Living in the countryside outside Munich

Hi

I currently live and London but am moving to Germany with my German wife and two children. In an ideal world I would like to live in a farmhouse surrounded by countryside, great schools and only 15-20 mins from the centre of a large city. I know this is possible in Freiburg but is it possible in Munich?

Sure, why not? I live in a house about 20 minutes from the center of Munich surrounded by farmland and lots of horses - the real question is - can you pay the ridiculous prices around Munich to live in a big farm house within 20 minutes of the center of Munich. I'm guessing that it's more expensive than Freiburg because, well, Munich is more expensive than just about anywhere in Germany.

The farmhouses within 30min drive from Munich are mostly owned by filthy rich people and look like "home decoration: exhibit A". Anyway, if you're willing to drive 30min and spend some money on housing then there are a lot of places (like Starnberg).

edit: ahh, sorry kitkat, didn't mean to offend

I don't live in a farmhouse
And I definitely don't live in Starnberg

I live on the cheap side of town - but on the right side of the tracks!!

But I can tell you that it's reasonably cheap there because there's no public transportation close by.

Freising is cute and the connections to town are good...

Thanks for the help. I suspect my budget will probably mean that we will have to find somewhere at least half an from the city. Starnberg sounds interesting. I'll check it out.

Sounds a bit like me! Until 12 months ago I was living in London but moved to Germany with my German wife and two children.

I live in the sticks West of Munich. It is 45 minutes by car into Munich (too far frankly) and longer by train. But I am also 15 minutes south of Augsburg which has population of 250,000 and I think is the 2nd largest town in Bavaria...so has the main stuff you would expect.

We only live here 'cos we wanted to be close the the in-laws, but property is cheap as chips out here - to buy or rent. We now have a horse!

I guess depends on where you need to work, but I would prefer to be nearer to Munich I think.

Depending on how further out you go, you can rent a farmhouse for as low as 1500 euros per month. I remember checking out a couple for around that price in Schnaitsee or Schonstett (in the Wasserburg area)

Starnberg is the richest district in Germany...and so are the houses I guess.
I've lived by the Ammersee (beautiful lake about 35km away from Munich) for more than 20 years and that's less expensive. There's public transportation and the motorway nearby.
The landscape is really nice and it takes you only about half an hour to Munich...and also to the mountains!
CHeck out the Ammersee and Landsberg area!

@Johnny_English

It is you, the archive is full!

@Manchop

I live about 52 kilometers from Munich, in the general direction where Johnny_English lives. Property is cheap here if you pick the right town or village. Farmhouses might be hard to get but a place in a village should be no problem. I can be in in Munich in 45 minutes by rail and maybe 30 minutes by car. If your kids have been speaking german with your wife at home then integrating in the school system should not be too hard.

@Sunny_me

Do you still live near the Ammersee? I'm in Schondorf.

I agree with Sunny_me, the triangle between Ammersee, Landsberg and Fürstenfeldbrück is still affordable. It seems to not really have been discovered yet by the commuting crowd.

@johnny english
can i ride your horse?

Augsburg is 3rd biggest in Bavaria I think (if you count Franken as Bavaria) but still big enough to be biggish. Depends on what you mean by 15-20 mins from the centre - by car or rail or whatever. I live right on the edge of the city and need about 16 mins on the U Bahn and perhaps 15-25 by car depending on time of day - so you might be pushing it a bit to be in the country and only 15-20 mins away. Wouldn't mind living out in the sticks myself. You can probably find somewhere that is 40 mins by rail or road I reckon

I live out in Seefeld (barely closer than the Ammersee)...definately out in the sticks. ...everything is fairly spendy around here cause it's the lake area, but cheaper than downtown I suppose...and it takes 45 minutes by S-bahn to get into town. Too far.

1500 Euros!!! Blimey get half the village for that out here :-)

The rental prices top out at around 1,000 Euros a month. Take a look here:

http://www.immobilienscout24.de

I am 10 minutes North of Landsberg (nice little town - Hitler did some porridge there), so within touch of Landsberg or Augsburg.

Agree that this is the least developed of the areas around Munich. The South is more expensive because or Amersee and of course nearer to the Alps, the North has the Airport etc - but the West is kinda quiet and cheaper. Seem to be plenty of horses and little farms round here :-)

I live in Klosterlechfeld and I think we pay about €750 a month for 140 sq metres which is daft money.

p.s. Someone mentioned kids - water off a ducks back below the age of 10 - they get the language in weeks!!! Australian friend came over with her 6 year old boy...he had it sussed in 2 months. Mine are fluent with no trace of an accent.

