Cleo B's Germany Trip Report, all in one place!
Jun 14th, 2008, 07:34 PM
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Cleo B's Germany Trip Report, all in one place!
To those of you who enjoy reading trip reports (like I do), I've taken the 5 parts I posted about our trip earlier today and put them into one report here. Here goes...
We just returned yesterday from three weeks in Germany. Since I found many great ideas here that shaped our travel plans, I wanted to give back with my report. It was a great trip, thanks to you all!
Munich: After arrival (claiming bags, etc.), we took the S1 train downtown to the Hauptbahnhof station (8,80 euro one way). The ride was about 45 minutes and uneventful. Our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott City Center, was only two blocks away, so we walked. Normally I don't like to drag bags through city streets but there were others doing the same thing, so we fit right in. The hotel was clean, quiet, and convenient for walking to everything we wanted to see downtown. If you are a Marriott Rewards Platinum member, you get free breakfast buffet (a 19 euro value) and free Internet (a 12,95 euro value). The area around the hotel and train station had its fair share of quick food restaurants, drugstores, and strip clubs (names like Candy Bar, Sexyland, Las Vegas) but there were lots of people out and we felt safe.
Activities in Munich: We took a morning tour out to Dachau with Radius Tours (picked them up on the north side of the Hauptbahnhof) for 21 euro each. This got us train and bus transport and an English-speaking guide. We also took their Third Reich Tour in the afternoon and got this added on for 7 euro each. Both tours were good - there were about 15 people on the Dachau tour and 7 on the Third Reich Tour. Did we need a guide for Dachau? Not really, but we appreciated the logistics help and insights not in our guide books.
The Third Reich Tour took us past locations related to Hitler's reign (HofBrau Haus, Odeonplatz, Konigsplatz). The highlight for my husband was the Fuhrer Building where Hitler, Chamberlain and Mussolini crafted the "Place in Our Time" document and figured out what to do with the land in Czechoslovakia where Germans lived. The building now houses a drama and music school so we waited until class was out to see the actual room and go out on the balcony Hitler used.
More activities in Munich: We also walked to the Marienplatz and climbed up the Alte Peter tower (1,50 euro each) for great city views. Highly recommend this early in the day to avoid heat stroke!
We also stopped for drinks in the Viktualienmarkt, before going to visit the Deutches Museum. The science and technology exhibits are extensive, so we chose to focus on just a few areas to avoid becoming overwhelmed. The next day, we spent time at the Alte Pinokathek (5,50 euro each) with its decent collection of works by Holbein, Rubens, Rembrandt, DaVinci, Titian, Tintorelli and others. Nicely laid out, and the included audio guide was well done.
Food in Munich: We are not big foodies, so we tended to eat big breakfasts, fruit and sandwiches or granola bars for lunch, and light dinners at non-descript pizza or Thai food places. If you like Turkish food, there are tons of kebab/gyro places to choose from. Sorry not to have any restaurant recommendations for you.
OK, on to Berlin for 3 days! We flew from Munich on a Lufthansa shuttle. I had booked this prior to the trip via the Web. The taxes cost more than the actual flight! Round trip for two was $377 and took about an hour. Upon arrival, the baggage claim is literally right outside the jetway in the waiting area - we almost walked past it thinking we needed to go to a centralized baggage claim! We saw people milling around it from our flight, so we caught on pretty quickly that the layout was different than our usual expectation.
From Tegel airport we took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt near Potsdamer Platz (18 euro), which took about 25 minutes. I used Hyatt points to get our three night stay on the Club Level. If you have the points, this is the way to go! The room was incredible (Aveda amenities, great bed and towels, marble bath). And the club itself had a nice breakfast buffet, afternoon cookies/cakes, dinner with light entrees and salad, and desserts that were works of art. They also had free Internet access at a single computer in the lounge that was always available.
Activities in Berlin: It was a 5 minute walk from our hotel to the Sony Center (mostly food) and Potsdamer Platz. There, we saw remnants of the Berlin Wall, and the two-brick width track embedded in the sidewalk and street to mark its former location. We walked a fair bit of this to get a sense of where the wall stood. We also saw numerous opportunities to buy "authentic" pieces of the Berlin wall.
