Nuremberg, Munich and then Skiing

A snowHead

I'd like to combine my next skiing holiday in late Jan 2021 (Austria but resort unknown currently) with 3-4 days in Nuremberg and then 3-4 days Munich and then head off to Ski

Is it best to hire a car here in the UK, cross the water and drive straight to Nuremberg, Munich and then to Ski OR take the Euro-star to Brussels, second train to Frankfurt, hire a car at the station then drive to Nuremberg, Munich and then Ski? The latter option seems a lot more appealing..

I'm weighing up the options of hiring here or hiring there. How does the car hire in Germany compare to here in the UK? Cheaper? How have you found the whole process of hiring abroad? I'll hire Skis so no need for storage on the car.

Is there a 'scenic' route from Munich into Austria? of course, depending which end of Austria I choose to Ski!

All advice is appreciated Very Happy

A snowHead

It's a while ago, but Munich to St Anton by train was very easy, though I had the advantage of a fluent ex pat to book and guide me. Gives you the option of flying home from Munich, the airport is a fair way out but dead easy on the urban rail (S Bahn I think).

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I would use the trains.
Much cheaper & probably quicker.

As I see you talk train/driving, is flying out?

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If you really need a car in Germany and Austria, I’d hire in Germany, not the UK, for many reasons including the fact that you’ll get a LHD vehicle. Driving from the UK to Germany is not very pleasurable in winter. If you are planning on returning to the UK from Austria, you could fly back direct from Salzburg, Innsbruck or Munich, dropping the car off at the airport.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Most companies don't allow you to take UK hire cars abroad. Same the other way. And if you find one, theres usually a limit on mileage

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The chances of getting a uk hire car with winter tyres are slim to zero

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After all it is free

The car would be sitting doing nothing when I'm skiing! I could use it to travel to other resorts but I prefer Skiing into them

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I've driven from here (Ski Amadé) to Nuremberg (and beyond) before and I regularly drive to Ingolstadt (about midway between Munich and Nuremberg). It's not a scenic journey once you get into Germany, but other than holdups around Munich it's pretty quick. The trains are very efficient and well priced too and many ski areas have accessible train stations. Fill yer boots!

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@NewSki, this is a very easy itinerary no need for car hire unless you have a preference for driving. If you prefer train then easy enough to get Eurostar to Brussels, then ICE to Cologne and then a connection to Nuremburg from there. A good place to check out travel options is https://www.seat61.com/ though the Deutsche Bahn site https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml (its in English) is better and you can use it to book your tickets. If you are going to be using the trains a fair bit then it might be worth getting a Bahn card, you can get a 3 month one and there are various levels of discount available.

If you prefer to fly then Munich is probably the best bet though Frankfurt is a little easier for train connections.

No issue hiring a car. You could hire a car in Munich simply for the ski part (all German hire cars come with suitable tyres). If you go for a hire car get excess insurance before you go (look for insurance4carhire )

As to potential ski resorts we really need a bit more information on the sort of places you like. Resorts with train stations, at least nearby, (you generally have to change trains) would include St Anton, Zillertal, Kitzbühel, Saalbach-Hinterglemm, much of Ski Amade and lots more.

Scenic route from Munich - not sure there is any particular route I would suggest. The main autobahn route (A8 then either along the Inntal or continue towards Salzburg) is actually very scenic in parts. There is the Fernpass route which takes you through Garmisch to get to Serfaus / Ischgl / St Anton but it can get busy and not ideal in poor weather. If you want to drive to a fairly remote spot you could look at Warth (part of the Arlberg), which involves a long drive up the Lechtal to one of the snowiest parts of the alps.

You might want to get hold of "Where to ski in Austria" https://www.wheretoskiandsnowboard.com/the-book/ which has details of most of the Austrian resorts.

Hi @NewSki,
I like your thread as I used to work in Nuremberg and go skiing in Austria most weekends during the season.
The season would start in November with a long weekend in Hintertux or Stubai.
Then end up at Whitsun on another sunny Glacier.

Its a two to three hour drive from Nuremberg airport to the Zillertal villages, that was when there is no traffic about. I've managed to get to Kitzbuel in 90mins a coupe of times.

Nuremberg is a very quaint old walled town and you'll need 3 or 4 days to take it in.

I don't know Munchen very well at all I'm afraid. But what I've seen of it looks great.

I went that way by train this year as my wife has gone off flying.

We've been the Brussels route before but this time we went via Paris... this was because there only 20mins between trains at Brussels and we only just made it last time.

It was so much easier via Paris, just a short walk from Gare du Nord to Gare d'Est.

