September trip to Switzerland and Germany

Lindau is a good half-way point if you're traveling by train. If you have a car and the Berner Oberland hasn't exhausted you on mountain resorts, I find the isolated resort town of Lech am Arlberg to be one of the most serene and stunningly beautiful places on Earth. "We have read good and bad about the castles." Neuschwanstein, and to a lesser extent Hohenschwangau, are best appreciated if you pre-arm yourself with some knowledge of King Ludwig, contemporary German Romanticism and the operas of Richard Wagner. I find it particularly fascinating that he based much of the design of Neuschwanstein on the opera "Parsifal", his theater on "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg", and his bed chamber on "Tannhäuser".

I stayed at the Hilton in Munich which is located right at Rosenheimer Platz station. That made travel convenient. I'm guessing it might not be cheap for Oktoberfest. When I was in the Interlaken area we stayed in Grindelwald at the Hotel Cabana which was nice and had some great views of the mountains. We took the train for the Jungfraujoch. Pricey but on a nice day the views are amazing. We stayed at Hotel Muller while visiting Neuschwanstein and they took care of getting the tickets and were very nice. It isn't in town but is near the castles. Haven't made it to Berlin, yet. It always seems just a bit out of the way and I hope to combine it with a trip to Prague. Are you planning to fly, drive or train it to Berlin? It is a 6 hour train ride. Flying is less time but you have to add the time getting to airport, security, etc. You might want to consider skipping Berlin, especially if you have to back track to Zurich or Frankfurt for the flight home.

We are flying into Zurich and flying out of Berlin. We will not have a car thoughout our travels. We will use the trains to get around while we are visiting the 2 countries.

It sounds from your post that you do not have lodging reservations yet. I am also going to be in Germany and Switzerland in September and I made my lodging arrangements long ago and when I did, I found some places already sold out. I discovered that September is a popular time for travelers since school age folks are back in school and the crowds are not as young in age. I would encourage you to proceed with some degree of haste.

Jen, I have done that area a few times in the past ~ I have enjoyed Wengen for my "up the Alp" place to stay ~ easy access for Jungfrau, stunning views, etc... If you don't need hostel accommodation prices, Fuessen's Hotel Kurcafe is a delightful place to stay ~ one of the best breakfasts ever and the half board dinner arrangement is amazing! It is only about a block from train station so easy to drop bags and keep going! The main reason I'm replying, though, is that if at all possible I would shift some days around to be able to see Salzburg ~ it is one of our family's all-time favorite places! Sound of Music Tour, dinner in the fortress with strings concert up in the Prince's chamber, biking along the Salzach, the Old Center . . . it's charming with an A+. To me, it was lots more charming than Oktoberfest/Munich. Good luck! Have a super trip!

If you arrive early on the 10th I suggest you go to Luzern for your first night. It is a lovely lakeside town with a lot more to offer for your day than , which is mainly a base for citing the mountains which you are going to anyway. There are direct trains to Luzern right from the airport. The ride from Luzern to Interlaken the next day is via the scenic Golden Pass route and very nice. I believe it is also cheaper than going to from Zürich via Bern on the fast trains. Mürren makes a fantastic base for hiking right from your door. We have only stayed at Chalet Fontana there, as we like the convenience of the apartment. But there are no mountain views from the windows. For that try Hotel Alpina which is right on the edge, or Hotel Bellevue which is known for good food as well as nice rooms.

I would not stay the night in Interlaken. If the trains, and your schedule can make it work, I would head right up to Gimmelwald or Muerren. For me, Interlaken is too touristy. As previously noted, if you want to stop somewhere on your way to Muerren, Luzern may be better. In Sept. 2010, we stayed at Hotel Alpina. Reserve a balcony room for the most awesome views of the alps and the valley below. The rooms are in a 70's time warp and a bit worn, however, the rooms are clean, the owners are friendly and the buffet breakfast is great. Free WIFI is accessible only in the lobby. Just down the street, outside of the train station (at the far corner), there is a webcam. It gets panned every 3-4 minutes. We had our son get on the site. It was fun for him to see us from California. If you don't already have hotel reservations for Munich during Octoberfest, you might want to consider commuting from the Fuessen area, or a bit closer. In your post you mention going from Munich to Hannover for your meeting. And then going from Munich to Berlin and flying home from there. Did you really mean going from Hannover to Berlin?

Thank you all for your suggestions. This will be our first time visiting the area and love to hear all of your thoughts/suggestions/opinions. Yes, I did mean to type..from Munich to Hannover to Berlin to fly out. We have not made reservations anywhere yet.. I know we really need to get busy. I emailed several places in Murren and they all had openings. We are just trying to decide which one now. I am most worried about Munich and Hannover. Any suggestions for Hannover would be great. The hotels that are available there are around $400 a night. Which is what we may have to pay since it's the largest machine tool show in the world that week. Can anyone suggest where to stay in Luzern? We are going to check it out. I would rather get right up to the mountains but know we already have a really long travel day. We really don't care to stay in Zurich, Rick made it sound like there wasn't much to see there. My husband and I love hiking, biking and pubs! We do want to see some museums but we both really love the outdoors. Has anyone biked in and around Fussen? Does anyone know of any wineries along path we are traveling? We also love vino.. wish we had time for the Rhine River. Would a day trip to Salzburg be enough? Or should we try staying the night there. We originally were planning on going there and to Hallstatt (which looked more appealing to me than Salzburg) but were told by our lovely AAA agents in town that I was trying to pack too much into our vacation. So instead of helping, she handed me a stack of group travel brochures and offers. I looked through them to get ideas; they travel to more areas in less time than we have. She had never even heard to Fussen. I felt like I knew more just from reading Rick's Best Of Europe than she knew about the area. I suggested her to read some of his books. Thank you all for our help,
Jen