The next day, we walked to the Reichstag Building (which had been discussed on our Munich Third Reich Tour) and climbed into the Dome for city views. Again, best to do this early in the day to avoid the crowds and heat. We arrived before 9am and there were about 50 people ahead of us. (You have to clear security like at the airport in order to enter, which slows things down before taking the elevator up).
We stopped at the Memorial to Murdered Jews along the way (2,711 stone slabs - the number doesn't signify anything as it was just the amount that would fit in the available space). It is striking and sobering.
We also visited the Brandenburg Gate and alternated our steps between the east and west sides of the wall since the two-brick path goes right in front. There is still a lot of construction along the Unter den Linden street but we walked it anyway, stopping at Bebelplatz to find the glass window embedded in the plaza that shows the empty bookcases memorializing the Nazi book burning that took place there.
We also walked to Checkpoint Charlie (busy with tourists) and went through the jumbled museum there. No A/C in this building! The museum cost 12,50 euro each to enter, and holds way too much material for the space. But it was fasincating nonetheless. We also stopped by the Topography of Terror but it was close to 90 degrees and this outdoor exhibit isn't shaded, so we didn't stay long.
Day 3 on Sunday, we figured out the subway system to visit Alexanderplatz, and then over to the Kaiser-Wilhem building bombed out remains. We tried to buy the "all day" ticket at a machine with our credit cards, but they didn't work. Fortunately we had cash. A note to anyone planning to shop on Sunday - the stores (including grocery) are closed! And silly me, I assumed the KaDeWe department store would surely be open, but no. We were leaving early on Monday, so I didn't get to see it. Maybe a good thing with the poor exchange rate right now! The K-W remains were good to see and we could put it in context with everything else we'd seen.
The Museums are open on Sunday, so we did get to visit the Pergamon Museum (amazing installation of the Altar, and beautiful Islamic art). The Mshatta palace stones, Ishtar blue tile gate, and Syrian Aleppo room were highlights.
We purchased the museum card that saved us money on multiple museum entrance fees (12 euro for the pass, versus 8 euro individual admissions), so we also went to see the Altes Museum. The Egyptian artifacts, including Nefertiti's bust, are temporarily housed here. Impressive Greek antiquities here as well. The Berliner Dom is in the same Museum Island location so easy to see as well.
We took the subway north up to the Old Wall Monument. There is an enclosed staircase that provides a good view of the standing original wall and the death strip beyond it. Again, a sobering site we felt was worth the trek.
Food in Berlin: We picked up lunch goodies in the food hall of Galeries Lafayette and enjoyed lunch in the Tiergarten. We also had good Italian at Vapiano at Potsdamer Platz (you get a card when you walk in and then visit different stations to pick up food - no table service. The cost is added to your card and you pay when you are finished by presenting the card with the accumulated total of all items you picked up at the stations).
We returned back to Munich the next morning, and picked up a rental car for the next part of our journey. We had rented a car through AutoEurope and picked it up from the Avis counter. A note to anyone renting a car in Germany: thoroughly check out your vehicle, including the undersides of bumpers, before you accept the car. I'd even advise taking photos to document any existing scratches or damage. The reason? When we returned our car to the central car return center (the car companies outsource this part of the operation), the agents immediately swooped down on us and yelled out that we had a big scratch on the front bumper of our car. It was on the underside, and you had to lean all the way over to see it. It was about a foot long, and looked like a scrape from bumping a barrier or wall.
We had checked out the car before taking it, but didn't crawl under the bumpers so we couldn't tell if it had been there at the start. Avis wanted to charge us 465 euro (!!) for this damage. Fortunately, we had arrived back to the Munich airport prior to our return to the US in plenty of time, so we asked to see a manager to contest the charge. Note that, even with buying the insurance, we had a 750 euro deductible, so Avis contended that we were liable for the full amount of their damage assessment. It took about an hour with paperwork and waiting, but the manager agreed to waive the charge for the scrape, so we didn't have to pay after all. We also got a printed final receipt.