You'll have fun working with timetables ...
Have a look at Seat61.com, you'll get a lot of tips on how to book the journey.
Its cheapest to book your Journey 2 months in advance with DBbahn, but for reasonably priced tickets Eurostar needs to be booked well in advance.

I see @Munich_Irish has already given you the links.

The German railways offer fantastic deals on single journeys booked in advance from or to a country just outside Germany, and there is often only a small fee to upgrade to 1st Class.

Now … where are you going to ski?
From Munich it's so easy, you can rent a car.
The only advice I can’t give you is the scenic route. I’ve been in to Austria by all the routes I know, Via Bregenz, The Voralberg, Ruete Pass, Salzbourg but The motorway via Kufstien is so quick and all the mountains look beautiful.

I have the feeling that you are in the states?
I know in the states its quite normal to drive long distances to the resorts, in Europe we tend to stay in the resort at the foot of the hills and just walk or bus to the lifts.

It is quite handy to have a car if you are resort hopping, and I believe you can buy a lift pass that covers a whole host of ski areas in the Tyrol.

I’d make sure you do Kitzbuhel. If you have time do Ischgl and St Anton.
You're going to have a great time.

You know it makes sense.

@DrLawn, Nürnberg to Kitzbühel in 90 minutes? You must have been driving like a mad thing! I've done Munich to Kitz in 1h20 on a completely clear A8, before they introduced the 100Km/H speed limit in Austria. Usually it's 2 hours.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Nuremberg to Kufstein is 163 miles according to RAC routeplanner. . That's at least half an hour from Kitz no matter what the traffic. To complete an average of 163 miles in the first hour I would say is impossible. You might hit 160 MPH but average, totally lunacy.

A snowHead

Best part of three hours for Nuremberg to the Zillertal is realistic, Kitzbühel is pretty much the same.

A snowHead

On a bad day, Munchen Flughafen to Kufstein could be 3 hours via the A99. For a more scenic route, try going cross-country via Wasserburg to Rosenheim where on the way you'll see some nice rolling countryside with traditional Bavarian villages.

If you are driving in that direction anyway, the first "proper" ski resort you'll come to is the Skiwelt, which in January is worth serious consideration. With a Superski pass, you can also ski Kitzbuhel and day trips out to other areas becomes possible as well including Ski Juwel, St Johann/3 Lander, Hochkonig and the Ski Circus via Fieberbrunn.

By train, Skiwelt is easily accessible with a free shuttle bus from Kufstein, while Brixen, Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg have stations as do Zell am See and several others.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Sorry Guys @Steilhang, @jafa, @munich_irish,
.. It was a long time ago (the 90s), maybe the 90 minute one was an aberration. It must have been 2.5 hours
Which is still really going some.

The fast time that sticks in my mind was coming back quite early on the Sunday afternoon when I had to get someone back to the airport in Nuremberg.

I worked in Thurn und Taxis Stasse, so just a couple of minutes to the motorway.
And you could belt down those motorways.

I remember one squiggly bit of Autobahn which had 130kmh limit on it .. seemed barmy, imagine having to slow down to 80mph.
But you are right .. I could not have done it in 90mins ... "Its a Lie"

Anyway ...

@NewSki should be going to at least as far as Munchen by train, he does not need a car in either Nuremberg or Munich (I imagine)
OK you guys are the current regulars down the, what the story with lift passes?
I suppose it depend how long he's going to spend skiing .. to how many regions he needs.
I remember back in February noticing something about a "Super" multi area pass was available.
You guys will know more about that.

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cheers @ousekjarr, .. Yes it makes more sense to go by train..
Regular trains from Munchen (fabulous Station) to Worgl and you have as you say Brixen, Kitzbuhel, Leogang, Zell am See and St Viet.

I had better get on with some work rather than day dreaming about sunny train rides in panorama wagons through snowy skinery by frozen lakes to fabulous pistes. rolling eyes

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Alpine Express Zurich to Graz

Just a memory from February 2020 probably somewhere near Leogang.

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I'm not much good at posting photos either.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

@DrLawn, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transalpin there is even a picture of the interior of the panorama car. My last trip to St Anton in February was in the very same train from Innsbruck in the very pleasant Swiss panorama car, I was due to go again the day they shut everything down!

