by
Bill & Melanie Kasischke
Kuwait-Frankfurt-Munich (Lufthansa)
Day 1
We arrived in Munich and collected our Avis rental car. NOTE: Snow tires, chains and a second driver can run up
the daily rental rate considerably. We opted for chains, but never used them. However, we would have been in a
world of hurt without snow tires. We rented a front wheel drive diesel Volkswagen Golf, and were really impressed
with how well it handled on snow packed and icy roads. We were also impressed with how well maintained the roads
were considering the area had just received several inches of new snow. From Munich we drove to Berchtesgaden,
which took us about 2 ½ hours in poor weather.
Berchtesgaden is an incredibly scenic alpine town in the Bavarian Alps, surrounded
by Austria on three sides. It is home to five ski areas and the Salzbergwerk salt mine. The Eagle’s Nest, the
Königssee (Germany’s highest lake), and Berchtesgaden National Park
are also big draws.
At the Austrian border we stopped to purchase a 10-day Austrian toll pass (about $7). All vehicles using Austrian
motorways are required to purchase and display this pass. We’d suggest purchasing the pass at the first opportunity,
as we found ourselves driving in and out of Austria almost daily.
Hotel Bavaria
Fam. Jörg Masberg
Sunklergässchen 11
83471 Berchtesgaden
Tel - 08652/96610 ~ Fax - 08652/64809
Email - info@hotelBavaria.net
In Berchtesgaden we stayed at the Hotel Bavaria. Unbeknownst to us at the time of our booking, the hotel didn’t
officially open until December 16, 2001, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We were quoted 168 DM per
night including breakfast (about $77). Because the restaurant wasn’t yet open they didn’t serve breakfast the first
two mornings we were there, but the owners did upgrade our room free of charge. We stayed in the Himmelreich Suite
(room #39). Our room was quiet, comfortable and nicely appointed.
We had a balcony that faced the mountains
in the direction of the Eagle’s Nest. The bathroom was unusually large by European standards and had a spa tub.
NOTE: The owners speak German and English.
The hotel has a sauna, a steam room, a tanning bed and a whirlpool. It also has a restaurant and bar. It’s centrally
located and within walking distance to the Berchtesgaden train station. We’d stay here again in a heartbeat.
The hotel served breakfast on the third and fourth mornings of our stay and it was really good. In addition to
the usual European cold breakfast of meat, cheese, bread, jam, cereal, juice, coffee, tea and cocoa, they offered
a hot breakfast of eggs, sausage and bacon.
Day 2
We spent a few hours exploring the Berchtesgaden town center (Mel loved it) and stopped for a quick lunch at a
tiny cafe. We then set off for the Salzbergwerk. The salt mine tour was really interesting, but a bit touristy (DM
22 - about $10). We donned “protective” miner’s gear, then began our decent into the salt mine for a one-hour tour
(in English and German). The tour included a train ride into the mine, a raft ride across a salt lake and two steep
slides, which were a lot of fun.
After the tour we explored the mountainous
Obersalzberg
area, then drove to Königssee.
Dining recommendations (Berchtesgaden):
Grassl’s Bistro Cafe in the town center – a tiny cafe popular with locals. No English menu, but we were able to
order without any problem. Good lattes and excellent applestrudel with vanilla sauce (yummy!) - (DM 17 – about
$8 for both of us).
Gasthaus Neuhaus in the town center – hearty German food. Although our waitress spoke
about as much English as we spoke German, she was very patient, we were able to order successfully and the food
was very good (DM 44 including beer and wine – about $20 for both of us).
Day 3
We explored the town center some more then headed for Königssee. To enter Königssee you must pay a DM
4 parking fee, but you can leave and return throughout the day. We rode the Jennerbahn gondola to the top of the
mountain where we took in the view and had lunch. The owner of our hotel sold us tickets for the Jennerbahn at
a reduced price – DM 25 per person – about $12. We walked around the village for awhile and tried out the Glühwein
being sold by a street vendor (hot spiced red wine sold throughout Germany at Christmas). Good stuff on a freezing
winter day!
We decided to drive to Salzburg in search of a Christkindlmarkt. But because we had not planned
ahead, we weren’t sure where to go, and just found a few kiosks selling Christmas items. We walked around town
for awhile, but the bitter cold and crowds forced us back to the car and we retreated to Berchtesgaden.
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Dining recommendation (Berchtesgaden):
Post Hotel in the town center – good German food - DM 28 with drinks (about $13 for
both of us). They have an English menu, and the waiters speak a little English.
Day 4
We had breakfast at our hotel, then decided to explore the mountains surrounding Berchtesgaden. We inadvertently
ended up on the Rossfeld Hohenring Strasse, which is a scenic toll road that makes a loop from Obersalzberg to
Oberau. The scenery was gorgeous.
