Patricia

We will be driving from Calais across France to Bavaria in early June and with help from this board have already booked ourselves 4 nights in Berchtesgaden. We are also planning a two night stop around the Garmisch area, trying to decide the best town/village to base ourselves, we originally thought Mittenwald as we prefer smaller places. We will be driving the most direct route as we have visited Alsace, Lake Bodensee, Black Forest etc. before. Via michelin says 10.5hrs. to Mittenwald so we will just make a one night stop about half way but that will still leave us up to 5 hrs onto Mittenwald the next day. Would like your thoughts on where to stay, Fussen, Garmisch, stick with Mittenwald or somewhere we haven't thought of. Any nice B & B recommendations would also be appreciated. Thanks.

wolfie_107

Hi Patricia,
When I was in Bavaria I stayed in a place called Weilheim. They had a number of budget places to stay and all of them I found friendly and clean. Enjoy yourself there.

Jack31

Consider staying in Oberammergau.
http://www.oberammergau.de/
It's in a very nice area near garmisch. I haven't stayed there personally but I've found it a very beautiful village when I traveled through.

Russ

Garmisch is nice, but I prefer Mittenwald - it's higher into the mts, easier to get around in on foot, more scenic, and more quaint - almost the perfect little village. Fewer dining choices, of course, but Garmisch is just down the road for that sort of thing (visit the Fraundorfer for a "Bavarian Evening"! If you stay in M'wald, take the train home - a small beer there is, well, huge.)

There are many reasonably-priced B&B's there. We stayed in one - Haus Isarstrand - that was very comfortable and friendly and served a very good breakfast, but I don't think I'd pass it on to others; the husband/proprietor has some kind of pathological and pervasive body odor that nearly knocked me out. I'm sure you'll be luckier.

eurotravler

Checkout www.bavariaben.com

eurotravler

Sorry make that www.bensbauernhof.com

RufusTFirefly

We stayed in the village of Hohenschwangau, where Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles are located. Very relaxing, we found a really nice restaurant on the road to Schwangau (Alpenhotel Meier) and stayed at Pension Albrecht--well worth the 62 euro double we paid for a view of Neuschwanstein, breakfast, free parking, modern private bath, walking distance to castle ticket center.

Patricia

Thanks for the ideas so far, checking out Oberammergau website also Pension Albrecht. Any suggestions on Fussen, doesn't seem to be as popular as the other towns, anyone got a favourite place here.

Snoopy

I'll go along with RTF.

There's an area on the southern outskirts of Fussen where there are 15 to 20 small hotels built around a large park. It was absolutely gorgeous. I'll look through my travel garbage and see if I can find the hotel that I stayed at there . . . Alpine something or other . . .

I'll bet RTF knows the area well enough to help . . .

bavariaben

I just finished a trip report for a couple who spent a week in Füssen last month. Perhaps it will help influence your choice of where to stay... Ben

http://www.bensbauernhof.com/thelros...ripreport.html

Patricia

Thanks Snoopy and Ben, its now between Fussen and Mittenwald. I have sent emails 5 days ago to several of the smaller hotels/guest houses in Mittenwald, strangely no reply from any of them so far. Ben I have read the trip report on Fussen and it sounds great, would there be more to see and do and better dining choices than Mittenwald? Any other guest house recommendations in Fussen would be appreciated. Thanks all.

calville

Our favorite spot in all of Germany was a tiny village about 30 mins outside of Fussen called Zell. We were there in May 10 yrs ago. We disliked the Fussen hotels recommended by Gault Millau- took a brief peek at several. Fussen was not very charming. We stayed at Hotel Baren in Zell. Here is the info from the Michelin Red Guide: town is Zell am Harmersbach. Hotel was Zum Schwarzen Baren. Zell is tiny- nothing much there but two hotels Baren and Hotel Sonne (which we didn't look at). In May the wildflowers were in bloom- fields and fields of wildflowers with snow capped Alps in the background. Gorgeous and peaceful! Many footpaths through the meadows and some nearby ruins you could hike to. Rooms were amazingly cheap- nothing fancy, dark wood but large windows. Breakfast was delicious and dinner was tasty. Would love to go back for a 3 or 4 night stay- use it as a base for exploring other areas. Watched milkmaids leading their cows through town- a chorus of cowbells. Utterly charming, rural, peaceful.