After all it is free

@munich_irish, Awh! Shame ...
We sneaked under the wire and went out on the 5th of Feb, really was great.
We went from St Pancras 8:30 Friday -> Paris Gare du Nord, Walked to Gare d' Est, -> Frankfurt Maine -> Nuremburg and stopped the night next to the station.
I tried to visit some of my old haunts but we were too tired and hungry.
Next day Nuremburg->Munchen->Worgl->Zell am See.
1st Class all the way from Paris and a couple of extra euro for the panorama car.
It was all a bit special cos my daughter and granddaughter + son in law were on the same train from Zurich. So we had a meet up in the restaurant car.

I've never had any success of putting photos on Snowheads .. there should by a sandbox (probably is) where I could practice.

Have you ever rode the "Bernina Express" ? I see if you play the DBahn game on that .. its a big bargain.
I've been on it from Portoscovo towards St Moritz and back. Love to do it again.

Not much work getting done today Crying or Very sad

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@Markymark29, I'm getting to become a right old "Train Spotter" these days me and the misses took our bikes on the train to Norwich a couple of weeks ago.
The train from Cambridge was brilliant as well as on time ... we seem to get a whole train to ourselves these days.
Even the 12 carriage one that goes to Brighton seems to have us and two others on it.

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https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/experiences/summer-autumn/summervacations/stories/a-railway-journey-to-the-glacier/

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Wouldn't a car hired in the UK have the steering wheel on the right side?

Driving on the right side of the road, is that more or less difficult than driving a car where the steering wheel is on the "wrong side" but the control is in the familiar place, vs steering wheel on the "proper" side of the road but controls in unfamiliar places?

@abc, it's surprisingly easy to adjust to controls on the other side. Always preferable cos it's very easy to drift onto the wrong side of the road with a UK car in Europe, especially when alone on a country road.

You know it makes sense.

Dont overdo the idea of the free shuttle from Kifstein to Skiwelt Soll. A slightly leisurely start and I think it leaves Soll about 4pm so you need a bit of headroom to get back there so not a huge days skiing if, for example, you wanted to link to Kitzbuhel. By train I would certainly recommend Kitzbuhel and Kirchberg, you have to change, Mayrhofen and its various satellites, via the narrow gauge railway, Zell am See, the Badgasteins, St Anton, Innsbruck various resorts but then reliant on shuttles to most of the resorts or for a real adventure maybe the Dolomites, others will know the rail means. There really are lots of possibilities.

https://www.snowcarbon.co.uk/

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

A snowHead

@abc, been there, done that! On a lonely country road in Scotland. Could have been nasty.

A snowHead

@NewSki, is this a Third Reich memorial tour? Shocked

Taking in the Nazi Parade Grounds in Nuremberg, the site of the Burgerbraukeller in Munich where the 1923 Putsch was planned, the infamous concentration camp at Dachau and perhaps a sneaky detour to the Fuhrer's Austrian birthplace in Braunau am Inn before they turn it into a Police Station?? Laughing

But seriously, I'm sure there are other places of interest in those locations!! Toofy Grin

In normal (non-COVID) times, I'd take a flight to Nuremberg, the flights are usually reasonable prices compared to inflated ones on winter weekends into Munich and hyperinflated ones into Salzburg and Innsbruck.

Hire a car there, it will come with Winter Tyres which are compulsory in Germany & Austria...and safer for you!

There is a scenic detour route from Munich into Austria. Slip off the A8 down past Tegernsee then through the border to Achensee. If it's a nice day, be sure to stop for refreshments at the Cafe-Restaurant Bergkristall with its fabulous view overlooking Achensee, Pertisau and the Karwendel range. Just depends which part of Austria you're heading to, but it would work for Zillertal.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Hi @luigi
Its quite interesting having a visit to the Zepelinfeld, I would recommend it.
It has a strange atmosphere and you can almost feel the evil coming out of the ground late on a cold winter night.
There is (or was) a museum there all about the horrors of the 1930's.
Worth a visit.
The snag is .. it will be winter time, but you can still spin the ring at the Schöner Brunnen in the Marketplace.
I don't know enough about Munich.

Now you mentioned Achensee, I didn't know about that back door to Austria
But Pertisau ... is the first place I ever put skis on Smile

The Post Hotel on our schools first ski trip, there was a rope tow for about 30 metres, but we could not use it Sad

I learnt to ski,
I learnt to smoke,
I learnt what happens when you have about 5 bob's of beers at 9d a pint.

I'll go back one day ... and see if the beer has gone up in price.

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..consider travelling on a sunday, since nearly everywhere is closed anyway.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Trains and public transport generally have worse services on sundays in Austria as I have found in the past. Otherwise a good recommendation as Salzburg airport is not nearly as close to a disorganised cattle market on a Sunday.

Help!!

Nuremberg, Munich and then Skiing

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