Day 37: Fuessen, Schwangau (Oct 23)

Here are today's pictures.
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Just a €9 bus ride from Garmisch, left 7:50, had a quick breakfast at the hotel before I left. Transfer from 9606 to 73 at Bad Bayetsoien (Echelsbacher Brucke). Pass thru Obergammerau & Untergammerau on the way. Frost covered fields of cows and goats, fog shrouded valleys. Part of Romantic Road. Arrived in Fuessen, drop off my stuff. I booked the hotel based on price and availability: I stayed at the Altstadthotel zum Hechten (which has the Ritterstub’n restaurant attached). Again, this was a “place for my stuff and to sleep” home base.

Get reserved tickets for the Castles. You’ll do Hohenschwangau first, then two hours later Neuschwanstein. If you miss your appointed time, you can’t get in. With reservations, you’ll still have to pick up your tickets so make sure to allow enough time for that (30 minutes before the first one, 60 minutes before the second one).

From the bottom, the best way to go is taking a one-way bus up to Mary’s Bridge for the money shot view of the castle, which then has a 10-minute downhill walk to the Neuschwanstein entrance. Then catch a horse carriage from the castle down to the parking lot (or walk, which I did – it’s a long walk, but downhill).

I took a nap when I got back but overslept, and by the time I woke up, most of the restaurants were already closed, so I ate at the restaurant attached to the hotel (cash only).

Day 36: Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Zugspitze (Oct 22)

Here are today's pictures.

Arrive in town, drop off my stuff. I booked the hotel based on price and availability, I stayed at the Gastof Fraundorfer Hotel in Partenkirchen.

Head to the railroad station and buy a ticket on the Zugspitzbahn up to the top. As you can read below, there are 2 ways to get up to the top – cogwheel train all the way, or part train and part cablecar. The train takes about 15-20 minutes longer but you’re climbing up and through the mountain (with stops so you can get out and look around), while the cablecar should have some great mountain views. I took the train both ways, I don’t know if you can do one of each. Made it back down about 1800.

Up top at the Zugspitze are some AMAZING views of the mountains. There’s a restaurant at 2600 meters, great place to have a beer and just relax. Then there’s a cablecar that takes you up even higher. You’ll probably have a lot of sunlight, by mid-October the sun was going behind the mountains at 1615.

Had a beer & apple crumble torte at Sonn Alpin (2600m, 8530 ft), summit at 2962m, 9618 ft. Surprisingly, it got warmer in the mountains - it was 3 deg (37F) when I left Munich at 7:45, 4 deg (39F) in Garmisch at 11am, and 9 (48F) at Zugspitzplatt at 2pm.

Back at the bottom, I wanted to go to the Tourist Information booth, but I didn’t get there in time, so I had a nice little wander in that general direction (see the Banhof in the center, the TI at the upper left, and the hotel at the upper right: https://goo.gl/maps/u9ayPR93g6G2 )

After I came back from the mountain, I strolled around the town before I decided I was hungry and wanted dinner. I stopped at Pizzeria da Renzo in Partenkirchen, a few blocks from the hotel. Nothing special, I was just in the mood for pizza.

Turns out the hotel has a recommended restaurant (I didn’t notice it when I checked in, and didn’t check for any recommendations). Later that night I came down for a beer there was a party going on. I posted a photo with the caption “Sitting in the lobby restaurant of my hotel in Partenkirchen, in Bavaria (with a half liter of Paulaner). There are men in lederhosen and women in dirndls, and a guy playing the accordion. And in my booth are signed pictures on the wall by astronauts Jim Newman and Ox van Hoften.” TJ Creamer commented “Been there... didn't sign! Congrats! GREAT atmosphere and exposure... Was kann ich jetzt sagen, aber: SUPER Gemuetlichkeit!”

Day 35: Munich (Oct 21)

Blog post coming soon! Highlights: Dachau and the Alte Pinakothek museum. In the meantime, here are today's pictures.

Last day started with a metro ride to Dachau for a walking tour of the concentration camp. After lunch, I had the day free so I spent some time at the Alte Pinakothek Museum, which has paintings from the 14th-19th centuries [Rembrandt, da Vinci, Botticelli] (my other choices were the Neue Pinakothek with paintings from 1800-1920 [Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh], the Moderne with early to mid 20th century stuff [Picasso, Dali], and the Brandhorst with late 20th/early 21st century [Warhol, etc.]). Dinner was at Opatija im Tal, a Slovenian restaurant that was recommended by one of my guide books.

I didn’t spend as much time in the beer gardens as I had anticipated, I was always busy doing something else. The Augustiner is considered the best in the city because got no music and it’s away from the tourist hordes. Other recommended beer gardens are Andechser am Dom, Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom (both trendy and touristy), Altes Hackerhaus and Der Pschorr (both popular with locals), and Spatenhaus near the opera house.

Day 34: Munich, Rothenberg (Oct 20)

Blog post coming soon! Highlights: tour of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and return to Munich for dinner at the Ratskeller. In the meantime, here are today's pictures.

Took the train up to Rothenberg ob der Tauber (if you go, make sure it’s this one and not the other Rothenberg), which was a 2-1/2 hour ride. The town basically looks like it got stuck in the 1600s and is really neat to walk around and sightsee in. I got back to Munich at dinnertime, I went to the Rathskeller in Marienplatz.

Day 33: Munich (Oct 19)

Blog post coming soon! Highlights: Marienplatz, St. Peter's Church climb, Viktualienmarkt beer garden, Jewish Museum, and the Beer & Brewery walk ending at the Hofbrauhaus. In the meantime, here are today's pictures.

Went to Marienplatz to check out the clock tower at the Rathaus, then climbed up to the top of the Peterskirche for a great view of the old town area (only 306 steps). Walked over to the Viktualienmarkt for lunch at a Hofbrau kiosk. Also in the area is the Jewish Museum and Asam’s Church (Asam Kirche), which is a 1700s church with a lavish interior. Right off of Marienplatz is the Apple store, which was built on the site of the first Nazi party meeting place.

I stayed in this area to catch the Beer and Brewery Tour at 18:15 under the glockenspiel in Marienplatz (there are many walking tours that depart from here, no reservation required, including a City Walk and Hitler’s Munich) which took us to the Paulaner brewery and dinner at the Hofbrauhaus.

Munich & Bavaria details

Came up with this list of things to do in Munich and the two days in Bavaria a few days ago, but haven't had a chance to sit down and post it yet. I've got 4 days in Munich, one of which was originally supposed to be a day off but has of course morphed into a day with something to do. Then I'll go off to two towns in Bavaria: Garmisch, which is at the base of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, and has some pretty neat sounding ways to get up the mountain (all of which involve me not actually climbing much); and Schwangau, the home of King Ludwig's castles. The details in those areas are a little fuzzy right now.

Of note: Thursday is stocked with museums, but I can't see spending 8 hours in art museums. I'll probably just hit the highlights and then go have a beer or check out the English Garden or something.

Also of note: Friday is the halfway point in my journey.

Day 32: Munich (Oct 18)

Blog post coming soon! Highlights: hop on/hop off tour, walk from Karlsplatz to Marienplatz, and Marienplatz at night. In the meantime, here are today's pictures.

Hop on/hop off bus tour of the city - Gray Line Tours has hop-on, hop-off bus tours that leave from in front of the Karstadt department store at Bahnhofplatz, directly across from the train station; there’s a 1-hour Express Circle and a 2-1/2 hour Grand Circle route. Just show up and pay the driver (cash only), or get a €1-2 discount by buying your ticket in advance at EurAide (€13 Express tour, €18 Grand tour, daily in season, tel. 089/5490-7560, www.sightseeing-munich.com).

Then walked from Konigsplatz (former home of the Nazi party in Munich) to the monument at Karolinenplatz down to Karlsplatz and to the town hall at Marienplatz. Google maps says it’s a 22 minute walk but you’ll probably be stopping along the way. Dinner at the Lowe am Markt nearby (no particular reason, prices were decent and had a good menu) in the Viktualienmarkt.

Munich & Bavaria (Oct. 18-23)

My friends have got me confused about Munich. One person tells me to skip it, it's nothing special and it's all about Nazi history while another says "Munich is a great city, and I'd spend as much time there as possible." Someone else tells me that I absolutely MUST go during Oktoberfest if I have the chance, while another tells me "Avoid Munich during Oktoberfest! I was there once. Never again!" And I was told that I have to do at least part of the Romantic Road. So let's see what there is to see. Arrive in Munich from Salzburg on Day 32, Oct. 18th.

Unless I drastically re-route my plans, I will not be here during Oktoberfest, which is Sept. 17 to Oct. 3 this year (that covers my days in London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Copenhagen). I'd have to go from Paris to Munich to Amsterdam to catch Oktoberfest here.

Thoughts about Germany

Looking through the Germany guidebook, which I didn't earlier, some things have occurred to me, one of which could seriously reroute much of my trip: do I need to be in Munich for Oktoberfest?