Our Daughter's Make-A-Wish Bavaria Trip. Itinerary help please.

After reading through most of your post, I was relieved to hear that your daughter is cancer free!

Although I can't help with your questions because I haven't been to that area, I wanted to tell you
that I hope your family has a Great Trip!

Mimi

Hi Mimi,

Thank you so much for those kind words. She is doing great, REALLY looking forward to our trip and enjoying the start of summer vacation! We visited Colorado last summer and loved our time there! Absolutely beautiful!

Have a wonderful summer!

Larry

Glad your daughter is cancer free!

We did a 2 week trip to Germany/Austria 2 years ago. We really enjoyed Zugspitze. We stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but you can do it as a daytrip from Munich. We went in August and were able to sled on the glacier! I'd recommend giving Jake Doherty from All Things Garmisch a call. He's an American living in Germany (married a German girl and stayed). We used him to tour Neuschwanstein, and then he took us to an alpine coaster. He is so entertaining and full of knowledge and an amazing story teller. He does trips to Zugspitze and will help you avoid crowds. You can hire him for a day and he'll do whatever you want. He'll pick you up at your hotel too so you don't have to worry about driving. He even managed to get a photo of us in front of the castle with no crowds! He just went up and started having everyone form a line for pictures LOL.

Thank you! I was looking at Zugspitze but in the videos on-line the mountains looks rather barren in the summer. Is that true? We were hoping to see the snow topped mountains. I know it's summer, but figured the height might allow snow topped areas. I will certainly look into Jake Doherty from All Things Garmisch! Sounds like a gem!
Thank you again for taking time to share your advice! No matter what this trip is going to be amazing!

Larry

Larry, we were there in August and there was snow! It was one of our favorite experiences.

That's great!!! My wife was thinking we should drive into Switzerland to see the Alps, but I assured her we could have an amazing visit in the German/Austrian Alps. Thanks for that reassurance of seeing the snow tipped mountains!

I just PM'd you a link to my photos so you can see what it is like in August.

Hello,

Let me start by saying that I am so glad to hear that your daughter is cancer free!

We based ourselves in Fussen for 7 nights in 2014 and enjoyed driving around the area. There are a lot of cable cars that take you up to the top of the mountains where there are magnificent views of the area. We also enjoyed Oberammergau, Linderhof castle and Wieskirche. All are mentioned in the version of Rick's Germany book that we used back then.

Have a wonderful trip!

Thank you for the link Kerri and for the "mili613"! We are thinking of visiting Oberammergau. My mother went there to see the Passion Play many years ago. While this is not one of the years they put it on, we've read that Oberammergau is beautiful. I think this will be on our trip!

Thanks again,

Larry

You will be in Bavaria when you are in Munich. There are many sights to see in Munich and the surrounding areas. Starting with the tour book is a good idea. It will give you ideas on what to see and do. There are the usual suggestions of the Glockenspeil, Dachua, The Olympic Village, and various museums. The Hofbrau Haus is a tourist place I like to avoid. You will get a better idea of a beer hall by stopping at a fair that has a beer tent. What does your family like to do or see? My wife and I just like to "be". We like to drive the back roads and stop when we see something of interest to us. The Weiskirche, an example of Rococo architecture, is about 1.5 hours southwest of Munich if that is of interest to you. Garmisch is a nice area as is the Zugspitze. Having only been in late fall/early winter I can not comment about summertime conditions. Some will deride Neuschwanstein castle but we enjoy it. Also Hohenschwangau is his parents castle nearby that we thought was worth a look. We also like taking the walk up to the Marienbrucke bridge that overlooks Neuschwanstein. Continuing over the bridge is a path that will take you a little higher than Neuschwanstein that offers a different perspective.

Congratulations on your daughters fight. I am sure you will enjoy your trip. If you do not know German, please learn a few basic words. We have not had a problem in Germany speaking only English but knowing a few basic words can help. Also, learn the German road signs and their meaning and how & when to use a Parkscheibe for parking on the street when stopping in towns to sightsee.

Thank you "Team Rick"! We would love to drive through some back roads to see authentic German life, away from the touristy areas. I suspect we'll enjoy very scenic roads when we are in the Salzburg region. The tour book is a huge help, but it's always nice to get first hand feedback from your many forum readers! They have been great!

Thanks again,

Larry

I HIGHLY recommend doing Hohenschwangau since you are in Fussen anyway. I liked it better than Neuschwanstein and it provides a lot of background information. It is also has many more furnished rooms. I am not saying don't do Neuschwanstein, I would just do Hohenschwangau first. Some one mentioned going to the various vantage points for Neuschwanstein which I highly recommend. In Munich, I would recommend going to Nymphenburg. It is very easy to get to on public transportation. I enjoyed the Residenz and the treasury, but just know the Residenz is huge and overwhelming. Salzburg is lovely with much to see. We enjoyed the SOM tour and took the time to visit the sights in town on our own as well. The baroque cathedral is spectacular and we took the funicular up to the fort for the views. Very close to the base of the funicular is the cemetery that was the inspiration for the cemetery scene in SOM. It is quite pretty. So glad your daughter is well and I hope you enjoy your trip.

