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Munich, Germany is one of the most fun European cities I’ve ever visited.

It’s filled with pleasant people, delicious food, tasty beer, and great shopping, as well as a bunch of great activities to keep you occupied like visiting the Marienplatz or going to watch the cool surfer dudes surfing in the Eisbach (ice brook) at the Englischer Garten.

But what if you’ve already been in Munich for a couple days and are running out of new, fun ideas and things to do? Or it’s your second or third time visiting the city and want to explore outside the city limits?

No worries, I’ve got you covered.

Psst, when you’re done checking out this post on the best day trips from Munich, don’t forget to read this one on the best things to do when you only have 24 hours in Munich!

3 DAY TRIP IDEAS FROM MUNICH, GERMANY

1. Nymphenburg Palace

If you’ve already seen enough palaces and castles while spending time in Europe, I completely understand if this doesn’t make your list of things to do.

BUT… if you are willing to go to one more, this place is awesome.

And it’s only a short tram ride away from the city center (approx. 25 minutes). Making it a great day trip — or half-day trip — idea from Munich, since it’s nice and short!

This palace is enormous. Like unbelievable enormous.

It’s so big because many different Bavarian Kings who lived here added on various additions to the original build of the palace.

Construction began in 1664 and it wasn’t fully completed until 1826. That’s almost 200 years later! Whaaat.

The main tour of the palace covers the main section of the building and it’s 21 rooms. Although, when you’re done with that tour, other tours can be done throughout the gardens with it’s fountains and pumps, the marstallmuseum with the museum of porcelain, and the palace park (Amalienburg, Badenburg, Pagodenburg and Magdalenenklause).

If you want to take your time to really take all of it in, I’d dedicate 3-4 hours to exploring the palace and grounds.

How to get there: public transport is the easiest way; take the Tram 17 from Karlsplatz, Stachus to Schloss Nymphenburg. When you arrive, you have to walk 10 minutes from the train station along the Auffahrtsallee until you reach the castle.

2. Dachau Concentration Camp

If you’ve been itching to visit Auschwitz but are unable to fit it in your schedule since it’s in Poland and not very close to Munich, visit Dachau instead.

It was the first Nazi concentration camp opened in Germany and its intent was to hold political prisoners, but not soon after the camp was opened, it started receiving new prisoner groups like Jehovah’s witnesses, homosexuals, and emigrants.

How to get there: the camp is located about 10 miles northwest of Munich and you can get there by taking the S2 Train from the main Munich train station to Dachau/ Petershausen.

The train ride takes approximately 25 minutes, so it’s not too long. When you arrive at the Dachau train station, take bus 726 towards “Saubachsiedlung” to the entrance of the Memorial Site (“KZ-Gedenkstätte”).

The memorial site is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00am to 5:00pm and entry is free — so it’s also a budget friendly day trip.

3. Salzburg, Austria

If you get the chance, take a day trip and go to this city. It’s one of my favorite cities in all of Europe and I consider it to be one of the most underrated cities.

It’s definitely one of the best day trips from Munich to consider!

If you’ve never heard of Salzburg, no worries. It’s usually not on the radar of many people, yet it’s so beautiful and feels like a small town instead of a large city.

If you’ve heard of the movie “The Sound of Music,” you’d probably recognize some places and areas in the city since the movie was filmed here.

And if you haven’t heard or seen the movie, that’s absolutely fine! There’s waaay more to this city than just being the chosen filming location for the movie, like these 5 underrated things to do and my ultimate list of 15+ things to do in Salzburg.

Furthermore, Salzburg is also the birthplace of one of the greatest composers of all time: Mozart.

If you ever visit, the city has so much pride (and rightfully so) regarding this talented figure and they even have a delicious chocolate treat named after him (Mozartball).

How to get there: the journey from Munich to Salzburg is incredibly beautiful, since you’ll be traveling past various lakes and picturesque Bavarian landscapes. It takes just under a couple of hours (approx. 1.5 hours if you take the Railjet high-speed train).

Travel from the Munich Hbf to Salzburg; trains between the two cities depart hourly and it costs around 30 euros one way. Although, if you are under 26, you could buy a discount card.

I hope you got some fresh ideas for what to do with your time in the city. No doubt, any of these 3 day trip ideas from Munich will be awesome!

If you’ve checked off everything on your list of things to do in Munich, it’s time to venture outside the city limits and explore what lies beyond.

Sophie xx

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