Fussen vs. Reutte?

Füssen is a bit touristy, and Reutte isn´t that nice. To put it mildly, some of the choices and omissions in Rick´s Germany book perplex me. I would prefer to stay in Mittenwald, Garmisch-Partenkirchen or Oberammergau.

Just up the valley from Reutte, into Germany, is Pfronten [www.pfronten.de]. I first went through it on my way to Füssen in 2002 and was impressed. I'd much rather stay there than in Reutte. . . . ¶ Last August, I stopped in Reutte on the way to Pfronten, and I was appauled. Is this really the place that Rick recommends? Perhaps Zum Schluxen, which is outside of Reutte in the countryside, is worth the visit, but downtown Reutte was a disappointment.

yes the town of reutte is small and really has nothing but a few shops. we stayed outside of town at pension waldrast. the heuter family were very hospitable and helpful. it was our favorite b&b of the trip. they grow hay and were harvesting when we were there. herr heuter showed us their barns and fields. and we visited with his daughters who were fluffing the hay in the barn with pitchforks. from there we hiked up the hill to ehrenberg castle ruin and had the place all to ourselves. dont know how much more bucolic and charming you could ask for.

We were there last summer. At first we booked a room in Reutte and then because of the difficulties of getting from there to anywhere else, especially over the weekend, we canceled and booked a room in Fussen. We loved our stay there. We were able to take in all the sites.

We stayed in Fussen and loved it. I didn't see anything touristy while there. We thought it was charming in its own right.

We stayed in Gasthof zum Schluxen(?) in Reutte. It was a very nice hotel. I splurged because it was billed as a working farm and I thought it would be a treat for my daughter. There were deer across the street inside a chain link fence that you could feed through the fence. All the other animals were in small cages and management got testy if the kids were even near them.......It's one of the nicer hotels I've stayed in but don't choose it for the "farm" aspect.......I generally agree with everyone that both Fussen and Reute are nothing special - I would guess Rick picks them so you can be located close enough to beat the tourists to the castles in the morning.

Have never stayed in Reutte but have walked around and visited the shops. I much, much, much prefer Füssen with its really nice altstadt and traditional signs. We have have enjoyed staying at Altstadthotel Zum Hechten, named for the local fish - the pike.

Hi Kirsten, We also loved Fuessen and stayed twice at the Hotel zum Hechten. www.hotel-hechten.com Paul

Normally, I would second Brad's suggestion of Gutshof zum Schluxen, but at the end of November, if there is snow, the road in could be more problematic than if you were in Fuessen. It is level, but it is definately not the main road, and probably down the list a bit on the priority for snow plows.

"at the end of November, if there is snow, the road in could be more problematic". That could definitely be a problem. So far all of the places mentioned as "bucolic" are outside of Reutte where a car would be essential, particularly that time of year. It looks like about a half to one km or so walk from Zum Schluxen to the nearest bus stop, and I don't think that's the bus to Füssen. . . . . . ¶ As for Füssen being corny and touristy. Corny, no. Touristy? Any place that attracts a lot of tourists.... We walked around the town and there were some other people there, particularly on the main pedestrian mall, but I never heard English. There were not nearly as many as on the shopping mall in Munich. I would say that Garmisch-Partenkirchen is a lot more touristy than Füssen.

Wow[INVALID]thank you all for the replies. I shouldn't have written corny. I guess what I meant by corny is artificial. I can safely say that Reutte is pretty much out, thanks to all of your inputs (and the inputs of other websites). Now I'm trying to decide between Mittenwald, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and Füssen. Any thoughts between those three?

Hi Kirsten, Out of the 3 (Garmisch/Mittenwald/Fuessen) I'd go with either Fuessen (stayed twice so far/4 nights) and Mittenwald (stayed twice so far/7 nights). Never cared for Garmisch. Paul

Hi all. I think we're going to go with Füssen. I think the hotel will be Hotel Hechten, based off of your comments and those on booking.com and tripadvisor. I think if we were going skiing, G-P would have been our choice, but this trip, we won't have time. Any suggestions on favorite places to eat in the region?

We found a fantastic Italian place that we ate at two nights in a row. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of it since it was 2 years ago. You should ask a local, that's how we found it. It's a tiny place but SO good. Both nights we asked the chef (in sign language since he spoke Italian and we spoke English, Spanish and fractured German) to just make us whatever he wanted. It was SO good. We hit up German restaurants for lunches and other dinners but this place was our favorite. If the name comes to me, I'll come back and post it.