Hi all first time posting need advice plz

Thank you all for your responses and advice. After doing some considering this is what I’ve come up with for the trip. So far the only things I have locked in or the hotel in Munich from September 30 to October 5, and the Munich bike tour. I’m open to advice to change things. This is my second time in Germany and Austria I was there in 2019 but it’s my wife’s first time. we’re going to some new places I haven’t been but also a few places I’ve been before so my wife can enjoy it too, and most of them I don’t mind seeing again.

we land in Munich Germany September 30 in the afternoon and we leave Vienna Austria on Oktober 17 early morning going home to USA. That’s total 16 days, not counting the half day when we arrive.

September 30 - landing in munich at 1:30pm, by the time we get to hotel and check in will be 3:30 or later. Plan on walking around a bit, getting some food, and the rest of the day is open, might check out the festival in the evening. Negotiable and open to suggestions

Oktober 1 - plan on going to the festival in the daytime and will probably be there all day/night. Negotiable and open to suggestions  

oktober 2 - 11:30 am I booked a 4 hour group bike tour with English guide which will stop for lunch at a Biergarten, will be done by 3:30. The rest of the day is open we have no plans yet. Negotiable and open to suggestions

Oktober 3 - will probably go to the festival again this day and possibly stay all day but will see how we feel or if we want to do anything else. Negotiable and open to suggestions

Oktober 4 - we plan on picking up the rental car this day (BMW M440i) and driving to see some old towns outside of munich. One idea is to drive to Rothenberg and see the towns on the way, there are different routes which pass through different towns. Option A - Munich-Augsburg-Ulm-Rothenberg . Option B-Munich-Ingolstadt-Nuremberg-Rothenberg. I need to research those towns see which ones are more interesting (please suggest) and also which route has longer sections of no speed limit and less traffic. I’ve been to Germany in 2019 and driven an M car on the autobahn at high speeds responsibly, so I have experience and I plan on doing this safely and respectfully.

Oktober 5 to 7  - were checking out of our Munich hotel and heading south towards Berchtesgaden, stopping at interesting places along the way, and then to Garmisch-Partenkirchen while they’re plan on going up to Kehlsteinhaus/eagles nest. I was there in 2019 but was cloudy couldn’t see the view. After Kehlsteinhaus I’d love to do more while in the Berchtesgaden area, open to suggestions. Maybe salt mines? Although later during this trip I plan on visiting Hallstatt / Salzkammergut so maybe I’ll see the mines there instead? I heard Konigsee is over rated but what do you think? I’m going to be in Salzkammergut Lake District near Bad Ischl which is surrounded by lakes, should I skip Konigsee? Anything else I should do before leaving Berchtesgaden? Or should I spend the night there before heading to Garmisch? The next to days I plan on spending in the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area and getting a hotel there using the town as a base if there isn’t s better town. We want to visit Neuschwanstein, Zugspitze, and anything else in the area. We plan on checking in our hotel(s) on the 5th and checking on the 8th before crossing into Innsbruck Austria. What do you guys recommend we do during our 3 days in Berchtesgaden/Garmisch?

Oktober 8 to 10 - check out of our Berchtesgaden/Garmisch hotel and drive into Innsbruck Austria stopping at interesting places on the way.  Will be my first time in Innsbruck we plan on exploring the town, any recommendations in this town and surrounding areas? We will definitely do the alpine slide which is south of Innsbruck. We plan on staying 2 nights, probably not more so we have sufficient time in our next destinations

Oktober 10 to 12- check out of Innsbruck hotel and drive to Salzburg, stoping at interesting places along the way. This will be my second time in Salzburg, I don’t mind coming again since I loved it. Last time I went up to the castle and had dinner with a Mozart symphony which was great, will do this again with the wife, but I also want to try new things while there, open to suggestions please. We plan on staying not more than 2 nights so we have time in our next destinations

oktober 12 to 14 - check out of Salzburg hotel and drive to Bad Ischl or any worthwhile town in the Lake District, plan on staying atleast 2 nights and enjoying the lakes and anything else there is to see/do. Please send any suggestions 

oktober 14 - check out of Bad Ischl and start driving towards Vienna. I’ve spent a couple hours in Vienna on a layover before but all I did was eat some Schnitzel and walk around the city. This will be my chance to spend atleast a fulll day there, depending on how much time I spend in any towns on the way to Vienna from Bad Ischl. It’s a 3 hour drive but I figure it’ll take all day if I stop at a few places like gmunden/traunkirchen if they’re worth while. That’s if I don’t spend a night in those towns. Any places on this route  you guys can recommend? Considering the places I’ve been in the previous days, should I spend as much time as possible in Vienna? I feel like 1 or 2 days is enough for me in the big city, but if there isn’t much to see on the drive to Vienna, I might as well spend as much time in Vienna as possible. If I arrive in Vienna. On the night of the 14th and check into my hotel, that means I will have all of the 15th and the 16th to enjoy the city before going home on the morning of the 17th.

thank you guys for taking the time to read my long text, looking forward to your responses, I really appreciate you all!

Hi there,

You sound like you have a colourful itinerary already planned! I'd suggest the following, in no particular order:

- never forget jetlag when flying in to Europe from the west
- the Hofbräukeller in Munich has a nice beergarten (check out Haidhausen too, it's a nice little area)
- Englischer Garten (English Garden Park) is nice to hang by the Eisbach or one of the bachs, anyway, with a snack and a drink. Also, you can see the surfers, which is always interesting
- Deutsches Museum is interesting if its rainy outside
- I would check out a concert or a play that might be happening in Munich too, that's always fun
- renting out a boat on Chiemsee (Germany) might be kinda nice if you've time for it. I've never done it at that lake before, but there's a place at Priem am Chiemsee (https://www.stoeffl.de/).
- I've only been at Halstatt lake when staying at a friends' cabin, so I've never been to the town, but I know many people ride bikes or hike along the trail that lines the lake. If you can rent bikes, that might be an idea, since it's really pretty.
- go for a hike at a nearby trail - there are many of them and at the top there is always an Alm where you can have some traditional food and a drink
- if you want to train it out of Munich for whatever reason, you DB has some options that are useful (Bayern Ticket, up to 5 people all day). Keep in mind their trains tend to be postponed or late these days.
- I also recommend getting to know the culture here through their food, which is another kind of tourism. I love their food here, so the next bit is me suggesting you explore these whenever you can. The following are off the top of my head that I liked (and yes, I eat vegetables, so try squeeze those in at some point).

- of food:
--Weißwurst (take the skin off before eating them, eaten 'til around 11am or so, I think), comes with a Breze, sweet mustard, and if you want to do it properly, Weißbier
--Semmelknödel mit Schwammerlsauce (bread dumplings with mushroom sauce) / Semmelknödel mit Schweinebraten (bread dumplings with roast pork)
--breze und obazda (pretzel and obazder cheese) - great to bring along to a beergarden or buy it there - we would bring it along when we we lived in munich for picnicking in the englisch garten
--Bayerischer Wurstsalat (Bavarian Lyoner salad, great with a breze - the Swiss version differs in that it cheese in it, tends to be on menus too)
--Pfannküchensuppe (Crepe soup, tastes really good. sort of brothy)
--Rindergulasch oder Hirschgulasch (beef or deer goulash)
--käsespätzle (a sort of pasta-looking dish with cheese in it and onions on top) - can be a side, if not, comes with a salad generally
-- anything that comes with sauerkraut
-- kartoffelsalat (potato salad, with actual potatoes and no mayonnaise)
-- krautsalat (kraut salad)
-- Zanderfilet - local Zander, some people said its a bit meh, but I liked it (I forget when it's in season though)

- of drinks (that i liked):
-- Spezi - a pop (soda) mix of cola and orange (sugary, but north america doesnt have it, yet, i think)
-- Johannisbeer saft oder schorle (currant juice or fizzy water mix)
-- weinschorle (wine mixed with fizzy water)
-- Helles (a Lager beer) or Weißbier (Weizenbeer) from whatever brewery you're offered (I like Tegernseer, Augustiner, Maxlrainer). You know these already, probably. They also come in light versions if needed. I've recently started to come to like a Leichtes Weißbier (light weizenbeer) after sport or so.
-- Gösser - Austrian, sell beer and Radler (I personally like their Radler)
--if need a non-alcoholic drink, Jever Fun is good (grocery stores only i think)
--Campari & Aperol spritzes, great with a view
--Coffee (did not like Dallmayr, the rest is great)

