Guest post by ep
Map tips: each color represents a different day. Click a marker to learn more about the spot, and click the star in the map header to save the entire map under Your Places in Google Maps.
Started and ended in Munich:
-4 nights in Eglfing, Germany
-4 nights in Wergen, Switzerland
-1 night in Salzburg, Austria
-3 nights in Vienna, Austria
-1 night in Prague
Day 1: Dachau Concentration Camp
Dachau was good but we had a pretty big group with younger kids so we didn’t spend too much time. Stayed at an Airbnb in Eglfing.
Day 2: Theresienwiese
Took the train to Oktoberfest (the grounds are officially called Theresienwiese), dressed in the garb. We made a 4-hour reservation ahead of time and I’d highly recommend doing that, especially if you have a group. The reservation costs, but you’re paying for the meals and drinks. Each tent does it differently, so you might have to pay more to have your own table (if the table seats 10 and you only have 8, you’ll have to pay for 10 people). We were dressed up in the traditional garb, and the kids had a lot of fun, too. Everyone loved seeing the kids, such a great experience.
Day 3: Mittenwald and Neushwanstein Castle
Drove to Mittenwald and explored the small village on foot. Ate lunch, got ice cream.
Drove to Neuschwanstein – didn’t go inside but took the foot path to the viewpoint where all the pictures are from.
Day 4: Munich, Germany
Went to the English Garden – free public park and nice area to walk around.
Back to Oktoberfest, visited a couple other tents to see the differences.
Day 5: Lucerne, Switzerland
Drove to Lucerne, Switzerland (about 4 hours). Took a boat ride on Lucerne Lake and had dinner on the river. Explored the old part of the city on foot. Gorgeous.
Continued on to Wengen, which is only accessible by train. Parked at the station/garage and took the train there.
Day 6: Jungfraujoch, Switzerland
We took the train to “The Top of Europe” and walked on the glaciers up there. It was pretty cold, make sure you have hats and scarves.
Day 7: Grindenwald and Mannlichen, Switzerland
Took the cable cars to Grindelwald and Mannlichen, 2 nearby villages in the mountains. Some of us hiked down from there and others took the cable cars back. Unbelievable views on the hike down.
Day 8: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
- Trümmelbach
- Staubbach Falls
Walked around the valley – one of the cooler things was seeing the base jumpers. The Staubbach Waterfall was there in September, but certainly not booming like you see in most photos.
Trummelbach Falls is inside the mountain and you have to pay to take the funicular up – not sure if I’d say it’s actually worth it, though.
Day 9: Drive to Salzburg, Austria
Driving day, 6 hours to get to Salzburg. Stayed in a hotel in the city that night.
Day 10: Salzburg, Austria
- Mozart’s Birthplace
- Fortress Hohensalzburg
- Petersfriedhof
- Mirabell Palace
Walked to Mozart’s birthplace, just see the front of the building. Paid to go into the fortress, which was neat. Some really nice views as you look over the city.
Petersfriedhof is the cemetary that inspired the one in The Sound of Music where they’re hiding from the Nazis.
We didn’t go inside the palace, just through the gardens. Part of the movie was filmed there.
Drove to Vienna (3 hours), where we stayed for the next 3 nights.
Day 11: Vienna, Austria
- Stadtpark
- St. Stephen’s Cathedral
Did the hop on/hop off bus tour to get our bearings of the city. Some of the group went to see more of the touristy stuff and we took the kids to a park. Ponds, playground, more of a low-key day.
At night we walked around and viewed the Cathedral from the outside.
Day 12: Schonbrunn Palace, Austria
Schonbrunn is the famous palace and gardens and most famous place in Vienna. We went in the children’s museum, which was really neat. They got to see how children lived in that time period, and the rest of our group really liked the palace and grounds.
Vienna was nice, but it wasn’t too different from other big European cities. Don’t feel the need to go back.
Day 13: Prague, Czech Republic
- Petrin Tower
- Charles Bridge
- St. Vitus Cathedral
- Old Town Square
Drove to Prague, Czech Republic (3.5 hours) and got there around lunchtime. Check in and hit the town on foot. Went up Petrin Tower to see the city from above, then walked across the Charles Bridge to check out St. Vitus Cathedral. Beautiful.
Ate dinner on the Vltava River and then walked to Old Town Square.
I wish we had more time in Prague and that’s a place I want to revisit. We drove back to Munich (4 hours) the following day for our flight back home.
Wengen and the Lauterbrunnen valley was the highlight of this trip. I don’t really have words for the mountain views and villages. Mountains, waterfalls, just out in nature and not crowded like the bigger cities. The villages in Bavaria were fantastic, too.
Traveled in September 2018
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