Germany: Road Trip through Bavaria & Beyond

If you’re looking for cosmopolitan cities, fairy tale castles and towns, picturesque countryside and delicious food (and beer) you really should consider Germany. Particularly Bavaria. Located in southeastern Germany it certainly has a lot to offer. Having spent a fair amount of time exploring beautiful Bavaria we cannot recommend it enough. We have a really big soft spot for Germany. Therefore we visit as often as we can. Usually at least a couple of times a year. Having visited most of the big cities in the country, we have now moved onto the smaller (often prettier towns). There are none prettier than in Bavaria. We’ve found the best way to see them and explore the area further is to pick up a hire car in Munich and take a road trip.

Why Hire A Car?

If you’re regular readers of our blog you’ll know we love taking road trips and have hired cars across the world. We love the freedom having a car gives us, making us masters of our own destiny. We also love putting together itineraries including places we want to see and things we want to do. Organised tours are great and necessary in some cities/countries. However, in places like Bavaria, hiring a car is, in our opinion, a better option. Most car rental companies offer different sized cars from small economic models to larger vehicles, perfect if you’re travelling with the family in tow. Also, if you’re worried a hire car may be too expensive, you should check out prices before dismissing the idea. As with size, most car hire suppliers offer vehicles for most, if not all, budgets. That’s why it’s important to compare prices to find the right deal.

Where Should I Visit In Bavaria?

We knew that we wanted to start our journey in Munich, especially as we had never visited before. The castles of Bavaria, or at least some of them (there are loads), were musts too. As was good food and pretty buildings. Our initial research revealed narrowing our list down was going to be tough as there is so much to see and do in the area. But narrow it down we did and we created our personalised itinerary which incorporated the things we wanted into it. However what we found was that even though you have an itinerary, the best thing about having a car was that you can pull over whenever you see something that catches your eye, which in Bavaria can happen frequently. Here are our top 3 places:

Munich

As the capital of Bavaria, we expected great things from Munich and it certainly did not disappoint. In fact, I can’t believe we have not visited before. We will certainly visit again. A compact and extremely walkable old town made for a great trip. We visited a number of historic sites including a number of intricately decorated palaces and drank a lot of local beer (when in Rome, well Germany, but you know what I mean). It is the perfect starting point for any road trip through Bavaria.

Nuremberg

The second largest city in Bavaria is Nuremberg which is steeped with history. Although the majority of the old town was reduced to rubble during the Second World War, it has been sympathetically rebuilt. With plenty of churches (we love religious buildings) to wander around, a beautiful castle which overs fantastic insta-worthy views over the city and its very own delicacy – the mouth-watering Nuremberg sausage, it is a great city to visit and a great addition to your road trip itinerary.

Neuschwanstein Castle

As lovers of Disney (this castle was Walt’s inspiration for the Cinderella Castle – the world famous Disney castle) Neuschwanstein Castle was somewhere we had wanted to visit for ages. Therefore, it was the first place we added to our Bavaria itinerary. The 19^th Century castle is stunning and can be seen from miles around. It’s important to note that during the summer months over 6000 people visit the castle every day. Therefore if you plan to visit ensure you buy your admission tickets in advance otherwise you may be left disappointed.

Further Afield

Even though Bavaria is beautiful, places close by are too. If time permits, why not make the most of having a car and visit some of them? As Bavaria borders both Austria and Liechtenstein, you can tick a couple more countries off your list if you want to. On our last visit to Munich, we took the opportunity to hop over the border into Austria and visit the home of Mozart (and The Sound of Music) – Salzburg. It was not only a new city for us but also a new country (number 75). The journey took less than 2 hours and was very straightforward, especially as the majority of it was on wide open motorways (autobahns). Therefore, making driving on the ‘other’ side of the road extremely easy, especially for us Brits. Liechtenstein is already on our list for next time, because we know there will be a next time.

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