We leave you with this selection of essential tips for travelling to Bavaria to try to help you with the planning and organisation of your trip to one of the most beautiful and most visited areas of Germany by travellers from all over the world.
With Munich as the capital of this Free State and famous places such as the Neuschwanstein Castle or the small village of Oberammergau, where the walls of the houses represent children's fairy tales, Bavaria is one of the German destinations that we are sure you will not be disappointed.
Based on our trip to Bavaria, here are what we believe to be our top 10 must-know tips for travelling to Bavaria. Let's get started!
1. When is the best time to travel to Bavaria?
Although the best time to travel to Bavaria depends a lot on what you're looking for, generally speaking, if you're looking for lots of daylight hours and a mild climate, the best option would be the summer months, which will ensure you have an unforgettable trip.
High season (July and August): these two months are when Bavaria receives the most visitors, due to the good weather and high temperatures.
Mid season (April to June and September to October): although in some cases you may risk having lower temperatures and some rainy spells, this is the best option if you don't want to find too many people in the tourist areas.
Low season (November to March): Despite the grey skies, if you don't mind the cold temperatures, enjoying Christmas in Munich or seeing Neuschwanstein Castle in the snow can be an unforgettable experience.
Remember that if your trip is in high season or on public holidays, it is highly advisable to book your flight, accommodation and rental car in advance.
2. Entry requirements
If you are a Spanish or European Union (EU) citizen, you will only need a passport or ID card to travel to Bavaria, Germany. If you have another nationality, we recommend that you carefully check the Embassy's website for updated information and entry requirements.
In addition to these documents, we recommend that you always carry the European Health Insurance Card when travelling to Bavaria, in order to have medical assistance in any public hospital if necessary. It is also highly recommended, if you want to have the best medical assistance and repatriation included, to take out the best travel insurance for Europe.
Due to the current health situation, all Mondo insurances include medical assistance in case of coronavirus infection. Also included is the extra stay you need in case of quarantine infection and of course, the test in case it is necessary.
3. Safety
Travelling to Bavaria is completely safe, although this should not make us forget the need to travel with common sense, trying not to leave valuables in sight or leave our belongings unattended, especially in crowded tourist places.
In addition to this, in cities like Munich, if you are going out at night, it is advisable to ask your accommodation if there are any areas that are not recommended, especially if you are going to move around alone or in areas that are not very touristy.
In addition to all this, it is highly advisable to upload all your personal documentation such as ID card, passport, insurance policy, etc. to the cloud so that in case of need, loss or theft, you can carry out the necessary procedures quickly.
Bavaria
4. How do I start my trip to Bavaria?
The first and most important thing to do before travelling to Bavaria is to look for flights. In this case, we recommend flying to Munich with any airline, including the low-cost airlines that land at the airport located 28 kilometres northwest of the city. You can find the best flights at the best prices in this flight search engine.
Once you have your flights, the next step is to look for accommodation in Bavaria, especially if you are travelling in high season, to get the best options at the best prices. For this we recommend using this hotel search engine.
The next step, if you are going to make a route through Bavaria, is to rent a car in Germany with which you can move freely around the area, without the need to think about schedules or public transport options.
In case you don't want to rent a car or you want to get to know Bavaria better, it is also very important to check the excursions you can do in the area and in case you are travelling in high season, book them in advance so you don't run out of places. You can see here all the tours and excursions in Munich and book them directly.
Munich
5. Bavaria Tour
Although there are many options, if you want to travel to Bavaria, we recommend an average of 4-5 days to get to know its most touristy places. Initially, we recommend you to visit the city of Munich for 1 or 2 days, which we will talk about in the next point, and then, with a rental car or an excursion, you can continue getting to know this impressive area of Germany.
The first stop will be the Dachau concentration camp, which although we know it is not a pleasant visit, we believe it is very important to know the history of the country and the horrors that took place there. If you want to learn about the history of this place from an expert, we recommend you to book this Dachau Concentration Camp Tour with English speaking guide.
Oberammergau
Next stop is Neuschwanstein Castle, one of the most magical places in Bavaria, before visiting Fussen, where we recommend spending the night. If you don't want to rent a car, a highly recommended option is to book this Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace Tour or this Neuschwanstein Castle Tour by train.
For more information, we recommend reading this post on how to get to Neuschwanstein Castle and this one on how to visit Neuschwanstein Castle.
The next and last day you will visit the impressive village of Oberammergau, famous for the paintings on some of its houses, which are the canvas for some of the most famous children's stories such as Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel.
If in addition to Bavaria, you want to continue your route through Germany visiting other places in the country, we recommend you to read the post 10 essential tips to travel to Germany and 10 essential places to see in Germany.
