I traveled to Bavaria last December with my mom and 2 teenage sons. We had such a great time, we are talking about going again this year. I am not quite ready to book the flight...we have discussed Morocco, Russia, Prague, Paris...I wish we could do them all right now, but work just seems to get in the way. So while I am trying to figure out where to go to next, I thought I would reminisce about our great trip and share the details with you.

We left on Thursday 12/13 and returned on Wednesday 12/19, flying in and out of Munich, via Philadelphia.

TIP: I used a pocket folder to keep track of my papers and receipts. I printed out hotel confirmations and carried those in my folder. I also carried copies of our passports and credit cards.

We traveled light - only carry on's for this trip. (we did not want to waste a minute of our trip waiting on checked bags or worrying about lost luggage) I had a large carry on that expanded and we packed extra bags in our luggage for some shopping. We also had backpacks. We checked almost all bags/backpacks on our return.

We live in South Carolina, and it was about 77 degrees on the day we left. We had no room in our luggage for coats and boots, and we looked a bit silly wearing them - especially the boys, as they were in shorts - but it made for great laughs.

The best part of the flight was when I woke up to see the sun rising, and it was about 3:00 in the morning in South Carolina. It was absolutely stunning!

My younger son(YS) who was 15 on this trip, had a really hard time with his ears while landing. He was almost in tears because of the pain, and just could not get them to pop. The stewardess recommended that we get him some allergy medicine for the return trip and that did help.

We finally made our way through customs and hit the ATM. Of course my card did not work...I had notified the credit card companies that I would be in Germany, but failed to remind my bank - for my debit card!! So I was a bit ticked off - but got even more upset when I realized that we left Rick Steves on the plane!! Yep! I put the Bible, I mean guidebook, in the seat pocket, and then later switched seats with YS. We did not get a reminder from the flight crew to check our seat pockets - those slackers!

I was starting to panic...lost in Germany with no money, no Rick Steve's and no more patience!!

Not sure Day 2 posted...this is a test.

It does not seem to be out here, so forgive me if it shows up later...I was trying to proof and it just disappeared.

Day 2
Mom's bank card worked, and she got some cash. We headed out into the cold and walked over to the train station. We saw a group of little kids on a field trip. They received some type of poster that was rolled up into a tube and they were sword fighting with their posters...kids are the same in any country - cute as can be - and my nerves were starting calm down. We purchased Bayern tickets for each day of our trip. We paid 29 Euros per ticket and all 4 of us could ride through Bavaria for an entire day. We went to Salzburg, Fuessen and Rothenburg (on separate days) for only 29 Euros for all of us each day.

We saw a book store and I picked up a few new guidebooks while the boys were checking out the "Naked Lady Magazines" that were everywhere...even in the display windows!! (Those are not out on display at our local stores - so I was a bit surprised!)

We went downstairs and caught the train to the Ost (East) Station. This was our official first train ride! We have been on the subway in New York City once before...so at least we had clue. Our train left us off in the bitter cold and we ran off the platform and down the stairs. This is where mom and I met and fell in love with Chocolate Croissants...The boys picked out Wurst Croissant's and mom and I chose Nuss & Nougat ones. To Die For!

We hopped on the train bound for Salzburg. We were in an end car, and it was jammed packed. We were sitting on the stairs with our bags...as there were no seats wondering if we had to ride like this for the duration. After 30 minutes or so, the train started to empty, and we noticed that we were in the bicycle section. We had "jump seats" that folded down. The kids folded down a few and lay down to try and rest...by now we were the only ones in that compartment.

The conductor did make his rounds and was a bit upset with me when I showed him my ticket...apparently I was showing him an "inquiry" and not the actual ticket. I was getting a bit nervous. When I finally pulled the ticket out of my bag, he was quite friendly and even gave my son a Teen type magazine to peruse. Whew!

As we got closer to Salzburg we started to see the snow out of the windows...it was beautiful. YS wanted to jump off the train for a quick second to grab some snow at any one of the many stops we made, but I convinced him to stick with us so he would not get left behind. The countryside and mountains were so beautiful.

We finally made our way to Hotel Auersperg in Salzburg. (we took a bus from the train station, and then walked a few blocks) This was a lovely hotel. They were expecting us and that was a nice feeling. Mom and Older Son (OS) shared a room on the 1st floor, which to us was actually the 2nd floor and YS and I were on the floor above them. We had a lovely balcony and of course YS was out scooping up all of the snow and making snowballs. We had a lovely view of the streets below and the mountains right up the road. We did not have much luck with hotel availability when I was making reservations for the trip, but was finally able to book these rooms through Expedia.uk. At the time I did not realize that pounds were not the same as Euros (the squiggles next to the numbers looked pretty close to me), so the price I was quoted was acceptable, but was very high when it was time to convert!! YIKES!

