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bavarian alps + rothenburg trip-planning in sept. need advise...

bavarian alps + rothenburg trip-planning in sept. need advise...

Old May 27th, 2012, 07:08 PM
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bavarian alps + rothenburg trip-planning in sept. need advise...

flying into munich we will rent a car. first 2 nights in rothenburg to also visit either wurzburg or nurnburg. then, drive to the alps and stay 3 nights in garmisch to sightsee towns and scenery in that area of the alpine road. finally, 4 nights in salzberg or berchtesgaden to do the same in that area. will this give us the opportunity to see the prettiest towns and scenery in the bavarian alps? are there other towns to consider staying in? are we trying to do too much by starting in rothenburg? (should we spend all 9 nights in bavaria?)
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Old May 28th, 2012, 08:05 AM
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Hi,

Yes, you could easily spend all 9 nights in Bavaria, meaning south of Munich. If Rothenburg is a "must see" for you, I wouldn't suggest you drop it. Your longest drive is from Rothenberg to Garmisch, which is about 3 hours non stop, so everything looks pretty good to me.
These are just my opinions:
We prefer to stay in the Berchtesgaden area (Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden in particular) for our visits to Salzburg and the general area and in Mittenwald for the Garmisch area.

The Nightwatchman Tour, the Tilman Riemanschneider 500 yr. old alter in St. Jacobs church and a walk along the wall in the evening were the highlights for me in Rothenberg. Also, if interested, there's another amazing Riemanschneider alter nearby in the Herrgottskirche in Creglingen.

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/travel15.html

Between Garmisch and Salzburg/Berchtesgaden, you may want to visit "Mad" King Ludwig's Herrenchiemsee palace.

http://www.herrenchiemsee.de/englisc...lace/index.htm

Again, my opinion is you can't go wrong with the Garmisch/Mittenwald area and the Berchtesgaden area for beautiful scenery. We've stayed twice in Mittenwald (7 nights) and 4 times in the Berchtesgaden area (13 nights). You should be able to see I'm partial to these places!

Possibilities from Garmisch/Mittenwald include:
Garmisch
Mittenwald
"Mad" King Ludwig's Linderhof palace
Karwendelbahn cable car-Mittenwald
Zugspitze trip-Garmisch
Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride)-Garmisch
Ettal Monastary
Oberammergau (we're not big fans but some love it)

Possibilities from Berchtesgaden/Salzburg include:
Berchtesgaden
Salzburg
Konigsee-boat trip
Jennerbahn cable car (next to Konigsee)
Salt Mine tours in Berchtesgaden or Hallein, Austria
Sommerrodelbahn (luge ride) Hallein, Austria
Eagle's Nest
Zell am See (it's 1:30 away)
St. Gilgen and the Salzkammergut (1 to 1:30 away)

I guess I'm trying to say you won't run out of things to see and do in each area with the time you have!

We have 3 pages of photo's at:

www.worldisround.com/home/pja1/index.html

Are you flying out of Munich? Do you need to spend 1 of the 9 nights near the airport for an early flight out?

Hope this helps.

Paul
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Old May 28th, 2012, 08:36 AM
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"Yes, you could easily spend all 9 nights in Bavaria, meaning south of Munich."

Actually, Bavaria is a much larger region that includes Munich, Rothenburg, and places north of Rothenburg as well. Anyway, I wouldn't head to Rothenburg unless you have other destinations north of Munich in mind as well. Bamberg is especially fetching. Würzburg and Nuremberg are very good destinations too. 3 days in the area would be great. 3 in Garmisch and 3 in Salzburg/Berchtesgaden as well would provide a nice variety of experiences.
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Old May 28th, 2012, 08:46 AM
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Russ,

I realize that. i just meant to point out the area of Bavaria south of Munich.
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Old May 28th, 2012, 10:27 AM
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I put this together quickly. Might have spelling errors in it.

