a Autobahn between Muich and Salzburg or are you referring to the 4/6 lane parking lane between both cities ?

The translation of Google (I could not resist to leave it unchanged - just have a look at Deer Mountain ):

I you only want to travel between both cities, taking the train is indeed the superior choice.

bseller

I would split it up maybe 1/2 and 1/2, but I wouldn't spend a LOT of time in MUC. I just returned from a very interesting and FUN trip to MUC where the majority of the time was spent on the Romantic Road.
That could easily be done with 3 days.. The other 2.5-3 days in SZG would be great as well!! I really like SZG.

No, not at all a bad idea. The smallish automatic that we rented (GF doesnt do manual tranny) had a navigation system built in and it REALLY helped. NO need to open a big arsed map and try to read where you're going. I'd do that again in a heartbeat.

I think you'll lose an awful lot of the adventure if you do the train, but if you did so, I'd say spend only 2 days in MUC and then head by train to SZG. You might even try to sneak in a trip to VIE in the latter case as well.

Have fun!!
Dave

Stewie Mac

Answering my own question - the hire car didn't have an Austrian vignette, but they are available at the autobahn petrol stations near the border, €7,50 for 10 days. And the A8 was indeed as rubbish as everyone has said, in combination with some biblical rain yesterday afternoon/evening...

Ambassador

Does anyone have a link for an english language bus schedule in Salzburg? I am trying to figure out the departure point and times to go to Berchtesgaden (eagles nest tour).

Thanks!