Will be traveling with my sister to Switzerland, Vienna, Salzburg, Rothenberg and Munich Sept. 1999. We will be in Munich for the Oktoberfest. Interested in hearing from anyone who's visited those areas. Interested in inexpensive hotels, sights, where to go and what to do, what to wear, places to eat and dos and don'ts.

Ettalynn, <BR>First, how much time do you have? Second, what are your real interests? <BR>My wife and I have been to Salzburg twice, Munich four times, Rothenberg twice and Vienna twice. In addition, there are a number of other areas such as Graz, Linz, Durnstein, Heidleburg, Fussen, Romantic Road, etal that can all be accessed from Munich. If you need some details regarding these areas please send me an e-mail. We will be going back to Munich and Salzburg this Spring. <BR>

Hello everybody. <BR>I'm a Swiss student and I have recognized that many Americans visiting Europe plan to go to Salzburg and Rothenburg. Why these places? They aren't too famous around here. <BR>Thanks for any answers and if you have any specific questions about Swîtzerland, feel free to email. Stefan.

salzburg is famous due to the movie "the sound of music". My understanding is that its not a popular movie in europe but a classic in the states. i am uncertain about the other city.

How long will you be in Switzerland? <BR>I can suggest one fantastic hike if you are into walking at all. <BR>Take the train to Grindelwald, then take the gondola to First. Walk along a well marked and good trail toward (if not all the way to) the Faulhorn. <BR> <BR>The major peaks of the Bernese Oberland are in full view to the south, including the Moench, Eiger, and the Jungrau. In brief: they combine to present the hiker with an incredible scene. <BR>Even if you are not into walking, do it anyhow.

Thanks to all who replied to my post - I'll enjoy reading everyone's input. <BR> <BR>Stefan- Why Rothenberg - the Christmas village and the shopping is suppose to be good-that's what was passed on to me. <BR>Salzburg - because of the Von Trapp family and the movie The Sound of Music which was about the Von Trapp family. <BR> <BR>I plan on being in Switzerland 2 1/2 weeks, Vienna and Salzburg 6 days and Rothenberg and Munich for 1 week. We will be there for the Oktoberfest.

Why Salzburg, you ask? For openers, their most famous son, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, has blessed all of us with his priceless melodies for more than 200 years. See his birthplace, the massive baroque churches, the enormous fortress (festung), the glorious gardens, and more and more. The Von Trapps? Phooey.

My wife and I just got back from a 2-week mountain excursion to Switzerland. If you are into hiking at all, I can make some suggestions and describe our experiences. We had a great time, but it was not a city hopping tour. We rented an apartment and used a central base for our wanderings. We took the trains, the cable lifts, a car, and our feet to see many incredible views. <BR> <BR>If you want more details email me directly at my ginger account. <BR>

We just returned from 2 weeks in Switzerland as well. We had a Swiss Pass for the train and it was incredible. It covered all of the trains, postal buses, and most of the urban transit systems as well. It even covers the 156SF Glacier Express train from Zermatt to St. Moritz. It also gave us discounts on all of the private trains and lifts (Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn, Gonergrat & Klein Matterhorn in Zermatt). Where do you plan to visit in Switzerland? We went to Luzern, Gimmelwald (Jungfrau region), Kandersteg, Lausanne, Zermatt, Appenzell, Bern, Stein am Rhein, Zurich, and also Chur and Winterthur. We found the prices to be very high. Dinners were especially expensive, a great recommendation from our Lonely Planet guide was to go to some of the buffets for dinner. We really liked the Manora buffets, the food is freshly cooked in front of you and they have an excellent salad bar. Our cheapest dinners at the buffet were $25-30 for dinner, beverage, and desert. Otherwise, dinners tended to cost $60-80 easily. Feel free to email me if you'd like any further information.

I visited Munich, Salzburg and Rothenberg in March, 1990. I found Rothenberg one of the best stops on my trip. The whole town has an old-time flavor and many of the shops have interesting things for you to buy. I enjoyed their Christmas stores, plus you have to see the town clock chime at noon because they have these figurines come out and "drink" a beer. Munich in March wasn't the best idea because the weather was extremely wet and went during fasching (sp?) so everything was closed. I did enjoy the beer houses and mixing with some of the locals. <BR>Salzburg was a wonderful town to visit. I do regret not going on the Sound of Music tour, I heard from a few other friends that it was absolutely beautiful. You will enjoy going up to the fortress on the hill and seeing all of Salzburg before you as well as the surrounding mountains. I will be visiting Germany, Austria and Italy this May, so I'll let you know how everything was!

Rothenburg: Good hotel is Reichs Kutchenmeister. Right in the middle of town and all you want to see. Just retd from there for our fourth time. Take the Nightwatchmens tour while there. Check tourist office for times. Salzburg: Good town to stay in is Berchtesgaden and drive over to Salzburg for the day. Watzmann hotel nice in Berchtesgaden. Sound of Music tour corny, but fun. You see some beautiful areas. Vienna: Expensive! They have people at tourist stops outside of town renting places to stay. Check those out. Downtown is steep. Stay out of town and take public transit in as town is hard to drive in. Switzerland: Go to Interlaken and explore from there. We found a great place to stay by using the tourist office downtown. Tell them your price range and they tell you what is available in the area. Any other info needed, email me. Glad to help. <BR>

<BR>We liked Rothenburg much more the second time we went because we stayed overnight. The walled town is very charming and so much more so after all the tourist leave in the late afternoon. Be sure to go to see the Kriminal Museum when you are in Rothenburg. You will never forget it. <BR>The Burggarten area is a nice place away from the midday crowds. In the same area we prefered Dinkelbuhl and Nordlingen though. Many less tourists. To me I can take or leave Salzburg. It just doesn't seem special to me (been there 3 times but wasn't my choice). Vienna is one of the great cities of Europe. Wonderful art nouveau building everywhere. Be sure to see the Secession Building and the KunstHaus. Spend some time in one of the coffee houses or heurigen where they sell new wine. Don't go to see the Spanish riding school in training, as only the performances are interesting not the training. As for Munich I find it rather dull. Just another big city (usually raining too it seems). The best you can say for it is it is a cheap place to fly into and out of from the USA. I myself would avoid Oktoberfest at all cost. We accidentally ended up in Bamberg on Oktoberfest and that was bad enough. The crowds are oppressive I find. <BR>Lots of drunks and noise and garbage.

I found many great places to stay over the internet and made all my reservations on the internet. Here's the info: <BR>For Interlaken, try www.interlakentourism.ch/; <BR>For Munich, try http://homepages.munich.netsurf.de/Nikolaus/munich.htm <BR>For Rothenburg, try www.rothenburg.de <BR>For Salzburg, try http://salzburg.nethotels.com <BR> <BR>I found these websites INVALUABLE for deciding where to stay. In Munich, The Hotel Uhland, was highly recommended on this Forum and I located it on the Munich website. And, they offer an excellent rate for booking it online. Good Luck and if you want to know any other places we're staying, email me. We're going from April 17 - 30, 1999. I can tell you more when I return.