Greetings,

I am going to be spending a week at the Allgau-Stern Hotel in Sonthofen in mid-late April. I can take part of the time for tourism, but have not had good luck in finding tourism information, information about good restaurants and so forth.

Can anyone make some suggestions? It's my first time to this part of Germany.

Thank you very much.

JudyM

The way the snow is piling up this year, you probably will still be able to ski, if you are so inclined.


In any event: The hotel Allaeuer Berghof lies above Sonthofen (actually Fischen, but that's just a few km past Sonthofen) It's nice place,even if just for lunch or dinner. Accessible car, although in the "olden days", we just hoofed up there and skied back into the valley.

The Sonnenhof, also in Fischen, is a pretty fancy place; the owner is somehow tied in with the Sonnehof in Vail. Nearby Obsterdorf is the Vail of Germany. Nice places to walk to, hike to or take the cable car/ski lift to. Take the train from S. to O., a car in O.is a pain.

The local mountain in O. is the Nebelhorn, accessible by cable car.

A great place to experience is the super-ski jump outside of O. You can take an elevator to the start platform.

Also from Oberstdorf, you can take a bus into the Walsertal, an Austrian enclave, only accessbile bar car or bus from O. Nice hotels, lots of restautants. Makes good day trip from S.

Again from S.,go by car or bus to Hindelang and up the Oberjoch pass. You can continue from there (by car) to visit Ludwig's castles in Fuessen.

Again from S., you can go by car or train to Lindau and visit this old island city in the Bodensee (Lake Constance).

To check trains and busses: http://bahn.de

PS: I spent my teenage years in Immenstadt, 9km from Sonthofen, "way back when"

I own a timeshare in Oberstaufen, and many a day passed through Immenstadt on my way somethere for the day.

Thank you so much for replying. I am curious, however, what other things there are to do in that area if you do not ski. Do you really think that it will be very cold and snowy by mid-April?

JudyM

Sorry if I misled you that my suggestions are for skiers only. All of the places I mentioned you can access and enjoy as a non-skier. In factOberstdorf especially,is very much geared to the non-skier.(You can tell the non-skiing women by their fur coats!)

The deal is, you go to one the places mentioned for the day or afternoon, poke around a bit, and then settle in a cafe to indulge in coffee, pastry and Eisbecher (German/Austrian version of ice cream sunday, but very rich!)

April weather is iffy throughout most the area north of the alps. Kind of like New England in April. You can get perfect sunny days, where you can sit outdoors, but also rain and cold weather.

Generally, if you stay flexible -sighseeing on clear days - Cafe und Kuchen (coffee and pastry) on rainy days, you'll have a good time. You can always take your gained weight off after you get back to the Staes.

The Lindau area is likely to be a bit warmer than the Allgaeu. The lake and lower altitude have that effect.

One more item: The Allgaeu Stern is a very nice resort and probably offers or can get you in touch with tours to some of the places mentioned in my earlier postings.

That sounds really great!

I appreciate the information about the Allgau-Stern Resort because I haven't been able to find much (any) information about it in any guide books. The hotel website was helpful, but it's nice to hear good things from an independent source.

We also decided to spend four nights in Munich and booked a room at LeMeridian Hotel, based in part on comments in this website. Strangely enough, the hotel was not reviewed (yet) in any of the guidebooks on Germany or Munich. I know they're due to be re-published this summer, so we're going on people's comments here.

JudyM

Judy, at the Sonthofen hotel, ask for a room looking toward the Oberstdorf mountains. It's a great view.

Have fun! I'll be "in the neighborhood" in June, for a class reunion (I believe it's our 60th, I kind of lost count) in nearby Immenstadt

Thanks for the tip. I'll try to ask for the view that you've suggested. We also asked for a two room suite, I don't know if we'll get it or not, since we're at a conference, but it didn't hurt to try.