My first trip report - Part 1- Bavaria and Austria

Thanks for sharing, pj.

Good info, well written. Thanks.

BTW, posting further parts as replies on this thread would make following your trip easier for all.

Hi pj,
Thanks for posting. DH and I are bringing our families to Germany and Austria this summer. Hallstatt is on our list.

Great start to your report. My wife and I are interested in following a similar path as yours next summer, so I will continue to read with interest.

My first trip report - final part.
I think I went on too much but here goes...

Day 5
Our drive to La Villa (Alta Badia) Italy, from Heiligenblut, Austria.
This day was overcast with periods of rain and some fog on the passes. I’ll say it up front, we didn’t stop in Lienz or Cortina D’Ampezzo due to the weather and wanting to get to La Villa at a decent hour. We did stop at Lake Misurina though. It wasn’t as big (seemed like a drought had taken place recently) nor could we see the surrounding mountains due to the fog. We went through Cortina and onto the The Falzarego Pass. Now this was different as I can only say the landscape looked as if we were on another planet. The ground was mostly brown (no green) and large boulders, some the size of houses, seemed to have been just tossed everywhere. We’ve been to the Dolomites (Val Gardena and Val Venosta) before and this was just so different. Simply amazing. When we finally arrived at Pension Montanara in La Villa, again we just couldn’t believe the view of the Dolomites we had. Pension Montanara is a beautiful (new) place but with a less personal touch. More of a hotel atmosphere, even though the owners were very pleasant. The breakfasts here were the best on our trip. With a wide variety of breads, rolls, jams, cheeses, meats, pastries, yogurts, cereals, etc. it was simply too much. I should say that we wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. We found there isn’t too much choice at this time of year for restaurants but we did find a couple of good ones open...The Black Hill in Colfosco where we had dinner 2 nights (15 minutes away) and The Lator in La Villa. Both were very good.

Day 6
First, back to the Falzarego Pass so we could take the cable car to Monte Lagzuoi. Tremendous views of the Dolomites except the restaurant/cafe at the top with outdoor seating was closed. Oh well, that will happen sometimes when you travel in October. Then on our way to Brunico and/or Bruneck (all the towns have a German and Italian name). We stopped first in St. Martin. The church there, while plain looking outside, was stunning inside. Well worth a look. We arrived in Bruneck (about an hour drive in all) and found the old town. Bruneck’s old town is really one very long cobblestone street with a square and fountain in the middle. It was a nice day so of course we had coffee and pastry at an outdoor cafe. We did not visit the castle that sits atop the old town, but again, the church (Our Lady’s Parish Church of Bruneck) was terrific as was the very interesting graveyard that sits next to it. All in all another good day.

Day 8
Back over the Gardena Pass to Brixen/Bressanane today. This turned out to be one of our favorite places. The old town pedestrian zone is huge. It took us most of the day to see it. While there we visited the Dioezesanmuseum Hofburg Brixen. This was once the Bishop of Bressanone’s residence/palace. Aside from the rooms and furnishings being beautiful, to see all the artwork, statues and religious items, etc., some going back almost a thousand years, could take an entire day. This alone was well worth the trip. We will hopefully be back. We highly recommend a visit to this lovely town. On the way back we stopped for an hour in Klausen/Chiusa which sits at the beginning of the Val Gardena. Another quaint old cobblestoned town along a river with a castle overlooking it, although right off the Autostrada.

Day 9
Over the Gardena Pass one last time and onto the Autostrada to Innsbruck and then on to Mittenwald. We were in Mittenwald last April and absolutely loved it. We stayed then as we did this time at the Pension Schwalbennestl. I hope you don’t think by saying this too much it’s not warranted but...Frau Bader is a wonderful and friendly host. The Schwalbennestl, while not the most luxurious place in town (small, plain rooms) , from our balcony we had an outstanding view of the town and mountains which you feel you can reach out and touch. The road coming from the north of town leading to this place (Grober Weg on the Grober Alm) has to be one of the most picturesque views I’ve ever seen. We had dinner at the Kleine Kartoffelsack in the pedestrian zone. The woman who owns it speaks some English and is a real character. We had a great time there.

