stlouaad

Hi, my husband and I are planning a 4-5 day trip to Switzerland OR Germany and are looking for advice on which you would consider the most fulfilling and idyllic/ picturesque winter destination. We like a bit of everything as far as traveling: scenery, culture, food, history, adventure, romance, architecture, nature, etc... so we arent picky. We have both traveled a lot but have somehow not made it to either country.

Switzerland: We would fly into Zurich and take the train to Lucerne, spend a couple days based out of there. We would also be visiting a couple mountain towns (maybe buy the Swiss Rail pass) and maybe Bern. Side question- we would like to do a horse-drawn sleigh ride. Which of the many beautiful mountain towns do you like best that offer these?

Germany: We would base ourselves out of Munich, and visit Salzburg and Neuschwanstein Castle.

I know it is a matter of opinion, but I would appreciate yours! This trip will be in the next couple of weeks (February). Thanks for your help!

nytraveler

IMHO Neuschwanstein is a faux castle (mad ludwig built it in the 1860s - and it's a howl lot of not much). And Salzburg is in Austria.

You can certainly visit the German alps - from Garmisch-Patenkirchen - to get to mountain tops. Hve never done horse drawn sleigth rides.'

I can tell you Switz is likely to be a lot more expensive. And Lucern, which a charming town that I love, is in the valley and you will have to trek to get to mountain villages form there.

Ingo

Nowhere in the German (Bavarian) Alps is really snow reliable. At least not the towns/villages. You might end up in rain instead of snow. You need to go higher up in the mountains, thus Switzerland is the better idea, I think. Agree with nytraveler that Switzerland is much more expensive, though.

I personally prefer the high altitude places in Grisons. The villages in the Engadin are picturesque/idyllic - www.scuol.ch and www.engadin.stmoritz.ch (avoid St. Moritz itself, it's too busy and overbuilt/ugly, but the villages in the region are pretty - Sils e.g.) Or try Klosters. Horse-drawn carriage rides are available everywhere.

I also liked Adelboden in the Bernese Oberland very much. Mürren is another good idea.

I would not recommend to stay in Lucerne if you're looking for snow.