I purchased my airfare in/out of Paris, wanting to spend me 2 weeks in Austria and Germany.
I have found that Burg Eltz is not open til late March.
Eagle's Nest usually doesn't open til mid May.
Hallstatt salt mine is closed until April.
What are some more possibilities?
Hoping to tour Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau in Fussen, planning on staying in Munich for a couple days.
Thanks,
Steve
"I have found that Burg Eltz is not open til late March."
Marksburg, a never-destroyed Rhine castle in Braubach, is open all year. It's 10 minutes south of Koblenz by train in Germany's Middle Rhine Valley. (Koblenz is also the train hub where you would connect for the Mosel and Burg Eltz.)
Fasnacht (German Carnival) takes place at the end of February in Mainz and Cologne (and a few other cities as well) with the Rose Monday parades on Feb 27. Since Braubach lies in between, it might be good to schedule a stay in one city or the other, or nearby. Mainz is a good choice with lots of good sights of its own and with easy access to Frankfurt, Speyer, Ruedesheim, and other destinations.
Trier, Germany's oldest city (ancient Roman outpost, see Rick Steves book) is near the Luxembourg and French borders, only about 3.5 hours from Paris by train. It might be a good starting or ending point for all of the above destinations as you make your way to/from Paris.
Info on Mainz, Speyer, Trier: http://www.en.romantic-cities.com/Cities.5616.0.html
Hi Steve, I'm sure you didn't mean to but you made it sound as if Germany was a theme park and some of the key rides you were looking to do were closed. ;-)
Mardi Gras 2017 is on February 28th. That means that the entire weekend before this is Fastnacht in Mainz and Karneval in Cologne. You might definitely want to spend that Monday morning in Cologne to where there are fast, direct Thalys bullet trains from Paris Gare du Nord.
The Alps most likely will still be snow covered and it's actually quite a beautiful scenery. From Munich you might want to visit Berchtesgaden anyway. The Kempinski Hotel Berchtesgaden is on the top of Obersalzberg, the hill on which all the Nazi big shots had their weekend retreats and where Hitler's infamous compound was.
The bigger German cities are usually snow-free by late February.
Salzburg is very pretty in winter, too. Do you ski?
What are your interests?
I traveled thru France and Switzerland this past Feb/Mar and had some snow but the trip was great. In planning my next trip I figured I would do the same time for 2017 but travel in Austria and Germany this time.
Air France ran a sale a little while back and i bought without planning, but got a great deal. I just need to figure out what I am going to do now.
My favorite part of traveling to Europe is seeing the scenery...I am from Houston, TX....flat, concrete and hot.
In Switzerland I traveled primarily by train, this time I was wanting to mix between train and renting a car.
That time of year will be cold with relatively short days. I'd plan primarily indoor activities. Munich has great art galleries (neues, altes and moderne). I've never been that time of year so I'm really just guessing, hopefully others will know more. I think Neuschwanstein/Hohenschwangau and Nymphenburg are available year round. I'd expect cathedrals to be open but probably reduced hours for towers, crypts, etc.
