9 Days in germany - planning help?
 

My wife and I have a trip coming up where we have 9 days in Germany. We are flying into and out of Munich. This is our first trip to Germany and I am looking for some advice on how to plan and make the best out of these 9 days. We are a couple in our late 20s and we are pretty much into everything (Food, museums, nature, outdoor activities etc).

Thanks in advance!

What are your planned dates? Recommendations might vary according to the time of year,etc.

Take the Train to Salzburg.
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/mdb/bahnin...n_regional.pdf

I am in the process of planning a 2+ weeks trip. There is a lot to see and do. It's a big country with lots of attractions. You will probably do well to concentrate on a theme or concentrated area. In my case I am focusing on Roman sites.

Every city and town has a tourism office on the web. I think those are a good place to start. Just google the city/town and tourism. Often times there are discount cards available and also they have hotel and tour deals as well. I would guess that you will want to spend at least a few days in Munich. Maybe do a couple of days at the beginning and end of the trip. Or you could likely also spend all of your nights in Munich and do day trips.

Do you want to rent a car and drive? Or take trains? Rail passes are fairly reasonable in cost and are based on the number of days you plan to spend on the train. And for two people you can get a "twin pass" which saves you a good chunk of change.

Austria's not far away either. Maybe Salzburg?

We are arriving March 30th and staying 9 days.

On our last trip to europe which was over 2 months - we took the rail pretty much everywhere. I wouldn't mind renting a car but am leaning towards rail for the most part. Thanks for the input!

That's Easter Sunday, so you've picked a very busy time!

Easter Monday is a public holiday - which means that shops will be shut (just something to be aware of). And in most states schools will be on holiday throughout that week - you can find a table of 2013 school holidays here:

http://www.schulferien.org/Schulferi...rien_2013.html

("Ostern" is what you want - and remember that 06.04 is the 6th of April, not the 4th of June)

So - you can expect roads and trains and tourist attractions to be quite busy during that week.

As regards "where to go" - that's always a difficult one to answer when a question is so open. Do you want to travel a long distance or concentrate on one part of Germany? Do you want to travel around or stay in one place and take daytrips? Do you want to stay in a town or out in the country?

Your best approach to this may be to buy a guidebook to get a general overview, and then come back and ask us about specific places or areas. (I'm trying to be helpful rather than unhelpful - it's just so much easier to offer advice and opinions if one has something a bit less wide open!)

This is good advice. I'll add that it's going to be very cold that time of year. Pack accordingly.

If it were me, I'd rent a car at MUC and drive the romantic road: http://www.romanticroadgermany.com/

I'd turn the car in at FRA and catch a quick flight or train back. Then I'd spend my last few days in Munich with a day trip to Salzburg.

Because the Easter holiday is such a big deal in Germany, it makes more sense to do the scenery sightseeing stuff first so that you can enjoy Munich in full operation. I was in Berlin for Easter last year and it was a ghost town outside of Alexanderplatz.

Not necessarily. It can be. But equally it can be t-shirt weather. Spring and autumn are totally unpredictable in Germany (same goes for neighbouring countries)

www.wunderground.com has historical weather data (click on "local weather", then "history data")

All good advice. Bavaria is pretty cool. Heidelberg is a good stop.
In Munich, I loved the Duetches Museum. BMW World if you are into cars (but you need to make a reservation).
Augustinekeller was an interesting experience for a restaurant.

Dont forgotten Salzburg!

Great thing. Only nine days in Germany and first advice is "take the train to Salzburg". Man, you could stay nine days in Munich without getting bored.

I respectfully disagree. Well, unless it's late September to early October ;)

Salzburg has "old world" charm
 

Every major city in Germany got leveled during WW2 including Munich. There are a lot of modern things to see in Munich, but Salzburg has "old world" charm with a castle, the view of the city from the castle, winding streets, and very old houses. Heidelberg is just as nice, but smaller in scale. You could get by spending a night at Salzburg so you might want to do it at the end or beginning of your trip.

I agree with Flying Lawyer.

Munich has a lot of sights, museums, churches, parks and it would be wrong to reduce Munich to the Oktoberfest :D. I know quite some people from Munich who are not in Munich in this time of the year.

There is Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek der Moderne which will be two days alone. There is Lenbachhaus, Glyptothek, Museum Brandhorst to name a few.

You have also Deutsche Museum and BMW Welt if it comes to technik ...

There is Residenz and Schloß Nymphenburg, Englischer Garden etc. pp. I have been as a child in Munich as we have family there and it was never boring in the many days and weeks I have been there mostly in summer but also in winter.

Salzuburg has some sights, too. But there is no need to travel to Salzburg if you want to visit Munich. And do not forget, Salzburg is crowded in Summer and has not as many sights than Munich has. The city center of Salzburg is nice with the narrow streets, the castle and interesting museums worth a visit.