First of all, I'm also very pleased to hear that your daughter's treatments were successful, and that she's now doing well.

My first suggestion would be to have a look at both the RS Germany and Austria guidebooks, as there's an enormous amount of information there that will help your trip to go smoothly. You should be able to find copies at your local Library or larger book stores, or you can download E-book versions in several formats (ie: Kindle, iBooks, etc.).

As you'll be driving, a few important points to mention......

• I believe an International Driver's Permit is required for Austria, so each driver listed on the rental form should have one. These are used in conjunction with your home D.L., so you'll have to pack that along too. You can obtain IDP's at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee, and these are valid for one year.
• You'll need to purchase a Highway Tax Vignette when you drive into Austria. Failure to do so may result in hefty fines which are collected on the spot!
• You may want to pack along a GPS unit or at least a good Map.
• Be sure to familiarize yourself with the differences in road signs and also parking signs.

If this is your first trip to Europe, you'll have to familiarize yourselves with things like travelling with debit and credit cards and travel with technology (ie: Plug Adapters, etc.). You might also want to have a look at Europe Through The Back Door as there's good information there for first-time travellers.

With all that you have on your list, I don't think you have time to go to Switzerland. Driving to Switzerland via Italy brings up some other caveats.

I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Hi Jules,

Thank you! We were planning to tour Hohenschwangau before Neuschwanstein as it gives a better history before going to Neuschwanstein. Thanks for the other tips as well. We plan on spending two days touring Munich (our home base) and visiting Nymphenburg as well as the Residenz. It is great to get feedback on many of the places we were considering on our visit. I found many of the filming locations on my own and we probably will do the SOM "tour" on our own, allowing flexibility to drive around and through towns.
Thank you again for taking the time to share your experience! We certainly appreciate this!

Larry

Hey Ken,

Thanks for all the information concerning driving in Germany/Austria! We will get the international permits. I expect we will pass on visiting Switzerland as it is just too much in a 10 day period. As Rick says, plan on coming back!
Rick's book has very helpful information about the road signs which well be sure to bookmark and bring with us!

Thank you again!

Larry

Another shout out for Jake from All Things Garmisch. He helped me arrange a white water rafting trip a few years ago for us including transportation as we went to Garmisch by train. That said, perhaps white water rafting would be fun for your daughter too? There are various levels from wild to mild.

For Munich, I would contact Taff Simon from Dark History Munich and see what kind of a cool tour he could set up for all of you. He is an amazing guide and creates very unique experiences. https://dark-history.eu/

Larry, Have you and your daughter seen the most recent Sound of Music Anniversary DVD? I think it included a feature in which Julie Andrews returns to Salzburg. Its a wonderful introduction to Salzburg and a must see for crazy people like myself who love Sound Of Music. This feature was either a separate DVD or included with the Sound of Music movie. Unless someone here on the forum knows the details, I will go to my library to confirm (hopefully) where I saw this. It was about an hour long and really good.

Larry,

I missed that you are going to Munich. In Munich there is a very small museum at the University.
It is free, they do have a jar there if you wish to donate to upkeep.
It is dedicated to the White Rose society. They were a group of university students and a professor who
were underground to fight the Nazis. The main student was a young lady named Sophie Scholl and her brother. They did good work and were eventually caught and executed by the Nazis. There was a movie made quite a while ago named The White Rose. It doesn't take long to go through the museum,
many pictures with captions, but we found it very interesting. It might interest your daughter since she is now a young adult and can relate.

Have a Great Trip and I hope you post a trip report or your daughter does when ya'll return because I think it would be interesting for us.

Mimi

The movie I was thinking of with Julie Andrews revisiting the sights of Salzburg is called, "Sound of the City, Julie Andrews returns to Salzburg. Perhaps your library has it.

Thank you ALL for your wonderful suggestions! I told my daughter about my post and she was sooooo encouraged by the many replies! I'll keep checking back for any and all suggestions. With your help, I'm sure we are going to have an amazing trip that will live in our hearts for a lifetime! It's one thing to go on such an amazing adventure, it's FAR more wonderful that we are doing so as a family to celebrate an amazing recovery for our precious daughter/sister! Words cannot convey the gratefulness we all have experienced through this challenging journey that turned out so well. Anyone who is a parent will intimately understand. As a cancer researcher I feel I have come full circle in having a bit part in the challenge our profession has in finding cures. A huge thanks to the wonderful oncologists and surgeons at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore! We were so blessed to have her treated there!