- of smaller things (bakeries):
-- Nusschnecke (nut snail - rolly pastry thing that speaks for itself)
-- Leberkässemmel - livery sandwich meat looking bun (I don't know how to translate this, google says 'liver cheese')
-- Fleischpflanzerlsemmel (bun with a minced-meat-bread-mix patty)
-- Butterbreze (pretzel with butter inside)

- Every grocery store: cucumbers and digestive aids.

If you have any questions you can let me know. I know more about the area in Munich and south of it since I have and do live there, respectfully. Oh, and if you're driving into Austria, I think you can buy your tolls online (at least European citizens can, so it might speed things up if you can too). Also, don't forget Sundays everything is closed in rural areas in Germany (possibly some of Austria, I always forget).

Have fun!

Hello, and thank you so much for the detailed recommendations, I saved all the places you mentioned, and will research them now. I do have a few question

I will definitely check out the lake you mentioned, and will probably rent a boat. As far as lakes, we are going to be seeing at least a few lakes in Germany and Austria as I mentioned later during this trip, I will be in the Austrian Lake District and will visit atleast one lake there. There are so many that we don’t want to get tired of the lakes. We will be at Zugspitze, which has Eibsee lake directly underneath, some people also recommended Konigsee, we will also be going to Hallstatt. Any you recommend more than others?

After Garmisch I was going to spend a day or two in Innsbruck but I didn’t know Innsbruck is a big city, I would prefer not to stay in a city, because I am already going to be in multiple cities. I would love to stay in a beautiful, picturesque mountain town or village, somewhere scenic waking up to mountains and valleys, something authentic.

Would you describe Garmisch as such a place like I described?

Since I already plan on staying 2 nights in Garmisch-Paartenkirchen using it as a base to explore the area, should I spend the third and fourth nights also in GaPa since I won’t be staying in Innsbruck? Or should I spend those 2 nights in a different location, I would love to stay in the countryside something like I described in my last paragraph. Maybe in Stubaital valley or Mittenwald or anywhere else you recommend? Mittenwald is only 20 minutes from GaPa so maybe I won’t stay there?

also we plan on spending 2 or 3 nights in Salzkammergut / Bad Ischl in addition to the 3 nights in Salzburg. We’ll drive from Salzburg to the Lake District. Will it be a better experience if we stay in Hallstatt or Bad Ischl?

Thank you!!

Update 20/9/2024 at 22:00 USA time - I took your advice and booked 3 days at Riessersee in Garmisch thank you for the area recommendation. So far this is what I have locked in

Munich check in September 30 check out Oktober 5

Garmisch check in Oktober 5 check out Oktober 8

Stubaital - check in Oktober 8 check out Oktober 9 and start driving towards Salzburg, might stop at Chiemsee on the way and stop for anything else interesting

Salzburg - check in Oktober 9 check out Oktober 12. Salzburg can be changed its pay later / free cancellation, if I decide to change plans in Salzburg and spend more time in the next locations, depending if I run out of things to do in Salzburg area.

My next step is to research things to do in Salzkammergut/Lake District. I’m considering checking into Bad ischl on Oktober 12 and checking out Oktober 15. During that time I plan on seeing a few of the surrounding lakes/towns and also going to Hallstatt

Once I check out of Bad ischl on the 15th, I plan on driving towards Vienna. Google maps is showing 2 routes, first route (upper) passing through Traunsee/Gmunden, Linz, and I don’t recognize anything else on this route. The other route (lower) passes by national park Gesause, I don’t recognize anything else on this route

Lastly, according to the planned but not confirmed schedule above, we will arrive sometime on the 15th in Vienna, spending the rest of the day there and also all of the 16th, checking out and flying home on the 17th early morning. I’m thinking of spending more time in Salzkammergut which leaves me with less time in Vienna. I figure there is more to do in the large Lake District so I’ll need more time there. I figure a day and a half in Vienna is enough to experience it. Please advise

Thank you very much for your help