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Dear travel lovers,
We have had a wonderful trip for our first time traveling Europe (Southern Germany) on our own in early May. I’m so grateful to bettyk, bobthenavigator, iris1745, Suspaul, Holly76 and all others who had helped in responding to my first time online inquiry. Without them, it couldn’t become a nearly perfect trip. In return, I’d like to share my tips with those who need them in their next trip to Europe.
Here is our travel ‘style’: enjoy photograph, enjoy nature, architecture and arts etc.; enjoy some ‘freedom’ and ‘adventure’ by self-traveling; enjoy new experiences in food and culture, prefer to take 10-15 days vacation time with the low to mid-level budget.
1. GPS, Plug adaptor, Maps and Driving.
I ordered the Germany Atlas online for $30 (couldn’t find it in the retail stores in US). You actually could get it in that country at any big gas station for 10-15 Euro if you don’t mind missing a little English for the legend.
To use our laptop in Europe, I realized I needed a plug adaptor last minute before our trip. It’s too late to order online that is cheaper and with many choices. It’s hard to find any in the retailed stores in US and even when you find one (cost $25 or more), it may say: ‘not applicable to computer’. Luckily our first hotel got one to lend, but not the second hotel. We had to use our car charger to charge our camera battery until we bought a little one (2.5 Euro) at the chain store ‘Media Markt’ (didn’t get its meaning at first) which worked perfectly.
I cannot imagine how much harder it would be for us to drive around without a GPS. With a 1:300000 Atlas map, a GPS can help for the small roads that were not labeled on the map. Using the built-in GPS in the rental car, you can take the advantage of its POI (Points of Interest) feature to help you to find nearby TI (Tourist Information) office, Park & Ride, Tourist Attraction etc. But even with the GPS, you might still get disoriented -- A name on the map could be confused with other places (same name) in different areas; When a road is blocked the GPS could get ‘lost’ too; Sometimes you want to avoid certain roads but you cannot let GPS understand you. In addition, it cannot locate the small towns (in grey) on the map… I guess the GPS built-in our rental Mercedes A170 Cdi was less advanced.
Even though the roads were all so well built, driving is still a hard work for us first visitors. But it pays off for random stops, ‘sideway’ trips and a lot of freedom out of fixed bus/train schedules. I’m glad we did it.
In many towns, you can always get a free local map marked with the POI, parking lots and WC when you visit its TI office. But sometimes you just drive around without it to save time.
2. Car rental at the Frankfurt.
Yes, it’s worth taking a short taxi ride to nearby Kelsterbach picking up the rental. Since we had about one hour to spare before the rental office at Kelsterbach opened at 8:00am, we ventured to take the train (2.3 Euro/pp) but we ended up lost in the hard-to-find-people-around and hard-to-find-any-English-speaker suburb. Luckily we met one who could understand us and pointed to the right direction that took us walked about 2 miles dragging our luggage through an open field before we got to the small rental office.
By the time we were happy to find the route to return our car at the airport, I noticed our bill was overcharged 105 Euro after my husband signed the paper without a look – we forgot to fill up the gas! I thought we would go to fill it up after our last stop at Frankfurt downtown for we could always find a gas station on the way. Oddly, it’s not the case in Frankfurt. Once you are on the highway, you don’t see anything until you hit the airport! The AVIS check-up lady didn’t mention a word when she asked for the signature. We actually have three-hour for going out to fill up the gas (cost no more than $30) before taking on the flight! That’s why I called our trip ‘ALMOST’ perfect. People we met in the Germany were all very friendly and helpful, but not this lady who sounded very cold, ‘Sorry, the contract is over!’ when I asked if we could make up for it for we simply overlooked it.
3. Hotel Booking, ATM and AAA international drive license.
I booked 5 out of 6 hotels for our trip from hotel.de that provided large selections and good information at fair price. I booked the one in Austria on their website for they offered discount for 3-night stay.
For we drove about 3000 km in two weeks, staying in one hotel for two nights at least was indeed a good advice.
We have an account at Bank of America (BOA). It’s very easy to find the DUESTCH bank (that BOA affiliates with) cash machine in any major tourist area. It involves only the exchange rate if you withdraw the EURO using the BOA debit card. Sometimes, we have to pay with the VISA card, similar exchange rate, but with additional 2% fee.
My husband paid $15 plus $8 for two photos for the international drive license (valid for a year) from AAA. No one ever asked for it anywhere during our trip. I guess it can be useful only when you get the policemen’s attention.
4. Sightseeing
Starting from Frankfurt, we visited Strasbourg (in France), Baden-Baden*, driving through the Black Forest, stopped at Gutach and Triberg, out of the Black Forest to Meersburg*, Mainau Island*, Konstanz, Fussen (King's Castles), Oberammergau, Schloss Linderhof*, Salzburg, Hallstatt, Berchtesgaden (Konigsee), St. Wolfgangsee*, Munich*, Scholss Nymphenburg, Nordingen, Heidelberg, Bad Wimpfen*, Rothenburg, Wurzburg and Frankfurt downtown.