WanderingTexan

I really liked Hohenschwangau. We stayed at Hotel Mueller. You can lay in bed in room 10 and look at Neuschwanstein castle lit up at night. That room also has a large terrace, although not private. The hotel has views of Hohenschwangau on one side and Neuschwanstein on the other side. I haven't been to Mittenwald, so I can't comment, but you are going to love Berchtesgaden...so beautiful. Have a great trip.

TuckH

There's a fault with calville's post.

Zell am Harmersbach is a town in the Schwarzwald...

I can't find a "Zell" on my Michelin map near Fussen.

RufusTFirefly

There are a few "Zells"--very very tiny scattered about Bavaria.

Patricia

Calville, thanks for answering, Zell am Harmersbach is actually in the Black Forest not Bavaria. It sounds delightful though and I will keep it mind for the next time we are in that area.

calville

How embarrassing giving out wrong info! OK I finally found it- it WAS in the Gault Millau but not under Fussen- listed under Eisenberg. Burghotel Baren 2 km SW in Zell-Dorfstr: 4. Phone: 083 63 50 11. Later today I'll give you the names of 2 other hotels in the area in case Burghotel Baren is full. The ruins of an old castle are on a nearby hill hence the name.

Zeus

If you want some great tips on Bavaria, search this website for posts by Bavaria Ben and the late, great Wes Fowler. They never steered me wrong. Wes was especially fond of a little inn in the tiny hamlet of Hohenfurch. Hohenfurch is halfway between Landsberg and Fussen. It's an ideal base for half hour trips to Neuschwanstein, Wieskirche, Oberammergau and Landsberg. Garmisch and the Ammersee are also quite close. Best of all, the Landgasthof Schonach-Hof in Hohenfurch is inexpensive and quite charming.

Please read Wes' comments below:

Author: wes fowler
Date: 02/15/2000, 05:27 pm
Message: Lisa,
Your timing is perfect. The Passion Play in Oberammergau ends in the first week of October and the onslaught of touring playgoers should be gome by the time of your arrival. You may be interested in the following itineraries that capture most of what's worth seeing in Upper Bavaria. The little inn mentioned is a real bargain with an excellent restaurant as well. The itinerary was designed for another Fodorite who's critique appears below.

I do know of a charming inn about 20 miles or less from Oberammergau that I've recommended to many Fodor's readers and from whom I've received highly favorable comments. The inn is the Landgasthof Schonach-Hof operated and owned by the Haslach family. Address Kapellenstrasse 22, D-8928 Hohenfurch. Tel: 08861/4108. No one in the inn speaks English; if no one in your party speaks German in order to make a reservation, I can provide you with a copy of the reservation request in German that I've used to make reservations with the Haslachs.

The inn is in Hohenfurch, a tiny farming village about 2 miles north of Schongau on the Romantic Road and about 145 miles (3 hours driving time) from Stuttgart.

We stayed in an immaculate, spacious room, with bath, refrigerator, sink, two burner stove, king sized bed, dining table and chairs and furnished private patio and were served a generous breakfast of meats, cheeses, breads and superb coffee. The inn's dining room featured Bavarian specialties, as well as trout taken from a lovely but frigid alpine stream that flows through the center of the village to the river Lechs about a quarter of a mile away. Most recent prices have been in the neighborhood of $90.00 to $82.00 a night.

