Munich Travel Guide
Day Trips from Munich
How to plan the three classic day trips from Munich: King Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein, Mozart's Salzburg across the Austrian border, and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, with tours, trains and timing.
One of Munich's great advantages is what lies around it: the Alpine foothills, lakes, royal castles and the Austrian border are all within two hours, and the city's fast rail network makes day trips easy. Three trips stand out for first-time visitors, each very different: the fairy-tale castle of Neuschwanstein, the baroque city of Salzburg and the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Here is how to plan them.
Neuschwanstein: the fairy-tale castle. King Ludwig II's castle, begun in 1869 and never finished, stands on a rock above a gorge near Fuessen, with the Alps behind it. Since July 2025 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with Ludwig's other palaces. The interior can be visited only on a timed guided tour of about thirty minutes, and tickets, twenty-one euros in 2026 with free entry for under-18s, who still need a booked ticket, sell out weeks ahead in summer, school holidays and the Christmas period. Book through the official online shop, which adds a small fee and does not refund, or choose a day trip or third-party ticket with more flexible conditions. A limited number of same-day tickets are sold at the Ticket Center in Hohenschwangau from 8am, but they go very early.
Doing Neuschwanstein well. By train, it is about two hours from Munich to Fuessen, then a short bus to Hohenschwangau. Be there one and a half to two hours before your tour time, because tours leave on the minute; the walk up takes thirty to forty minutes, or you can use the shuttle bus or horse carriage. Do not miss the Marienbruecke, the bridge behind the castle with the famous view, which is free but closes in snow and ice. In winter, from mid-October, the castle closes at 4pm. Organised day trips from Munich, many combining Neuschwanstein with Linderhof, Ludwig's exquisite smaller palace, or Oberammergau, take care of all the logistics and are ideal if you do not want to manage the timings yourself. Hohenschwangau Castle, Ludwig's childhood home below, is a good alternative if Neuschwanstein is sold out.
Salzburg: Mozart's city. Just across the Austrian border, about two hours by train, Salzburg is a baroque gem, its old town a UNESCO World Heritage Site squeezed between the Salzach river and a hill crowned by the Hohensalzburg fortress. In one day you can see the Mirabell Gardens, where the Sound of Music children sang, cross the river to the Getreidegasse and Mozart's Birthplace, explore the cathedral and its squares, and ride the funicular to the fortress for a panoramic view. A guided day trip in English of about nine hours with return transport is the stress-free option; independent travellers will find frequent trains. Salzburg is in Austria, so carry your passport or ID card. In Advent, its cathedral Christmas market is one of the region's finest; in July and August, the Salzburg Festival brings crowds and high prices.
Dachau: remembrance. The Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, about twenty kilometres north-west of Munich, preserves the site of the first Nazi concentration camp, opened in March 1933 and liberated by American troops on 29 April 1945. More than 200,000 people were imprisoned there and in its subcamps, and tens of thousands died. The memorial is free to visit, open daily from 9am to 5pm except on 24 December, and its main exhibition tells the history of the camp and its prisoners. You can go independently by S-Bahn and local bus, using the memorial's audio guide, or join a guided tour from Munich of about four and a half hours, which many visitors find gives essential context. Allow at least three hours on site, dress for the weather and plan a quiet afternoon afterwards. The visit is not suitable for young children.
Tours versus going it alone. Independent travel is easy in Bavaria: the trains are frequent and comfortable, connections are well signposted, and regional group tickets can make it very cheap. The advantage of a guided day trip is that the timings, tickets and transfers are handled for you, which matters most at Neuschwanstein, where a missed connection can mean a missed tour slot, and at Dachau, where a guide adds history and context. Salzburg is the easiest to do on your own. Whichever you choose, start early, carry snacks and water, and keep your passport or ID with you for the Austrian border.
Which one should I choose? If you have time for only one day trip, choose Neuschwanstein for the romance of the Alps and the castle, Salzburg for a city of music and architecture in a second country, and Dachau for history and remembrance; Dachau is a half-day, so it can be combined with an afternoon in Munich. With three or four days, many visitors do Dachau in the morning of one day and Neuschwanstein or Salzburg on another.
More ideas. With extra time, consider Linderhof and Oberammergau, with its painted houses and woodcarvers; Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's copy of Versailles on an island in the Chiemsee; the Bavarian lakes such as Tegernsee and Starnberger See, easy by train; the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen; and the medieval towns of the Romantic Road.
Practical tips. Regional train tickets for groups can be excellent value; check the Deutsche Bahn options for your route. Book guided tours a few days ahead, and Neuschwanstein weeks ahead. Many tours depart from central Munich near the main station, so a hotel there, such as the 25hours Hotel The Royal Bavarian, makes early starts easier. And check the weather: the Alps are beautiful in sunshine and can disappear entirely in cloud.