Even though I don’t drive I couldn’t rest my eyes most of the time on the road for that the view was just too beautiful to be missed (as long as it’s not on the super highway)!
Driving through the winding roads in the Black Forest was beautiful but a bit of ‘heavy’ for the driver. And it took longer time than estimated to get anywhere so we ended up skipped Titsee as planned.
I marked our stops with * where I found exciting to wander around. The Salzburg Cathedral in Salzburg was my favorite too though I didn’t mark on Salzburg. Heidelberg was beautiful but so hard to park and so crowded to drive through that we only visited the old castle. Rothenburg o.d.T seemed the most popular tourists’ spot and I found it very representative for many beautiful towns we passed by, but I’d love more of the other towns that seemed more ‘organic’ to me in a sense.
Munich has it’s own charm, unique as a ‘big city’. The BMW Museum, the Englischer Garten, the Marienplatz were worth visiting. It was amazing to see so many people strolling in Englischer Garten, rather than a conventional ‘garden’ you would imagine, it’s a vast beautifully ‘carved’ area for people to walk, play or lay down, and it has some large open ‘restaurants’ (call it ‘beer garden’) for people to eat and drink. You would have a memorable yummy lunch with beers there indeed. The people and the nature were blended in such a pleasant and harmonious atmosphere, I wish I had more time to wander around.
Southern Germany, it has delicious sausages and beers, it has extremely beautiful land and architectures including numerous castles, and it was extremely peaceful that made me think of the wonderland in a fairy tale.
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Sharing the tips from our first-time self-driving in Southern Germany
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Thanks Glander, What were you thoughts about Berchtesgaden, Konisgsee, Hallstatt, and St Wolfgangsee?
Nothing special driving up to the mountain in Berchtesgaden... I loved the emerald-green water in the Konigssee but the claimed most scenic site (to get the view of the lake and mountain) seemed less impressive to me than the Lake Louise in Banff, Canada. Hallstatt, the little centered area was under construction, not that impressive as expected... but I love the experience running a slow little electric boat on the St Wolfgangsee, viewing the beautiful clustered houses on the shore, the most fun of all-- you don't see the second boat on the lake!
Glad you enjoyed your trip, Glander. My bad for not warning you about the gasoline situation near Frankfurt Airport. We made that same mistake a few years ago and it was an expensive one indeed. That's probably why I pushed it out of my mind!!
Never thought about taking the train to Kelsterbach. Of course, my husband could never walk the 2 miles from the station to the Avis location so it wouldn't work for us anyway. I think the most we paid for a taxi one year was about 20 Euro and that's because he got lost!! The normal taxi fare should be about 12 Euro.
We are back to Germany and Austria in September but because our flight arrives close to Noon, we must rent from the Frankfurt Airport. The Kelsterbach location closes at Noon!
My husband said that nothing can be perfect... a perfect excuse for him always. I learned to live with it that we could avoid mistakes with great cautions most of the time but not always. We gain and we lose. We learn and we forget. Life goes on...
We made a similar trip two years ago this fall, also with great help from Bettyk, LarryinColorado, Ira, Bobthenavigator, and others. We had almost constant rain (and sometimes snow) but I loved every minute of being in Southern Germany and in Austria. Your report brought back good memories as well as a few lessons learned the hard way. Glad you had fun.
PJK, I certainly hope we have better weather than you did!! Our last trip in September 2007 was pretty good considering we were there for 3 weeks. We had a couple of ugly days but overall it was great.
I'm always glad to hear it when people enjoy their travels to Germany and Austria since they are two of my favorite places!
I am going to Germany in a few weeks. I was planning on going to Heidelberg and Rothenberg, but you mention other towns that you might have liked better. Can you give me the names of those towns because we might change our route. Between Heidelberg and Rothenberg, which would you choose?
Aww, Glander, now I miss the Deutschland. We started planning to go to Germany again in October but then thought that 5 times was a little excessive. After reading your itinerary, I think not. Normandy and Amsterdam, our alternative destinations will always be there.
What did you think of the BMW museum? That is high on our travel list.
Bettyk, would you post the link to your dh’s Germany photos again?
And susiela, if it were up to me, Rothenberg hands down.
Gladly, LSky:
2007 Trip:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/561038806XxDcvw
2006 Trip:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/554510509SyxotU
2005 Trip:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/354616542PMkPVQ
Forgot to add bettyk, those photos are some of most stunning I've seen.
Thanks
Thanks, LSky. DH will appreciate hearing that. Hopefully, he will take some more great photos when we go back in September! Can't wait!
That's only a few short months away. What part will you be heading for this autumn?
Once we landed in Frankfurt and pick up the car near Bad Homburg so we could enjoy a spa before we got going. If I remember correctly, it was an easy trip on the bus or tram to the train in Bad Homburg.