@Yeti.
I lived in Eching for 15 years, then I moved to Landsberg ...and for two years now, it's Munich!
But my whole family is still in Eching, Diessen, etc...

@Sunny_me

I've lived in Munich for a few years, then in Finning for 6 years or so and now I'm in Schondorf.

@yeti: Finning is also within the family places u know the Staudenwirt? My aunt owns it!

I agree with Johnny ENglish, Landsberg is fantastic!!! I really love it.

You are not going to find anything to fit those parameters exactly: countryside and 15-20 minutes. I live about 2 miles in from the edge of the city / start of the countryside and it takes me approx 15 mins by car to get into town (on a good day) and half an hour by public transport.

Hey - sounds like we could perhaps arrange an "alternative" Curry Night in Landsberg? Didn't know there were others lurking from so far out in the sticks!!!

Anyone interested??

That's a perfect idea!!! Anyone going to Landsberg tomorrow, it's the "Lumpiger Donnerstag" and the whole town goes crazy???!
We could have some cocktails after the "curry" at "SONDERBAR". Worked behind the bar for 3 years

@Sunny_me

If a car stops in Finning to ask directions then 9 times out of 10 guess where their looking for?

Good grub.

Lumpigen Donnerstag in Landsberg is mad in a nice way. Much prefer it to Munich, I'm not a great fan of fasching though.

An alternative curry night would be great. Have to wait until I get a car though or the biking weather returns.

Yeti: Yeah that would be a great idea: ride out to LL on a sunny evening for a curry...

I like the fact that a thread started by somebody living in London has inspired so many people here to start raving about living in the countryside

I am in the midst of a city versus suburbs dilemma.

We are currently flat-hunting (or rather my husband and his digital camera are) and we are torn between a city apartment in the midst of a young, lively area, with Latte's to go, convenient shopping, bars etc and the suburbs were we will have more space, less neighbours and a garden (for our 3 year old).

We are tending toward the suburb option for our son's sake, but I am worried I won't be happy there.
We are looking at areas in the North (Garching, Ismaning, Unter/Oberschleissheim etc) for work reasons.
Has anyone made the city to suburbs move? Did you regret it? Can you get Latte's there? Are the neighbours friendlier or nosier?

All thoughts appreciated.

@Jeeves

I'm glad you said sunny, was wondering how to weld my skis on the bike.

Well I really liked Munich when I lived there, I had a mix of city center and suburbs (Gräfelfing which I can really recommend, but expensive) and then I moved because of my kids because we didn't want them to grow up in the city. Now I'm staying here so I can see them easier, plus I llike the countryside. Less noise, the air is better, it actually gets dark at night. A transporter beam to get to work would be handy though.

I can imagine that the move from London would be a bit of a change though.

Can only comment on where I live.
Holzkirchen, south of Munich.

Its halfway between the centre of town and the Tegernsee, so equidistant between the big city and the lakes/mountains.
Plenty of farmhouse around here, good views of the mountains (weather permitting) and plenty of horse stables as well.

To Hauptbahnhof its around 40 minutes on the S-bahn (twice per hour) or 20-ish on the BOB. Driving time depends on where in town you are heading and at what time of day or night you are going.
We have all the shops here for which you need to live, and if you don't fancy the drive into Munich for the other shops, theres Rosenheim along the A8, with a more scenic view as you go.

Move from London? No big deal and of course if your partner is German that makes things much easier on the admin. Its a lot less stressful out here, in fact almost too easy sometimes. Socially of course you kinda start from scratch again, and being in the sticks means things are generally quieter of course.

But upsides far outweigh the downs!

I agree with all the suggestions.Crispybee mentioned Holzkirchen, the area is very nice and within easy reach of the city as is Taufkirchen.

A word of warning though from someone who lives in a farm house. Sometimes the land surrounding wooded areas is owned by the church, which may mean problems with access rights. Private roads do not get cleared of snow on days such as today (when I'm up to my waist in it), making it difficult to get in or out or take the weans to school. Other issues such as trees falling on your car whilst driving to your house may not be covered by insurance. So check out the ownership of access roads before buying or renting property in the country.

