vibhav

Folks,

So using my other thread and lots of help from some very helpful fodorites, we have narrowed down our itinerary... Here is the one that is final almost 95% .. just need a couple of questions answered and then we should be good to go ..

We are 4 adults (me, my wife and my wife's parents) and one kid (4 year old).. Needless to say we cannot do too much of daring stuff ... Looking to do a lot of sightseeing from the car with some easy hikes (upto 3 miles/ 5 Kms round trip) ... Also, I am very much into landscape and city photography ... So looking for any hidden gems or nuggets of useful information from a photography perspective ....

9-Jun Wednesday --- Leave Houston in the evening
10-Jun Thursday --- Arrive Munich Evening. Drive to Salzburg - No sightseeing
Overnight: Salzburg/Berchtesgaden
11-Jun Friday --- Do Bercht and Konigssee, Salzburg in the evening
Overnight: Salzburg/Berchtesgaden
12-Jun Saturday ---- Salzburg in the morning. Hallstatt in the afternoon and evening
Overnight: Salzburg/Berchtesgaden
13-Jun Sunday --- Drive to Venice, 2nd half in Venice
Overnight: Venice
14-Jun Monday --- Venice Sightseeing
Overnight: Venice
15-Jun Tuesday --- Venice and Side Trips - Burano
Overnight: Venice
16-Jun Wednesday --- Drive to Verona. Day in Verona and drive to Alta Badia
Overnight: Alta Badia
17-Jun Thursday --- Dolomites Sightseeing
Overnight: Alta Badia
18-Jun Friday --- Dolomites all day, Reach Innsbruck late night or early next morning
Overnight: Alta Badia/ Hall/Innsbruck/ Mittenwald
19-Jun Saturday --- (Reach Innsbruck) Zugspitz, Garmisch and Innsbruck
Overnight: Hall/Innsbruck/ Mittenwald
20-Jun Sunday --- Free Day??
Overnight: Hall/Innsbruck/ Mittenwald
21-Jun Monday --- Drive to Munich via Ludwig's Castles (Fussen) and Garmisch
Overnight: Munich
22-Jun Tuesday --- Flight out from Munich

Questions

- We now have one extra day ... Is it advisable to add that in the Southern bavaria region or should we use it elsewhere? Where in the itinerary do you see the need for that extra day?
- For the Tirol region (Zugspitz, Innsbruck) and for the Ludwig's castles, what is the best place for staying overnight?? Hall or Innsbruck or Reutte or Mittenwald or Garmisch or Fussen??

WIll be posting some separate posts for details by region ...

Thanks a lot for all of your help ...
Vibhav

pja1

Hi,

Just want to say we LOVE the Dolomites, Alta Badia in partucular!

I don't understand the leave Alta Badia at night/arrive Innsbruck in the am.

My suggestion... June 18 stay in Alta Badia

Our favorite old town in the area is Brixen/Bressanone. On the way to the Innsbruck area, make a quick stop (1 or 2 hrs.) in the very charming old town of Sterzing/Vipiteno. Very easy off/on the A22 Brenner Autostrada.

Sun. June 20... stay where you are on the 19th. Plenty to see in the area.

We can highly recommend (stayed 3 times) the Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol.

www.badl.at

Mittenwald (we stayed twice at the Pension Schwalbennestl) is also a favorite place to stay of ours.
www.schwalbennestl.de

Between the two places... Tough call.


We have a "trip report" from 9/09 which includes the Dolomites and Berchtesgaden area:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-bavaria.cfm

and another from 10/06 which also includes the Dolomites, Mittenwald and Berchtesgaden area:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-austria.cfm

Your plan sounds pretty good though.

Paul

vibhav

Thanks Paul ... will definitely read through your trip reports for more information ... We are also leaning towards staying three nights and two days in Dolomites ... With my photography and my wife wanting to take it a bit easy in pretty areas, we will likely do so ...

Thanks for the suggestions for places to stay ... sent them emails to find out more ...

rhkkmk

lots of B&B's all around in germany and austria....signs at the end of driveways...

lots like a fantastic trip but i am not sure about your timing....seems to me you will spend your whole time on the road... 21 jun is a perfect example....are you just going to look up the hill and see the castle or will you spend the few hours necessary to climb up and go inside and also visit the other schloss at the base (his mother's house)... btw, i would stay in fussen area.....there is also another nearby castle of ludwig's which is a great take---hunting lodge/i forget the name

vibhav

rhkkmk ... we are planning to visit both the castles inside as well ... from what I have read, it is a half day trip for both the castles ... So we plan to spend most of the day in and around the castles and then head over to Munich late in the evening ...

TravMimi

Looks like a fantastic trip. Our favorite old town on that route is Bolzano. It's certainly worth a stop to see Otzi the Ice Man at the South Tyrol Archaeology Museum. It also has nice shopping/strolling. The cable car to Renon is fun too. The old town is compact, easy to get to, and there is convenient parking. Have a wonderful trip.

vibhav

Thanks a lot TravMimi ... we definitel plan to check out Bolzano and Otzi ...

Paul and other experienced folks on this forum ... Any feedback on Gasthof Wörndlhof*** in Ramsau ??

pja1

Hi,

NSorry, haven't stayed there, but we have stayed at the Pension Mayringerlehen in Ramsau three times so far ('06, '07 and '09). Love the place and the people... actually, it's our favorite place to stay anywhere.