After we got settled in (played on the lift and threw some snowballs) we asked the girl at the front desk to recommend a casual place for dinner. She made us reservations on the spot for a place up the street called Stadtkrug on Linzer Gasse. we had a lovely walk - it was snowing, all the shops were lit up and many places to buy our Mozart Balls. The restaurant was at the foot of the mountains. Mom and YS ordered the Weiner Schnitzel, potatoes and salad and it was yummy. It came with tiny little cranberries that were cute and delicious. OS had Boiled Beef with mashed Rutabaga and I had Filet Mignon strips and Spaetzle. My dinner was the most expensive and least tasty. We shared 2 Apfel Strudel's with vanilla ice cream...we loved the ice cream! With coffee, bread and butter, our total bill was just over 76 Euros.

After dinner, we strolled along Linzer Gasse and enjoyed the atmosphere. We popped into a little shop and we each tried a Mozart Ball. I love chocolate, and did not need any more of these - they are very cute, but not as yummy. We did find a little grocery store called SPAR and I loaded up on these cute little violin shaped bottles of liquor. (Brandy and Schnapp's) (13 bottles in all, that I lugged around with me for the duration of the trip)

We got back to the hotel around 8pm local time and got settled in for bed...or at least I thought we did. OS had different plans...

OS waited for his Grandma to fall asleep and then took the room key and headed to the hotel bar. He had just turned 17 a few weeks earlier, but the bartender served him a shot of Tequila and then a Rum and Coke. Obviously, I had no idea this was going on and did not find out about it until months after the trip! This should have been the theme for the trip...as it was not the last time...TEENAGERS!!

We had a lovely breakfast in the breakfast room - we discovered NUTELLA - OH MY GOODNESS! We are hooked! This truly was one of the best breakfasts of the trip. We checked out of the hotel and they stowed our luggage for us.

Maria, from Bob's Sound of Music tour picked us up from the hotel. Remember to hang on to your Rick Steve's Guidebook, so you can get a $5 discount on the tour. We picked up another family of 3 and off we went. We had a nice time...even the boys enjoyed the tour. Maria called my YS her "little snowman" as he was covered in snow at each stop. She even engaged in a snowball fight with him - as he was throwing them at us.

We enjoyed the tour and the area is just beautiful. We stopped in St. Gilgen for a yummy treat and gorgeous views before heading back. We asked Maria to drop us off at the Christmas Markets when the tour was over. We were then on our own to discover Salzburg. We had been watching some webcam's before we left to keep an eye out for snow. The webcam we found included the Mozart statue. We came across the statue and ice skating rink. We were tempted to go ice skating, but passed. We meandered through the markets and made our way to the very long line at the restrooms. We decided to wait and headed up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. We used the restrooms at the base of the funicular...no line at all.

We had a great time exploring the Fortress and got loads of great pictures from the top.

We then headed over to the St. Peter's cemetary and the Catacombs. Lots more steps, but really cool!

We headed back to the markets and enjoyed roasted almonds, pork and cheese sandwiches, ham sandwiches, potato wedges and Red Bull. We worked our way out of the markets and walked back to the hotel to grab our bags and took a taxi to the train station - and headed back to Munich. (This time we found the "regular" seats and had a comfy trip away from the bicycle section!)

Once we arrived in Munich, we found our way out of the train station after a few unsuccessful attempts and found that we had to walk past a Naked Lady Bar on the way to the hotel. Oh My!

Enjoying your report. We were just in Bavaria in June - would love to go back when there is snow.

My DH had a lot of trouble with his ears on a recent flight and purchased something called "earplanes". You put them in for take off and landing. They really helped him a lot.

We were in Morocco in March 2007 when our kids were 11 and 14. It was a fabulous trip - can highly recommend it!!

I have really enjoyed your trip report, especially the description of walking through Salzburg when snow is falling.

JGG - Thanks for the earplanes tip...I have never heard of them, but will definitely check them out.

We all agreed on the trip to Morocco. I bought Frommer's guidebook and was planning away. The flights are good bit more expensive, hence the hesitation...but I started thinking that YS has allergies and am wondering if the camels and blankets will bother him. He cannot breathe when he is around dogs or cats. He is also allergic to feathers...birds. We went to a medieval dinner theatre in Las Vegas with horses all around and we barely made it through dinner. So...if we have a good excuse as to why we CANNOT ride the camels, maybe we can take the train from Casablanca to Fes, to M'Kesh and back to Casablanca. That trip will better fit our budget and we will still get plenty of culture from the other cities.

Of course, since starting this trip report, I am all ready to go back to Germany! We missed out on a few things...and would love to go back. Decisions, Decisions!


Thanks Pegontheroad!

