A Dry Day

Today was an opportunity to leave Munich behind for a while and visit some more of Bavaria, only a part of the Federal Republic, but a large one. At first the weather was its customary miserable self, but things improved as the day wore on, and there was even some sunshine on offer.

Exploring Bavaria is not an expensive pastime: due to a state sponsored initiative, you can travel around the whole area by rail for just twenty Euro a day, although if you can’t trust the ticket machines to behave themselves, the ticket counter charges two more Euro. The downside is that only Regional trains can be used – so the fastest InterCity and ICE are out – but you get city transport thrown in, as well as all bus services.

First stop, after a fast journey on a well filled Regional Express from Munich, was Nuernberg, which has a magnificent station building and, more of interest to the average tourist, a large walled Old Town. It would merit a whole day’s attention.

Later in the day came a cross country trip to Augsburg, through some almost impossibly well tended countryside (who does it best, Germany, Switzerland or Austria?) and stopping so often that the train may have been Regional, but Express it was not. Augsburg is also worth a longer visit, and notable for the number of its citizens who tend to wander around in front of moving trams.

From Augsburg, it’s a short hop back to Munich. The 20 Euro offer also covered my day out in Salzburg on Saturday, and the number of destinations seems limitless. No point complaining about the exchange rate at this price.