pynewood

This is our first trip to Germany and the countries around. We are heading off in our car from Frankfurt and heading south through Alsace wine areas, staying at Saint Amarin. Then heading through Switzerland to a place called Waldburg in Germany. They have some sort of medieval dinner at the Waldburg castle. My husbands ancestors were connected with the castle back in 700AD. From Waldburg off to Austria via Innsbruck & Saltzburg & Durnstein staying on the Danube (Vienna). From Vienna to Prague where we have decided to stay on a Botel on the River. We both love driving and experiencing the countryside so apart from the Botel, we are trying to stay away from big cities. From Prague, staying at Potsdam. Potsdam to Winterberg in Germany and from there to Oberwesel where we have spoilt ourselves staying at Burghotel schoneburg. We are travelling in June. I am sure there will be some interesting places along the way so any suggestions would be great. Can we expect that English will be spoken?
We can't wait - leaving Australia in the Winter, Europe in the summer, what more could you want!!

ira

Hi P,

>Can we expect that English will be spoken?

Depends on where you are. The smaller the town, the less likely.

Are you driving through Switzerland because you want to, or because you think that you have to?

While in Waldburg, visit Linderhof or other towns along Lake Constance.

You will need an International Driver's Permit for Austria.

Austria requires a road tax sticker - about 8E for 10 days - to drive on main roads. You won't be able to avoid them crossing the border.

Switzerland requires a raod tax sticker - about 40 CHF - to drive on main roads.

Enjoy your visit.

Larryincolorado

Ira, don't you mean "LINDAU (www.lindau.de) or other towns on Lake Constance."

There is also the island of Mainau and Friedrichshafen, with the Zeppelin museum, both on the Bodensee (L. Konstanz).

bettyk

If possible, do not miss Mainau Island. It is simply gorgeous. All the amazing flowers in their huge garden.

http://www.mainau.de/htdocs/en/0101.htm

Also, if you go through Innsbruck, please take time to visit Hall in Tirol which is just a few kilometers east of Innsbruck. Much larger old town than Innsbruck. Very nice.

A very nice place in Durnstein to have a meal or for overnight is the Richard the Lionheart Hotel. Probably a little pricey for overnight, but you can sit out on their terrace and have a wonderful meal overlooking the Danube.

http://www.richardloewenherz.at/restaurant/index.php

http://www.hall-in-tirol.at/110.html

Larryincolorado

As for the language, there might be a few people who speak English, but, in my experience, most people in that part of Germany will not. I have been to Sigmaringen (www.hohenzollern.de/schloss-sigmaringen), just north of there (nice castle, BTW, worth seeing), four times, and only once did someone speak much English, but he apparently thought my poor German was better, and we spoke German mostly. I think everyone knows immediately from my accent that I am American, but no one else, except one castle tour guide, ever tried to speak English to me. One time a late teens girl showed me to my room and tried to explain that the room key also opened the back door after hours. When I couldn't quite understand her, rather than explaining in English, she showed me.

wolfmisc

Hi pinewood,
its nice to have good ancestors.
But there is no castle in Germany dating back to 700 AD. And there is no nobility being able to follow their ancestors back to the time of Charlemagne, which was around that date you mentioned.
So keep the church in the village!
Aside from that you are going to see some very interesting and pleasant places. And are having a tight schedule, not knowing how many weeks you have for the journey.
If time allows I would include some Switzerland too. Stein and the Rhine falls in Schaffhausen as well as the small cities along Lake Constance (Arbon etc.) and Lucerne are well worth a visit. Not far from Salzburg are also several interesting places with >own< lakes like Hallstatt or St. Wolfgang. And close to Duernstein is the famous abbey of Melk.
Why Winterberg in Sauerland? Its wellknown for winter sports, but less interesting in summer or spring. I would skip it and visit some other spots near Oberwesel on the way back to Frankfurt. Ruedesheim or Eltville for instance, just to mention 2.
Have a nice trip and dont forget umbrellas and warmer clothes. The last period of cold and rainy weather appears normally mid of June in Central Europe.

Reisender

one of Germany's oldest castles--Wartburg was founded in 1067 AD.

pynewood

Hey thanks everyone. I stand corrected on the Waldburg Castle. His ancestor was a German Knight who was a Prince of Waldburg direct descendants of the Counts of Thann. We enjoy giving the trip a purpose by exploring some old family "legend" stuff. (Back then he probably lived in a cave!) The only reason we decided on Winterberg was it was then we needed to break for the day and we picked a place "off the beaten track" from the main roads. We did that in Italy a few years back and met some great and interesting families, no-one could speak English, but there was a lot of arm and hand gestures happening - a lot of fun.
We have never been to Switzerland so that it why we are going through to Waldburg that roundabout way.

So how do we acquire the road tax stickers for Austria and Switzerland? From our hire car company?

bettyk

You can purchase the car stickers (vignette in Austria; don't remember what it's called in Switz.) at most roadside gas stations before you enter Austria or Switzerland. I definitely remember seeing signs advertising the Vignette on the highway before going into Austria. I remember a 10-day sticker in Austria costing under 10 Euro.

Since you are renting your car in Germany, the car hire company won't be of any help unless you just happen to luck out in getting a rental car that already has a valid sticker on it.

Cowboy1968

You can order the Swiss motorway vignette online:
http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/pro...e.php?passid=5

ira

Hi Larry,

>Ira, don't you mean "LINDAU

Yes.

Thanks for the correction.

wolfmisc

What I wanted to say was that 700 AD is impossible. The House of Waldburg goes back to 1170 AD.And with this it is among the oldest noble families in Germany. So your husband can be proud anyway.

logos999

Don't forget Ernst August of Hanover also called the Pinkel-Prinz or Prügel-Prinz. He's a Welfe and his family dates back to that time, right.

noe847

We briefly (unexpectedly) crossed into Switzerland from Germany in our car this week, and could buy the autobahn sticker at a kiosk at the border crossing.