Day 10
We went to Garmisch-Partinkirchen today. We again walked the old towns and had coffee, visited the churches, etc. I have l say we definitely prefer Mittenwald’s small village charm over these 2 joined towns. Too sprawling for our tastes. We did ride the Sommer Rodelbahn (many times) while there. What a blast! Having done the Zugspitze trip a few years ago we opted not to go this time. We also went to the top of the Karwendel in Mittenwald last year, so no cable cars this trip. We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant in Mittenwald, I can’t remember the name at this moment, which was quite good.

Day 11
Drove first to Stams, Austria to visit “Stift Stams”. What a gorgeous church. This was so vast and the decorations so ornate it was astounding! You do have to take a tour to see the church though. Worth the time and money. Next on to one of our favorites...Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol (we stayed here on 3 seperate trips) for dinner. A great old town see and the Church of St. Nicholas is very nice. Unfortunately the Gasthof Badls’ dining room was closed for the evening. Frau Steiner at the Badl recommended the Burg Tavern in Hall. We finally had dinner in an authentic castle! Talk about a great dinner with medieval ambiance!

Day 12
Our drive to Erding with a stop at Andechs Monestary for our last day. Andechs is a great place visit. We had beer and pretzels (I’ve never seen them this big) in their beer garden.The church at Andechs almost rivals the Weis Church (Weiskirche) in beauty, IMO. Breathtaking. On to Erding, a few miles from the airport, which itself is a nice old town. We stayed at the Best Western Park Hotel. An excellent hotel, although a bit generic in atmosphere, that is only a few blocks to the pedestrian zone.
The weather was great, scenery was beautiful, old towns were charming and the people we met along the way were very friendly. We would do it all again in a minute! Thanks for taking the time to read all this. I know I went on and on too much.

paul

Fun report. Thanks for sharing it with us.

how did you select the places you stayed? did you book ahead of time or just pick one where you stopped?

bigtyke,
We sent for brochures from the Val Badia, Berchtesgaden, etc. websites. These are always very good and come in the mail in just a few days. These brochures have good info and specify the location of the hotels. We then check the websites of the places that look good. Then we write to the places we like and book in advance. No one has ever even required a deposit. We try to plan out locations that are just a few hours drive apart to leave us time to stop along the way and arrive mid afternoon.

paul

Paul

Thanks for sharing with us on this forum. It was very well written, I enjoyed it.

I have a few questions:-

1. I know you mentioned you only had one rainy day during your trip. What was the temperature like?

2. You mentioned you speak German, do you think non-German speaking tourists will still get by?

3. Does one really have to drive through Italy to get to the western part of Austria from southern Germany as you did on your trip?

4. Could you give an indication of tariff of the hotels/pensions you stayed in.

Your answers to the above will be much appreciated.

S

Nice report Paul...thanks. Looking forward to a similar trip one day.

Hi Swagman,
Thanks and questions are welcome!
1) Temperatures averaged about 65 to 70, with 2 days closer to 80. Nights were around the mid to upper 40's. A light jacket was all I needed during the day if at all.
2) Yes, you can get by without speaking German, although knowing some words and phrases helps and shows you are making an attempt. I only mentioned that I speak German was because in Heiligenblut the woman who ran/owned the Pension spoke VERY little English.
3) No, you don't have to drive through Italy to get to western Austria and/or the Tirol area from southern Germany. We like to plan a "loop" type trip as not to backtrack and we love the Dolomites!
4) As for tariffs...this is for 2 people per night, nice rooms, great balcony views and a very good buffet breakfast at each...
Mayringerlehen - 48 Euros
Ederhof - 58 Euros
Montanara - 50 Euros
Schwalbennestl - 48 Euros
Park Hotel - 104 Euros (AAA discount)
We did very similar trips in '05 and '03 and these prices have been pretty consistent.
Hope that this helps.

Paul

I would like to thank everyone for the kind words regarding my first attempt at a "trip report" and, of course, for taking the time to read it. Thank you.

Paul

Hi Swagman,
Heres a list for your information,
www.mayringerlehen.de
www.ederhof-heiligenblut.at
www.montanara.it
www.schwalbennestl.de
www.bestwestern.com (Erding, Germany)

Paul

Thank you so much for the info you provided.

