Austria and Germany in 10 days
minnie2334
We're both music lovers, travelers, beer and wine lovers - so we decided to take a Bavarian (and Vienna) trip
19 Jun 2008
based on 4 votes
Highlights of Austria and Germany that can be seen in 10 days
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Explore locations featured in this Traveler List:
Austria, Vienna, Melk, Danube Valley, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Austrian Alps, Hohenschwangau, Fussen, Romantic Road, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Munich
- Category: Perfect week or more
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Traveler type: Culture, Sightseeing, Active/Outdoors
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Appeals to: Couples/romantics, Honeymooners, Active/adventure, Tourists
- Seasons: Spring, Fall
- Tags: Germany, Austria, Bavaria
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Easy walking city and very beautiful. We stayed in Vienna for 3 nights, which I think was the perfect amount. We used the Rick Steve's guide and did his walking tour when we first got into town. It was a good snapshot of the city. |
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Ave price:
$425
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Perfect location and great room (although we were upgraded to a junior suite which overlooked St. Stephens). We ate at one of their restaurants and the food was good (although slightly overpriced). |
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4. Imperial Palace (Hofburg)
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| Modern palace but gives a good history lesson so you can appreciate Schonbrunn. However, it was a pretty "bland" palace in terms of other palaces. |
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5. St. Stephen's Cathedral (Stephansdom)
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| Beautiful and rare Rocco/Gothic cathedral. We're so glad to see that it was reconstructed to its original look. Very pretty! |
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| Tour times were clear but how to get tickets was not. However, after waiting an hour to enter, the tour was very good. Although the tour guide seemed to have blamed the Americans for ruining the original structure - an interesting point of view. |
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| Excellent concert and concert hall. Highly recommend! |
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8. Schonbrunn Palace (Schloss Schonbrunn)
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| Absolutely beautiful. Definitely go early (perferably when the place opens) - we had the whole place to our self! It was great. As we left the line was not only out the door but across the courtyard (no lines/wait if you go early). Beautiful building and grounds. A must if you are in Vienna! |
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| We decided to stop by because it was a rainy day (we had planned to bike ride along the Danube). We are so glad we did. Absolutely amazing to see this gem in such a small city. If you are in the area, definitely stop by. Well worth the trip (the last room - the cathedral - was definitely the cherry on top). |
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| Even in the rain, this valley was very charming. We stopped at a small town and was able to do some wine and schnapps tastings. We loved the apricot schnapps. Very nice and easy drive. |
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We stayed 2 nights in Salzburg - which seemed just right. We did not go on a Sound of Music tour (not our style); however, we were able to see most of the highlights and went on another walking tour (from Rick Steve's book). |
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Ave price:
$304
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Not in the old center; however, you can walk through the Mirabell Gardens on your way to the center (and who wouldn't mind that?). We also had a rental car and liked that we didn't have to drive it through the old town. The hotel was average. There was construction going on but we knew that when we booked. Some drilling early in the morning (which also served as an alarm clock). |
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13. Salzburg Fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg)
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| One of our favorites! When we drove into Salzburg, it was raining so the clouds were low. We went to the fortress on a clear day and we were in shock at the surrounding beautiful alps! We literally stood there staring at the mountains. The view was breathtaking. The fortress itself has an ok tour. I like the cow story (and cow statue). |
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14. Salzburg Cathedral (Dom)
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| Very beautiful. If you go, note the four organs - Mozart played one of these. |
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| Very quaint and very bavaria. Go to the farmer's market - great selection. They also have some great sausage stands too. |
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16. Mozart Residence (Mozart Wohnhaus)
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| We had a recommendation not to go to Mozart's childhood residence but rather this one where he lived later in life. It is a good overview but a little underwhelming when you are reminded (in the audio tour) that most of the building and furniture is not original. However, it is cool to see music written by music in his own hand. I recommend going if you are a fan of Mozart (which my husband is). |
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We stopped here for lunch on our way to Fussen. Similar to Salzburg (but smaller) it is a quaint bavarian town. The "golden" roof was something interesting to see but when the oomp-pah band started playing from that balcony it became a little more special. |
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| We could not get over the size and beauty of the Alps - and the very gray/green valley lakes. Also, the road from Austria and Germany was very twisty (to get around the mountains), which I enjoyed but my husband did not (he was driving). |
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19. Neuschwanstein Castle (Schloss Neuschwanstein)
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| I know, this is a very touristy attraction. In fact, no one has ever lived here. But I'm so glad we went. Pictures do not do justice. Walking up the hill (please don't take the horse carriage!) to this monumental place was an experience. The view from Mary's bridge (short walk) gave us some great pictures. This is a must see! |
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| We stayed here for one night stop over. Nice little town. |
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Ave price:
$219
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In the heart of this little town. Very nice room at a reasonable price. Parking was confusing and we ended up at a city garage. However, parking is available at the hotel (at a slightly lower rate than the public garage). |
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| Nice drive. I wouldn't call it "Romantic" but it was picturesque in a way that you drove through small towns (say several May poles!) and rolling farm fields. |
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23. Rothenburg ob der Tauber
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| We loved this medieval town. The shops were good (some good deals). We talk a walking tour (courtsey of Rick Steve's guide book) which took us to some places that the typical tourist may not have seen. We also took the nightwatchman's tour. We highly recommend this tour - it was informative and humorous. |
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Ave price:
$138
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Excellent hotel which went out of its way when we had car trouble (an animal ate through our Mercedes engine!). It is within the medieval walls which makes it easy to see the sites. It is very close to the center. We ate dinner, breakfast, and lunch here. All of the meals were delicious. The room was very spacious. |
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We spent two nights here. Nice city with good public transportation. |
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26. Mercure Hotel Munchen Altstadt
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Ave price:
$160
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Average hotel but good location. Also reasonably priced. |
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27. Munich Residence (Residenz Munchen)
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| Very nice building and artwork (although most of it was rebuilt after WWII). |
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| Even if you don't like beer, you have to check out this place. It reminded us of one big fraternity party. The beer and pretzels were good. We also had dinner (but I can't remember what...). We met friendly Germans, Italians, and French. |
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Compliment minnie2334
