Great trip!
Germany
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Oct 17 - Oct 30, 2025
The trip started out a little bit rocky. We landed early and got through customs early so our transportation to the hotel was not there yet. Due to construction at the airport, it was unclear where to connect with him since he wasn't there when we arrived but once we found him we were whisked off in a beautiful Mercedes S class car to our hotel. Christoff, our driver pointed out some sights along the way. In Munich, we stayed in the Platz Hotel which was very nice and comfortable and offered amazing breakfasts and was well located near Marienplatz and Vktualienmarkt. There was a mix up with the private walking tour and so we just wandered around on our own but the team gave us a good list of things to see and do. The next day was a tour of Dachau with InMunich Tours. That was an excellent tour and our tour guide, Marcin, was so knowledgeable. It was a sobering experience but very important to see. The next day, we rented a car from Avis which went smoothly and drove to Garmisch. What a beautiful drive! The fall foliage was in full bloom! We stayed at the Hotel Zugspitze which was another very nice hotel with a spa, swimming pool, sauna, Michelin restaurant and lovely breakfast. It was well situated in town and had a view of Zugspitze. The cog train and cable car ride were very picturesque although a little scary for me since I have a fear of heights! The view from the top made it all worth it though! The next day we drove through the beautiful countryside to Neuschwanstein. I wish we had known ahead of time about the climb up the hill. It took longer to get up there than we had anticipated. We almost didn't make it to the tour but it was worth the run up the hill! We visited Linderhof Castle the next day and it was beautiful as well! Onward to Salzburg. The train ride was comfortable and uneventful. Our hotel Dorint was an easy walk from the train station and close to the old town of Salzburg. We walked through the old town and took the funicular up to the fortress where we had excellent views of the city. The following day we had a tour with Fritz from Edelweiss Tours to The Lake District and Hallstatt. He was excellent showing us all the sights along the way to Hallstatt and pointing out things we should do while we were there with our free time. The museum there is very interesting. The following day we toured also with Edelweiss but this time, our guide was Shiva. He took us to Durrbeerg Salt Mine, Berchtsgaden and King's Lake. A great tour to learn about salt mining! Then we headed to Salzburg which was a little confusing because we started on a train then transferred to a but for a couple of hours and then back to the train but finally made it to our next hotel The Archibald at the Charles Bridge.
Another well located and comfortable hotel. We had a Prague city tour with Miriam from Insight Cities where she pointed out all the highlights of the Old Town and New Town. She gave restaurant recommendations, told us of tourist traps to avoid and gave us a good explanation of how to tell time with the astronomical clock. The next day we went to the Clementium and Baroque Library. Really interesting but beware, there are A LOT of stairs! We went on a Prague food tour with Klara from Taste of Prague where she took us all around New and Old Town where we tasted local food and drinks as well as some from other parts of the world. Klara was very passionate about food and drinks! We had a driver take us back to Munich because the train tracks were under construction. It was a very pleasant drive with our driver Joseph. For our last leg, we stayed at Hotel Torbrau. Also well located and comfortable! We did a Munich walking tour with Elisabeth of Discover Munich.She did a great job showing us her favorite places and passageways through the Old Town. We had another beautiful S class Mercedes to take us to the airport the next day for our flight home!