I wonder if they count on people being in a hurry so they don't have time to contest these things? Anyway, I took pictures of the entire car at the end just to have a record in case a charge does come through on my card eventually for some other damage.
But back to the trip – a week with family spread over the Regensburg and Heidelberg areas…
Our car came equipped with GPS, and after figuring out how to program it and get it to display in English, we drove to Regensburg by way of Landshut. Quaint little town - lots of shops and cafes with a wide boulevard perfect for people-watching.
We stayed with family in Regensburg, who arranged for us to see Burg Prunn (castle ruin 30 minutes from town) and tour the BMW factory in Regnesburg. The factory does tours in English 2-3 times a week, and they take about 2-1/2 hours. It was fun to see car production from stamped sheet metal through to driving it off the line. Lots of cool robots, and the entire process was fascinating to us as business professors. Groups are limited to 25 people.
We also toured the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for two years now. We didn't eat out (homemade German food instead!!), so no restaurant recommendations for you.
Romantic Road: We found the drive pretty but not particularly "romantic." It's the quaint towns that give it the name, isn't it? We had planned to stop in Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl but since we had two nights reserved in Rothenburg, we decided keep going and enjoy getting to know just one town on the road.
Rothenburg: We stayed at the Gasthof Greifen (82 euro/night), just off the old town main square inside the town walls. They have free parking in back, which took some time to find, even with our GPS system (which we were glad to have!). The large double room overlooked the main street, which we thought would be noisy, but turned out great. The breakfast was so-so (table service with a limited selection of breads, meat and cheese), but the location couldn't be beat.
Activities: Yes, we made the obligatory stop at Kathe Wohlfahrt's Christmas store (snaps to husband who endured this for an hour). I had everything shipped home, so was able to save the 19% VAT tax, which they deducted right at the register. Shipping cost plus insurance and packaging came to 30 euro, but since I bought a fair amount of gifts, it turned out to be cheaper to ship than cart it around Germany. And, it only took two weeks for the box to arrive through the USPS. Well packed and no damage. I'd do this again.
In the early morning, we walked the wall and climbed the tower surrounding the old town. Best done before the crowds, it was pleasant and a great way to work off the pastries we'd been consuming every day from the bakeries!
Oh, speaking of bakeries, Rothenburg is "famous" for its "schneeballen" - strips of pie dough rolled in a ball the size of a softball and deep-fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar or coated with chocolate. Husband tried one and found it disgusting. They do a big business with these "treats." There is a daily fruit stand in the main square where we bought fruit to go with sandwiches bought for lunch at the bakeries. We needed fruit to counter the schneeballen incident!
Night watchman's tour: We had planned to do the tour at 8pm starting outside the town hall, but there had to be at least 75 people waiting, and it was raining. At 6 euro a head, this is a very profitable venture for the watchman, but we don't care for crowds, so we passed.
Crime and Punishment Museum: Definitely a highlight, and after making husband go to KW store, his reward. Lots of neck violins and shame masks, plus many other devices, including an iron maiden. Only cost 3,50 euro each to get in, and we spent a good 2-3 hours there.
Food in Rothenburg: Aside from the bakeries, we had an inexpensive dinner at Pizza Roma at Galgengasse 19 just outside the old town wall. Decent salat mit tonno (salad with tuna) and pizza.
Internet: There is one Internet spot inside the town walls, which charged ,50 euro for ten minutes. Enough time to check e-mail. It's a small and smoky room with 8 terminals, and the attendant also burned incense to mask the smoke.
Overall, we enjoyed the leisurely pace of Rothenburg and found it easy to walk around, get lost and found again, and just enjoy imagining what life must have been like here many years ago. Could you visit in less time? Sure, but it was nice to not be rushed.
