Germany - Vacation Base
Feb 18th, 2015, 10:09 PM
#1
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Germany - Vacation Base
Hi all,
I am planning a 3 week trip for my mom, my young boys, and me to Germany this summer or next. We spent 4 weeks there last summer and visited quite a bit, so I am looking to stay put in one area this next trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Chiemgau area and that is probably top of our list. We also enjoyed the Harz very much and were enchanted with Garmish-Partenkirchen, Grainau. Freiburg was also very lovely.
I am looking for the following: A place to stay that gives us day trip options that are fairly close (we will no doubt have a car), a charming Altstadt, lots of nature, and a lake or two for the boys to swim in.
I know that sounds open ended, but I'd like to avoid the bigger cities.....I've seen and done them all. We've spent considerable amount of time near Dresden, Munich, etc.
We would even consider places in Austria. Any thoughts? I have been searching vacation homes, etc, but maybe there are some areas I am not considering that would fit the bill.
Thanks!
I am planning a 3 week trip for my mom, my young boys, and me to Germany this summer or next. We spent 4 weeks there last summer and visited quite a bit, so I am looking to stay put in one area this next trip.
We thoroughly enjoyed the Chiemgau area and that is probably top of our list. We also enjoyed the Harz very much and were enchanted with Garmish-Partenkirchen, Grainau. Freiburg was also very lovely.
I am looking for the following: A place to stay that gives us day trip options that are fairly close (we will no doubt have a car), a charming Altstadt, lots of nature, and a lake or two for the boys to swim in.
I know that sounds open ended, but I'd like to avoid the bigger cities.....I've seen and done them all. We've spent considerable amount of time near Dresden, Munich, etc.
We would even consider places in Austria. Any thoughts? I have been searching vacation homes, etc, but maybe there are some areas I am not considering that would fit the bill.
Thanks!
Feb 18th, 2015, 11:28 PM
#2
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Do you plan to have a car. What about St Gilgen near Salzburg? we stayed there some years ago and loved it. This is what I wrote at the time:
Day 11 - 16: St Gilgen
We travelled to St Gilgen via Mauthausen where we visited the concentration camp. Whilst certainly a very thought provoking and sad place, it was a disappointing place to visit. Large parts of the camp seemed to be under reconstruction as a recent storm had created some damage, and the audio guide seemed to not follow the layout of the camp. We met several tourists who declared they had simply “given up” on the audio guide as it did not seem to follow any pattern.
By the time we entered St Gilgen (about 30km from Salzburg) it was raining lightly, but even the inclement weather could not detract form the breathtaking beauty of the area. We all immediately fell in love with the place – the mountains, the lakes, the villages …. Just all of it! I personally think this must be one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and I loved every single day of our stay, even though the weather was not very kind to us. Once again, it was a definite highlight of the trip for us.
We had battled to find suitable self catering accommodation in St Gilgen on the internet, but what we found was absolutely lovely. We stayed in apartments run by Family Weissenbacher which are next door to the camping ground which they run in Abersee (on the outskirts of St Gilgen) (http://www.birkenstrand.at/fewo_eng.htm) . The apartments were beautifully refurbished, spacious and extremely reasonably priced. This is certainly some the nicest accommodation we have stayed at in Europe, and definitely some of the cheapest! A wonderful find and I would love to stay there again!
Our first day in the St Gilgen area was an absolutely magical day! The weather was kind to us, and we headed off for gorgeous Hallstatt. We explored the town, the church and the very pretty graveyard. The bonehouse with its beautifully decorated skulls was interesting too. From Hallstatt we drove to Dachstein where we visited the ice caves, before heading for the salt mines at Bad Aussee. This was the secret hiding place of art treasures stolen by the Nazis during WW2.
Unfortunately most of the rest of our stay in this area was wet or overcast, with very few sunny patches. However, we still had a fantastic time. We visited Salzburg one day which we enjoyed. As it was a VERY wet day, we only visited the fortress and spent most of the rest of the day sheltering in shops. Our friend Andrew spent the morning on a tour of the town and the afternoon on a sound of music bus tour. We met up with him in Mondsee (outside the church used for the wedding scene in the Sound of Music) which was the last stop of his tour before it went back to Salzburg.
When it wasn’t raining we enjoyed going up mountains on cable cars for some lovely walks, summer tobogganing down some slopes (which the girls really enjoyed!) and visiting a deer park.
We also enjoyed another special day visiting Berchtesgaden in Germany. The museum, Dokumentation Obersalzberg was a wealth of information and really worth a visit. The views from Eagles Nest over the valley and the Konigsee were also special. The highlight of the day for us was however the boat trip on the Konigsee. We went to the furthermost point and then walked across some lovely countryside to another lake. It was very pretty and we took some beautiful photos to remember it by.
Day 11 - 16: St Gilgen
We travelled to St Gilgen via Mauthausen where we visited the concentration camp. Whilst certainly a very thought provoking and sad place, it was a disappointing place to visit. Large parts of the camp seemed to be under reconstruction as a recent storm had created some damage, and the audio guide seemed to not follow the layout of the camp. We met several tourists who declared they had simply “given up” on the audio guide as it did not seem to follow any pattern.
