Help! While trying to decide between Costa Rica and Ireland for July, I found a great airfare to Munich. We are interested in small towns/villages, self catering, hiking, biking, anything outdoors. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Rob

Well, I have not been to Costa Rica but I would guess that Bavaria is closer in style to Ireland.

I think Munich is a wonderful choice - but then I would do, wouldn't I :-).

As a start, you have the vibrant, 'Southern' city itself which really does have something for everyone: great shopping, vibrant cafe life and restaurants and as much history and culture as you would find in any capital city (as far as the Bavarians are concerned, it IS their capital city!). Then you have a mass of things to do outside the city and a great railway system to get there if you don't want to drive. To the South and South East, you have the gorgeous Alps (straight off a chocolate box) and Ludwig's amazing castles, plus lakes and the divine Salzburg.
And to the North East you have my adopted home territory: the Danube, the peaceful green forested mountains of the Bavarian Forest and the Czech Republic - a visit to Prague is easy and essential!
And those suggestions are just a part of Bavaria - there are lots more lovely, historic cities and beautiful countryside.

quote:

We are interested in small towns/villages, self catering, hiking, biking, anything outdoors.

Rob, we are just finishing up a week's stay in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We were also here for a week last year and have traveled in this area many times over the past 15 years. Garmisch is about an hour and a half from the Munich airport. This area has everything you mentioned. Although it's a town of 27,000 (two formerly-separate towns), depending on where you stay, you can find much more of a "village" feeling, while still enjoying some of the benefits of a larger town. Mittenwald or Oberammergau (or Grainau outside Garmisch) might be other possibilities to consider. Bikes are easy to rent and there are MANY biking trails. You can take cable cars up many mountains for hiking. There are many options for self-catering rentals ("ferienwohnungen"... check the tourist office websites and request their catalogues).

You can easily make a day trip to Munich by train, about an hour and a half from Garmisch to the main station in Munich. You can buy a Bayern ticket for 28 euro and up to five people can travel on the regional trains all day, including on the local train/subway in Munich.

Given what you say you're interested in, if you've got a great fare, I think you would love it here!

Kathy