Next stop, visiting family near Heidelberg for a few days. Took the castle tour - if you do this, get the audio guide which is a separate rental. Family treated us to more homemade German specialties for dinner - spaetzle, sausage, rot braut, pork roasts, and more. We visited Schwabish Hall en route - another charming town worthy of a visit.
After a week of family visits, we drove down from Heidelberg area to the Black Forest, staying in the town of Hinterzarten at the Sassenhof Hotel for two nights. We planned to hike, and this turned out to be a good base, even though it was overcast and drizzling rain most of the time. One hike took us over to Lake Titisee and back. The trails were well-marked, with no crowds. Hinterzarten itself is pretty small (few restaurants and no night life), but there is a good Italian restaurant (Pizza Da Vinci) that served tasty and reasonably priced meals.
After a few days, we meandered east to spend our last two nights near the castles. We drove by the Bodensee, and enjoyed the green, rolling countryside. We stayed in Schwangau at the Hotel Rubezahl, with direct (if distant) views of both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We had called a week earlier to reserve castle tours in English, which I'd recommend doing to avoid the lines and assure you get in at the time you want.
Castles: After reading all the posts on this board about the different castles, we really had a hard time choosing which to tour. In the end, it came down to time. We chose the Konigticket combo with Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, since they are next to each other. The ticket office recommended Hohenschwangau first, which was good for the background of Ludwig II's family. We toured it at 9:15 with only 6 others (it's a 30 minute interior tour). The recommended two hours between tours is plenty to walk up to Neuschwanstein (they suggest 40 minutes; we did it in 25). I think they want to be sure everyone has time to peruse the shops.
Our English Neuschwanstein tour at 11:15 had closer to 35 people, and the guide shouted as we toured each room. Still, the rooms were incredible, especially the Singing Room and the Throne Room. (This tour also was 30 minutes)
Afterwards, we trudged with about 50 other people up to the Marienbrucke to view the castle from the bridge. The bridge was a crush of people, and it made me a bit nervous to be in such close proximity to so many cigarettes dangling from hands and lips while people snapped each other's pictures with the castle in the background. It was overcast and drizzling rain, so we didn't stay long.
Back down in the parking lot (cost was 4,50 euro to park), we pulled out the map and decided to drive around the countryside. We visited Garmisch (lively pedestrian zone), Oberammergau (pretty dead since the next Passion Play is in 2010), Reutte, and Fussen. We even drove past the Linderhof castle area and could have squeezed it in but chose not to go. We were glad to have saved something of significance (the castles) for the last day of our trip, but were ready to head home.
Food: Our hotel, Hotel Rubezahl, had a gourmet restaurant and we dined there one evening. I finally got to have spargel! They offered it many ways, but the fresh white and green spears drizzled in a light butter/herb sauce with a savory spargel strudel sounded appealing to me. It didn't disappoint!
Lots of other appealing offerings on the menu, but I was feeling the effects of too many bakery visits, so didn't try anything else. The breakfast buffet in the mornings here also was good, with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage in addition to the usual yogurt, meusli, meat/cheese, and bread offerings.
The drive back to the Munich airport took about 2-1/2 hours, mostly on autobahn, with just a bit of traffic outside the city. There is an Agip gas station at the airport for re-fueling (diesel was 1,54/litre).
At the airport (after dealing with our car return problem noted in a previous post), we had no problem clearing security, but there were two full security checks - the additional one was for flights to the US. So, be sure to give yourself enough time to check in, clear passport control, shop duty free, and clear both security queues.
Many thanks to everyone who posted reports previously and asked or answered questions that helped me shape our successful trip! If you have questions, I'm happy to provide what I can!
(PS to noe847 - I tried to link my original threads but couldn't get the links to work properly so this post is my alternate solution - thanks anyway for the help!)
We just returned yesterday from three weeks in Germany. Since I found many great ideas here that shaped our travel plans, I wanted to give back with my report. It was a great trip, thanks to you all!