Unfortunately, I used a 35 mm camera, so only have pictures for the scrapbook. My OS took some pictures with his digital camera, but they are no longer on his camera...not sure what happened to them...I found 2 that I posted on Trip Advisor - under this same screen name. There is a lovely picture of a lake in Salzburg...all snowy and one of the Neuschwanstein Castle in Fuessen...covered in a blanket of snow...I really just cannot express how beautiful everything was. It really was postcard perfect everywhere we went.

I am enjoying your trip report so much, reminiscing about being in Munich and Saltzburg two years ago in Dec. It is magical, isn't it?
I also remember when we took our son to Germany when he was 16 or 17. In Passau, after we went to bed, he went down to the bar. He was drinking jack daniels and coke (so he told us later.) We knew nothing about this until I tried to wake him the next morning. He doesn't know how he got the key to the room. This seems to be a 'rite of passage' thing. No harm, no foul.
Keep writing and 'happy travels!' CJ

I was a bit concerned that we were heading in to a Red Light District, but it was honestly fine. We just walked by quickly and did not see any other questionable businesses or activity.

We checked in to Hotel Reinbold. This was the most sparse hotel of the trip, but a great location near the train station at a good price. I thought it was odd that they asked us to give them our hotel room key while we were off the premises. Apparently this is not that unusual.

We got settled in and walked back toward the train station and popped into a little "convenience" type store called Yorma's and picked up sandwiches, fresh fruit salad, bottled water and Cokes to take back to our room.

Day 4

Breakfast was included at Hotel Reinbold. It was a nice offering...even included Potato Salad! Since we are really not Potato Salad for Breakfast people, we filled up on Nutella and fruit cocktail...and maybe a croissant or two...and some yogurt.

We hopped on the train just after 9 am and headed to Fuessen this morning with our Bayern Train Tickets. We had only a few minutes to catch the bus to Nueschwanstein as we pre-purchased castle tickets online for 1:00. (We could not get a train out of Munich before 9am, as part of the Bayern ticket rules) We needed to be at the castle ticket window by noon, so timing was important. We ran from the train to the bus without much trouble. I was excited to learn that the Bayern Ticket also covered the bus ride to the castle. So excited, in fact, that I lost the 5 Euro bill that I had in my hand...ready to pay the fare. Nice way to stick to my budget, huh?

The views on the ride to Schwangau were Remarkable. There were trees everywhere and all covered in snow...like a snow forest. We picked up our tickets from the ticket window and I gave the clerk my last 3 Euro dimes when I paid for the tickets. That turned out to be a slightly important detail...

Because of all the snow, there were no busses to the castle, and since it was absolutely FREEZING, we decided to take the horse and buggy ride up the mountain. But first, we needed to make a stop at the restrooms. I knew this day was coming and even lost sleep over it...PAY TOILETS...without any change!!! You needed 3 Euro dimes to get through the turnstyle to use the restroom. OK - it would have been nice for the ticket man to mention this to me and suggest that I hold on to those Euro dimes. But, no problem - there was a change machine...if you entered 50 Euro cents, you can get change to use the restroom. Oh dear, the change machine did not work!! It just kept my 50 Euro cents! Please do not tell anyone, but mom and YS crawled under the turnstyle to use the potty...it was an emergency for them...and we did pay the change machine. So, while I am standing there - there happen to be other tourists who also wanted to use the restroom...and they did not have 3 Euro dimes either. Somehow I turned in to the attendant and helped these folks as best I could. I had the most trouble with the group of tourists who did not speak English or my pitiful High School German - but I did help a few squeeze through the turnstyle after they paid 50 cents to the change machine. or they held out a handful of Euro change, and I would pick out 3 dimes for them. Fun Times!

The trip to the castle was very cold (I think mom was starting to turn blue) - and beautiful. The Maria bridge was closed because of all of the snow. We enjoyed the inside tour...be prepared for loads of spiral stairs...and then grabbed some stuff from the gift shop on the way out. On the way up the mountain toward the castle and again on the way back down, we stopped at the outside vendor/restaurant that was on the side of the mountain and enjoyed some "snowballs" These were balls of fried dough, covered in powdered sugar. I think they were like a funnel cake, but in a ball. They were sooo good and hot. The kids grabbed some wurst on a bun. At the bottom of the mountain, we popped into a local Cafe for some soup, salad...I think YS ordered ice cream. I ran to the restroom and left the kids with my mom at the table. When I got back, there were 2 shots of VODKA on the table and the boys had funny looks on their faces. Apparently, they ordered the Vodka and my mom shook her head at the waitress...thinking she understood not to bring this out. However, they were not on the same page and the kids each had their own shot. YS had a sip and wanted no more. OS was trying his darndest to get while the getting was good. I have to admit, I did take a sip before returning the leftovers to the kitchen - since I was paying for them, and all. They asked if something was wrong with the vodka, I said no...I just did not want my teenagers to be drinking liquor. 2 shots of Vodka at 7 Euros/shot...another nice way to stick to the budget.