By the time we entered St Gilgen (about 30km from Salzburg) it was raining lightly, but even the inclement weather could not detract form the breathtaking beauty of the area. We all immediately fell in love with the place – the mountains, the lakes, the villages …. Just all of it! I personally think this must be one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited and I loved every single day of our stay, even though the weather was not very kind to us. Once again, it was a definite highlight of the trip for us.
We had battled to find suitable self catering accommodation in St Gilgen on the internet, but what we found was absolutely lovely. We stayed in apartments run by Family Weissenbacher which are next door to the camping ground which they run in Abersee (on the outskirts of St Gilgen) (http://www.birkenstrand.at/fewo_eng.htm) . The apartments were beautifully refurbished, spacious and extremely reasonably priced. This is certainly some the nicest accommodation we have stayed at in Europe, and definitely some of the cheapest! A wonderful find and I would love to stay there again!
Our first day in the St Gilgen area was an absolutely magical day! The weather was kind to us, and we headed off for gorgeous Hallstatt. We explored the town, the church and the very pretty graveyard. The bonehouse with its beautifully decorated skulls was interesting too. From Hallstatt we drove to Dachstein where we visited the ice caves, before heading for the salt mines at Bad Aussee. This was the secret hiding place of art treasures stolen by the Nazis during WW2.
Unfortunately most of the rest of our stay in this area was wet or overcast, with very few sunny patches. However, we still had a fantastic time. We visited Salzburg one day which we enjoyed. As it was a VERY wet day, we only visited the fortress and spent most of the rest of the day sheltering in shops. Our friend Andrew spent the morning on a tour of the town and the afternoon on a sound of music bus tour. We met up with him in Mondsee (outside the church used for the wedding scene in the Sound of Music) which was the last stop of his tour before it went back to Salzburg.
When it wasn’t raining we enjoyed going up mountains on cable cars for some lovely walks, summer tobogganing down some slopes (which the girls really enjoyed!) and visiting a deer park.
We also enjoyed another special day visiting Berchtesgaden in Germany. The museum, Dokumentation Obersalzberg was a wealth of information and really worth a visit. The views from Eagles Nest over the valley and the Konigsee were also special. The highlight of the day for us was however the boat trip on the Konigsee. We went to the furthermost point and then walked across some lovely countryside to another lake. It was very pretty and we took some beautiful photos to remember it by.
Feb 19th, 2015, 02:07 AM
#4
Somewhere like Annweiler in the Pfalz might fit the bill. There are lots of things to do in the area [walking, visiting castles, seeing cities like Trier, Aachen and Speyer, and great food and wine]
It is very scenic, and little visited by non-german tourists.
It is very scenic, and little visited by non-german tourists.
Feb 19th, 2015, 02:43 AM
#5
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I will throw my Muensterland hat in the ring. It's a beautiful area, with castles, gardens, biking trails (for the boys), and pretty far off the usual tourist radar. Lots of charming small hotels.
This tour company gives a general idea of places to possibly visit:
http://www.velociped.de/en/all-bike-...ndividual.html (click through the picture tour)
You can take the boys swimming in the Feldmarksee (lake).
If the weather is right, a wonderful day trip would be to the Freilichtmuseum near Detmold. It's the biggest open-air museum and it's one of our favorite sites in the whole country. Lots of animals and you can take a horse-drawn covered wagon tour if you get tired of (or don't feel like) walking.
http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Kultur/LWL-Fr...tmold/?lang=en
Muenster itself has an interesting old city, some nice restaurants.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html
This tour company gives a general idea of places to possibly visit:
http://www.velociped.de/en/all-bike-...ndividual.html (click through the picture tour)
You can take the boys swimming in the Feldmarksee (lake).
If the weather is right, a wonderful day trip would be to the Freilichtmuseum near Detmold. It's the biggest open-air museum and it's one of our favorite sites in the whole country. Lots of animals and you can take a horse-drawn covered wagon tour if you get tired of (or don't feel like) walking.
http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Kultur/LWL-Fr...tmold/?lang=en
Muenster itself has an interesting old city, some nice restaurants.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g...Vacations.html
Feb 19th, 2015, 03:23 AM
#6
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Oooh, good ideas all! I'm familiar in general with them, but wouldn't have thought of them! Salzburg area is good, as it puts us close to our friends. You can't go wrong with the river towns, I've never visited Trier or Speyer, but have always wanted to. I am somewhat familiar with Muensterland, but haven't been in 20 plus years!
Freilichtmuseums and biking paths and lakes are always good! Thanks!
Freilichtmuseums and biking paths and lakes are always good! Thanks!
Feb 19th, 2015, 06:43 AM
#7
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You might consider a stay on the north side of the Chiemsee - - Gstaad or even around Breitbrunn. You can swim directly there, ride bikes around the lake on lovely paths to Prien, and get spacious apartments at good prices. They fill up in August because that's when Bavarians are on holiday, but outside of that you should get something nice.
