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7 Day Trips from Munich by Public Transport

By The Travel FieldbookPublished on Updated on 9 min read
Neuschwanstein Castle above the wooded hills of Schwangau, Bavaria.
Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, one of the best-known day trips from Munich.

A train from Munich can take you to a former concentration camp memorial, a medieval Danube city or the foot of Germany’s highest mountain. Choose by the time you want to spend at the destination, not just the train ride: Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site and Regensburg can fit a shorter day, while Chiemsee, Neuschwanstein and Zugspitze each add another connection after the main train. These seven trips start from Munich Central Station (München Hauptbahnhof), but each is a separate outing, not a route to combine.

Which trip fits your day?

Trip and main sightOutward moving timeAllowAdult sight entry
Dachau · memorialabout 37 minutesHalf-dayFree
Regensburg · old townabout an hour and a halfHalf-day or longerFree
Salzburg · old townabout 2 hoursFull dayFree
Nuremberg · old townabout an hour and a halfFull dayFree
Chiemsee · Herrenchiemsee Palaceabout 2 hoursFull day€14
Neuschwanstein · castleabout 3 hoursFull day€23.50 online
Zugspitze · summitabout 2 hoursFull day€78 summit transport
Outward moving time from Munich Central Station to the named sight or old town; adult entry is for the named destination, not the whole excursion.

For a shorter outing, choose Dachau for a considered memorial visit or Regensburg for an adaptable historic walk. Salzburg and Nuremberg deserve a full city day; Chiemsee, Neuschwanstein and Zugspitze need time for onward transport as well as the attraction. The old-town streets are open public spaces; Salzburg’s fortress and Nuremberg’s interiors cost extra if you enter them. Dachau’s admission is free, while optional interpretation costs extra. Chiemsee’s boat fare and all trains and local transport are separate from the sight prices above.

These outward figures add up travel in motion, not time spent waiting between services, getting to Munich Central Station or returning to Munich. In particular, Salzburg’s figure uses an EC train and Neuschwanstein’s uses an ECE connection, while a Bayern-Ticket holder travels by regional trains instead. Leave room between connections when deciding whether an outing fits your day.

Dachau Memorial Site

Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site preserves the grounds of the former camp and documents the people imprisoned and murdered there. Allow about three hours on site for the exhibition and grounds, because this is a place for sustained attention rather than a quick stop between attractions. An individual guided tour costs €4 and an audio guide €5, or €4 reduced, but neither is required for admission.

Name
Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site
Location
Pater-Roth-Straße 2A, Dachau Maps
Site
kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de
Hours
09:00–17:00
Essential fact
A memorial and exhibition at the former concentration camp site.
Price
Free
Grounds of the Dachau concentration camp memorial site.
Part of the Dachau concentration camp memorial site in Bavaria.
Schlaier · CC BY 3.0 · Edited

From Munich Central Station take the S2 to Dachau station, then bus 726 to the memorial. At weekday peaks the bus runs every 10 minutes, but it is less frequent at other times and at weekends. A Munich-M1 single or partner day ticket covers the S-Bahn and bus journey. A half-day is possible if you protect the time at the memorial rather than cutting the visit short.

Regensburg

Regensburg is the shorter city trip for a walk with few onward connections. Its medieval old town leads from the cathedral to the 12th-century Stone Bridge over the Danube. Cross towards Stadtamhof if you have time to explore the far bank. Keep the walk to the old town and bridge for a half-day, or stay longer for the lanes around them. The bridge gives this outing a clear destination without committing you to a timed interior visit.

The Stone Bridge crossing the Danube at Regensburg
The 12th-century Stone Bridge links Regensburg’s Old Town with Stadtamhof.
Ekrem Canli · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edited

A direct RE25 runs from Munich Central Station to Regensburg station. From there continue on foot into the old town. Up to 23 direct trains run per day, with a different number at weekends and on public holidays. The last listed return train from Regensburg Central Station leaves at 23:49, although services vary on those days. If you want a city near Munich by train without filling an entire day, Regensburg is the most flexible choice here.

Salzburg

Salzburg offers a full-day walk through an Austrian city with a sharply defined old centre. From Salzburg Central Station pass the Mirabell Gardens, cross the Salzach and follow Getreidegasse into the old town beneath Hohensalzburg Fortress. Make the fortress an extra stop only if you can give it time, rather than treating it as a quick detour from the streets below.

Salzburg’s historic centre with Hohensalzburg Fortress above it
A view from Mönchsberg over Salzburg’s historic centre and Hohensalzburg Fortress.
Uoaei1 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edited

Direct trains from Munich run hourly, though the pattern can change at weekends and on public holidays. An EC train underlies the outward figure above. For a Bayern-Ticket, take a regional train instead: it covers travel to Salzburg Central Station, but not Salzburg city buses, and the EC journey time is not a regional-train promise. The walk from the station brings you through Mirabell before the river crossing, so a city bus is not essential to this plan. If you want a city outing around two hours’ travel from Munich, Salzburg fits the EC-and-walk example, with the return journey still to allow for.

Nuremberg

Nuremberg rewards a full day: enter the old town from the station, work towards its market square and climb to the Imperial Castle (Kaiserburg) for the historic core and its setting above the streets. Choose one substantial history visit after the castle, rather than trying to fit every museum into the central walk.