We stopped at a busy ski area and took
a short hike to watch some crazy skiers. After stopping at a tiny lodge to warm up, we continued our drive and
ended up in Austria. We stumbled upon a Christkindlmarkt outside the Hofbrau Braustubel in Kaltenhausen,
so we checked it out, then went inside to have a beer and commune with the locals.
We returned to Berchtesgaden and quite by accident found a Christkindlmarkt underway in the town square. We watched
some kids perform in a holiday pageant, checked out the kiosks selling Christmas items and had some Glühwein.
We had another good dinner that evening at the Post Hotel.
Day 5
After breakfast in our hotel, and some last minute shopping in the town center, we drove to Mittenwald, Germany.
The drive took about 2 ½ hours in good weather.
Mittenwald is another beautiful alpine village surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The main draw of Mittenwald is skiing and hiking. We chose to stay here as we were looking for a quiet village within
close proximity to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Füssen, (Germany)
and Innsbruck (Austria).
Like Berchtesgaden, Mittenwald has an attractive town center and a peaceful atmosphere (at least when we visited,
which was prior to the busy ski season).
Hotel
Garni Bichlerhof
Family Josef Zunterer
Adolf Baader Str. 5
82481 Mittenwald, Germany
Tel - 08823/9190 ~ Fax - 008823/4584
Email - pension-bavaria@mittenwald.de
We stayed in the Hotel Bichlerhof, one of the few hotels open for business. Despite the large amount of snow, ski
areas in Germany don’t usually open until a few days before Christmas, as do many of the hotels. Our first impression
of the hotel was that it was adequate, but a big step down from our hotel in Berchtesgaden. However, the longer
we stayed there, the more we liked it.
We stayed in room 125, on the second floor of the hotel. Our room was small and the bathroom was downright tiny
with a bizarre shower arrangement, but after seeing a room down the hall, we suspected we had one of the bigger
rooms in the hotel. We had a good-sized balcony with a gorgeous view, but it was just too darn cold to spend much
time out there, so we used the balcony as a refrigerator for our beverages instead.
The room was basic at best, but incredibly quiet. The employees were very friendly and helpful and most of them
spoke passable English (which is more than I can say for our German!).
Breakfast was included with the room and consisted of a cold buffet of meat, cheese, bread, cereal, jam, juice
and a wide variety of hot beverages. The Bichlerhof hotel is the annex of the Gasthof Alpenrose, which is located
in the town center. The Bichlerhof has a pool, sauna, and tanning bed in the basement. They serve drinks and light
meals in the restaurant. The Gasthof Alpenrose has a full service restaurant and a bar with live music.
The Bichlerhof is centrally located and within walking distance to the town center. They offer horse drawn carriage
rides to a nearby castle on occasion.
Website for town of Mittenwald - www.mittenwald.de (NOTE: Site is in German, so click on hotels, gastofe, pensionen,
then click the British flag at the top of the page for the English translation.) This site lists several hotels
in Mittenwald. We walked by the Hotel Reiger on several occasions
and it looked like a very nice hotel (it didn’t open until a few days after we arrived). Our room at the Bichlerhof
was DM 130 per night including breakfast (about $60)
Dining recommendation:
Gasthof
Alpenrose – located in the town center near the
church - hearty German meals (but of course!) Dinner for two with drinks ran DM 37 (approximately $17).
Day 6
We drove to Füssen via Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which took approximately two hours. Füssen is near the
site of King Ludwig II’s famous Neuschwanstein castle and his childhood home of Hohenschwangau.
We’ve toured both castles on previous
visits, so this time we chose to take a horse-drawn carriage up to Neuschwanstein, but we didn’t take the tour.
Parking for Neuschwanstein is DM 7, the tour is DM 14 per person and the horse-drawn carriage ride is DM 8 per
person up and DM 4 per person down. We took the 15-minute walk to the bridge overlook (Marienbrücke), a perfect
location for photos, weather and light conditions permitting.
After Füssen, we decided to drive to the car-free resort of Oberstdorf, in the
western Bavarian Alps. The drive took approximately 1 ½ hours from Füssen. We walked around the village
for a few hours, but neither of us cared for it much. I think we had expected something more like the car-free
resort of Mürren, Switzerland (a personal favorite). Oberstdorf was pretty enough, but it was a bit crowded
and busy for our tastes.
We took the scenic route (via Austria) back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where we stopped for dinner at Pizzeria
Da Renzo, before returning to Mittenwald.
Dining recommendation: (Garmisch-Partenkirchen)
Pizzeria Da Renzo, Rathausplatz 6 - we’ve frequented this restaurant on previous trips and we highly recommend
it. It’s hard to explain how to get there, but it’s a bit of a local institution, so just ask. The waiters speak
Italian, German and English. It’s a great place. Two really big “individual” pizzas and drinks ran DM 34 (about
$16).