Our itinerary:
2 nights – Rüdesheim
2 nights – Staufen
2 nights – Uberlingen on Bodensee
2 nights – Mittenwald
3 nights – Zell am See
3 nights – St. Gilgen
3 nights – Bamberg
3 nights – Quedlinburg
1 night – Hannoversch Münden
Haven't been to Bad Homburg yet. We're going to all new places on this trip, except for St. Gilgen.
The hardest part is trying to decide what you can reasonably see without moving around too much.
Bettyk,
It's such a feast browsing those beautiful photos! Thank you for sharing them. I enjoyed it a lot... What camera/lens do you use mostly?
Glander
I'm certainly glad you enjoyed them, Glander. I know my husband enjoyed taking them!
My husband is a Canon man. He use to have a Canon Rebel but now he has a EOS 30D, several lenses, flashes and lots of filters and other photographic paraphernalia!
Hi Glander, glad you had a wonderful time and I so enjoyed reading your trip report, thanks for sharing. I too can relate to the Avis return counter at Frankfurt airport, as I mentioned in a previous post, we left our personal GPS in the auto when returned, it was our mistake and definitely a stupid one but upon calling AVIS and going to the counter in the terminal before our flight I was told that WE must be mistaken, there was no GPS left in the rental, IF there had been it would have been turned in. Sure it would! They would not even call to check with the people at rental return. Oh well, a lesson learned and hopefully someone is getting good use out of it.
Susan
Susiela, I can highly recommend the little town of Bad Wimpfen which is about an hour from Heidelberg on the Neckar River. The drive from Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen along the river is very nice too.
We also enjoyed Schwaebisch Hall.
Here are photos from the trip where we visited BW and SH:
http://travel.webshots.com/album/354616542PMkPVQ?start=12
Oh, the Avis return counter at Frankfurt airport... the lady answered me politely: "... yes, there is a train to Kelsterbach, but we don't know how you get there from the train station... we only provide information around the airport." I suppose it's their nearby 'direct' sister office and they should know it well or have a simple map to show the location/distance from the train station since people could pick up the car at Kelsterbach. Anyway, we figured it out on our own.
Sorry. I meant the Avis rental front counter at Frankfurt airport.
Betty, looks like you have an exciting trip planned. We had Quedlinburg on our possiblities list 2 years ago but we didn't get out of Thuringen/ Thuringia there was so much to do there to keep us busy and provide some great places for relaxation. I love Germany.
Thanks for the picture link. Schwaebisch Hall is one of my favorite towns.
Hello,
Have read many posts and wanted to ask for some advice for an upcoming trip. I plan to rent a car in mid-september and travel from Munich to Frankfurt. I'm not sure what spots to make my base and how much time to spend in each. Could you help me make some good choices?
My plan so far:
2 nights in Munich
1 night in Fussen
1 night in Rothenburg and 1 night in nearby Colmberg castle
From here things get tricky... I was thinking some combination of...
Heidelberg, Mosell valley (Cochem) / perhaps small trip to Rüdesheim, Rhine Valley (st. Goar / Shonburg castle hotel
Would you recommend these stops? Do you know what drive makes the most sense if I also plan to stop in Wuerzburg? It would appear I can go from Wuerzburg to Heidelberg them to Cochem the Rhine and end my trip in Frankfurt..
Not sure in terms of the drive and the scenery what would be the better order for these stops.... And what place and amount of time to make my base (only i do plan to stop in Shonburg castle hotel)
Is Heidelberg worth the trip or do you think it would be better to spend the time exploring rhine and mosell?
I know a lot of questions....... sorry about that .........
Heidelberg is one of those places that some people love and others not so much. I fall in the latter crowd. It was okay but seemed a lot of fuss. Wouldn't go out of my way to visit Heidelberg.
How many days will you have? Consider spending 2 nights in Rothenburg and make sure to take the Night Watchmen's tour.
You didn't say what your interests were. Hiking? Sights? Museums etc?
The first time my husband and I went to Germany we had a huge list of places to see and when we got there we trimmed the list considerably.
We will spend:
2 nights in Munich
1 night in Fussen
1 night in Rothenburg
1 night in nearby Colmberg castle
Then we have 5 more nights.. We plan to spend 2 nights in Cochem and 2 nights in Shonburg castle on the rhine.. That leaves us 1 night between Colberg and Cochem or Cochem and the Rhine.. Our last 2 nights will be in Shonburg.
Any ideas??
Any cheap stay recommendatiosn for Cochem.. afraid all my money will be spent in Shonburg... (smile)
tjs123: I am not a Heidelberg lover either. It was one stop on our recent drive thru Southwestern Germany. The castle and the Bergbahnen were interesting, but otherwise, it's very touristy and didn't really turn me on. I can see how others might love it.
In the area of Oberwesel and St. Goar, we did find a wonderful little restaurant, where we were directed by the Schloss Reinfalls staff, in a small town called Biebenheim - called the Rorbeck Inn. It was the best meal of our trip, in the only restaurant in a charming town, with a very friendly and delightful chef. enjoy your trip