Travel to Munich

[midcoast1]

I have only ever been to the States and Asia.I am thinking of a trip to Munich with a 2 night stop over Singapore.I want to do some day trips from Munich.Only problem i have a limit of 10 days only from day of departure to day of arrival back in Sydney.Would 10 days long enough to do this .?

 

[nickykim]

Probably, last year I went to Frankfurt for 14 days to catch up with my daughter who was au pairing for her gap year. As she had to work from 6 am to 9 am each morning and 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm each night on the weekdays we just did short day trips (and went to Berlin for the weekend in the middle). One of the day trips was much shorter than planned as we were standing at one end of the suburban train platform and the train pulled in at the other end. We were talking so much we didn't notice until he pulled away....Ended up catching a taxi to the selected venue (architecture museum). Train services were pretty good around Frankfurt but I know nothing about trains around Munich.

It was a bit hard on the return, I ended up just staying up for 24 hours to get my sleep patterns back to normal. I went back to work and spent the day checking and responding to emails. That was about I could cope with.

 

[medhead]

It really depends on what you want to see. I did about a 10 day trip last year to Munich, that was for the spring bier fest around lent. I'll try to dig out a link to the trip report.

Salzburg is a long day trip from Munich. Bretchestgarten is an easy day trip as is Neuschwanstein. Plenty to see around Munich. English garden, a palace (can't remember the name). Also do Augustiner beer garden and/or the brewery. I also got out to Andech's monastry. That was a great day trip.

Local transport is very good. I have only flown into FRA and then taken the train from there. My mum flew FRA to MUC once but reckons the train is just as quick. I'll dig out the trip report.

Here's a link http://www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au/showthread.php?p=418972

Don't be put off by the beer drinking, places like Andechs are worth visiting just for the scenery.


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[Fantic125]

A lot depends on the time of the year and your interests.

Late summer are the beer festivals and it can be quite busy. Munich is quite nice but from a tourist perspective I wouldn't spend 10 days there.

As medhead mentioned, Nauschwanstein is an easy daytrip, as is Dachau. Salzburg you would be better off staying overnight rather than doing a daytrip.

I would suggest hiring a car and visiting some of the other towns around such as Wurzburg, Bamberg, Dinkelsbuhl, Stuttgart, etc. It really depends on what you want to see and do.

compared to AU, Germany really isn't that big.

 

[midcoast1]

Thanks for the info.It won't be during the beer fest though.

 

[medhead]

There are 2 main beer fest - October fest in Autumn and a spring one called the strong beer fest. I went to the later as it is less well known. Certainly no need to attend either. Only mentioned it to give an idea of what I was doing there.

I'd second the suggestion to visit Bamberg, that is an interesting town.


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[midcoast1]

Another , maybe stupid question , do many of the population speak English or should i try and learn a bit of German . Only travelled to English speaking countries so unsure.

 

[Undercover Brother]

Another , maybe stupid question , do many of the population speak English or should i try and learn a bit of German . Only travelled to English speaking countries so unsure.

You will find most people have a good grasp of English in that region, more than they will admit.

But I would still learn basic greetings and salutations, politeness and making an effort goes a long way in any culture.

On a side note, Munich is awesome. One of the only places I could imagine settling down in Europe.

 

[medhead]

I'd guess that people can generally speak English. Having said that I've only had to ask if someone speaks English a couple of times. My brother lives in Munich and he does most of the talking or I get by with my school boy german. We did have a chat one night in Bamberg at dinner with a couple of people and they had no problem with English.


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[midcoast1]

Would Munich be a better base than Berlin.

 

[Fantic125]

Around Munich and the Bavarian region they generally speak Schwabian, which is a slightly different dialect. Mind you, having been there 10 ~ 15 times in the last few years I still can't pick the difference.

Generally you will be able to find someone who can speak English; as UB noted above sometimes they'll understand but can't speak it. Certainly learn some basic greetings and sentences to be able to ask for directions, costs, etc.

I haven't been to Berlin, but I have a friend who is a cabaret singer and she spends 1~2 months a year there and loves the place.

 

[midcoast1]

Thanks Fantic125.
Just have to decide where to base myself.As i'll only have 7 actual days there i want to base myself in the right place.

 

[nickykim]

Berlin or Munich as a base? Depends what you want to do. I loved Berlin but haven't been to Munich. There area around Munich is probably better known and thus easier to identify interesting places for day or overnight trips. Most of the tourist day trip information I saw around Berlin focused on WWII and concentration camps - not sure that I'd want to spend a holiday just looking at these. However, Berlin does have a crazy number of museums, art galleries etc (and three opera companies!). Where ever you go watch your wallet on airport buses, there are pickpockets teams around.

 

[medhead]

For 7 days it doesn't really matter where you are based. Just decide what you want to see most and go for it.

 

[midcoast1]

For 7 days it doesn't really matter where you are based. Just decide what you want to see most and go for it.

Yes i'll have work out what i really want to see.Be the only opportunity i have to go .
Thanks everyone.

 

[elbarto]

Don't forget to witness the spectacular that is the glockenspiel.


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