wes fowler

In response to someone who Emailed me directly, I put together four itineraries in Upper Bavaria, encompassing parts of the Romantic Road or the Deutsche Alpenstrasse, Bavarian castles and Baroque churches, Alpine lakes and mountains and some charming villages. They're based on my own travels in the area over the years and notes I've taken. You can e-mail me directly or I can post them here. <BR>I will be traveling from July 31 until August 11, however, and will be unable to respond to personal Email or this forum during that time.

Richard Spanburgh

Will wait for your return from Germany. Two us will be there on Sept 10th arriving in Frankfurt and want to know if we should take a train or rent a car. I want to go to Wurzburg, Hiedelberg and Tubingen and Munich, then back to Frankfurt in Nine days. Any recommendations I would truly love. Especially the first few days. Thanks. Hope you had a great trip and I can't wait for your return. Richard

Jan

Wes, We will be arriving in Frankfort on Sept. 15 and departing Sept. 25. Any suggestions you can give us would be greatly appreciated! Right now we plan on driving to Bavaria and maybe into Austria. Thanks!

Bob Brown

Wes: I really think you would do the whole forum audience a favor if you posted your info on upper Bavaria. I know I for one would make copies and keep them for a long time. I am operating from home these days, so I cannot see your email address because of my browser limitations. If you like, email them to me: [email protected] <BR>I want to read them over because a Bavarian visit may be on the agenda for this summer. If not in September, then next year. So I await with anticipation. <BR>

wes fowler

Here we go, for whatever they may be worth! <BR> <BR>(These itineraries use the little village of Hohenfurch on the Romantic Road as a starting point. They could start and end at any of the towns or villages listed.) <BR> <BR>I'm sending you a few proposed itineraries from Hohenfurch that I think you may find enjoyable and not exhausting. I'll send each in a separate Email. If you choose to follow one or more take them with you and throw them away after you've completed your day's activities or save them to augment any journals or diaries you may keep. <BR> <BR>You asked about recommended maps. 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 a Michelin map of Germany, as excellent as the map accompanying the Baedeker guide. 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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>Continue north on Rte 23. It will take you to Schongau and then Hohenfurch. <BR> <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR>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. <BR> <BR>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. <BR>

Liz

Wes: These sound wonderful - I will keep them for future reference. However, I thought I would ask if you have any recommendations for winter travel in the area - actually we will be skiing in Switzerland in Jan. 2000 and then have another week to explore - although we live in Minnesota and are accustomed to winter driving, we're not sure we want to get a car in the winter there. Have you been in the alps in winter? and if so, is not getting a car going to severely limit us, etc.? Let me know if you have any interesting destinations that can be visited by train... thanks!

mustangs81

Liz, I can't offer the expertise that Wes can, but I will share with you my experience driving in the Alps last winter. We are from Florida and ignorance is bliss as we aren't winter-driving savvy (we can dodge tourists but not snow banks). We arrived in Zurich after a record snow storm, picked up our rental car and immediately encountered the snow covered countryside. Our itinerary took us through the Swiss alps, down to the Italian Riveria, up to the Italian Alps (Dolomites), into the Tyrolian alps in Austria, then back through the Baverian alps. Bottom line…the majority of our driving was through snow laden, mountainous territory. We always left our lodging in the early morning hours and would pass road crews who had already prepped the highways for travel. Both the surface roads and the autobahns were maintained to near perfection. It was a little touch-and-go one night getting up a long steep snow-covered driveway to a zimmer, frightening actually, but other than that we had no problems.

wes fowler

Liz, <BR>Yoou shouldn't encounter any difficulty traveling by auto. True, some roads on mountain passes will be closed from as early as October (Albula, Furka and Grand St. Bernard, as examples) but most have adjacent tunnels that are open year round. In Alpine areas much of the mail is delivered by postal bus, so the roads must be cleared for them - think "Neither rain nor sleet, nor dark of night...."

BOB THE NAVIGATOR

Wes, Wonderful stuff. I have done all of these routes but you tell it so well <BR>and provide such excellent detail.