Our pic's are at:

www.worldisround.com/articles/355548/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/355548/index.html

Paul

pja1

I don't know if you're looking for a place in Alta Badia, but we have stayed twice at, and can HIGHLY recommend the Ciasa Montanara in La Villa.

www.montanara.it

www.worldisround.com/articles/355539/index.html

Paul

vibhav

yeap Paul ... We contacted both your suggested places via email ...Pension Mayringerlehen unfortunately is booked for our dates ... Ciasa Montanara has not replied yet ..

We found another place near Berch which comes with great reviews on Tripadvisor ... Let us know if anyone has any prior experience with this one ...

ALPENHOTEL DENNINGLEHEN
www.denninglehen.de

pja1

Hi again, for the Ramsau area, while we never stayed here, people we met last year have and liked it very much. We had dinner here twice... our favorite place for dinner in the area.

www.gebirgshaeusl.de/index.php?en_willkommen

Paul

vibhav

Thanks a lot Paul .. their apartments look real nice and might work out best for our situation ... I have emailed them .. so lets see what they come back with ...

EmilyC

A couple of other great places in Ramsau - Hotel Nutzkaser - fabulous foods and value priced rooms.

Hotel Rehlegg, which is a Best Western...another great spot.

We have also stayed at the Bergheimat over by the Konigsee and the Jenner chair lift.

This area is so great, I don't think you can find a bad place to stay!!

EmilyC

Geez, I forgot about the Schloss Hotel Korb, just outside of Balzano...we stayed here three nites for our splurge...easy drive over to Bozen to see Otzi.What a great spot!

I would recommend putting the Museum in your GPS before driving into Bozen....it's a typical Italian city with people biking and walking right in front of your car and no acknowledgement of road signs or red lights!!

EmilyC

www.schloss-hotel-korb.com

www.hotel-nutzkaser.de

EmilyC

Hope you have re-worked your itinerary. Berchtesgaden and Konigsee during the day and Salzburg at nite???

Nein, nein, nein!!!

vibhav

Thanks a lot Emily for all the wonderful advice ... I have emailed Hotel schloss korb and Nutzkaser ... Schloss looks fabulous, but mgiht be out of budget range !! We would love to stay there ... Maybe we cab squeeze the budget for a splurge .. Let's see ...

So you do not think Berchtesgaden and Konigsee are do-able in first half of the day? We have kept Salzburg for both that evening and next morning to allow for that ... if we take all dat to do berchtesgaden and Konigsee, we will just to Salzburg next morning ... We have been to Salzburg before, so not too hung about a lot of time there ... Want to do the scenic, picturesque smaller towns this time ...

How do you feel about Salzburg in the morning and Hallstatt in evening ? Is that do-able ??

EmilyC

Yipes...you're killing me. I have been to B'gaden/Salzburg area 31 times since 1975. You could say that I am a fan of the place which is interesting because I didn't want to go to Germany the first time. We are hikers, eaters, and beer and wine drinkers.

You can't assume that all of these can be done in one day 'cause you don't know what the weather will be when you are there.

Here's a list of potential choices in the area and how long each will take:

Salzburg - minimum 1/2 day ( if you want to drive in and just walk around)but you have already seen it.Much more if you go up to the fortess and tour the town.

Berchtesgaden(town) - the town about 2 hours with time for shopping and kuchen!! More time if you want to visit the castle and have a meal and browse around the great streets/cemetaries/monuments.

Hiking - this area is hiking heaven and you've left no time for it....

Konisgee - 3/4 day if you get good weather and take the boat tour. More if you stop for hiking, eating. If you don't take the boat ride - well you're nuts!!!!! )There are mank hiking trails in and around the Konigsee.

Salt Mine - 4 hours

Enzianbrennerei - to sample the local schnapps which is made from the Gentian plant - 1 hour with lots of free samples!!!

Eagle's Nest/Documentation Center - a minimum of 4 hours but only do the Eagle's Nest if the weather is clear (unless you don't care about the view)

Rossfeldstrasse - at least two hours with great photo ops for the views. Don't do this if the weather is not good.

Castle Hohenwerfen - about 1 hr outside of Salzburg. Great falcon shows and fantastic views. Fours hours at least.

Jennerbahn chair - with a visit to the summit and more great photo ops.....3 hours

The drive to Hallstadt is about a little less than 2 hours from Ramsau...less if no traffic. I would definitely not do this at night...the views are too great and the mountain roads are not lit up like our streets here.

It might not be a bad idea to save Hallstadt for your next trip.

I have given you a few highlights...there are many more things to see in this area. Please consider "trimming" your itinerary.

If you do go to Bolzano, you can go have lunch at the Korb - beautiful spot!!

Good luck!!

babsNYC

Also, it sounds like you will not spend any time at all in Munich itself. it's a lovely town and certainly worth a day or so.

bettyk

You'd be better off doing Salzburg in the evening instead of Hallstatt. The scenery is the prime reason to go to Hallstatt as well as the wonderful Cultural Museum and Salt Mine.

EmilyC is right about the Berchtesgaden area. You could spend a week there and never run out of things to do, especially when you consider all the nearby towns that you could do as day trips.

And weather is definitely a consideration when you get into the higher elevations.

We also loved Bolzano for the reasons given above and can also recommend the Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol.