Hi,
Am looking for a base to do all the regular Bavarian sites like the 3 castles, Romantische Straße %26amp; over to Herrenchimisee.
I found a well priced %26amp; friendly sounding B%26amp;B in Schwangau %26amp; was wondering if that would be a good place as a base. Would Garmisch be less touristy / nicer? I am getting a rental car so driving short distances for day trips won%26#39;t be a problem.
Also, what place is easiest to get to from downtown Munich (where I will be collecting my car)? Do rental companies in Germany provide good maps or does one need to buy one from a bookstore? Am I looking at about 2 hours (leaving about 6pm on a weekday ) to get to these towns?
Thank you
Julie.
|||
Both places are somewhat touristy, but both are good places to stay. GP is way larger, don%26#39;t know how much there is in Schwangau in terms of restaurants, you%26#39;d probably have to look in nearby Füssen for larger variety. Getting to GP is a bit easier and shorter (Autobahn A95 Munich-Garmisch is well signposted and gets you there straight away), Schwangau takes a bit longer, but still easy (Autobahn A96 to Landsberg am Lech, B 17 straight through to Schwangau). On a weekday around 6 pm you can expect a bit of rush hour in downtown Munich and the A 95 gets quite busy, I%26#39;d think there is a bit less traffic on A 96. As long as you%26#39;re not stuck in massive traffic jam 2 hours is enough to get to both places. If you like your B%26amp;B I%26#39;d go for it.
|||
thanks so much kwenga.
I%26#39;ve actually found a better flight so get in about 15:35. Am going to take the S-bahn to the city to collect my rental car (who wants to pay airport levies!) so might actually be ready to leave there at about 5 so maybe verging on rush hour. As long as I get there before it gets dark which would hopefully be 8 or so in summer it will be fine.
I have the car for 2 weeks, returning it to Stuttgart. I was thinking about hanging out in the Schwangau area for about 5 days, then maybe Meersburg for a few days? Saw you recommended Lindau on another forum. Stayed there years ago %26amp; loved the place %26amp; the Blumeninsel Mainau etc so thought it would be nice to spend maybe 2 or 3 nights there (found another nice sounding hotel). Maybe then some time in the Schwatzwald %26amp; up to say Rothenburg o.d.Tauber etc.
What would you recommend for these 2 weeks. I want to take it easy, see lots of pretty sights, Ludwig stuff, Wieskirche etc as well as less touristy sites. It would be nice to go to little villages that locals go to rather than foreign tourists - that%26#39;s the point of having the car! I studied German forever so communication shouldn%26#39;t be a problem in little towns :-). After Stuttgart, I%26#39;m flying up to see friends in Schlezwig Holstein %26amp; then friends near Zurich. I%26#39;d rather spend a decent amount of time in just a couple of places than try to see everything in 2 days. I%26#39;ve rushed through Germany a few times before %26amp; just love Bayern %26amp; the south.
Thanks so much
Julie.
|||
A short distance south of Stuttgart are two fairytale-like castles, Hohenzollern (Hechingen) and Lichtenstein. Tuebingen is a very nice old college town and just north of it is excellently preserved medieval Bebenhausen monastery. Hohenneuffen is a nice old castle (fortress) ruins on the Schwaebische Alb (low limestone mountains) with its nice cliff-side scenery. The restaurant there is very good with nice views. The Grosse Lauter River Valley and the Danube where it also cuts through the Schwaebische Alb have high concentrations of castle ruins and both are very scenic.
Stuttgart (www.stuttgart-tourist.de) has many attractions with excellent museums (Mercedes Benz shouldn%26#39;t be missed), Europe%26#39;s largest combination zoo and botanical gardens (Wilhelma) set amidst the Moorish architecture of this former palace, and the three large mineral baths (in the Leuze one you can swim in bubbly carbonated water). Nearby and acccessable from Stuttgart by S-bahn in 15 minutes is Ludwigsburg with Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace with its tourable chambers of the king%26#39;s, queen%26#39;s, and dukes, four excellent museums, two associated smaller palaces, and extensive gardens (at least several days to see it all); and Esslingen with its excellent well preserved medieval old town center.
The Schwaebisch Hall area is also nice to visit with its old town center, the fabulous fortified walled medieval Comburg monastery, and also the small walled town of Vellberg a short distance to the east. Along the Neckar River north of Stuttgart, Lauffen and Besigheim have very attractive old town centers, with the small Lauffen one completely walled.
The church at Ottobeuren monastery NW of Fuessen is crammed full of beautiful Baroque religious items, it%26#39;s hard to take them all in Upper Swabia is full of beautiful Baroque churches, monasteries, and palaces. See www.barockstrasse.org , www.oberschwaben-tourismus.de . For the Schwaebische Alb www.schwaebischealb.de and for the Schwaebisch Hall area www.hohenlohe-tourismus.de . For Baden-Wuerttemberg in general www.tourismus-bw.de .
All the places I have mentioned are excellent to visit, and they will not be over run by hordes of tourists.
|||
We just got back from a week vacation and stayed in Reutte across in Austria. The drive to Schwangau is a quick 30mins thru some awesome scenary. Try Reutte or Brietenwang.
|||
Thanks everyone. This is what I think I%26#39;ll do with my 2 weeks. I haven%26#39;t booked anything so would love to know if anyone has any suggestions.
3 nights in a farmhouse in Prien am Chiensee (A8 from Munchen, easy?) - Herrenchiemsee, the lakeshore itself. There are many listed: http://www2.dtg.de/intours/UK/UKVerzFrame.asp under Bauernhof
5 nights in Schwangau - do castles, Wieskirche, Fussen usw. Prob stay in the cheap %26amp; nice sounding B%26amp;B I found
3 nights in Clomberg Castle (near Rotherburg) %26amp; visit some Romantische StraBe towns - reasonable prices %26amp; think it would be nice to stay in a castle!
4 nights in Tubingen (good base for markopolko%26#39;s suggestions?) - my German Professor when I was at university I think studied at the university there %26amp; handy to Stuttgart airport to leave in the afternoon. (Hotel am Bad sounded good?).
Thanks everyone for your help. If you ave any further suggestions that would be great. Was wanting to go to Meersburg %26amp; Bodensee in general but have been there before %26amp; Chiemsee looks nice. With distances so cloe, I could always visit Lindau %26amp; the Blumeninsel Mainau on the way somewhere if I have time or a daytrip from Schwangau?
Thanks again
Julie.
|||
As Tuebingen is my favorite town in Germany, I think it is a good place to use as a base. As it is too close to our apartment, I would never stay there but have eaten in a hotel/restaurant just below the castle that I think would be a nice place to stay. I don%26#39;t remember its name, but it should be on the Burgsteige. A good restaurant is Die Forelle just east of th market square. Try the punting, if they will let you. The art museum at the Ritter chocolate factory in Waldenbuch to the north of Tuebingen is interesting as all the art (much of it moving) is in the shape of squares which is the shape of their candy bars. The museum of everyday life there is also interesting. Bad Urach is a very pleasant valley town in the Scwaebische Alb, and Hohenneuffen not too far from it is the largest castle (fortress) ruins of the Alb. If you visit the castle at Lichtenstein, go to Marbach (Gomadingen) to see Germany%26#39;s oldest state stables where you can enter the barns to see the magnificent stallions in their stalls, and the colts should be out in th fields. The restaurant in Offenhausen to the west in front of the museum is an excllent place to eat, and nextdoor in the former monastery grounds is a pool which is the source of the Grosse Lauter River. By Lichtenstein castle is also the Baerenhoehle, one of the better caves of the Schwaebische Alb.
|||
Holidaygirl - if you have not made a selection for your stay near Schwangau I would like to recommend a place in nearby Hopferau. We rented an apartment for three people for four nights and the owner was wonderful and very helpful. It is called Stocker House and can be found at VacationVillas.net. Josef Stocker is the owner and did a wonderful job communicating with us before our stay. It is only a 10 minute car ride into Fussen and the surrounding areas.
|||
Hello.
We just got back from a 2 week trip to Germany and did many of the trips you%26#39;re planning. To put in my 2 cents, I%26#39;d like to say that we enjoyed the Fussen/Schwangau area more than G-P. Mostly because the surrounding area is prettier. We stayed at a great farmhouse B%26amp;B in Hopferau (Ferienhof Schweiger) overlooking Hopfensee. There are several others in the area just like it. You could see straight across the lake to Neuschwanstein. We enjoyed Hopfen Am See the most because it was the most laid back and least touristy places in the area. You can stroll around the lake or rent paddle boats. There are lovely little cafes right on the lake with breathtaking views. We went to several restaurants there, rather than the more touristy and crowded Fussen.
I%26#39;d also like to recommend a great B%26amp;B in Rothenburg ODT, Cafe Gerberhaus. It%26#39;s right under the wall of the city and the breakfast was delicious.
Have a great trip.
|||
-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-
This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.
To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html
We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.
Removed on: 1:20 pm, September 02, 2009
No comments:
Post a Comment