Germany??

[kaleykate]

Hi!
I am going to Germany for my spring break and I was wondering if anyone has any input as to what I should see, what I should skip. I am in Germany for 12 days.
A little background - I'm 20 years old and I'm travelling with my best friend who is working in Berg, Germany right now. I am not super into art or museums but I can do a few. I fly in and out of Munich in February. I was thinking about maybe Austria or Switzerland?
If anyone has any input I would love to hear it. I went backpacking in Europe last summer and this message board was SOO helpful. My trip wouldn't have been the same without it!
Thanks!
Kaley

[herrbert]

Welcome back!

The mosy obvious places to go would be Innsbruck, The Castles near Füssen (Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwanstein), Salzburg, Vienna, Prague and Berlin.

If I were you my gameplan would be like this:
Stay in Munich (or in Berg) and see Munich, your friend will be able to show you some great spots.
Go to see Neuschwanstein as a daytrip (and when possible include Hohenschwanstein.
Travel from Munich to Salzburg: take morningtrain, it takes you between 2.10 and 2.40 to get there, so if you leave early enough, you will have time to see the old town, and the castle.
Travel from Salzburg to Vienna (if you take the right train it's 2 and half hours). Vienna is place with a lot to see, so take a few days at least. (if you change your mind, there are plenty of museums).
Travel from Vienna to Prague, 4 to 5 hours by train. Spend a couple of days in Prague.
And then travel back to Munich. (it about 6-7 hours on the train, but the flights are to expensive)

In short:
Munich: 2 days
Castles: 1 day
Salzburg: 1 day
Vienna: 3 or 4 days
Prague: 3 or 4 days
Munich: (take some time to goodbye)

There are some good topics on these cities on this board, so take a look at them, to see what you can do in these cities.

Of course you could make a variation, and instead of going to Prague, go on to th east and see, Budapest. (but that would be a long travel by train, to get back to Munich).

A different approach could be to see Munich, the Castles, and then fly to Berlin for a couple of days (check AirBerlin for some low budget flights, under a 100 euros, you can have a flight to get to Berlin and a flight back, a couple of days later). Or maybe better get a one-way ticket, get on the train to Prague, and then get back to Munich. I know from my stay at the Circus Hostel in Berlin, that they provide a nightbus to Prague for 25 euros if I am right, so that might be a good way to make the connection between Berlin and Prague.

With a good low budget flight it is possible to get everywhere in Europe pretty fast. So many you could also think of something very different (Spain, Italy, Greece), so you could take some days to see Munich/th Castles, and then make a weeklong trip to ... anywhere. (reminds me of the Osmonds ) and return to Munich.

[jennifer]

Just a little info. Prague to Munich can be quite complicated by train. I suggest checking schedules before doing it. There are direct lines, but if you don't pay the extra little bit for a direct train, you'll be pulling your hair out soon enough. Go the extra dollar!

[chelle84]

Question for Jennifer -

About the Prague - Munich trains can you just tell me a little more? We are travelling from Prague to Munich and I didn't realise that it could be complicated!! Are there definately driect trains?

[me]

i'm not Jennifer, but www.bahn.de shows there to be 2 direct trains a day from Prague to Munich.

There's a 6 hour trip departing Praha hl.n. at 09.15, getting to München Hbf at 15.15 the same day. <R454>

There's a 6.11 trip departing Praha hl.n. at 17.15, getting to München Hbf at 23.26 that evening. <R450>

the others all include at least one train change.