Day 1
Description: You'll land at Munich International Airport in the morning, take the S-Bahn or a taxi straight into the Old Town, and check in at Hotel Bayerischer Hof — the grand five-star anchor of central Munich and your home for the first two nights. Drop bags, freshen up, and walk five minutes to Marienplatz for your first proper hit of Bavaria. The afternoon is for slow Old Town wandering: into the Frauenkirche to look up at the soaring twin-tower interior, then south through the painted alleys to Asamkirche — the city's most theatrical baroque jewel-box and the photo your audience will save first. From there, two minutes' walk takes you to Schmalznudel - Cafe Frischhut for a fresh-fried Bavarian doughnut while it's still warm, eaten at one of the wood tables in the back. As the light fades, Uber across the Isar to Wirtshaus in der Au for the one traditional Bavarian dinner of the trip — roast pork with potato dumplings, dark gravy, a Helles, real candles, mostly locals. You'll be jet-lagged and full and that's exactly the point.
Munich International Airport — transit
Hotel Bayerischer Hof — hotel
Marienplatz
Frauenkirche
Asamkirche
Schmalznudel - Cafe Frischhut — afternoon snack
Wirtshaus in der Au — dinner
Day 2
Description: A full Munich lifestyle day — the kind your audience actually books trips around. Start early in the western suburbs at Nymphenburg Palace, when the long reflective canal is still quiet and the yellow facade catches morning light from the east. Take the tram back into Schwabing and slow down at Café Buur for late brunch — homemade granola, eggs benedict on brioche, a real flat white. Walk south through Schwabing's quiet streets toward the centre. Spend an hour at the Munich Residence — the Wittelsbach royal palace and one of the most underrated palace visits in Europe — then one block north for the bright yellow facade of the Theatine Church on Odeonsplatz. Coffee and a slice of Luitpold-Torte at Café Luitpold next door, where the Klimt-era atmosphere is the point. The afternoon is for Maximilianstraße — Munich's luxury boulevard, every label, slow walking, the architecture is worth the time even if you're only window-shopping. Late afternoon walk five minutes east into the English Garden's southern edge for Die Goldene Bar, the gilded ex-museum bar inside Haus der Kunst — sunset cocktails, soft live music in the corner.
Nymphenburg Palace
Café Buur — brunch
Munich Residence
Theatine Church
Café Luitpold — coffee
Maximilianstraße — afternoon shopping
Die Goldene Bar — evening cocktails
Day 3
Description: Pick up your rental car early — the alpine loop begins. Drive south for about 90 minutes through pre-alpine countryside to the Schwangau valley, where Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle face each other across a forested ridge. Start at Hohenschwangau in the morning while the queue is shortest — the more interesting of the two for actual history. Walk up to Neuschwanstein for your booked timed-entry tour, then take the 10-minute path to the Marienbrücke for the photo. Lunch in Schwangau village, then drive 75 minutes east to Linderhof Palace — Ludwig II's smallest, most intimate creation, gilded rococo bonbon in a forested valley. Continue 25 minutes north through Ettal to Oberammergau for a slow afternoon walk through the painted-house woodcarving village. Then 45 minutes south through Garmisch and into the private valley above Krün, where Schloss Elmau opens up at the end of a forest road — the destination luxury alpine resort of Bavaria, your home for the next two nights. Check in, half-board includes the room rate, dinner is expected. Sauna before, spa after.
Hohenschwangau Castle
Marienbrücke
Neuschwanstein Castle
Linderhof Palace
Oberammergau
Schloss Elmau — hotel + dinner
Day 4
Description: The high-mountain day, all anchored from Schloss Elmau as your base. Drive 25 minutes south to Eibsee at the foot of the Zugspitze. Take the cable car up Germany's highest peak first thing — 10 minutes vertical, 1,900m of climb, breathtaking. Spend an hour or two at the summit on the panoramic platform, see Switzerland and Italy on a clear day, then ride back down for lunch at the Eibsee Hotel terrace overlooking the turquoise lake. Walk part of the 7km Eibsee shore loop, which has the best wooden-jetty photo at the south end. Mid-afternoon, drive 20 minutes east to Partnachklamm — the dramatic limestone gorge with walkways carved into the rock. Wear shoes that grip and waterproofs. Loop back to Mittenwald on the drive home, 20 minutes south of Schloss Elmau — the painted-house violin-makers' village, the prettiest small town in Bavaria. Coffee on Obermarkt, walk Untermarkt, browse a violin atelier if open. Back at Schloss Elmau by sunset for sauna and another half-board dinner. Slow night.
Zugspitze
Eibsee — lunch
Partnachklamm
Mittenwald
Day 5
Description: Check out of Schloss Elmau and use today as a long but scenic east-bound transfer day, working your way through the alpine lakes that bridge the Garmisch and Berchtesgaden regions. First stop is Walchensee, 30 minutes north of Krün — the deep turquoise alpine lake, often called the Bavarian Caribbean, walk the lakefront in Urfeld for 20 minutes. Five minutes north, cross the low ridge to Kochelsee for a quieter morning lake walk and a coffee with the Franz Marc Museum view. Mid-morning, drive 90 minutes east through Bayrischzell to Schliersee — quick stop at the lakeside chapel. From here, wind 15 minutes up into the mountains to Spitzingsee for an early lunch at Albert-Link-Hütte: Kaiserschmarrn or Käsespätzle on the wooden terrace, the kind of lunch that pays for the drive. From Spitzingsee, it's another 90 minutes east into Berchtesgaden — wander the Marktplatz for an hour as the afternoon settles, then drive 5km up the mountain to Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden, your home for the last night. Tonight, dress up: dinner at Gourmet Restaurant PUR, the hotel's two-Michelin-star tasting-menu room and the meal of the trip.
Walchensee
Kochelsee
Schliersee
Spitzingsee
Albert-Link-Hütte — lunch
Berchtesgaden
Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden — hotel
Gourmet Restaurant PUR — dinner
Day 6
Description: Your last and biggest day — Berchtesgaden delivers Bavaria's greatest hits in a tight 30-minute radius. Start very early at Königssee — first boat at 8am — for the electric-boat ride up the fjord-like lake to the Pilgrimage Church of St. Bartholomew, the red-domed chapel you've seen on every Bavaria postcard. Catch the empty-boat photo, listen for the captain's flugelhorn echo, walk to the upper lake at Salet if you have time. Back on land mid-morning, drive 15 minutes west to Wimbachklamm — the wooden-boardwalk gorge — for an atmospheric 30-minute stop. Continue to Ramsau for the Parish Church of St. Sebastian, the most photogenic alpine church in Bavaria, photographed from the wooden footbridge just downstream. Drive 10 minutes on to Hintersee, the mirror-still lake with the magic forest, and walk the easy lake loop. Late afternoon, swing back via Wallfahrtskirche Maria Gern for the iconic shot with the Watzmann behind, and finish high — literally — at Kehlsteinhaus, the mountaintop site reachable only by official shuttle bus, with panoramic views across the entire national park. Drive the 2 hours back to Munich International Airport for your evening flight.
Königssee
Pilgrimage Church of St. Bartholomew
Wimbachklamm
Parish Church of St. Sebastian
Hintersee
Wallfahrtskirche Maria Gern
Kehlsteinhaus
