Bavaria - October 2016

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I flew to Munich on the 7th of October, flight HV 9132, and I returned to Copenhagen on the 10th, with flight HV 9131. Both flights were on time and I was happy enough with the company operating them (Transavia). I rented a car for the whole period - a Fiat 500X - and I spent all 3 nights in Puchheim, at Das Seidl Hotel & Tagung.

On Saturday, I went on a short roadtrip to the castles of Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, but I did not visit the interior of either of them. The small hike up to Neuschwanstein and then to Marienbrucke (the bridge that offers a spectacular view of the castle) was quite nice, despite the less-than-ideal weather. Also, walking around the gardens at Linderhof is a pleasant experience.

On Sunday, I went on a more urban and even shorter trip to the cities of Landsberg am Lech and Augsburg. Both are quite nice for spending a few hours walking around the city center, with lovely colourful houses and old buildings.

Now about the practical part... The hotel is quite good and not too expensive, if you are fine with being in the suburbs and you do not necessarily want to be in the city center. Also, if you have a car, they have private parking that is decently priced.

The car (Fiat 500X, petrol engine) was comfortable (for up to 4 people in the car) and nice to drive. On the plus side, it had the 3 things I want most in a rental car: auxiliary for connecting the phone (for music), USB (for charging the phone) and cruise control that was easy to find and set up. The down side was that fuel consumption was quite high (8.7L/100km)...

Regarding the two roadtrips: the road for Saturday was very pleasant, including a beautiful drive from Schwangau to Linderhof, especially around Plansee (in Austria) - in a mountain region where the road is bendy and empty, and the view is beautiful. The total distance was 279 km, which can be done easily in less than 4h. To keep in mind - the parking in Schwangau and at Linderhof is cheap, but you need to pay cash in both places.

The Sunday drive was much shorter (155 km / about 2h). Most of this was on motorways without a speed limit (except for the roadwork areas, of course...), so if you like driving flat out without worrying about getting a speeding ticket, it's a decent route. Also, because the driving time is short, there is enough time for visiting the two small cities. I had no problem in finding parking close to the city center in both Landsberg am Lech and Augsburg (but I was there during the weekend).

Overall, Bavaria is a very nice place to be - it has decently priced hotels and restaurants, lots of beautiful places to see, and good roads (mostly...).

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