You asked about maps. I don't have maps of Bavaria, but rather, written itineraries based on my explorations in southwestern Bavaria. The Baedeker guidebook to Germany is an excellent one and, unlike other guides, is accompanied by a huge, excellently detailed map of Germany that is a fine vehicle for plotting itineraries. You should find the Baedeker guides in any good bookstore. An alternative is the Michelin map of Bavaria, Map number 419, an absolutely superb map of Upper Bavaria. The Michelin guidebook to Germany, unfortunately without the map (it's sold separately) is a fine, comprehensive guide to Germany, as well. Both, like the Baedeker, should be available in bookstores. Another excellent guide to Bavaria is the "Visitor's Guide to Bavaria, published by Moorland Publishing in England and distributed by Hunter Publishing in New Jersey. It's ISBN number is 1 55650 085 8. To follow the itineraries, I'd really suggest you acquire a good map. The itineraries are all based upon Hohenfurch as a starting and ending point. Here they are:

To visit two of Bavaria's most famous castles, I'd suggest an early start to arrive at them before the tourist buses from Munich do. From the inn in Hohenfurch return to the Romantic Road (Rte 17) and head south, passing through Schongau and Steingaden to Hohenschwangau. It's about 45kms/28 miles. Leave the car in the special park at Hohenschwangau. You can walk from the parking lot to Schloss Hohenschwangau, one of the few castles that someone actually lived in for an extended period of time. Queen Marie, the mother of King Ludwig II lived there for many years. Following the tour of the castle walk back to the center of the village where you can either take a bus from the Hotel Liesl or horse-drawn cart from the Hotel Muller to Neuschwanstein. Take one or the other; you can walk to Neuschwanstein but it's a very steep and lengthy climb. After touring the castle, you might want to walk up the Pollat gorge to the Marienbrucke, the bridge that spans the gorge. From here you can look down on Neuschwanstein castle. Return to the village and your car by either the bus or horse cart.

The tour of the two castles, coupled with the drive time from Hohenfurch should take about three and a half to four hours. You might want to stop for lunch in the village or drive a short distance to the town of Fussen for lunch.

Following lunch, from Fussen, pick up Rte 16 going towards Markt-Oberdorf. This drive, on the western shore of the Forggensee, is highly scenic. Drive on Rte 16 for about 12km/7 miles and look for a road on your right and signs for towns named Langenwald or Steingaten. Take the road leading to Langenwald and Steingaten (it has no route number) and continue through the town of Steingaten for about 3km/2 miles. You'll see signs for Wies and Wieskirche and a road leading off to the right. Take the road to one of the most stunning sights in all of Bavaria, the Wieskirche. With its pale yellow exterior walls and red roof, it looks rather commonplace from the outside. Enter and encounter an absolute riot of rococo artistry.

Return to Steingaden and take Route 17 north to Schongau then back to Hohenfurch and the Schonach-Hof, your inn. I'd suggest you sit outside in the garden by the fish tank laden with trout. Have a beer, regain your energies and walk up to the church in town and prepare yourself for two surprises. The church, the Parish Church of the Assumption, offers some lovely baroque artwork in its interior. To the rear of the church is a small cemetery; visit it. You'll find it to be immaculate and laden with plants and flowers that suggest the work of a full time highly skilled gardener.

You may have noticed a building alongside the road in the pastureland behind your inn. It's a Gothic chapel, St. Ursula's and dates from 1492. I don't think it's open to the public; at least it hasn't been on my visits.

I think this itinerary, if taken at your ease, will constitute a fairly full day's activities. If you find, after visiting the castles that you have time to spare, you might want to consider a boat ride on the Forggensee. The boats are available at Fussen.

