5 Days in Munich: The Bavaria Gateway Plan
Five days means Munich stops being the whole trip and becomes the launchpad: a castle, a memorial, Germany’s highest peak, then a train ticket into a different country and back before dinner. This builds directly on the 4-day plan , adding Salzburg; go to 6 days if Nuremberg fits your schedule too.
Book these before you go:
- Neuschwanstein timed guided-tour ticket, released up to 8 weeks ahead; summer 10:00-14:00 slots sell out.
- A hotel near Munich Hauptbahnhof, four of your five days start with an early train.
- Advance Salzburg train fare, booking the Railjet ahead of time keeps the cost down.
| Day | Focus | Distance/time from Munich |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Munich orientation, arrival | Home base |
| Day 2 | Neuschwanstein Castle | ~3h door to door |
| Day 3 | Dachau Memorial | ~50-60 min door to door |
| Day 4 | Zugspitze / Garmisch | ~1h15-1h30 to Garmisch |
| Day 5 | Salzburg, Austria | ~1h28-1h47 |
Day 1: Land and Get Oriented
Munich Airport sits nearly 30km out, so the S1 or S8 into Marienplatz takes 40 to 45 minutes; a single ticket is €13.60 in 2026. Spend the afternoon on Marienplatz and Viktualienmarkt, then dinner at a proper beer garden. Full in-town detail is in the Munich city guide . Confirm tomorrow’s Neuschwanstein ticket time before bed.
Day 2: Neuschwanstein Castle
Budget the entire day. Train to Füssen runs about 2h10, then a bus to Hohenschwangau, then a 20 to 40 minute uphill walk, roughly 3 hours door to door each way. Entry is a fixed-time guided tour only, €21 plus a €2.50 online booking fee (€23.50 total), through the official Hohenschwangau ticket center. Expect some interior scaffolding from the ongoing restoration, and Marienbrücke is seasonally closed roughly November through March. A guided Neuschwanstein tour covers the logistics; the official visitor page has current rules.
Day 3: Dachau Memorial
This is not a sightseeing stop, it’s a memorial. Take the S2 to Dachau (20 to 25 minutes) plus bus 726. Entry is free, open daily 9:00-17:00, closed only December 24, English tours around 11:00 and 13:00. Give it a genuine half day. Details are on the official KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau site . Back in Munich by afternoon, ease in with BMW Welt or a decompression beer garden.
Day 4: Zugspitze and the Bavarian Alps
Garmisch-Partenkirchen is 1h15 to 1h30 from Munich by train, then a cogwheel train and cable car combo climbs to Zugspitze’s 2,962-meter summit. Round trip runs €78 (valid from May 23, 2026), one-way €46. Check webcams the night before, the view is entirely weather-dependent. Current pricing is on zugspitze.de . An Alps day tour handles the transport if you’d rather not do it solo.
Day 5: Salzburg, Austria
Grab your ID, you’re crossing into Austria today. The Railjet does Munich to Salzburg in as little as 1h28 to 1h34; regular EC/IC/RE service runs 1h42 to 1h47. It’s a genuinely different city in a single train ride, Mozart’s birthplace, an Alps-backed old town, and Hohensalzburg Fortress worth the funicular ride up. Check salzburg.info for current hours and the Salzburg Card bundle, and read up on Mozart’s birthplace museum before you go. If you’d rather have the fortress and old town covered for you, a Salzburg day tour from Munich bundles transport and a guide. Catch a comfortable train back, Munich still has one more evening beer garden waiting.
Is Salzburg Worth Doing as a Day Trip Instead of an Overnight?
A day trip covers the core sights, the fortress, Mozart’s birthplace, and the old town’s Getreidegasse, comfortably. Consider an overnight only if you want to add the Sound of Music filming sites or the Salzkammergut lakes, since those need more time than a same-day return allows.
Do You Need a Different Ticket for the Deutschland-Ticket Holders?
Yes. The Deutschland-Ticket, €63 a month in 2026, covers German regional transit only, not the cross-border Salzburg leg. Buy a standard Railjet or EC/IC fare for that day regardless of what pass covers the rest of your trip.
Where to Stay
Meininger Munich City Center or Wombats City Hostel keep you close to the Hauptbahnhof, useful when four of your five days start with an early train. Compare Munich hotel rates on Booking.com before locking in dates.
Getting Around
A Zone M single day ticket runs €9.70 in 2026 on the MVV network. Note that the Deutschland-Ticket only covers Germany, so the Salzburg leg needs its own ticket regardless of what you use the rest of the week. Full route planning is on mvv-muenchen.de .
Five days is enough to leave the country and come back without it feeling rushed. Don’t shortchange Salzburg by squeezing it into a half day, take the whole thing.