Munich: After arrival (claiming bags, etc.), we took the S1 train downtown to the Hauptbahnhof station (8,80 euro one way). The ride was about 45 minutes and uneventful. Our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott City Center, was only two blocks away, so we walked. Normally I don't like to drag bags through city streets but there were others doing the same thing, so we fit right in. The hotel was clean, quiet, and convenient for walking to everything we wanted to see downtown. If you are a Marriott Rewards Platinum member, you get free breakfast buffet (a 19 euro value) and free Internet (a 12,95 euro value). The area around the hotel and train station had its fair share of quick food restaurants, drugstores, and strip clubs (names like Candy Bar, Sexyland, Las Vegas) but there were lots of people out and we felt safe.
Activities in Munich: We took a morning tour out to Dachau with Radius Tours (picked them up on the north side of the Hauptbahnhof) for 21 euro each. This got us train and bus transport and an English-speaking guide. We also took their Third Reich Tour in the afternoon and got this added on for 7 euro each. Both tours were good - there were about 15 people on the Dachau tour and 7 on the Third Reich Tour. Did we need a guide for Dachau? Not really, but we appreciated the logistics help and insights not in our guide books.
The Third Reich Tour took us past locations related to Hitler's reign (HofBrau Haus, Odeonplatz, Konigsplatz). The highlight for my husband was the Fuhrer Building where Hitler, Chamberlain and Mussolini crafted the "Place in Our Time" document and figured out what to do with the land in Czechoslovakia where Germans lived. The building now houses a drama and music school so we waited until class was out to see the actual room and go out on the balcony Hitler used.
More activities in Munich: We also walked to the Marienplatz and climbed up the Alte Peter tower (1,50 euro each) for great city views. Highly recommend this early in the day to avoid heat stroke!
We also stopped for drinks in the Viktualienmarkt, before going to visit the Deutches Museum. The science and technology exhibits are extensive, so we chose to focus on just a few areas to avoid becoming overwhelmed. The next day, we spent time at the Alte Pinokathek (5,50 euro each) with its decent collection of works by Holbein, Rubens, Rembrandt, DaVinci, Titian, Tintorelli and others. Nicely laid out, and the included audio guide was well done.
Food in Munich: We are not big foodies, so we tended to eat big breakfasts, fruit and sandwiches or granola bars for lunch, and light dinners at non-descript pizza or Thai food places. If you like Turkish food, there are tons of kebab/gyro places to choose from. Sorry not to have any restaurant recommendations for you.
OK, on to Berlin for 3 days! We flew from Munich on a Lufthansa shuttle. I had booked this prior to the trip via the Web. The taxes cost more than the actual flight! Round trip for two was $377 and took about an hour. Upon arrival, the baggage claim is literally right outside the jetway in the waiting area - we almost walked past it thinking we needed to go to a centralized baggage claim! We saw people milling around it from our flight, so we caught on pretty quickly that the layout was different than our usual expectation.
From Tegel airport we took a taxi to the Grand Hyatt near Potsdamer Platz (18 euro), which took about 25 minutes. I used Hyatt points to get our three night stay on the Club Level. If you have the points, this is the way to go! The room was incredible (Aveda amenities, great bed and towels, marble bath). And the club itself had a nice breakfast buffet, afternoon cookies/cakes, dinner with light entrees and salad, and desserts that were works of art. They also had free Internet access at a single computer in the lounge that was always available.
Activities in Berlin: It was a 5 minute walk from our hotel to the Sony Center (mostly food) and Potsdamer Platz. There, we saw remnants of the Berlin Wall, and the two-brick width track embedded in the sidewalk and street to mark its former location. We walked a fair bit of this to get a sense of where the wall stood. We also saw numerous opportunities to buy "authentic" pieces of the Berlin wall.
The next day, we walked to the Reichstag Building (which had been discussed on our Munich Third Reich Tour) and climbed into the Dome for city views. Again, best to do this early in the day to avoid the crowds and heat. We arrived before 9am and there were about 50 people ahead of us. (You have to clear security like at the airport in order to enter, which slows things down before taking the elevator up).
We stopped at the Memorial to Murdered Jews along the way (2,711 stone slabs - the number doesn't signify anything as it was just the amount that would fit in the available space). It is striking and sobering.