This is an itinerary for a particularly sunny day. It involves a tour of the German Alps, another castle and a scenic detour into Austria. Take Rte 17 south from Hohenfurch past Schongau to Peiting. In Peiting, look for Rte 472 (it's clearly marked) and travel east towards Peissenberg. You'll see signs for Hohen-Peissenberg which is where you want to go. Drive to the top of the hill (it's only about 3500 feet high), park and you'll get a sweeping, panoramic view of the German Alps and eleven Alpine lakes. Return to Rte 472 and continue east for a short distance looking for a road on the right that leads to Bobing and Rottenbuch. The ride to Rottenbuch is in a scenic valley. Stop in Rottenbuch and visit the Gothic basilica built on Roman ruins. The church interior is stunning, yet another example of Bavarian Baroque design. Check to see if the peasant theatre is giving a performance in the evening. You might want to stop back for it, even though it will be in German dialect.

From Rottenbuch, take Rte 23 south to Ober-ammergau, a charming village where a Passion Play takes place every ten years, next in the year 2000. The play's cast members are all villagers. You'll probably see many of them in the process of growing beards for the upcoming performances. Ober-ammergau is a delightful walking village, with buildings covered with lovely, colorful murals. Continue on Rte 23, the Deutsche Alpenstrasse (German Alpine Road) to Ettel and follow the Alpenstrasse west to the castle at Linderhof. This is Ludwig II's castle imitating Louis XIV's Versailles. It's well worth a tour.

Continue west on the Alpenstrasse to the Austrian border at Ammersattel and the town of Reutte where you will pick up Rte 314 and drive east past Heiterwang and Wangle to Lermoos. Just past Lermoos you'll find Rte 187; take it north to the border where it becomes Rte 24. Between Lermoos and the border you'll pass the Zugspitze, Germany's highest Alpine mountain on your right.

Continue on Rte 24 to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. At the train station, there's a cog-wheel railroad that will take you to the Schneefernerhaus Hotel, 8700 feet up the Zugspitze. From there a cable car will take you to the summit. The train and cable car trip will take about half an hour.

From Garmisch take Rte 23 north to the village of Ettal, an attractive village with an outstanding monastery , the Kloster Ettal. It's history dates back to 1320, but was significantly remodeled in the baroque style in the early 1700s.

Continue north on Rte 23. It will take you to Schongau and then Hohenfurch.

Here's a third and final itinerary with two options. Both options include an opportunity to see some Alpine lakes as well as the German Alpine mountain range. The shorter itinerary, about 224km/150 miles, includes a stop at a third lake. Bavaria's second largest, the Starnbergersee. This is the lake where King Ludwig drowned, either by accident or as the result of an assassination. The longer route encompasses 327km/200miles, and includes a visit to the Austrian city Innsbruck, the summer home of the Austrian Emperors.

To begin, Rte 17 south to Schongau and Peiting and east on Rte 472. Continue on Rte 472 until you reach Rte 11 around Benediktbeuern. Drive south on Rte 11 to Kochel and follow the signs to the Freilichtmuseum von Glentleiten. This is an open air museum with over 40 Bavarian farmhouses datling back to the 16th century. There are regular displays of traditional craftmanship. It is sort of Bavaria's counterpart of Williamsburg, Virginia. Return to Rte 11 and prepare yourself for a series of hairpin turns as you wend your way between the Kochelsee on your right and the Walchensee on your left.
Continue on Rte 11 past Wallgau and Krun, where Rte 11 becomes Rte 2. Continue on Rte 2 to Mittenwald, a fascinating town. Mittenwald is famous for its violin makers and woodworkers. You're probably not in the market for a violin, but do check out the wooden masks the carvers make for pre-Lenten celebrations. You'll find a large number of woodworking craftsmen in the town and a wonderful opportunity to pick up unique souvenirs. Now, backtrack on Rte 2 and 11 to just past the town of Wallgau where you'll find a toll road on your right. Take it for a scenic ride. (It's actually part of the Deutsche Alpenstrasse but passes through a national forest alongside the banks of the Isar River, thus the toll.) The toll road ends at Vorderriss. Continue on it and cross over the man-made lake, Sylvenstein-stausee. Just past the lake, the road will fork. If you take the right fork, Rte 181, you'll almost immediately cross over the Austrian border and begin the longer of the two itineraries. Continue on scenic Rte 181 to the A12 autobahn and take it westbound to Innsbruck, where by all means you should visit the old town with its magnificent buildings and shops with their wonderful old gilded wrought iron signs. From Innsbruck, take Rte 177 north. The route changes its numbering in Germany from 177 to E6, then 2. Take Rte 2 to Oberau where you can pick up Rte 23 which leads back to Schongau and Hohenfurch.

