Austria Germany Travel Itineraries
This page gives information on Germany Travel Itineraries and England to Germany travel.
Munich Travel Itinerary
Munich is in Bavaria which borders Swiss in the south and Austria in the East. So if you are in Munich, you can also visit Austria or north Swiss. I suggest that you do visit Salzburg in Austria which is a couple of hours from Munich.
Suggested Itinerary:
Day 1 – Munich City- BMW museum, Olympic stadium. There is a convenient metro train that you can take to go here. These are quite close to each other so better to do together. BMW museum is a piston-shaped building (quite impressive, like the car) and houses several BMW models from over the years.
Day 2- Fairytale castle Neuschwanstein. Located just outside of the town of Fussen in the Bavarian Alps. So you need to take a train to get there. Neuschwanstein served as the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.
Neuschwanstein appears prominently in several films, including The Great Escape, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Timekeeper, Ludwig, and Spaceballs. It is the most photographed building in Germany and is one of Germany’s most popular tourist destinations. One place to get the best view of the castle is to walk up the hill (short walk) – from the hanging wooden bridge. Don’t miss the view.
Day 3- Konigsee –This place is a little Gem. Don’t miss. The Königssee lake lies below the Watzmann, nestled in the mountains of Berchtesgaden National Park. The emerald-green hue of the shimmering water captures the heart of everyone who sees it.
Berchtesgaden is a small, picturesque and historic town (population 9,000) located in the southeast of the German state of Bavaria, within a small enclave surrounded on three sides by the Austrian border. The town lies some 30 km south of the Austrian city of Salzburg and some 180 km south-east of Munich.
The pilgrimage church of St Bartholomew is located on the shore of the Königssee; it is a former hunting lodge of the Bavarian kings. A boat trip on this beautiful lake is an experience that is not to be missed during a trip to Germany.
By Rail- From Salzburg Central Station, take bus number 25 to St. Leonhard (the Untersberg cable-car valley station). OR From Munich take a train to Berchtesgaden. If you are traveling from Munich, my suggestion is to travel to Salzburg to spend the night there, as its very close.
Day 4- Salzburg – Breath the fresh air.
If you have not seen yet, do see ‘Sound of Music’ before you visit. If you stay in a youth hostel in Salzburg, many of them play the video every night. Most of the film was shot in Salzburg and when you see those places for real as against on the reel, it’s a delight to watch.
There are many bus companies who do a ‘Sound of Music’ tour. Its half a day tour and the bus takes you around places where the film was shot. Some are outside Salzburg. One of the funny things about the films – In the last shot, the family is shown crossing the Alps to go to Switzerland ( a neutral country).
In reality, there is no border with Switzerland. If you have seen the film, you would enjoy the tour more. I saw the film again after taking you, it was more fun!
If you decide to stay for one more day in Salzburg, visit the castle, which you can reach by cable car. See the city center, enjoy classical music concerts – no wonder, since it’s a birthplace of Mozart.
Day 5 – Take a train to Vienna which is 3+ hours from Salzburg. Best way to see Vienna is a tram. Most of the tourist attractions are around the tram routes 1 and 2 around the city center. One of the trams goes clockwise and second one anticlockwise. Get down wherever you see an interesting building.
I heard, one of the kings wanted to make Vienna architecture capital of Europe. So most buildings on this tram route have a different architecture. You will feel that you are back in the future.
Some of the interesting things to see are the famous Church, Austrian parliament, Library – on the same tram route.
You can also visit Hundertwasser House is an apartment house in Vienna designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This landmark of Vienna is located in the 3. district, Kegelgasse 34-38 / Löwengasse 41-43. It features undulating floors (“an uneven floor is a melody to the feet”), a roof covered with earth and grass, and large trees growing from inside the rooms, with limbs extending from windows. Hundertwasser took no payment for the design of the house, declaring that it was worth it, to prevent something ugly from going up in its place.
Within the house, there are 52 apartments, four offices, 16 private terraces and three communal terraces, and a total of 250 trees and bushes. The Hundertwasser House is one of Austria’s most visited buildings and has become part of Austria’s cultural heritage.