Hello,
We 3 (me, my wife and 5 yr old son) will be in Munich early July for 4 days.
My dilemma is should we rent a car or just take day trip tours with Munich as base?
Are day trips tiring? Would car rental be more relaxing or more confusing - rather than enjoying - driving in new country %26amp; new language ? (we live in US).
Which option do you folks suggest?
Thanks,
-Viky
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Viky, driving in Germany is just like driving in the US. There is so much to do and see around Munich that I%26#39;d rent a car. It gives you full flexibility and independence on public transport, which can be rather tiring especially on weekends.
Make sure the car comes with Automatic transmission and a Diesel engine, as otherwise you%26#39;ll be spending more at gas stations than anywhere else.
I%26#39;m sure following my comment plenty of eco-friendly social democratic Germans are going to argument pro public transport now... ;-)
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With 4 days in Munich I don%26#39;t see any sense in more than 2 day trips and therefore a new base makes also not so much sense.
You can make a number of nice trips on the Bavaria Ticket. A day ticket covering all local trains in Bavaria. Valid for 2-5 persons (your 5 year old is however generally free on trains). EUR 27,00. This ticket does also cover the U-Bahn, trams and buses in Munich. And also the buses elsewhere. Validity
Mo-Fr: 9am till 3am next day
Sa,So: midnight till 3am next day
www.bayerntakt.de/public_main_modul.php…
Füssen/Neuschwanstein Castle
http://www.fuessen.de
http://www.neuschwanstein.de
DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/e
From: M
To: Fuessen
To: Hohenschwangau (for Neuschwanstein Castle)
Garmisch-Partenkirchen/Zugspitze/Mittenwald
http://www.garmisch-partenkirchen.de
http://www.zugspitze.de
http://www.mittenwald.de
To: Garmisch-Partenkirchen
To: Zugspitze (Germany highest mountain)
To: Mittenwald (one of the most beautiful towns in the Alps)
Zugspitze mountain railways are not covered by the Bavaria Ticket, but you%26#39;ll get at least an EUR 4,00 discount.
Herrenchiemsee New Palace
Another one of King Ludwig II castles. On an island in lake Chiemsee.
To: Herreninsel
The boats on lake Chiemsee are also not covered by the Bavaria Ticket.
railroads covered by the Bavaria Ticket (map)
bayerntakt.de/media/…Gesamtnetz07.pdf
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%26gt; can be rather tiring especially on weekends.
True for remote places by buses. On the railroads the base frequency (the red lines on the map have at least a hourly train service) is kept all days. And if it comes to mountain railways or boats on lakes there are more services on weekends for obvious reasons.
%26gt; Make sure the car comes with Automatic transmission
this is often an expensive option for a rental car
%26gt; I%26#39;m sure following my comment plenty of eco-friendly social democratic Germans are going to argument pro public transport now...
I live between Frankfurt and Munich. I only drive into these cities if it must be, once every few years. Otherwise I use the train (10x more often). And I guess I%26#39;m not an eco-friendly social democrat. I fall rather into the category capitalist with a not so eco-friendly sports car.
Rush hours in Munich are not that much fun. And if the commutor traffic around Munich meets the school holiday waves from Northern Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark in July the resulting traffic jams are often 80 km or longer.
And from my experience:
your 5 year old will find to go by train much more interesting than by car. That%26#39;s something he is used to. For the really interesting difference (i.e. no speed limit on parts of the autobahn) one has to be older and to drive into a different direction (not towards the Alps).
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I am an %26#39;eco-friendly%26#39; retired army dog and enjoy traveling by the German train system, and I bet a 5 year old would as well. No traffic for you and no seat belt for the boy, and built-in potty stops.
I would add Regensburg and Freising as easy day trips by train. Freising is a small Bavarian church-town reachable by train or Sbahn. Regensburg has a good pedestrian zone with a gothic Cathedral, Roman ruins and a marvelous old bridge. Everything is close to the train stations in these respective towns.
Regards, Gary
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I was more inclined towards renting but the long traffic jams on vacations do bother me a lot. I am sick and tired of LA traffic and hence the reason of my vacation !
The question is if I do a day trip with base in munich to the castles or Salzburg, we spent roughly 2 hours each way. I would just love to stay around those places rather than come back same day.
Would that be easily possible by just using public transport (and not to mention the large bags we will be carrying) ?
I must agree however that my son will enjoy the %26quot;chuchu trains%26quot; much more than car.
-Viky
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How large is your luggage? Is it the wheeled variety that can be towed? Will your son need to be carried? Generally, if you can normally tote your luggage, you will be okay on trains.
I remember steps at train stations but there also must have been elevators as I remember wheel chair occupants riding the train. At worst, your wife might have to wait with the child at the top of stairs while you make a couple trips with the luggage.
Traveling by trains is not effort-free but neither is navigating through a major German city by car, think of LA with few or the streets running in straight lines. There are headaches and benefits to each form of travel.
Regards, Gary
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VikyG
If you rent acar make sure it has GPS. It makes driving sooo much easier. My wife and I spent 18 Day over theirlast Oct. and rented the Biggest mercades they had with GPS and droove all over the place andit was so easy.youalso need a good map for spelling the village name properlyand Germany has several town with the same name. Have fun and don%26#39;t worry
poplew
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If you are staying in Salzburg, or Füssen, or Garmisch, etc, for just one night, why not just take one or two small daypacks with you for your toothbrushes and a change of clothing, and store your main luggage in Munich? If you are returning to your Munich hotel later, you can probably arrange for them to look after your bigger bags for a day or two. The train station may have a luggage storage facility too.
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Although generally I prefer driving, in your short time you could also take the train and stay in some places overnight and return the next day. I personally would stay in Salzburg in the Altstadt overnight to enjoy the ambiance of this city, and the views from your bed from Villa Jaegerhaus in Hohenschwangau of lit-up by night Neuschwanstein castle are fantastic.
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Can help with our recent trip.We drove from Zurich to Munich and stayed 4 days.In Munich drove 12 miles to Dachau concentration camp.Another trip took train to Berchesgadan-then 2 buses to %26quot;Eagles Nest%26quot;Hitler%26#39;s retreat in the Alps. Then drove to Fussen to see castles The car-allows freedom.Cons:gas is very expensive over $5 a gallon-$1.75 a liter,most hotels charge for parking-our case $14 a night. Also getting around city in a car is like downtown L.A. Driving in Switzerland and Germany wasn%26#39;t that hard once you watched how locals drive.Cars speeding by on the Autobahn took a little adjusting. I%26#39;,m glad we drove but can see other option.It depends on what your going to do.You%26#39;ll really enjoy Munich-check out Marienplatz,Hofbrauhaus,the fruit and vegetable market,Olympic village,take a walking tour.Go to Eagles Nest a real piece of history and Mad Ludwig castles in Fussen-train or car.Have a great time.
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