If you'd prefer the shorter itinerary, at the fork just past the Sylvenstein-stausee, continue to the left on Rte 13 to Lenggries where you can take a cable car up the Brauneck to its summit at a little over 5,000 feet. Here there's a viewing platform from which to see most of the Alpine lakes, almost the entire German Alpine range and to the south the glaciers in the central Alps. Continue north on Rte 13 to Bad Tolz. This is a large town with modern spas and equally modern medical facilities. The old part of town is charming, though, with its colorful old gabled houses. From Bad Tolz, you can pick up Rte 472 and take it to signs leading to Wolfl and Seeshaupt which puts you on the shore of the Starnbergersee. Drive up the eastern shore of the lake (the scenic route) to Starnberg then pick up the road leading to Weilheim and Peissenberg. At Peissenberg you'll be back on our old friend Rte 472 which leads to Schongau and home.

calville

Re: Zell-Eisenberg- I think that's the official name -Gault Millau describes the Burghotel Baren as a "comfortable and hospitable hotel ...offers a solarium and fitness rm and surrounding woods filled with wildlife and dotted with small lakes are perfect for both extended hikes and short strolls." I remember more open wildflower fields and distant vistas with some woods - not a dark, heavy forest feel. We drove past the entrance to the other country hotel GM gives an even higher rating to: Der Magnushof, Unterreuten 51, ph 0 83 63 125 66, fax 52 41. Has a pool, terrace/garden and conference facilities. The owner "has succeeded in turning an old Bavarian farmhouse in one of the most picturesque areas of this part of Germany into a luxury hotel combining comfort with rustic elegance. An intimate chat in front of the cosy fireplace with an excellent bottle of wine from the hotel's cellar is one of the most romantic evenings imaginable and the athletic guest can take advantage of the swimiming pool and fitness room....swimming in one of the cleanest lakes in the Allgau region the Weissensee." I'm sure the Burghotel Baren is more affordable. Its restaurant got a 12/20 in the 1991 edition- the food was quite good. The third hotel, very close to the one we stayed at, is not listed in the GM. Has GM gone out of business? I never see them around- excellent guidebooks- discriminating with good descriptions.

bavariaben

The Burghotel Bären (referred by Calville) looks very nice but you can stay within eyeshot of the Royal Castles for the same prices or less. Zell/Eisenberg is a small village between Pfronten and Hopferau (an area where inexpensive farms abound). Mittenwald is a quaint village and definitely worthy of a visit. For a several day visit my preference would be the area around Füssen. The town of Füssen is not quite as quaint as Mittenwald but it's location near the castles and other prime sightseeing possibilities give it an edge in my book. The Alpenhotel Meier and Pension Albrecht (now referred to as the Romantic-Pension Neuschwanstein) are both located in Hohenschwangau and would be good choices (as recommended by RufusTFirefly) and the Hotel Müller as well (recommended by WanderingTexan). Some other possibilities within eyeshot and easy walking distance of the castles is the Haus Weiher in Hohenschwangau and the wonderful farm Beim Landhannes in nearby Schwangau-Horn. Any of these places would be a good choice... Ben

http://www.burghotelbaeren.de/
http://www.albrecht-neuschwanstein.de/
http://www.alpenhotel-allgaeu.de/
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/hotelmu...schwangau.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/pensionweiher.html
http://www.bensbauernhof.com/landhannes.html