Austria & Germany Trip Report
 

We took our 5 year old daughter on this trip, and met up with friends (and their 6 year old daughter). Here's some info you may find useful.

We flew from our respective cities to ATL, then flew direct to Munich on Delta. Flight was fine, although no in-seat screens. We brought sticker books, pipe cleaners, etc. for the girls. They slept about 4 hours, adults didn't sleep at all.

Arrived on time at Munich - easy airport to navigate. Free bathrooms at baggage claim. Bought a Bayern Pass rail ticket for 29 euro, so all of us could travel on the train together that day (although the fast ICE trains are not covered). We took the train to the Munich main station, then hopped a regional train to Salzburg (Bayern Pass is good to Salzburg, since it's right over the border). Bought some good pretzels & drinks at Yorma's in the train station - on the far right side of the tracks as you face the trains. Lots of options in this train station. Muller (on the far left side) is also good.

Regional train was fine. No a/c, but windows down, so it was cool enough (this was June 27, a hot day). Arrived in Salzburg and walked to our hotel, the Best Western Zum Hirschen. We each had a room with a king bed (2 twins pushed together) and a separate twin. Nice hotel - big bathroons. GREAT breakfast (included in price). Lots of selection, lots of organic foods. The hotel has a restaurant/beer garden with a playground - great food, too. The schnitzel was especially good.

Things we did in Salzburg: Bob's Sound of Music tour (recommended if you like the movie), took the incline up to the fortress, took a carriage ride around Old Town (33 Euros - not bad split between 2 families, but more fun for the girls than us), Mirabell Gardens, lots of time wandering around Old Town (I used Rick Steves walking tours from his books - good).

We ate at the Bio Wirthaus (at our hotel), Wilder Mann (Austrian food in Old Town - good - GREAT spinach ravioli for me, the vegetarian (not really Austrian, but good!)), Sternbrau (good Gruner Veltliner wine & Salzburg Nockerl), Stella (Italian place adjascent to Sternbrau - good caprese salad), Die Weisse (great beer garden, we just had drinks - nice atmosphere, free postcards), Resch & Leiblich (cool dining room cut into the mountain), and a kebab stand! :-)

Next - Munich.

OK - before I leave Salzburg, let me also recommend Topfenstrudel (kind of like the cheese we have in cheese danishes here). Yummy!

Onto Munich. We again used a Bayern Pass for all of us (DB has an office at the Salzburg train station where you can buy them). In Munich, we bought a 3-day travel pass for all of us to use for 18 euro. We took the U-Bahn to the hotel where our friends were staying, Hotel Adria at Lehel stop. Nice part of town, quiet. They said their room was fine - but the TV didn't work (they ended up getting a discount). Then we got back on the U-Bahn to the Munchener Freiheit stop, and went to our hotel, the Gastehaus Englischer Garten. We had a large room, again with a "king" and separate twin. Tons of room. Charming hotel (although it had no a/c - the windows open kept it cool day & night, this was week 1 July). We ate the breakfast there once, pretty skimpy. But the hotel is definitely recommended. Nice location.

Things we did in Munich: Englischer Garten (the restaurant at the Chinese Tower has AMAZING fried potatoes!), Marienplatz/glockenspiel, Viktualenmarkt, Church of the Lady (the devil's footprint is cool), St. Michael's (catacombs are neat), Karlsplatz, Residenz (shell grotto is neat), Nymphenburg Palace (great for a picnic), Neue Pinkethek (we bought postcards in the giftshop first, then had the girls do a "treasure hunt" to find their paintings), Olympic Park (interesting to walk around, and their was an art festival going on - Tollwood).

We ate at The Hofbrauhas (yes, touristy - but fun, and the food is pretty good!), San Francisco Coffee Shop (a chain like Starbucks - the foo foo is great), Augustiner Brewery (great prices if you take the S-Bahn here, rather than eating at the one near Marienplatz), Hirschgarten beer garden (near Nymphenburg - lots of play areas for the kids and GREAT blue angel gelato), Riva Pizzeria (great caprese), and lots of food stands and Muller and Wimmer bakeries.

Next - Stuttgart.

Took the ICE to Stuttgart. 29 Euro per person (reserved ahead of time in USA), but kids were free. Worth it to be on a nice train for the long trip. You can walk to the front of the train and see right into where the conductor drives. Neat for the girls.

Walked to our hotel - Le Meridien. Got a nice rate on Expedia, and were put on the Club Level (free drinks, free Internet - woo hoo!) The staff sent up a cupcake for my daughter, too. Really nice hotel - all that you would expect from a top US chain. Reminded me of Westins (style wise). Real king bed, separate twin. Nice flat screen TV. Nice bathroom. Great indoor pool/hot tub as well.

FYI - we ended up in Stuttgart because we could not get frequent flyer "free" tickets back from Munich.

Spent our last day and a half in Europe walking and shopping through Stuttgart. Nice palace/park, but didn't really check out much more than the stores. :-) Very good shopping. Breuniger is a nice department store. Found good sale prices on cute European clothes and shoes for my daughter. Lots of nice toy stores in the area, too.

Best food in the city (that we had) was at Mathaser, at the far end of the shopping area. Stuttgart is in Swabia, which is famous for its cheese noodles (kase spatzle). This place's was AWESOME. Highly, highly recommended.

Stuttgart was pretty expensive, though. (Food/beer) Even more than Munich (slightly).

We also went to a Weinstubbe one night for drinks & cheese and crackers. Fun. Nice location overlooking the city. Sorry I do not remember the name!

Flew back on Delta, Stuttgart-Atlanta. The only comment is that kids meals on the way back from Europe leave a lot to be desired. Green beans, carrots, salad...not a huge hit with our girls like the chicken nuggets, fruit and Oreos were on the way over ;-)

We had a great time - I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can. This board was very helpful to me as I did research. I am off to Croatia & Prague next!

Wow, thanks for the wonderful report! I am planning a family trip (my husband and I, both sets of parents, and my younger sister) for 2007.
Was your hotel in Salzburg in the city center? If not, how far away (on foot) was it? Was it quiet?

Thanks so much!

You will have a great time, T.A.! It's fun to do Europe with your extended family.

The Zum Hirschen was in the new part of town, a very easy 4-5 minute walk from the train station. From there, it was another 5 minutes or so to Mirabell Gardens, then 5 minutes more to the pedestrian bridge that takes you to Old Town. We thought the walk was pleasant, safe and easy. Salzburg also has a bus system that is very easy to navigate.

Enjoy!

Great report! Thanks for sharing it!