We also visited the Brandenburg Gate and alternated our steps between the east and west sides of the wall since the two-brick path goes right in front. There is still a lot of construction along the Unter den Linden street but we walked it anyway, stopping at Bebelplatz to find the glass window embedded in the plaza that shows the empty bookcases memorializing the Nazi book burning that took place there.
We also walked to Checkpoint Charlie (busy with tourists) and went through the jumbled museum there. No A/C in this building! The museum cost 12,50 euro each to enter, and holds way too much material for the space. But it was fasincating nonetheless. We also stopped by the Topography of Terror but it was close to 90 degrees and this outdoor exhibit isn't shaded, so we didn't stay long.
Day 3 on Sunday, we figured out the subway system to visit Alexanderplatz, and then over to the Kaiser-Wilhem building bombed out remains. We tried to buy the "all day" ticket at a machine with our credit cards, but they didn't work. Fortunately we had cash. A note to anyone planning to shop on Sunday - the stores (including grocery) are closed! And silly me, I assumed the KaDeWe department store would surely be open, but no. We were leaving early on Monday, so I didn't get to see it. Maybe a good thing with the poor exchange rate right now! The K-W remains were good to see and we could put it in context with everything else we'd seen.
The Museums are open on Sunday, so we did get to visit the Pergamon Museum (amazing installation of the Altar, and beautiful Islamic art). The Mshatta palace stones, Ishtar blue tile gate, and Syrian Aleppo room were highlights.
We purchased the museum card that saved us money on multiple museum entrance fees (12 euro for the pass, versus 8 euro individual admissions), so we also went to see the Altes Museum. The Egyptian artifacts, including Nefertiti's bust, are temporarily housed here. Impressive Greek antiquities here as well. The Berliner Dom is in the same Museum Island location so easy to see as well.
We took the subway north up to the Old Wall Monument. There is an enclosed staircase that provides a good view of the standing original wall and the death strip beyond it. Again, a sobering site we felt was worth the trek.
Food in Berlin: We picked up lunch goodies in the food hall of Galeries Lafayette and enjoyed lunch in the Tiergarten. We also had good Italian at Vapiano at Potsdamer Platz (you get a card when you walk in and then visit different stations to pick up food - no table service. The cost is added to your card and you pay when you are finished by presenting the card with the accumulated total of all items you picked up at the stations).
We returned back to Munich the next morning, and picked up a rental car for the next part of our journey. We had rented a car through AutoEurope and picked it up from the Avis counter. A note to anyone renting a car in Germany: thoroughly check out your vehicle, including the undersides of bumpers, before you accept the car. I'd even advise taking photos to document any existing scratches or damage. The reason? When we returned our car to the central car return center (the car companies outsource this part of the operation), the agents immediately swooped down on us and yelled out that we had a big scratch on the front bumper of our car. It was on the underside, and you had to lean all the way over to see it. It was about a foot long, and looked like a scrape from bumping a barrier or wall.
We had checked out the car before taking it, but didn't crawl under the bumpers so we couldn't tell if it had been there at the start. Avis wanted to charge us 465 euro (!!) for this damage. Fortunately, we had arrived back to the Munich airport prior to our return to the US in plenty of time, so we asked to see a manager to contest the charge. Note that, even with buying the insurance, we had a 750 euro deductible, so Avis contended that we were liable for the full amount of their damage assessment. It took about an hour with paperwork and waiting, but the manager agreed to waive the charge for the scrape, so we didn't have to pay after all. We also got a printed final receipt.
I wonder if they count on people being in a hurry so they don't have time to contest these things? Anyway, I took pictures of the entire car at the end just to have a record in case a charge does come through on my card eventually for some other damage.
But back to the trip – a week with family spread over the Regensburg and Heidelberg areas…
Our car came equipped with GPS, and after figuring out how to program it and get it to display in English, we drove to Regensburg by way of Landshut. Quaint little town - lots of shops and cafes with a wide boulevard perfect for people-watching.
