Bavaria and Tyrol Trip Report
 

My husband and I just had a great trip to Munich, Bavaria, Innsbruck, the Dolomites, and Bolzano. In addition to touring towns, we did a week trekking in the Dolomites—which I will write up in a separate trip report. This report will be long, so I will put subsequent installments in the comments. First—some comments on why this trip at this time, etc. This trip was based around a Dolomite trekking trip that had been on our list for some time. We could have spent time in Italy before the trip, but we have been to Venice, Trent, Rovereto, etc. and we wanted to do something different this time. We haven’t been to Europe in the summer but if you want to hike in the mountains, that’s when you have to go! I usually like to stay in one place as a base and take day trips, but we had to travel from Munich to the Dolomites, so we stayed in many places. One overall note—DH had the Google Translate app that allows you to scan a written plaque/sign and see it translated into English. This was very helpful in the small churches or towns we visited.

Days One/Two (Sunday/Monday)--Munich
We flew from Salt Lake City through Atlanta to Munich. It was easier to get upgrades/use miles to pay for better seats if we went to Munich vs. Milan (the other airport we considered for this trip). We landed at around 9:30 or so. It was hot and humid (we are from a high desert so any humidity is humid for us ) so we changed in the airport before going out. I would have taken the train into the city but we had our regular suitcases plus 30 pound backpacks in duffel bags and I just did not want to wrestle with that luggage on the train and walk to our hotel along with jet lag. The taxi to the hotel was 120E. Yep, expensive and worth it to us at that moment. It took about an hour.

We stayed at the Hotel Admiral—which was fantastic. I booked a room on the garden side. The room is small, but has a nice bathroom, and it has a small balcony. I would sit out there in the evening—it was out of the sun—and just relax. The hotel is in a quiet, residential neighborhood. Only 5 minutes from the Isor station and about 10 minutes walk to the Victual Market. The breakfast was lovely every morning—plenty of options. The staff were fantastic and very helpful. We dropped our luggage went walking.

We did a self-guided walking tour of the old town. We stopped in to see various churches, walked along streets, walked through the touristy beer hall, and we were at the Town Hall around noon so we stayed to watch the clock tower glockenspiel “show” which was really cool. We were not really hungry—they fed us well on the plane—so we just grabbed some soda and kept going. We ended at the Residenz Treasury. Which was something else!! We really enjoyed it! We didn’t tour the palace because we were going to Nymphenburg in a couple of days. By that time it was about 4:00 and we were done. We walked back to the hotel and rested for a bit.

In all of the ticketed places we went in Munich, you could not bring in any bags—I have a small backpack purse and I had to check it every time. Most places gave you back your 2E coin when you brought back the key, but make sure you have 1 and 2E coins handy.

I had made reservations at Vinotek by Geisel. I knew we were going to get plenty of Bavarian beer throughout our trip so I thought we should try some German wines. This place was great. They did have a nice variety of wines, the food was excellent, and the staff were very helpful—they translated the chalkboard menu for us and made wine recommendations. We ubered back and forth because we were so tired.

Day Three-Munich (Tuesday)
We ubered over to the Alte Pinakothek. We really enjoyed this museum. We got to know some German painters we had not known. The Neue Pinakothek is closed for renovations, but they had a wing in the Alte P. featuring highlights from that museum. That was pretty incredible—I saw a Van Gogh I had never seen in photos, a few Rodin sculptures, and more Impressionists. That took us 2-3 hours.

We then walked to the Nazi Documentation Center. This place is extremely informative. You start on the top floor and work your way down. It is a very heavy on the read information and see some photos experience. There are a few films. The information details the origin, rise, and fall of the Nazis as well as the continuation of extremism. We learned a ton. We took a break half way through and got paninis at the food trailer outside the museum. That easily took 3 hours to go through.

Then we walked over to the train station to pick up a rental car from Sixt. I didn’t want to take a train for an hour out to the airport and then back into the city, etc. It was only a 10-15 minute drive from the rental pick up place to the parking garage suggested by our hotel. The garage was a max 5 min walk from the hotel. Easy peasy.

That night, we had dinner at Gasthaus Isarthor, which was a 10 minute walk from our hotel. All of the outside tables were taken by local families—it really is a neighborhood kind of place. We sat inside—dark paneled walls—very Bavarian looking pub. The Augustiner beer was wonderful. I had the roast pork which wasn’t the best. My husband had schnitzel and said it was fantastic.