Day 7
We drove back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where we took the Eibsee cable car to the top of the Zugspitze, Germany’s
highest mountain. At the top of the Zugspitze there are several viewing terraces and cable car stations to take
skiers down to the ski fields. There are also two restaurants, one on the German side and one on the Austrian side.
You can access both from the viewing terraces.
NOTE: The Eibsee cable car takes about 10 minutes to ascend the 2963 meter Zugspitze. The cable car sways back
and forth a bit and may be a bit intense for those afraid of heights.
The cost of the Eibsee cable car was DM 61 per person return (about $28) and worth every penny.
Later that day we got directions to the local Christkindlmarkt in Garmisch and spent a few hours exploring the
town center. We happened upon a Käthe
Wohlfahrt store (they specialize in Christmas ornaments
handmade in Rothenburg) so Mel had to spend a few hours in there.
We returned to Mittenwald and had Jägertee (another hot spiced winter beverage) and a light supper in our
hotel.
Day 8
We drove to Innsbruck, Austria, parked the car, and explored the city by foot. We didn’t care for the traffic and
crowds, so we fled to Seefeld,
Austria, a thriving metropolis of 2,800 people.
Seefeld is located between Innsbruck and the German border and much more our style.
We had a late lunch, then went in search of the Seefeld casino where
we spent a few hours before returning to Mittenwald.
Dining recommendation: (Seefeld)
Am Kurpark located in the Ferienhotel Kaltschmid. This
restaurant had a varied menu with some good Italian offerings.
Day 9
We drove to Schloss Linderhof, the hunting palace of King Ludwig II.
Linderhof is located about 20 km northwest of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We took the 1 ½ hour tour of the unheated castle (brrrr!) which was given in both German and English. Words cannot adequately describe the interior of this castle, so please refer to the attached postcards.
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The tour of the main palace was DM 8 per
person (about $3.50). The gardens and grotto are closed in the winter.
We then drove on to Oberammergau, located about 20 km north of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Oberammergau
is known for its Passion Play, which is performed every 10 years. We stopped at the Käthe Wohlfahrt store
there then had lunch at a local hotel before returning to Mittenwald via Austria.
Dining recommendation (Oberammergau): Hotel
Alte Post – hearty German fare. We paid DM 34 (about
$16) for a huge lunch with drinks.
Day 10
We checked out of our Mittenwald hotel and drove to Munich, which took about 2 ½ hours in snowy, icy conditions
(we took the back roads).
We dropped off our rental car at the Munich airport, then took the train to the Hauptbahnhof (main train station).
We checked into the Amba Hotel, which is ideally located directly across the street from the train station. We
stayed in room 412, which was incredibly quiet, spacious and had a bathroom the size of our entire room at the
Hotel Bichlerhof. We didn’t see any other guests at the hotel and learned that they were closing the next day for
the Christmas holiday.
Hotel
Amba
Arnulfstrasse 20
80335 Munich, Germany
Tel - 089/545140 ~ Fax - 089/54514555
Email - info@hotel-amba.de
Our room was DM 180 including buffet breakfast (about $83)
Breakfast was included with the room and consisted of meat, cheese, bread, jam, cereal, juices and various warm
beverages. We really liked this hotel and wouldn’t hesitate to stay here again. You just can’t beat the location
if you’re travelling by train. Their rooms have soundproof windows, so train noise is not a problem. This is the
first European hotel we’ve stayed in that actually has more non-smoking rooms than smoking rooms.
We bought a one day unlimited train pass (DM 29 for up to five people – about $14) and caught a train to the Marienplatz
where we had lunch at the Hofbräuhaus and explored the huge Christkindlmarkt.
We then took the train to Rosenheimerplatz, where Bill had a beer in a nearby bierstube while Mel explored the
huge HIT grocery store and stocked up on goodies to bring home.
That evening we returned to the Christkindlmarkt at Marienplatz where we had our last drink of Glühwein and
tried roasted chestnuts for the first time.
Day 11
We took the train to the airport and caught our flight to Frankfurt.
NOTE:
We intentionally travel out-of-season to avoid the crowds. We both thoroughly enjoyed this holiday, although my
husband would like to try out the skiing next time. The objective of this particular trip however, was to give
us a break from the bleak desert of Kuwait and to instill some Christmas spirit. It worked! We loved the Christkindlmarkts,
sipping Glühwein in the cold, and filling up on good German food.
Although we’re from Colorado, two years in Kuwait has thinned our blood and we were really surprised at how cold it
was. If you’re planning a trip to the Alps in December – take those down coats!