We stayed with family in Regensburg, who arranged for us to see Burg Prunn (castle ruin 30 minutes from town) and tour the BMW factory in Regnesburg. The factory does tours in English 2-3 times a week, and they take about 2-1/2 hours. It was fun to see car production from stamped sheet metal through to driving it off the line. Lots of cool robots, and the entire process was fascinating to us as business professors. Groups are limited to 25 people.
We also toured the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for two years now. We didn't eat out (homemade German food instead!!), so no restaurant recommendations for you.
Romantic Road: We found the drive pretty but not particularly "romantic." It's the quaint towns that give it the name, isn't it? We had planned to stop in Nordlingen and Dinkelsbuhl but since we had two nights reserved in Rothenburg, we decided keep going and enjoy getting to know just one town on the road.
Rothenburg: We stayed at the Gasthof Greifen (82 euro/night), just off the old town main square inside the town walls. They have free parking in back, which took some time to find, even with our GPS system (which we were glad to have!). The large double room overlooked the main street, which we thought would be noisy, but turned out great. The breakfast was so-so (table service with a limited selection of breads, meat and cheese), but the location couldn't be beat.
Activities: Yes, we made the obligatory stop at Kathe Wohlfahrt's Christmas store (snaps to husband who endured this for an hour). I had everything shipped home, so was able to save the 19% VAT tax, which they deducted right at the register. Shipping cost plus insurance and packaging came to 30 euro, but since I bought a fair amount of gifts, it turned out to be cheaper to ship than cart it around Germany. And, it only took two weeks for the box to arrive through the USPS. Well packed and no damage. I'd do this again.
In the early morning, we walked the wall and climbed the tower surrounding the old town. Best done before the crowds, it was pleasant and a great way to work off the pastries we'd been consuming every day from the bakeries!
Oh, speaking of bakeries, Rothenburg is "famous" for its "schneeballen" - strips of pie dough rolled in a ball the size of a softball and deep-fried, and then sprinkled with powdered sugar or coated with chocolate. Husband tried one and found it disgusting. They do a big business with these "treats." There is a daily fruit stand in the main square where we bought fruit to go with sandwiches bought for lunch at the bakeries. We needed fruit to counter the schneeballen incident!
Night watchman's tour: We had planned to do the tour at 8pm starting outside the town hall, but there had to be at least 75 people waiting, and it was raining. At 6 euro a head, this is a very profitable venture for the watchman, but we don't care for crowds, so we passed.
Crime and Punishment Museum: Definitely a highlight, and after making husband go to KW store, his reward. Lots of neck violins and shame masks, plus many other devices, including an iron maiden. Only cost 3,50 euro each to get in, and we spent a good 2-3 hours there.
Food in Rothenburg: Aside from the bakeries, we had an inexpensive dinner at Pizza Roma at Galgengasse 19 just outside the old town wall. Decent salat mit tonno (salad with tuna) and pizza.
Internet: There is one Internet spot inside the town walls, which charged ,50 euro for ten minutes. Enough time to check e-mail. It's a small and smoky room with 8 terminals, and the attendant also burned incense to mask the smoke.
Overall, we enjoyed the leisurely pace of Rothenburg and found it easy to walk around, get lost and found again, and just enjoy imagining what life must have been like here many years ago. Could you visit in less time? Sure, but it was nice to not be rushed.
Next stop, visiting family near Heidelberg for a few days. Took the castle tour - if you do this, get the audio guide which is a separate rental. Family treated us to more homemade German specialties for dinner - spaetzle, sausage, rot braut, pork roasts, and more. We visited Schwabish Hall en route - another charming town worthy of a visit.
After a week of family visits, we drove down from Heidelberg area to the Black Forest, staying in the town of Hinterzarten at the Sassenhof Hotel for two nights. We planned to hike, and this turned out to be a good base, even though it was overcast and drizzling rain most of the time. One hike took us over to Lake Titisee and back. The trails were well-marked, with no crowds. Hinterzarten itself is pretty small (few restaurants and no night life), but there is a good Italian restaurant (Pizza Da Vinci) that served tasty and reasonably priced meals.
