6 Days in Bavaria
Never heard of Garmisch-Partenkirchen? Now you have!
I kicked off my five week funemployment tour around Europe with a week in beautiful Bavaria with my boyfriend, Charlie.
This was actually my third visit to Germany! And it was a trip that we had planned before I officially lost my job. We found a really great Delta Skymiles deal from Portland into Munich (30K round trip!) and pulled the trigger. Charlie had always wanted to go to Germany and I was itching for a visit to Europe and was planning on staying a little bit longer than him anyways and just working remotely.
As so happens, I was furloughed (leave without pay) from my job about 2 weeks before we left. So the wheels started turning on how maybe I should just miss my flight home and live my best unemployed life and travel around Europe for as long as I could semi-reasonably afford!
Germany was as lovely as I remembered it. It’s a clean and orderly country, with surprisingly great food, nice people, and beautiful scenery.
We spent the first half of the week in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is maybe the most magical town in southern Germany? Truly, put this on your ‘to research for your next trip’ list. If you like mountains, smaller European cities, great food, and slow vibes then this is your spot in Germany.
There were some travel mishaps with a canceled flight from Delta and so we ended up having to move the whole trip back a day, which meant we lost a day in Garmisch because our accommodation didn’t have availability for us to move the days around. I’m real bummed about that, because I just LOVED Garmisch.
While we were in this area we spent a day exploring the alps, which was by far one of my favorite parts of this trip. We took a train up to the summit of the tallest mountain in Germany, called Zugspitze. It was probably the most beautiful place I’ve ever had a coffee. We also visited an alpine lake nearby, Lake Eibsee, which was just gorgeous. Reminded me of Banff!
We also did a little mini royal tour of several castles in the area, which was amazing. I had always wanted to see Neuschwanstein Castle, nicknamed “Cinderella’s Castle” and for good reason. The white turrets and massive columns are pretty dang magical.
The sensor for the seatbelt in the passenger seat in our rental car wasn’t working and it just kept beeping at us to put a seatbelt on, so I ended up sitting in the backseat while Charlie drove me around like an uber driver 😂
We spent the second half of the trip in Munich. We visited the memorial site of one of the concentration camps from World War 2, which was super heavy but of course a worthy stop. The rest of the time in Munich we bopped around to the main tourist areas, and revisited a few places from my last trip to Munich (10 years ago!!!).
Here’s a little breakdown of our itinerary to inspuire your future planning:
Day 1:
Arrive in Munich
1.5 hour train to Garmish-Partenkirchen
Explore Garmish (fight jet lag) and get dinner
Day 2:
Head to the train station to catch the first train up to the tallest mountain in Germany!
The cogwheel train literally goes from just behind the train station and takes about an hour to get to the summit of Zugspitze.
Explore the summit of Zugspitze and have lunch at the ski area at the top.
Take the cable car down to Lake Eibsee and hike or just wander along the shore.
Grab dinner in Garmisch at Zum Wildshütz (one of my favorite meals in Germany!).
Day 3:
Grab rental car in the morning and coffee and sandwiches for the road from Wildkaffe.
Drive about an hour to Neuschwanstein Castle. There are several parking lots in the town of Hohenschwangau for about 10 euros, and then you’ll walk uphill about 30 minutes to reach the castle.
Head to the Marienbrüke bridge for the best views of the castle then make your way down to the front of the castle for a closer view and a little sandwich break.
Admire the Hohenschwangau from the road or go explore on your way back dowm from Neuschwanstein.
Drive just 15 minutes to the town of Füssen for a cute little city break. Grab a coffee or an aperol and just wander.
If you have time, drive about an hour through the mountains to Linderhof Palace and explore the castle and grounds.
After this, we took the train back to Munich but I would actually NOT recommend doing this because it was an insanely long day. I would stay another night in Garmisch if you can!
Day 4:
First day in Munich, grab some coffee and breakfast and head towards Dachau to visit the World War 2 Concentration Camp Memorial Site.
You can reach the memorial site with public transportation. Take the train to the town of Dachau and then take a local bus to the memorial site.
Plan to spend a few hours here. There is a main museum area and then you can walk through the various parts of the memorial site. Be respectful with noise and photos.
Head back to Munich and relax or wander around the city for the rest of the day.
Day 5:
See all the main sites in Munich! Start with the Viktualienmarkt for coffee and pastries and to admire the fresh produce and all of the other food stalls.
Climb up the tower at St. Peter’s church for a 360 degree birds eye view of Marienplatz and the rest of the city.
Pop inside the church on your way down to check out the intricate artwork.
Head over to Hofbräuhaus to get a taste of a classic Bavarian beer hall and try their traditional beer.
Walk over to the English Garden to see the surfers at Eisbachwelle and explore the massive green spaces in the garden.
Head back to Viktualienmarkt for another beer and some lunch from one of the food vendors in the market.
Spend the afternoon wandering, relaxing, or packing in preparation for your departure the next day.
Dinner somewhere in Munich — we had a fancier meal at a place called Les Deux. Super good, but this was a special occasion dinner for us so a bit on the expensive side!
Day 6:
Depending on when your flight (or train) leaves, head back to Viktualienmarkt for another coffee and pastry.
Today is a great day for some wandering. The center of Munich is not that big, so it’s easy to cover most of the main spots in just a day or two!
I walked through Viktualienmarkt and Marienplatz, grabbed some lunch for the road, and just sat and relaxed for awhile before heading back to the hotel to pack everything up and head out.
In Munich, we stayed at Bayer 89 Vi Vadi Hotel which was just fine for what we needed. It was affordable with a restaurant on-site. A bit outside of the main area of the city, but using the tram to get into the center was super easy.
I loved this part of the trip! We had incredible weather, like full sun every day! It was also a really fun way to start out my 5 week trip with Charlie to ease me into Europe and get me ready for my longest solo trip yet!
We loved our brief time in Bavaria, thanks for the inspiration on what to visit next time!
Sounds and looks like a lovely area.