The Imperial Castle of Nuremberg.
The Kaiserburg, or Imperial Castle, in Nuremberg.
-wuppertaler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edited

For the Documentation Centre at the former Nazi Party Rally Grounds, allow a separate local journey south-east of the centre. Its exhibitions examine the party rallies and their legacy. Alternatively travel west to the Memorium Nuremberg Trials at Courtroom 600, associated with the post-war trials. These are different visits in different parts of the city. In the winter market season, the Christmas market can take the place of an indoor stop instead.

The outward example uses an ICE to Nuremberg station, followed by a walk into the old town. A regional day ticket does not cover this ICE journey, so use a regional train if travelling on that ticket, without assuming the fast-train timing applies. Plan the return around the extra journey to whichever outlying history site you select.

Chiemsee and Herreninsel

Herreninsel is the island for Ludwig II’s unfinished New Palace, Herrenchiemsee: its grand interiors and formal setting make this a palace visit as much as a lake crossing. Start with a train from Munich to Prien am Chiemsee, then reach Prien/Stock harbour, take the boat to Herreninsel and walk from the landing to the palace. Direct trains to Prien run approximately hourly, with some additional services. Give this chain of connections a full day, not just an afternoon at the palace.

Aerial view of Herrenchiemsee Palace on Herreninsel
Herrenchiemsee Palace on Herreninsel, surrounded by Lake Chiemsee.
Bayerische Vermessungsverwaltung – www.geodaten.bayern.de · CC BY 3.0 de · Edited

The adult Prien/Stock–Herreninsel return boat costs €11.50, separately from palace admission; the palace guided tour is included in the island combination ticket. Fraueninsel is another island stop if you would rather spend some of the day there than linger at Herreninsel. The palace opens daily except 1 January, Shrove Tuesday and 24, 25 and 31 December. From 25 October to March its shorter visiting window is 10:00–16:45, with the last palace tour around 16:00; from April to 24 October it opens 09:00–18:00, with the last tour around 17:00.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle rises above Hohenschwangau, and its guided interior visit is the reason to make this a full-day outing. See the exterior as well as the rooms, and if you finish early, Hohenschwangau village or the nearby Alpsee gives you somewhere to spend the remaining time. Füssen station is not the castle entrance. From Munich take a train to Füssen, bus 73 or 78 to Hohenschwangau, then walk uphill to the castle. The outward rail example uses an ECE connection, not the regional service covered by the Bayern-Ticket.

Name
Neuschwanstein Castle
Location
Neuschwansteinstraße 20, Schwangau Maps
Site
neuschwanstein.de
Hours
09:00–18:00
Essential fact
King Ludwig II’s castle above Hohenschwangau, visited on a guided tour.
Price
€21
Neuschwanstein Castle among the Bavarian hills
Neuschwanstein Castle at Schwangau in Bavaria.
Thomas Wolf , www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0 de · Edited

Regional trains on the Munich–Füssen route generally run hourly. Füssen–Hohenschwangau buses often leave at intervals of roughly 30–60 minutes during weekday periods, but there are gaps and the pattern varies by day. A bus single costs €3; the KönigsCard or FüssenCard guest card covers lines 73 and 78. Allow for a separate bus fare unless you have one of these guest cards, and keep the uphill walk in mind when choosing a castle tour time. Leave room for the return bus and train.

Online purchase adds a mandatory €2.50 service fee per ticket. A bus back to Füssen is only the first stage of the return: give yourself a workable connection onwards to Munich.

Zugspitze and Eibsee

The Zugspitze summit is the main reason for this mountain day, with high-altitude views worth choosing a clear-weather date for. Eibsee, the lake below the mountain, is a lower-level alternative when a summit visit would not reward the journey. From Munich travel to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, then continue to Eibsee for the cable car. The cogwheel train can instead continue towards Zugspitzplatt, with the Gletscherbahn cable car linking the plateau and summit. Allow a full day for the rail and mountain connections.

Mountain scenery viewed from the summit of the Zugspitze.
A view from the summit of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain.
Ryan Kruse, U.S · Public domain · Edited

Munich–Garmisch-Partenkirchen trains run hourly. The cogwheel train to Eibsee runs roughly hourly, usually leaving Garmisch-Partenkirchen at 15 minutes past the hour. Onward mountain trains run about hourly and the Zugspitze cable car at least every 30 minutes. The adult Ticket Zugspitze covers one ascent and descent on the round trip, including the cogwheel train, Gletscherbahn and Cable car Zugspitze. Munich–Garmisch regional rail is separate: a one-person Regio-Ticket Werdenfels costs €31, plus €10 per additional person up to five, with a €2 surcharge at DB ticket offices.

Regional tickets for your day trip

The Bayern-Ticket costs €34 for one person in second class and covers regional trains such as RE and RB, alongside local S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses within its validity area. It does not cover long-distance ICE or IC trains. On weekdays it starts at 09:00, while on weekends and public holidays, including 24 and 31 December, it starts at midnight. Validity ends at 03:00 the following day.

You can use regional trains for Regensburg, Prien, Füssen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Salzburg Central Station, and the ticket also covers the Munich local-transit part of a Dachau journey. Salzburg city buses are outside its coverage, while the island boat and Zugspitze mountain transport need separate tickets. For Salzburg and Neuschwanstein, do not apply the fast-train outward time in the comparison to a Bayern-Ticket departure. The weekday start also leaves less daylight for a long outing. For Nuremberg, the ICE example calls for its own rail ticket rather than this regional one.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: fares and charges, services, and closures.

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