This is what we did in November. Crowds were low so we were able to get a lot done in a day. You will probably need more time with crowds. Also, we go from morning till late at night touring. We sleep all the way home on the airplane.
Maybe in Sept. the fountains will be on. We did miss that.

Frankfurt, Germany [Terminal 5]
Rented car in Frankfurt and drove to Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Hotel Hornburg for 2 nights http://www.hotel-hornburg.de/

Rent GPS for car.
It took us to incorrect address an hour wasted. Just follow signs to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and when you get there put in address.

1) Walked the wall.
2) Toy Museum.
3) Medieval Museum/ Crime and Punishment.
4) Night Watchman Tour.
Some things were closed for us.

Drove to Wurzburg for the day and toured Palace
(I would skip this unless a lot of time.)

Munich----3 nights on weekend

Munich walking tour with sandemans newmunich. www.neweuropetours.eu
They give free tours all over Europe in large cities. You just tip.

Take museum pass for all the museums. http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/engl...ts/jahresk.htm

I purchased this pass and had it mailed to our home.
This is a discount pass as follows: [40 euros for two people which covers 14 days or 24 euros for one person]
I had to make a reservation for the Neuschwanstein Castle on the website. You just explain in the box that you have a museum pass and they charge only for the reservation fee. They require a date and time. Then you go to Will Call and show your pass.

Drove for day to Neuschwanstein Castle and Linderhof Palace,
and arrived at night and walked around in Oberammergau.
A lot for one day. Take longer. Stay in the area and enjoy.

Next day:
1) Toured Nymphenburg Palace in Munich
Remember to tour the carriage museum at the Palace.

2) Then drove to Herrenchiemsee Palace.
Need to take a boat to the island for the Herrenchiemsee
Boat schedule: http://www.chiemsee-schifffahrt.de/
We just made the last boat.

Then drove to Salzburg.—2 nights (Purchased yellow vest and sticker at convenient store near boarder)
Hotel_Wolf_Dietrich-Salzburg_Austrian_Alps.html
The check-in people will direct you to the parking area.

Took Sound of Music tour: 9:30am. Made reservations for tour from home.
Toured Salzburg.

Next day drove back to Munich and did Munich some more and another Palace.
Flew home out of Munich next day. Stayed at the Holiday Express and turned car in at Munich airport.

betsy3
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Old May 28th, 2012, 03:13 PM
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thank you, all for your wonderful responses. pja,we were strongly thinking of staying in mittenwald and berchtesgaden but thought there would be a lack of restaurants/shops open, so nothing to do at night (even though we usually go to sleep by 10!) also, we love classical music, and could attend some nice venues in salzburg. but, "i hear you" on berchtesgaden and mittenwald! still "wrestling" with that! our biggest "dilemma" now is rothenburg. we love medieval towns, and we hear that rothenburg is a real winner! if we opted to stay there 2 nights, (1 night in just rothenburg is not an option for us) we would want to visit the "old towns" of either nurenburg or wurzburg. can one be recommended?
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Old May 28th, 2012, 03:22 PM
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pja,since we are still "on the fence" with these 2 areas, we'd love to know why mittenwald (instead of garmisch), and why ramsau (instead of berchtesgaden or salzburg)? to answer your last night airport question, no, we have a 1pm flight out so no "last night in munich" needed.
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Old May 28th, 2012, 03:30 PM
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finally, if we opted-out of rothenburg, we have 9 nights in the bavarian alps. do we split them between garmisch area and berchtesgaden area, or do we throw-in a 3rd area either on the bavarian side or the austrian side? (not hall/innsbruck, as we've been there.)
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Old May 28th, 2012, 04:37 PM
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Hi,

We've stayed in Mittenwald in 4/05 and 10/06. Both trips, everything was open. We stayed in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden in 10/06, 10/07 and 9/09. In addition we stayed in nearby Konigsee in 11/10. While Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden is a small village, it's only 10 min. from Berchtesgaden (30 min. from Salzburg) and we never found restaurants, shops, etc. closed during our stays.

Why we prefer to stay in Mittenwald (not Garmisch) and Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden (and not Berchtesgaden or Salzburg)?

