Have used this site to obtain travel information, so it is now time to repay by posting a trip report. Let me preface the report by saying that I lived in Europe for nine years, Asia for twelve and have travelled to more than 80 countries. In short, most of our trips only include travel plans to our first destination and the rest of the trip is made up as we travel. This trip took place from 27 May to 23 July.

The purpose of this trip was to do a lot of hiking, intermixed with eating and sampling as much wine as we could.

28 May: Arrived at Frankfurt Germany and took a train to Wurzburg in order to pick up our rental car. The reasons for traveling to Wurzburg instead of simply getting a car in Frankfurt was that it gave us a couple of hours to recover from the flight and left us less than two hours from our first destination, Rothenberg. Having been to Rothenberg many times, for me it is a great place to adjust to being back in Europe. The town was packed with tourists, with multiple tour buses in the parking lots. At night, it was much less crowded and were able to appreciate how beautiful the town is.

For this initial rental car, we booked Europecar through AutoEurope, but for all subsequent rentals, we booked directly with Europecar.

29 May: we took back roads to drive to Meersburg Germany, to spend the night on Lake Konstanz. We had stayed in Meersburg previously and found it to be a very attractive town. We stayed at the Seepromenade hotel, which is located directly on the lake and has nice views from its rooms. Also, an excellent breakfast included in the room rate. There is no parking directly in the town, however, the hotel provides a parking pass for a lot about 200 meters away. Also, there are spaces to stop and bring luggage to the hotel.

30 May - 5 June: We drove to Garmisch-Partinkerchen via the Alpenstrasse, a really enjoyable drive. Having previously been to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles previously, we did not intend to visit, but as we were so close, we decided to stop. It was a Sunday afternoon and the parking lots were totally packed, so we continued on our way.

In Garmisch, we stayed at Ferienwohnungen Annelies Grasegger. We had a great two bedroom apartment in the family house for €100 a night. Josef and Annelies are really nice people and we thoroughly enjoyed staying in their house. We found the apartment on an English language Garmisch website and if you plan on visiting towns like Garmisch, take a look at local websites instead of usual places such as TripAdvisor or Booking.com. We did this in Germany, Italy and Switzerland and were not disappointed. Also, in each instance, no deposit in advance was needed, but we did have to pay in cash.

The week in Garmisch was spent hiking. This entailed either hiking up a mountain and taking a chairlift down, or the opposite. In each instance, we were rewarded with beautiful views and the opportunity to meet and interact with other hikers, who were very nice people.

5-7 June: The only Mad Ludwig castle my wife has not seen was Hierenchiemsee, so we had a leisurely, scenic drive to Rosenhiem Germany, were we returned the rental car and had a short bus to Prien-Am-Chiemsee. We stayed at Hotel Neur-Am-See, which has a very nice restaurant and good, included breakfast. The ferry dock is a two minute walk from the hotel and it is possible to buy a ferry ticket that takes you to not only the Hierenchiemsee Island, but to other towns where you can can get off and on.

7-15 June: Train from Prien-AmChiemsee to Rosenheim and then a train to Bressanone-Brixen Italy. This was followed by short train and bus rides to Ortisei Italy. Here, we stayed at Apartment Oswald. Again, a nice apartment in the family house right next to the lift to some of the best hiking in Ortisei. Unlike Garmisch, much of the hiking in Ortisei entails taking a lift up and down a mountain and hiking in the valleys at the top of the mountain. The hiking was superb and the views were spectacular.

15-18 June: Train to Padua Italy. We really enjoyed this city. Multiple visits to St Anthony Cathedral and one must see visit to Scrivegni Chapel. Since it is Italy, great food and wine.

