Transport and accomodation

It tooks us just under 2 hours to travel from Innsbruck to Munich. Accomodation in accordance with our budget was not available near the city centrum so we stayed at a budget hotel near Munich Messe – Hotel New Fair Munich Messe. The hotel was ok for the price, but nothing more than that. I would definitly try to find another hotel closer to city centre if we visit Munich again. It took us about 30 min on the subway to reach downtown.

Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel

On the first day we went to Marienplatz. Just as we were walking to the square we saw the Rathaus-Glockenspiel on the town hall. “Every day at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. (as well as 5 p.m. in summer) it chimes and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century to the amusement of mass crowds of tourists and locals. It consists of 43 bells and 32 life-sized figures.”(Wikipedia).

Laundry and lazy day

At this point in our trip most of our clothes needed washing and we were a bit worn down after all the traveling. Therefore we took a lazy day, slept in, watched TV and went downtown to search for laundromat. At Wash & Coffee we were informed it was not self-service and there was a 4 hour waiting time. We then went to Eco Express and did our laundry there. A tip for travelers – bring your own washing powder when traveling if you have special preferences. It can be difficult to find your favourite one in other countries!

Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castle

From Munchen we took a daytrip to Hohenschwangau and the legendary Neuschwanstein Castle. To surprise the girls we rented a convertible! The driver might also have wanted to try out the German autobahn. At least it was difficult to see who was more excited – father or daughters.

The ride was pleasent with nice scenary and farm animals along the roads. The Neuschwanstein Castle is allegedly the inspiration for Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle. It is a magnificent sight! Ludwig II, King of Bavaria since 1864, had the castle built. Unfortunatly he mysteriously drowned in Lake Starnberg at age of 41. The construction came to a halt with the death of the king so the interiors are only partially finished.

Ticket sale

The ticket sale for the Neuschwanstein castle as well as the Hohenschwangau castle is in the village of Hohenschwangau. Entrance into the castles is only possible with a guide. Since this is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Germany there is a chance that tickets can be sold out on day of arrival. We arrived around 14:00 and were only able to go into the Neuschwanstein castle at 17:25. It is possible to reserve tickets online, but is has to be done at least 2 days in advance. It was not possible for us to visit both castles at this time.

We did get a chance to walk up to the Hohenscwangau castle and view it from the outside. A stroll through the castle garden was also cozy. The tiny village of Hohenschwangau is really charming (but swarming with tourists). It was nice wandering through it while we waited for our turn to visit Neuschwanstein castle. It is possible to take buses to the castle but we were reccomended to walk due to long wait for buses. The walk takes about 40 minutes. Another option is riding in a horse carriage – but there can also be a long wait for those rides.

BMW Museum and BMW Welt

We took a day visiting BMW Welt and BMW museum. At BMW Welt we had the chance to sit in fancy cars and on beautiful motorbikes with lot of photo-ops. Some of us tried out remote controlled cars and everybody were interested in what was on display.

In the BMW museum we were fascinated by the exhibition displaying interesting information on history and it’s relation to the automobile industry. Very professionally done and an interesting setup. We did miss actual cars and motorbikes though. Until we released that the exhibition we had been looking at was the temporary one. We were yet to view the permanent one with all the cars and bikes on display. All in all we spent 5 hours at the Welt and the museum and had a lovely time.