Trip report..Germany and Austria
 

Thanks for everyone who gave advice on our trip! Our family of 5...3 teenagers...took a 16 night trip through Germany and Austria. I have to say it was one of our better trips. We flew from JFK to Munich. I had booked the Munich Marriot because it was close to the airport and to BMW where we were picking up our new 325xi. The metro station was about 2 blocks from the hotel and we found the pickup place easily. Getting back to the hotel was harder.
Later in the evening we took the metro to the Marienplatz and ate at the Nurnberger Bratwurt Glockl am Dom. I highly recommend this restaurant. The waitresses and waiters were exceptionally nice and I loved those little Nurnberger Schweinwurst...yum, and of course the beer. I think we tried every wurst in the place.
The next morning we headed for Salzburg. It was easy getting there, but alittle confusing when you are actually driving through town. I saved my husband from going down a one way the wrong way..but thats another story. We stayed at the Alstadthotel Worl-Dietrich. It is a very nice hotel. There is an interesting parking garage under the mountain a block away. The hotel has an excellent restaurant,Arlich. It serves only organic vegetables and meat. We ate there the first night and ended up eating there again the second night when it poured and no one felt like going out. Everyone liked their meal. In fact everyone really liked both meals. My son especially loved the venison so much he had it both nights. I had it the second night and it was very tasty. We had this great desert, Salzburger Nockerl which was a soufflé with raspberry sauce.

Salzburg is a beautiful city. In spite of the rain, we saw alot. A few of the things we did were to go to Petersfriedhof Cemetery and the catacombs in the rock above the Cemetery. The Hohensalzburg Fortress tour was interesting...with an incredible view from the top. It was just great to wander around the old city. There were great street musicians and yummy places to have coffee and pastry.

Next we headed to Durnstein and stayed at Saenger Blondel. Durnstein is such a charming town. Driving through is fun...the roads are just wide enough for one car. I would recommend the hotel. It is very charming and old fashion. They are suppose to have a very good restaurant, but it was closed the week we were there. We had dinner at a wine bar a couple blocks away. It was great sitting out on the patio with the vineyard and Danube below. We ordered a variety of small dishes and had excellent wine.
From Durnstein it is very easy to take a boat ride down the river or to rent bicycles and ride along the river.
Early the next morning, when all of my lazy family was sleeping, I hiked up to the castle fortress above the town where legend has it, Richard the lion-Hearted was held prisoner. His minstrel Blondel supposedly found him...anyway its a good story. It is a nice hike with a great view of the Danube from the top. I will continue later with our next stop...Vienna.

cparris,

how eager are you to see that e46 arrive in the U.S.? Isn't ED the best way to buy a bimmer or what!

Looking forward to reading the rest of your report...

It was great driving the bmw in Europe. I was worried that we would be too squished also but it wasn't too bad. The trunk holds alot...we had 4 suitcases plus backpacks. It was really nice. I think we will do it again when the lease for this one is up. It was fun to be able to "open it up" on some of the roads.

Our next stop was Vienna. We got 2 adjoining rooms at the Radisson SAS Palais Hotel. The hotel was nice and the location was good.The lobby is very nice. They have this big breakfast buffet which no one really liked that much. It was alot of food, but not really great. Everyone liked the breakfast at the Wolf-Dietrich much better.
Restaurants: For lunch we ate once at the Augustiner keller which has an interesting setting and ok food. We also ate at various outdoor restaurants around Singerstrasse (by the church) We also at at Oswald and Kalb...very good meal. The menu is in German, but they will read it to you. My daughter wanted something simple and they prepared a special chicken dish for her.

We also had dinner one night at Griechenbeisl Restaurant (next to the Greek Church). This is a very old traditional restaurant (1450) and very interesting inside. I had an excellent pate appitizer but didn't like my main dish as good (venison which I was probably comparing to the Allich). The snitzel was hugh and everyone thought the meal was decent.

We had pastry one night at the Sacher Hotel. I was disappointed in the Sacher Torte which I found to be dry. I really developed a fondness for the coffee mit schlag.(they don't put sugar in their whipped cream!)

I liked Vienna. Just the architecture is amazing. I was particularily impressed by the inside of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Definately go into the little cafe under the rotundum and have cake and coffee. The museum really makes the Met look poor. It has an amazing selection of paintings.

The imperial Treasury is worth a visit. You really appreciate how rich the Hapsburg empire was. The Schonbrunn Palace is good to see and also to get the history. St. Stephans is also interesting. Those were probably my favorite attractions to see.

Going in July the music scene isn't as good, but we did do a Mozart concert. It was good, but sort of like Mozart lite. It was done in costume at the Musikverein which is a very nice venue.

We also got to experience the ER of a local hospital. My two sons 16 and 171/2 went off by themselves to various parks to skate and skateboard. My daughter took a call from my oldest that he was taking the ambulance to the hospital because he had fallen and cut his chin. He had gone to the first aid in the park and they had called the ambulance because it was bleeding too much. Of course we were paniced and the front desk at the hotel helped us locate the hospital where he had been taken. We got there easily enough and saw him waiting for xrays...his chin looked fine. It turns out he cut his shin and had a couple stitches. They were very professional. We luckily had trip insurance which covered the ambulance(we paid them 75E on the spot) and were billed for the stitches and xray. Alittle excitment.

Welcome back, glad you had a great time. How was the weather this time of year in Germany and Austria? I am thinking of doing an october trip to bavaria but worry it will be too cold and wet.

