City recommendations S. Germany/Austria/other
 

I've got a trip planned late spring that just got extended due to scoring better Lufthansa First options. I've got the first 8 nights booked, 4 in Budapest then 4 Vienna. Then was planning to go to Salzburg 3 nights and ending with 2 nights in Munich which we will fly out of. With the airline changes I've now got 3 nights open between Salzburg and Munich. I may decide to add to Salzburg and Munich but I'm probably staying in both longer than I want if so. I do want to do some driving to see the various castles around the two but is there a lot to do in Salzburg that even 5 nights might be worthwhile?

I was also looking at other options not too far away. Thought about Prague but just too far away. I've been to Innsbruck but 35 years ago, what little I remember maybe it would be fun to visit. Other interesting cities were Kostanz, maybe LInz, Regensberg or even Garmisch Partikirchen. There's an interesting resort that's SPG/Marriott outside of Munich, can't remember the name, that might be interesting. Being in the outdoors could be a fun break up of staying in cities.

Recommendations? Thanks in advance.

One of my coworkers just returned from Salzburg. Not sure there would be enough for 5 days there.
But you could easily add time to Munich. Deutches Museum, BMW World, Dachau, Weihenstephan brewery (oldest in the world).
Maybe add 2 to Munich and 1 to Salzburg.

Depends on what you like to do. Hiking, nature? Salzburg area.
Technology? More Munich.

Does the time have to be between Salzburg and Munich? Add a day to Vienna and doa day trip. See Bratislava in Slovakia (one more country to add to the list). People recommend, but I have not done Melk Abbey and the Wachau Valley.

If you are interested in beer at all, consider Bamberg (couple hours train ride north or Münich). Medieval city, lots of old buildings an churches -- the only burial place of a Pope north of the Alps). Oh, and 10 breweries and few dozen in the surrounding villages.

Bodensee is fabulous. OK, I am biased since I live there, but it would be a very easy addition between Salzburg and Munich and a good way to get out of the big cities. Linda and Mainau are probably the best option for a late Spring trip. My home town of Bregenz is also under-rated.

Meersburg is a lovely town.

Consider chilling out at a nice country hotel between Salzburg and Munich. I like Schloss Elmau, but there are plenty of others. Beautiful scenery, delicious food and wine, hiking, wandering...

I am sure several of you US guys love to drive 5 hours to have a dinner. I go with LondonElite and would however prefer not to drive, So Bodensee, Bamberg, Überlingen, Allgäu, Wachau etc are all far away for my standards. I would consider a night between Salzburg and Munich. This could be for example the Starwood hotel in Schloss Fischl close to Salzburg, it could be a B&B on the Fraueninsel in the midst of Lake Chiemsee or Winklers Residence in Aschau close to lake Chiemsee. All great places, not a lot of driving an very typical for the area.

For example, the Seehotel Überfahrt on the Tegernsee is lovely and used to US guests. There are great drives and hikes from there. Winklers has delicious food!

You don't really tell us when you will be there but here is the recommendation based on 13 years spending summer and Christmas holidays in Bergen as a kid. T

Bergen is located about 30 minutes drive from Salzburg just before the Chiemsee. It's just a few minutes out of the highway. If you like hiking there are a few nice options :

- Walk up to Maria Eck from Bergen for a nice lunch with a view on the Chiemsee. It's about a 60 minutes walk but you can also drive up from Siegsdorf : Essen & Trinken im Klostergasthof - Klostergasthof Maria-Eck - Die Gastlichkeit über dem Chiemsee
- Take the cable car up to the Hochfelln about 1674m high. Just now checking on their website the view is 60km : https://www.hochfelln-seilbahnen.de/startseite/ (if you really feel like it you can also walk up from Bergen in about 4h)

If you go there during the winter season there have a few skis slopes as well. Nothing fancy but enough for a day or two.