Day Four (Wednesday)—Munich to Oberammergau
The plan for today was to see some sites further afield and then drive to Oberammergau. You don’t need a car to see the places we say in Munich—the train would have been fine. We just didn’t want to train out, train back to the car, etc. We first went to Nymphenburg Palace. We found parking right out front—we were there by 9:30. We had purchased tickets online to save time. (there really wasn’t a line) The palace is impressive but the coach/carriage/sleigh museum is really amazing!!! I had never seen sleighs like that—they were so creative and beautiful. We also walked out to the hunting lodge which was fun to see. The whole place is beautiful with lots of locals walking the garden paths, etc. That took us about 2 hours.

Next stop—the BMW museum. We also bought tickets online for it. There is a large parking garage underneath the showroom. The showroom is cool but my husband was most interested in the museum. I liked looking at the cars—I had never seen a Bubble car before! There were hallways that just had engines in them. I sent DH in to enjoy looking at those while I grabbed a seat. We ate lunch at Cooper’s Café in the showroom. That took us 2-3 hours.

Then we drove to Weiskirche. I had a road map of Southern Germany and we used google maps to navigate. The drive was nice—pretty countryside. The Weiskirche is pretty incredible and we loved all of the dairy cows with their bells right outside. It was definitely worth the stop.

My original plan had been to see the “Mad King’s Castles” and to overnight in Fussen. I had hotel reservations there. When I did all of my trip planning this past winter, I made a note to get tickets for the castles 3 months in advance. (I think that’s the soonest you can do it and I am an advanced planner) Well, I forgot that part until DH and I were reviewing the itinerary 2 weeks prior. There were no tickets to be had—not from 3rd party vendors, etc. I even looked at all day tours. Nope. Learn from my mistake—get tickets really early if you go in high season!!!

So I pivoted—canceled the hotel in Fussen and found one in Oberammergau. We stayed at Hotel Maximilian, which turned out to be the nicest room in the whole trip. We were in a corner room so we had 2 balconies. Gorgeous views of the town and the mountains. We ate dinner at the hotel--Ammergauer Maxbrau—they brew their own beer which was fantastic. And the menu was Bavarian staples that were prepared/cooked to perfection. We didn’t have reservations but got in because we were hotel guests and we ate early. The service was good at dinner and in the hotel.

We got to the hotel, checked in, and parked the car around back in small hotel lot. We walked down the street about 5 minutes to see the Little Red Riding Hood and Hansel/Gretl houses. The other houses also had interesting frescoes. The next morning, we walked over to the church next door which was very pretty.

Day Five (Thursday)—Oberammergau to Innsbruck
We had reservations at 9:30 for Linderhof Palace. I forgot the time and we ended up being 30 minutes late. We asked at the ticket office and they told us to ask the tour guide. We were very lucky—the next tour was in English and since it was just the 2 of us, the guide let us join her tour. They said you had to check bags near the ticket office but there were plenty of people with small backpacks on the tour—you just carry it in front of you. The palace was very beautiful and extravagant. The grounds are gorgeous—we walked to the Turkish pavilion. The drive over to Linderhof is through beautiful Bavarian countryside. That took us a max of 2 hours—probably more like 1.5.

Then we drove to Innsbruck. I think we got the Austrian road pass at a gas station in Oberammergau. We got the 10 day pass since we would have to drive back through Austria on the way to Munich at the end of our trip. Again—a nice drive.

We stayed at the Hotel Golden Adler. We had great service there and you can’t beat the location. We parked in the Allstadt garage and had a 5 minute walk with our luggage to the hotel. We grabbed sandwiches in a shop and did a self-guided walking tour. Saw the Golden Roof, a church, some historic streets, etc. We had reservations at Die Wilderin which is just around the corner from our hotel. The service was fantastic and they had a good wine list. We really enjoyed our dinner!!!

Day Six—(Friday)—Innsbruck to Madonna di Campiglio
We checked out of the hotel and left our luggage for pickup later. We grabbed breakfast at a nearby chain bakery that was very yummy—they had amazing sandwiches too!! We toured the Hofkirche and the Tyrolean Folk Museum. I enjoyed the museum—it had one exhibit on “life paths” from birth to death that was interesting. I enjoyed seeing the various objects of Tyrolean life. The rooms that they had taken from actual houses and re-created in the museums were really something else. Just the handcraft and wood carvings were amazing. We actually had an hour left, so we toured the Hofburg Palace, which we enjoyed.