Otherwise, it is very pleasant to wake up in the morning to the beauty of nature. I'm sure you and your family will love it. Good luck.

BTW you are unlikely to get a whole farmhouse at all. Most of the Bauernhöfe here are huge and have usually been converted into 2 or more apartments.

See the following for example:
http://forward.immobilienscout24.de/9004EXP/34091188

Where are you planning to work? If it's on the north side I highly discourage living on the south side. I have 2 friends who live in Windach(near the Ammersee) and work at BMW. They are complaining endlessly about the commute - dirivng or S-bahn-Ubahn is over an hour one way. My commute from Riedmoos(part of Unterschleissheim) was 25 minutes yesterday in the snow.

@tara: We're living in Oberschleißheim and like it a lot. It's a nice place ( if you live on the right side of the tracks) with the Schloss and park etc. It takes about 15min by car to Schwabing and ca.20 by S-Bahn to Marienplatz. However considering childcare/schools/shopping/etc Unterschleißheim has a much braoder range of options (Microsoft is situated there so the community is quite wealthy). Garching is OK too and will have the U-Bahn to Town within a year or so.
Ismaning is said to be very pretty (I've only been to the beergarden which is lovely).

I have lived in munich for 5 years, my kids go to school in munich ,but i now live outside munich in Erding ,this is 25mins.away by train to munich center,the kids will need to be with other children ,dont seclude yourself as it can get lonely ,Munich has many green places to live ,but some have no shops and no transport,please do your homework before you move,if you have a relocation company be careful,most of the time your just another paycheck to them.

It depend on what you will do with the kids education. If you will be putting them into the German system then the world is your lobster and you can live where you like. But if you are going to put them into one of the two international school in Munich (BIS and MIS) then you should conisder living out of town. Both schools are out of town - BIS in the flat, dull, cheaper, north and MIS in the beautiful, interesting, expensive, south.

Either way, it's 20-25 mins on the S-Bahn to get into the centre of Munich (which costs just a few quid compared to a small fortune in London). So it's no big deal living out-of-town.

IMHO

What is life like in the Bavarian countryside?

Topics merged by admin

I live in Rosenheim, which is still not quite countryside, but way better than Munich itself, and I used to live in Stephanskirchen which was even more rural and its even better, before that I was in Amerang, but that was probably a bit too small for me then, I could go back there now though.

You probably need a car though.

the most important thing is to understand your priorities. do you want city life several times a week or just once ina while? how much space do you want? are you (and your parner) adaptable?

living in the countryside (or at least outside munich) has a lot of advantages and you will find all the conveniences not too far away but you definitely need a car. prices vary depending on which conveniences you have and how far they are, including trains, motorways, airports, larger towns, etc.

plan on being isolated and not having many english speakers around. I live in Deggendorf, about 60 minutes from Munich and I am growing to love it. I have never been a big city girl and need lots of space for my family. It costs quite a bit less to live in the country as well.

hello.
my husband jus gt a job with vmware and we will be moving there soon, ne suggestions as to where i could start looking for apartments, we are looking fr a 1-2 room thing ard unterschleißheim,mayb rght there, any suggestions...pls advise

Lots of people live in Unterschleissheim...
Some poor souls even have to work there.
It's not really what I would call "out in the country". There are loads of shops, bars and restaurants, and you're at Hauptbahnhof in 25 minutes with the S1.

I'd bloody love to work there. Its well near my TV

is this the same Unterschleissheim where d_r and i ended up in the only bar we could find outside the modern town hall/underground bowling alley, etc?

mrs grazz works in lohhof which is possibly even worse

Well, I live in (technically) Unterschleissheim and it's not bad. There are lots of shops etc.

If you want to go out every night of the week, it does present a bit of a challenge, but it is do-able. I love it because I love being outdoors and I hate the traffic in Munich. I work in Munich so now I have the best of both worlds.

Lightweights, you're not living in the bavarian countryside until everybody in the village is called Sepp Muller, somebody from Ingolstadt is an exotic foreigner and the last bit of excitement was when the Swedes passed through on the way to sack Landsberg.

How bout drinks in Augsburg Fri or Sat night?
The only place I can recommend so far is ttp://www.augsburger-hof.de.
Its right across from the MozartHaus. My boyfriend and I learned about Leopold and then headed over to the closest restaurant we could find. We were skeptical about eating in a touristy hotel but the food was really really great and they had a nice bar...