Looking for ideas for 9-10 day itenerary in Oct. Will fly in/out of MUC and rent a car. Mom is an army wife and has lived and travelled back many times. Our planned trip will take us as far north as Nuremberg to visit old friends and mom would like to visit Bavaria but other than that we have no plans! We’d like to stay away from the big “touristy” areas and would prefer bed and breakfast type accommodations as opposed to chain hotels. All suggestions for lodging and places/towns to visit are welcomed!! I will be doing all the driving. Thank you!!
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
It's nice that your Mom can still travel internationally at 85! :-)
Posted by
OP
27 posts
Thank you and yes she loves to travel. She would like me to be her full time travel companion but alas I have husband, family, and job!
Posted by
Normal Illinois part of the year/ Green Valley AZ in winter
122 posts
HI I am 76 and hoping I can hit the road at 85 like your MOM Have a safe and memorable trip!
Posted by
Berlin
3089 posts
By car the German Alpine Road is very scenic. With a few stops near the Bavarian highlights such as Zugspitze, few of the lakes, castles ... you have basically your trip plus Nuremberg.
Bavarian tourist website can help you exlploring.
Take care of having a valid driving permission (more than license only).
In late October the car shall have winter tyres.
Posted by
Oberpfalz, Germany
1396 posts
Just some ideas... If she is able and weather permitting then I would say electric boat on the Königssee in the Nationalpark Berchtesgaden (yes touristy, but easy). You could drive the Rossfeld-Panorama street (toll road), visit Malerwinkel in Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden and stay here: https://www.auzinger.de/?topic=willkommen (check that the kitchen is open in Oct) If you can stay on a Wednesday night they play traditional Bavarian music. https://www.ramsau.de/webcam-malerwinkel.html There are the military training areas in the Oberpfalz in Hohenfels and Grafenwoehr east of Nürnberg. The town of Amberg is between them and may be worth a visit (old US Army base too). A lot of US personnel and contractors stay here north of Grafenwoehr just into the less traveled Fichtelgebirge mountains. They are well known for their food. https://www.hotel-wiesend.de/ You are not far from the Czech Republic here and may consider a trip to a bath town like Marienbad (rental car providing). Less traveled but known as an area visited by elderly folks is the Bavarian Forest area. Bodenmais is basically in the center (lots of nature). Böbrach is not too far away and this hotel and brewery: https://www.brauerei-eck.de/ or a little further south here: https://draxlerhof.de/pension-urlaub-bayerischer-wald/ Regensburg (https://hotel-orphee.de/) and Landshut are nearby too, but will require more walking (Park and Ride?). I would make your reservations now if possible.
Posted by
Maryland
910 posts
https://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/aboutus/index.htm
Note Oktoberfest will be on in Munich until Oct 6 so plan around that:
https://www.oktoberfest.de/en
We particularly like Augsburg, Nordlingen, Garmish-Partenkirchen (take the train up the Zugspitze) and Innsbruck (the valleys south of Innsbruck are much less touristy until the ski season - and gorgeous).
Much of our lodging beyond RS guidebook recommendations has been through Booking.com with places rated higher than 9.0.... B&B's are a choice. One nice thing is that once you have identified a potential hotel in a place/price range/rating you can click on the map on the site and get the prices of all other comparable properties.
Another approach to finding nice smaller accommodations is to go find a biking guide for Bavaria, and they commonly show "bike friendly" = smaller Guest Houses, Pensions, etc. Since there are bike routes all over Bavaria the coverage is extensive.
Posted by
Lynnwood, Washington
8913 posts
You may want to consider Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch-Partkirkchen. Not a bed and breakfast, but it is a military hotel with reasonable rates and interesting day excursions. If your mother is the spouse of a retired military, then she would qualify to make reservations. I spent a week in this area and didn't even begin to see everything.
Posted by
OP
27 posts
Thank you all for your responses! I look forward to doing the research on all your suggestions! Yes, mom is 2 times a widow from retired US Army Officers; both buried in Arlington Natl Cemetery. I suspect this trip will be filled with many recollections of travels past. Thanks again!
Posted by
Oberpfalz, Germany
1396 posts
Just FYI... Your Mom probably remembers the AFRC hotels. They have all been given back to Germany. Edelweiss Lodge and Resort was built new and opened in 2004. The old General Patton Hotel in Garmish was used to house refugees/immigrants and is now being renovated and turned into private holiday apartments. If you stay in Garmish this hotel is a bit pricey, but very nice and centrally located: https://www.staudacherhof.de/