Then we grabbed our luggage and drove over the Brenner Pass. Ugh. On a Friday with a giant traffic jam. We didn’t believe Google maps when it said there was a route that could have saved us time—we should have taken it!!! We SAT in traffic for a good 1-2 hours. No idea what caused it.

We made it to Madonna di Campiglio by 4:30 ish. This was the start of our Dolomite Trekking trip, which I will cover in a separate trip report. We stayed 2 nights at the Savoia Palace. The rooms were a good size. The breakfast buffet was incredible. We ate dinner 2 nights at the hotel—it was part of our trekking package. The salad and dessert bars were amazing. The hotel was filled with vacationing Italians. All I can say is—if you saw something you wanted, grab it, because you couldn’t count on going back for seconds. The food was very good and the service was efficient. Madonna di Campiglio is a nice small, laid back, ski town. It would be a great base for a week of hiking in the area. It was so much cooler up in the mountains.

The next Friday—Madonna to Bolzano
I thought we were supposed to get off the trail sooner and then we could get a head start on our Saturday drive by going 2 hours to Bolzano. Well, I wouldn’t do that again. I decided we just drive a different route than the one we came from when we drove in. Google maps said it was only 10 minutes more. It was this windy back road along a road that was barely big enough for 1.5 cars and it was a 2 lane road with motor cycles passing/cutting in and out of traffic. Good grief. Just take the main/fastest road!!!!

In Bolzano, we stayed at the Stadt Hotel Citta. I used the address for the parking garage underneath Piazza Walther. Bad idea. It just takes you to the Piazza, not the parking garage entrance. We ended up in another parking garage nearby and walked 5 plus minutes with luggage. It was just stressful navigating the streets. The hotel was very nice—great room, great service, wonderful breakfast.

We had been to Bolzano 6 years ago in November to see Otzi. Needless to say, it wasn’t really crowded then. In July—it was packed with people. I would come as a day trip but I might opt to stay in another town or outside the town center. We had reservations at Franziskaner Stuben. The food and wine were fine. The problem is that the restaurant’s outdoor tables are spread in all directions. Trying to get staff to get a refill on wine, etc was difficult. Again, it was a Friday night in July.

Last 2 Days—(Saturday and Sunday)—Bolzano to Munich
In the morning, we toured the Duomo and the Dominican church. We talked down some streets. The Dominican church has those impressive frescoes—they were amazing. We had seen Otzi before so we didn’t stop to see that museum—but it is incredible and should not be missed if you haven’t seen it.

Then we went back over the Brenner Pass to Mittenwald for a lunch stop. There was a short detour between Innsbruck and Mittenwald which wasn’t too bad and it was pretty. (I believe an exit was closed from the main highway or something) Mittenwald was lovely. We had a decent lunch at the Alpenrose—I had my first schnitzel and really liked it. We toured the church---a family was baptizing their baby in a side chapel so we didn’t walk around all of it. Still very beautiful. We were pretty tired by then so we skipped the violin museum.

We took a more rural route back to Munich which was pretty. We returned the car to the airport and took a taxi to our hotel for the night. I had Marriott points, so we stayed at the Marriott Airport Hotel in Freising—which is about 15 minutes away. It is a basic business/airport hotel. They had a shuttle you could pay for to take you to the airport the next day. We got room service which was passable and watched the Olympics.

Sunday morning, we just took the shuttle to the airport and started our long journey home.

This was a very interesting TR, StantonHyde. All new places for me and they sounded wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to compile this.

Enjoyed your report - we've been to most of these areas and will be there again next month. I've made note of Vinotek by Geisel for our stay in Munich. Are reservations necessary?

Off to see your Dolomites report - we're spending some quality time there in Sept/Oct, second visit for us, visited in December last year (and yes, hiking is possible, but limited that time of year).

Thanks for posting.

When we went to Geisel it was on a Monday at 6 and the tables were maybe half full. It's not a big place so on a weekend, I would definitely make reservations. But Mon-Wed, you could chance it.