18-22 June: Bologna Italy to eat and drink to excess in this gourmet city

22-27 June: Train to Parma, one of our favorite cities in Italy. Some must see sites, such as the Baptistry, but it’s main attraction is that it is not overrun with tourists. We were able to interact with some locals, and after telling them that we were planning to return at Christmas, were given invitations to dinner at their house and to attend the opera. Really good restaurants are La Tribunale and Angola d’Or. Fontana is a good place for 2-3 € glasses of wine

27-30 June: Drove to Malcesine, Lake Garda. On the way, we stopped in a small town for lunch. Since our Italian is very limited, we left it up to our server. Four courses with wine, €35 for two. In Malcesine, we stayed at La Perla apartments. Beautiful views of the lake and castle and a short walk to the cable car. If you visit in peak season, suggest you go to the cable car early to avoid long lines. Malcesine has a very nice walking path along the lake and is a town that is worth visiting.

30 June-2 July: Drove to Lovere, Lake Iseo. Lovere is a very nice town. Suggest that you ask the tourist information office to help you find accommodations. They found a very nice apartment for us on short notice. We had previously reserved an apartment at Casa Rita on Booking.com, but after arriving and finding that one had to be a mountain goat to take their luggage to/from the offsite parking and that it was in a desolate location, we preferred to lose our two night prepayment rather than stay.

2-5 July: Back to Parma for a few nights. If you visit, be sure to see the Teatro Farnese. Also, there is a bar in the Teatro that has an excellent atmosphere.

5-12 July: our plans were to spend a few days in Tuscany and to then return from Milan. However, it was so hot that Tuscany did not appeal, so we decided to extend our trip an to return from Brussels. We took the train from Parma to Wengen Switzerland in order to do more hiking. We stayed at an apartment that we again booked through a local website. As this part of Switzerland is very expensive, we saved by eating dinner in the apartment rather than restaurants. Also, restaurants in Wengen are rather average. The views of the Jungfrau and the hiking were really good, however, I think that Ortisei is just as good and much better value.

12-15 July: Really nice city with excellent restaurants. Highlight was dinner at the one star Michelin restaurant, Loiseau de Ducs

15-18 July: Short train ride to the Cote d’Or Town of Beaune France. Excellent weekend market. The Hospice is a must see. La Ciboulette is a really good restaurant. Restaurant to avoid, La Comptoir de TonTons. Hotel Henry II is a very nice hotel and we had a large room with good AC

19-22 July: Drove to Massangis France, where we stayed at Carpe Diem Chambers d’Hotes de Charme. I cannot say enough good things about this beautiful small hotel. Evening dinners were wonderful. Spent the days driving in the Burgundy countryside.

22 -24 July: Drove to Reims France, where we spent two nights eating and drinking champagne. The lumiery at the cathedral is spectacular

25-27 July: Train to my old hometown, Brussels. It was Belgium National Day, so the city was very crowded. Croissants at Whittaker in the Grand Sablon, meules at Le Bistro, beers at Morte Subite and Au Vieux Temp and buying cheese, etc to take home at Rob

Yes, Dijon.

Sorry, 12-15 July was in Dijon. Also, my dates are off. We returned on 23 July. Should recover from jet lag before writing a trip report.

Stayed at Apartment Garland in Dijon. Very nice apartment in a good location. Also ate at
L’Age de Raisin in Dijon. Very reasonable and good food

Thank you. For the past few years, our focus in traveling was to eat. This trip, we decided to vary the travel, hence the hiking. I really had no idea that it taking a hiking holiday would be so enjoyable

I loved many of the places you visited, GaPa, Herrenchiemsee, Ortisei, Wengen, Rothenburg... and am visiting Malcesine this year and Dijon one day. Wonderful mix of destinations.

“I really had no idea that it taking a hiking holiday would be so enjoyable” - our ‘hiking’ holidays are just that, enjoyable, relaxed, a few easy ‘hikes’ but mostly walking (easier paths).

Malcesine
You will like Malcesine. Very nice old center and nice walks along the lake. Also, very nice walks amongst the vineyards a little outside of Dijon