I am in the course of planning an extended trip to Europe (mainly in France) in late 2007/early 2008.

As an extension of the trip, I thought from Strasbourg perhaps a good itinerary would be to drive into Bavaria and then back down to Austria and through Switzerland back into the Savoie region of France.

Looking at the map, the above would be restricted to the very south of Germany, western Austria and then trans-Switzerland.

If I dedicate 4 weeks to the above, where would be the 'must be/see' region/cities/towns etc?

I often heard about the Romantic Drive. Is it worth going and where exactly does it start and finish?

S

Hi Swagman,
We never drove the Romantic Road so I can't advise there. I will say that Fussen and Mittenwald are our favorite places to stay in Bavaria with plenty to see and do.

Ludwigs castles - Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau and Linderhof (my favorite).
Weis Church
Zugspitze (from either Ehrwald, Austria or Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
Tegelberg cable car and luge ride (Fussen)
Ettal Monestary
Oberammergau
Karwendel cable car (Mittenwald)
Innsbruck/Hall in Tirol (40 min. drive from Mittenwald.
Ambras Castle in Innsbruck
www.stadt-fuessen.de
www.neuschwanstein.com
www.zugspitze.at
www.zugspitze.de
www.schwangau.de
www.wieskirche.de
www.tegelbergbahn.de
www.linderhof.de
www.kloster-ettal.de
www.oberammergau.de
www.karwendelbahn.de
www.regionhall.at

I probably went overboard with the websites, sorry.

Let me know if I can be of help and if this was too confusing!

Paul

Paul

I can't thank you enough! I am sure more questions will pop up in due course. Thank you again and happy travels!

S

We drove part of the Romantic Road last summer, and really enjoyed ourselves. We picked up our car in Nuremberg and headed west to pick up the road, then headed south to Fussen. There bunches of small towns on the route, some so small that you could blink and miss them, some larger with nice old town areas - we wandered around Dinklesbuhl for awhile, which was very nice. We had been to Rothenberg on a day trip by train from Nuremberg the day before, which we enjoyed as well. We didn't stop in as many towns as we had originally planned because our feet were pretty tired from all the walking we had been doing over the previous week and a half - we were actually quite happy to speed along in the car with the wind in our hair, enjoying the scenery out the window

We liked being out in the countryside, seeing the farmlands and small towns. We brought a picnic lunch and stopped at some random spot on the way to have lunch. Just took a road away from the highway that ran along a creek, parked the car and ate along the creek.

This road is the old Roman road from points south into Germany. It was neat to drive along a route that had been used for so many centuries. And also, since we were headed south, we got to see the alps rising above us as we got closer.

This is a great report.....adding in the websites, where to send for information and the cost of rooms was a great extra touch.

I've always wanted to go to Bavaria and I think you've just answered the question of where we go next October.......it was a toss up between Naples and Munich. I think I'm finally going to see Bavaria. I'll have to get my German girlfriend to teach me a few useful phrases first.

Great report! Thanks so much.

Timlin,
Thanks for the kind response! You know, everytime we plan a vacation we look into other countries to visit but seem to always wind up deciding to go new places in these areas. We have never been dissapointed, and always (except for one trip) in October.
Paul

Hi Paul,

Just wanted to say thank you for the awesome list! We are in the midst of planning our 16 day trip to Austria for next May and this has been most helpful.

The next time you're in the area, you might check out the new Ehrenberg Castle museum over near Reutte. We stumbled across is last May and thought it was one of the best museums we've seen anywhere in Europe.

Hi TexasAggie,
Thanks for the post! We are leaving in 3 weeks for Mosel/Rhine, Rothenberg and Ramsau (once again, we loved it last year) by Berchtesgaden. One place I can highly recommend in Austria is the Gasthof Badl in Hall in Tirol (6 miles east of Innsbruck). We've stayed here 3 times. Very nice place run/owned by absolutely wonderful people...Frau Steiner and her daughter Sonja.
www.badl.at
www.regionhall.at
Thanks again.

Paul