After a few days, we meandered east to spend our last two nights near the castles. We drove by the Bodensee, and enjoyed the green, rolling countryside. We stayed in Schwangau at the Hotel Rubezahl, with direct (if distant) views of both Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. We had called a week earlier to reserve castle tours in English, which I'd recommend doing to avoid the lines and assure you get in at the time you want.
Castles: After reading all the posts on this board about the different castles, we really had a hard time choosing which to tour. In the end, it came down to time. We chose the Konigticket combo with Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, since they are next to each other. The ticket office recommended Hohenschwangau first, which was good for the background of Ludwig II's family. We toured it at 9:15 with only 6 others (it's a 30 minute interior tour). The recommended two hours between tours is plenty to walk up to Neuschwanstein (they suggest 40 minutes; we did it in 25). I think they want to be sure everyone has time to peruse the shops.
Our English Neuschwanstein tour at 11:15 had closer to 35 people, and the guide shouted as we toured each room. Still, the rooms were incredible, especially the Singing Room and the Throne Room. (This tour also was 30 minutes)
Afterwards, we trudged with about 50 other people up to the Marienbrucke to view the castle from the bridge. The bridge was a crush of people, and it made me a bit nervous to be in such close proximity to so many cigarettes dangling from hands and lips while people snapped each other's pictures with the castle in the background. It was overcast and drizzling rain, so we didn't stay long.
Back down in the parking lot (cost was 4,50 euro to park), we pulled out the map and decided to drive around the countryside. We visited Garmisch (lively pedestrian zone), Oberammergau (pretty dead since the next Passion Play is in 2010), Reutte, and Fussen. We even drove past the Linderhof castle area and could have squeezed it in but chose not to go. We were glad to have saved something of significance (the castles) for the last day of our trip, but were ready to head home.
Food: Our hotel, Hotel Rubezahl, had a gourmet restaurant and we dined there one evening. I finally got to have spargel! They offered it many ways, but the fresh white and green spears drizzled in a light butter/herb sauce with a savory spargel strudel sounded appealing to me. It didn't disappoint!
Lots of other appealing offerings on the menu, but I was feeling the effects of too many bakery visits, so didn't try anything else. The breakfast buffet in the mornings here also was good, with scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage in addition to the usual yogurt, meusli, meat/cheese, and bread offerings.
The drive back to the Munich airport took about 2-1/2 hours, mostly on autobahn, with just a bit of traffic outside the city. There is an Agip gas station at the airport for re-fueling (diesel was 1,54/litre).
At the airport (after dealing with our car return problem noted in a previous post), we had no problem clearing security, but there were two full security checks - the additional one was for flights to the US. So, be sure to give yourself enough time to check in, clear passport control, shop duty free, and clear both security queues.
Many thanks to everyone who posted reports previously and asked or answered questions that helped me shape our successful trip! If you have questions, I'm happy to provide what I can!
(PS to noe847 - I tried to link my original threads but couldn't get the links to work properly so this post is my alternate solution - thanks anyway for the help!)
Jun 16th, 2008, 04:58 AM
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Cleo,
I notice you passed through both Fuessen and Garmisch. Which was the nicer town, with better views of Alps? I plan on an overnight visit to this part of Bavaria when I'm in Germany in early December.
Both of these towns can be reached by train from Munich, which is how I plan to travel.
I notice you passed through both Fuessen and Garmisch. Which was the nicer town, with better views of Alps? I plan on an overnight visit to this part of Bavaria when I'm in Germany in early December.
Both of these towns can be reached by train from Munich, which is how I plan to travel.
Jun 18th, 2008, 02:40 PM
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Thanks, all. It was indeed a wonderful trip. Barbara5353, I'd say Garmisch - it's nearer to the Zugspitze (Germany's highest peak at 2962 meters) right on the Austrian border. The Olympics were held there in the 30s. Fussen is also on the border but was a better base for seeing the castles (Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau).
