Kim

My husband & I just got back from our honeymoon (we had an incredible time!!). Thanks to everyone here for their advice. Here was our itinerary summary: <BR> <BR>Reutte, Austria & Neuschwanstein & Howenschangau Castles: <BR>Stayed at Hotel Moserhof in Reutte. <BR> <BR>Munich: Stayed at Pension Seibel & ate at Hofbrauhaus & Weisses Brauhaus <BR> <BR>Salzburg: Stayed at Pension Bergland and went to Augustiner Bierstubl. Also saw Kehlsteinhaus in Obersalzburg <BR> <BR>Venice: Stayed at Hotel Riva (Canal view room) and ate at Taverna San Trovaso & Trattoria da Bepi. <BR> <BR>We rented a VW Passat through AutoEurope/Europcar & flew Continental Airlines (used FF miles). If anyone has any questions-- I would be more than happy to answer them!! <BR> <BR>Kim

kk

Kim, congratulations on your marriage and successful honeymoon trip. I would be interested in your own description of the Riva in Venice. I've read about it elsewhere on this forum but would like your view. Thanks, kk

ofelia

Would love to hear your stories about Salzburg and Neshwanstein castles.. <BR>we are planning to go there next year. <BR>Where did you start and end? Did you use the car all the time? Where did you get the map and directions? <BR> <BR>thanks, <BR>ofelia

Kim

To kk: We liked the Riva. Our room was rather spacious and had 2 large windows overlooking the canal. The bathroom was rather small, but it everything looked new. Yes, it did get noisy at about 8:00 am with boat traffic, but it was time to get up anyway. The gondoliers start coming by at about noon, and about 5:00 pm, the canal is literally flooded with gondoliers, some with musicians onboard (which was rather romantic, listening to them all). My only complaints about the Riva are that the woman receptionist was not the friendliest person (didn't say a word to us when we paid and left), and we thought it was a little too close to P. San Marco and the hordes of tourists. We did not miss having a tv, etc. We would stay there again and had a good experience. The room is a great value for Venice considering its location, spacious & clean rooms, and view. The breakfast served as basic Italian (caffe latte & rolls), but the room was right on the canal. We did FedEx $100 in travelers checks to hold the room and called to reconfirm a week before. <BR> <BR>To ofelia: We started & ended in Zurich. Long story, but we got a deal from Continental (25,000 miles a ticket) to fly in and out of Zurich, and it was pretty central to everywhere we went. We used a car for the entire trip. Europcar only gave us a map of Switzerland, and we supplemented it with online maps from www.michelin.com and directions from Rick Steves. We loved having a car and being on our own schedule, but when we drove back to Zurich from Venice on Saturday, we ran into a lot of traffic just south of the long tunnel in southern Switzerland. We saw trains zip by us and that was the only time we wished we had a train pass. <BR> <BR>We absolutely loved Neuschwanstein. Make sure you see Howenschangau too because it gives you a better picture of King Ludwig's life. Neuschwanstein was never completed and the tour is fairly short. If you stay overnight (and have a car), I would stay in Reutte over Fussen. Less traffic and a short drive to the castles. We thought our room at the Hotel Moserhof was the best of the trip and probably the least expensive. The family who runs it doesn't speak any English, but they were very friendly and their restaurant was exceptional-- they served traditional tyrolian cuisine (it was excellent) and the prices were soooo reasonable. Our room was probably the best of our trip-- it was huge with a wrap around balcony, views of the mountains, huge new marble bath, and comfortable bed with huge down comforters and pillows. We cannot say enough good things about this place. Just be prepared to speak German! The price was 950 AS w/breakfast. <BR> <BR>We also loved Salzburg. It is such a beautiful town. I wish we had more time there, I want to go back to see more of it (and see Vienna) We only had a day and a night, but we did see everything we wanted to (except a Mozart concert). We did the Mozart Geburthaus & Mozart Wonhaus which I thought was an incredible experience. I thought the movie at the end of the Wonhaus tour was very good at explaining his life story. I never saw Amadeus and now I'm dying to see it. We stayed at Pension Bergland which we would also recommend to anyone. The owner is extremely friendly and our room was great. He had on site parking and we were only a 10 minute walk to the Salzach River. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps! <BR> <BR>Kim

kk

Kim, thanks for all those glorious details. Six months from today and we're OFF on our own Continental FF tickets (not such a good deal as yours, but not bad either). I can hardly wait.