6. Munich
An essential stop when travelling to Bavaria, Munich, as well as being the capital, is one of the cities you can't miss on any route through Germany. With a historic centre that will leave you speechless, in which the beautiful Marienplatz and its emblematic New Town Hall stand out, Munich is a city where you can visit interesting places and relax in one of its green spaces, making it an unforgettable experience.
In principle, you can visit the city in one day, at least the most famous places, but whenever you can, it is advisable to dedicate 2-3 days to visit the surrounding areas, which will perfectly complement this trip to Bavaria.
We recommend you to follow this list of things to do in Munich and this list of essential places to visit in Munich in order not to miss anything and enjoy the city to the fullest.
In addition, and based on the experience of our trip, we leave you these guides optimized by days, which we are sure, will help you not to miss anything important in Munich.
One-day guide to Munich
Munich in two days
3-Day Guide to Munich
If you want to learn more about the history of the city from a guide in English, we recommend you to book this guided tour of Munich or this Free tour of Munich, considered one of the best free tours in Munich in English.
And if you have an extra day and don't want to rent a car, it's also highly recommended to take a trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, Dachau concentration camp or Salzburg, all three of which are considered some of the best tours and excursions from Munich.
You can find much more information about this city in the post 10 must-visit tips for Munich.
Munich, one of the places you can't miss when travelling to Bavaria.
7. Neuschwanstein Castle, a must-see in Bavaria
Known by many as one of the most magical places in Europe, Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the must-see places when travelling to Bavaria, as it is located just 130 kilometres from the capital and is one of the most beautiful castles in the world. And we cannot forget that this was the place that inspired Walt Disney for his famous Sleeping Beauty castle.
Built by King Ludwig II, known as the Mad King, in addition to visiting the interior of the castle, you cannot miss the incredible views from the Marienbrücke or Mary's Bridge, which we are sure will be unforgettable.
Although this visit can be done perfectly on your own, by rental car or public transport such as the train, booking the ticket in advance because especially in high season they tend to sell out very quickly, if you do not want to complicate and forget about the transfer, in addition to knowing all the history with a guide in Spanish, it is highly recommended to choose to book this Excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace or this Excursion to Neuschwanstein Castle by train.
Neuschwanstein Castle
8. Visit the Dachau concentration camp
Although we know that this type of visit is not particularly pleasant, we do believe that it is absolutely necessary to learn about the history of the city and the country and, above all, to become aware of the horrible events that took place there so that they never happen again.
Located 20 kilometres north of Munich, the Dachau concentration camp was the place where 40,000 people were killed because of their religion, race or political views when in 1941 the camp was converted from a prison camp to an extermination camp.
If you're travelling to Bavaria by rental car, you can do this visit perfectly on your own or you can also take the S-Bahn train from Munich, a 20-minute ride, and then catch the 726 bus from the station, which will take you directly to the concentration camp.
Another option, more recommendable if you don't want to worry about transfers and want to learn about the history of this place, is to book this Dachau Concentration Camp Tour, with English speaking guide.
Dachau concentration camp
9. Bavarian gastronomy
We know that it is impossible to summarize in a few lines all the gastronomy of Bavaria, but after our experience we want to leave you a selection of some of the most famous and characteristic dishes so that when you travel to Bavaria, your experience is as complete as possible and you can taste some of its delicious dishes.
Semmelknödel: a type of dumpling made with bread.
Weißwurst: typical Munich sausages.
Bratwurst: sausages typical of Nuremberg and Regensburg.
Kalter Braten: roast pork, served cold like sausage, usually with bread.
Kartoffelsalat: salad of boiled pickled potatoes.
Obazda: a kind of cream or pâté served with bread, cheese, onions and paprika.
Schweinsbraten: pork with sauce.
Brezel: typical Bavarian biscuit, salted and in the shape of a bow or round.
Brezel
10. More tips for travelling to Bavaria
Other top tips for a trip to Bavaria:
The official language of Bavaria is German, although in most places, especially tourist attractions, everyone speaks English.
Remember that to avoid paying commissions and to always have the current exchange rate, we recommend you use the Revolut card and the N26 card, which we use, are free and will save you a lot of money. You can find more information in this article about the best cards for commission-free travel.
If you are travelling to Bavaria as part of a wider tour of the country, we recommend you read the post 10 essential tips for travelling to Germany.
In addition to the apps you usually use on your travels, it is highly recommended to bring Maps.me, which will serve as an online and offline GPS and with which we are sure you won't get lost!
In Germany the voltage is 230V, the frequency is 50 Hz and the plugs are type F.