Glad to hear you enjoyed Durnstein and Wien(knew you would). We also hiked to the castle above Durnstein. You really get a sense of history up there.
I'm going back to Wien for 3 weeks next August-September for a German course at the University. CAN'T WAIT!

We actually went in July...it just has taken me awhile to post this. I think the weather could be great in Oct. but it is hard to tell. On my previous trip to germany we went in Sept. and it rained every day for 10 days. Thankfully though not the entire day. We had pretty good weather...toward the end it started getting hot with the heat wave...but the first week was cool. Operaman...I appreciated your help for planning this. I would love to go back and do the bike trip that you did. Going there for 3 weeks should be fun. I am jealous.

It was a pleasure to be of assistance.
Did you have a glass of Gruner Veltliner in Austria? I don't know why, but I always end up wandering in to the Augustinerkeller for a glass of wine. Was the singing accordion player there?

I did have a glass of Gruner Veltliner there. I think I ended up having wine everyday...it was so good. Alas we missed the singing accordian player. I guess I need to go back.

cparris;
An excellent reason for a return trip.
Did you get your Gruner in a mug?
They had a merlot there that was beyond excellent though I did not get the name of it. That is a good reason for me to go back too!

Next after Vienna we went to Hallstadt. I have to say we stopped at a rest stop off the main highway and had a very good meal. It was amazing compared to the NY rest areas. You could choose from 3 home made soups. salads, cooked on the spot snitzel...plus wine or beer.
The drive to Hallstadt off the highway was very scenic. When we got there we called the hotel and the owner came and let us through the gate. We stayed at the Seehotel Gruener Baum. The hotel is very old, but the rooms were big. We had a family suite...two big rooms and a shared bathroom with two balcony's overlooking the lake. They have a restaurant which is ok and breakfast is included. There are serveral other restaurants on the square and a good itallian restaurant up the hill.

Hallstadt is a very beautiful place. There was a concert next door at the Lutheran church with a group from England. We rented canoes and kayaks and paddled around the lake and we went up the mountain and did the salt mine tour. The tour was fun. Even my kids enjoyed it. You dress in these funky clothes and descend deep into the mountain. Everyone got a kick out of sliding down the chutes from one level to the next. Afterwards we ate lunch at the hotel on top. I would recommend it. The view is outstanding and there is just something about sitting outside on top of a mountain.

Hallstadt is very quiet at night, but there was an outdoor bar where everyone gathered to have a drink.

It is really a great place to spend a couple nights and relax.

Our next stop was Alpbach. I had intended to stay in Innsbruck for 2 nights and then looking around the web I saw that there was an incredible skate park called the Cradle skatepark which was just off the highway in Brixlegg. I looked around at the nearby towns and decided Alpbach was the place to go. We stayed at the Romantik hotel Boglerhof. Alpbach I have to say is the quintesential Austrian/tyrolian village. It is so picture perfect. There was even a village brass band concert in the evening. The Boglerhof was a great place to stay. We were given a family room which consisted of 2 bedrooms, a large living room with a day bed, a kitchenette and a dining room...plus a balcony and 2 bathrooms. Breakfast and dinner were included and the food was quite good. For dinner they had a piano player. The breakfast was a buffet. The best part of the hotel was the spa area. They had an indoor pool which had bubblers and current to swim against. They had several saunas. My favoite was in a little hut outside...after which you could have a cool off in a spring fed natural pool with a waterfall... It was heaven. I got up early and did a great hike into the mountain behind the hotel. I would have loved to stay longer. They gave us alittle bottle of wine as a going away present and a couple of weeks ago on my birthday I was surprised to get a card. My husband jokes that it is really a hotel for over 40's people...just a place you could really get use to staying at.

We picked up our 525i a year ago last June. Just the two of us. We looked at the 325, and for the money, I thought the 5 series was a better deal because of the room.

God bless your 3 teenagers for putting up with sitting in the back seat for 16 days. No one complained? @-)

Hallstadt was wonderful. We enjoyed it too. ((b))

Actually, they were good. We didn't drive everyday though and I tried to limit the time spent driving. I thought I would be sitting in the back since my 17 year old is much bigger then me...but he was great about it. We got it because it is good in the snow. My husband had a 5 series before and could never get up our hill. We test drove the 325 during a snow storm and it really handled great. He loves it.

My 92 5-Series was terrible in the snow. They've done some re-engineering, that's why I love BMW.

I'm glad you enjoyed your European vacation by taking advantage of the European Delivery Program. It was just the 4-6 week delivery to the U.S. that we longed for. Too bad more people don't take advantage of it. ((b))

cparris - Thanks for the trip report! We actually are picking up our BMW next May. Did you go on factory tour? We will spend a night in Munich and a night in Salzburg, most likely. We have been looking at the hotels you stayed at too (for those cities). If you did it again would you recommend them? I am particularly interested in your thoughts on parking, driving and nearby sights/restaurants. Thanks!

Tweeter,

Public transportation in and around Munich and to/from the airport is great. You don't really need a car to tour Munich. I would recommend dropping the car off with the shipping agent and spending the last day or two in Munich prior to flying back to the States. ((b))

Thanks Budman, however, this would be right at the beginning of our trip. From Munich (car pickup) and Salzburg we are driving down to Tuscany, where we will use the car quite a bit. We will drop off the car in Florence or Rome.