For us, Garmisch is too busy and more "city like". As for Mittenwald, nothing in the area compares to it, in our opinion. It's like a postcard. The quintessential Bavarian village with painted buildings, nice pedestrian zone and an alpine backdrop. It's only 20 min. drive from Garmisch.

Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden may be our favorite place to stay. A small village with a very picturesque church, terrific views of the mountains and we can spend the day sightseeing in the city and come "home" to a gorgeous, peaceful location. Our favorite place to stay is here also... the Pension Mayringerlehen.

www.mayringerlehen.de

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

www.worldisround.com/articles/338872/index.html

I don't see the need to drop Rothenburg. IF you did, I'd use those 2 nights for a stay in Zell am See. From Zell am See you could drive to Garmich/Mittenwald via the Gerlos Pass-Zillertal-Innsbruck. Actually, you could probably fit in a drive along the spectacular Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, either the day you arrive in Zell am See or during your full day there.

www.worldisround.com/articles/355540/index.html

www.worldisround.com/articles/338868/index.html

www.grossglockner.at/en/

Hope this helps.

Paul
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Old May 28th, 2012, 05:30 PM
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Be ready for crowds in Rothenburg as it is THE #1 tourist attraction in Germany and it does seem medieval what with the moat, the walls, the drawbridges, etc.

In terms of Nurnberg vs. Wurzburg, you might find the latter a bit more to your liking although the Nurnberg "old town" has a lot of things to see and do.
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Old May 28th, 2012, 06:11 PM
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I have posted similar questions, also for Sept.(1st wk) Just a "heads-up" Paul's favorite place: Pension Mayringerlehen was already booked. We have 6 full days & are also having to decide between just Munich/Fussen area or going up to Bamburg/Rothenburg, stay 1 night & then to Fussen & Munich. Found alot of places in Fussen area also booked so am looking at one in Schwangau. Keep us posted on your progress!
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Old May 28th, 2012, 06:29 PM
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Hi again,

Another place in the Berchtesgaden area we can highly recommend is the Guesthouse Friedwiese in Schonau am Konigsee. We stayed here in November 2010 (Mayringerlehen was closed at that time).

www.friedwiese.de/enska/isl.htm

Paul
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Old May 28th, 2012, 07:24 PM
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thank you again,people! paul,fantastic info and links! i can't thank you enough! i just looked at photos of zell am see on the net... and i'm salivating! drop dead gorgeous! need to end this for today. will be back...... jack
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Old May 30th, 2012, 01:17 PM
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ROTHENBURG:

Do not skip this town. We found it in 1970 when I was stationed in the Army. Have been returning occasionally ever since. You will enjoy it, tourists and all. Definitely stay within the city walls. We like the REICHS KUCHENMEISTER HOTEL or the MARKUSTURM HOTEL. Both within the walls and easy walk to everything.

Take the Night Watchman tour for sure. It leaves around 8 from the town square in English.

The restaurnat and patio at the Reichs Kuchenmeister is good eats even if you do not stay there. It is located next to St Jacobs Church so easy to find. They also have a nice wine stube in the hotel.

GARMISCH AREA:

We have stayed in both Garmisch and Salzburg. Both are very close. The HOTEL HILLEPRANDT is nice place to stay in Garmisch. They have a web site. We enjoyed the BRISTOL HOTEL
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Old May 30th, 2012, 01:23 PM
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CONTINUED FROM ABOVE FROM TRAVELDAWG:

BRISTOL HOTEL in Salzburg is very nice and great location.

Definitiely do the SALT MINE TOUR in Berchtesgaden. Unique. Also the electric boats on Koingsee Lake, Eagles Nest tour, castle in Salzburg, Old Town and THE SOUND OF MUSIC TOUR. The MUSIC tour sounds corny but it covers some beautiful areas around Salzburg. Watch the movie again and then go for it!

Click on my name to read my other comments during the years on this area. You may find some additional information you can use.
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