We did a little shopping in Fuessen before catching the train back to Munich. The boys met some older teenagers on the train and enjoyed chatting with them. Another night at Hotel Reinbold with sandwiches from the train station. Mom found Starbucks and grabbed some coffee for the walk to the hotel.

Day 5 – Nuremburg/Rothenburg



We checked out of Hotel Reinbold and took the 9:05 am train to Nuremburg. If I recall, this train had no heat. We absolutely froze on the ride. There was a man who walked around with a snack/drink cart and we got some coffee and hot chocolate…but that did not do much. BRRR!

We arrived in Nuremburg and stowed our luggage in the luggage lockers. I read somewhere that we should stow our luggage up off the floor, so we heaved it up and squeezed it all into as few lockers as possible.

We walked over to the Christmas Markets and had a wonderful time roaming around. The Nuremburg sausages were yummy! We actually liked the KinderPunsch better than the Gluwein. Everything was so lively and fun. We found a Kathe Wolfart stand, and I purchased my 1st ornament. I was hooked! Mom picked out a cuckoo clock at one of the shops and had it shipped home. We picked out Steins, Smokers, Pyramids, etc. We had a lovely time and especially liked a little shop called J. Eilles – an awesome chocolate shop…we stocked up on a bunch of little goodies here.

We were exhausted, so we started toward Rothenburg. The boys grab some chocolate covered fruit on a stick on the way. We had two connections from Nuremburg and the lady at the ticket did not speak much English, but printed out an itinerary for me and helped me find the way while mom and the boys gathered the luggage.

We took a cab to our hotel inside the city walls. What a CHARMING town!! We stayed at the Burg Hotel. The main hotel is built right in to the town wall. We had reserved the family suite, and it was up the road a bit. We had to climb several flights of stairs on a spiral staircase with our luggage. We had two large bedrooms, 1 small bedroom, 2 bathrooms…one with tub, the other with shower. It was very nice and had lovely views of the valley below. Our only complaint here was that we could not get the kettle to work and mom wanted some coffee. Once we settled in, we ran out to enjoy the Christmas Market here. We found a crepe stand and OS and I shared a Nutella and Cherries crepe…this was our very first crepe and we were quite pleased. I do not know what YS and mom had…I was too busy wrestling mine away from OS!! We then bumped in to CHRISTMAS HEAVEN – KATHE WOLFART. I have never seen anything like it in my entire life! We did not see much of Rothenburg , as we were gaga! And then when I went outside, I found that there was another store across the street!!! We spent most of our money with Kathe!!! I really wanted a 4 level Pyramid and I found the perfect one…so I had them ship it home. Then we picked out ornaments to bring back to everyone…we really went hog wild here! We even came across some chocolates filled with “brandy”. They were really cute and I passed them out at work…I ate one, and realized that it really WAS brandy in it…not just a flavoring! I was a big hit that day! Once we pulled ourselves away, I found a teddy bear store called Teddy’s and picked out my first Steiff Teddy Bear. They had one dressed as the MeisterStrunk…beer stein and all…so he was wrapped up and shipped to the states with my name on it. TIP: I have to say, I am not that familiar with the VAT system but it seemed that when I shipped my purchases, the tax was waived. To me, the price sort of balanced itself out with the shipping, but I did not have to carry my purchases, and did not have to stop at Customs at the airport. It worked out well for me.



We still had about 45 minutes before the Night Watchman tour started. YS was concerned that he was in Germany and had not yet had a chance to try some beer. He asked if we could go into a pub and try some while awaiting the tour. We ducked into a place called Gasthof Zum Greifen and the waitress suggested we try some “Radler” which was beer mixed with Sprite. We each had a glass and we shared some Potato Pancakes and applesauce. I am not a beer drinker, but it really was not bad. YS felt a little sheepish when he was “outdone” by his grandma…he only took a few gulps and had enough…grandma just about finished hers!! Of course, OS was not letting a drop of his go to waste. We bundled back up and headed out to the town square for the much anticipated Night Watchman tour. He got started and there was really a large crowd. As we were gathering closer, mom was turning blue again and her teeth were chattering. She was going to tough it out because she knew I was really excited. Then, YS announces that he needs to use the restroom. That was mom’s way out and she and YS were heading back to the room. I did not want to get separated, so we all went back to the room, and missed out on the tour. I was NOT a happy camper, but kept my cool. (I had blown my stack earlier in the day, when my hair kept getting caught under the strap of my shoulder bag and YS kept asking questions while I was wrestling with my hair/bag. Only one meltdown per day was allowed.)