Need some advice for ED itinerary

[dclee1]

Alright, so I'm t-minus 3 days before I leave and have the itinerary set for the most part, but want to fit in as much as possible (I'm one of those active vacationers) and would like some advice on my itinerary:

Day 1 - Pick up car 8:40 AM, Munich
Day 2 - Drive to Fussen, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, maybe Garmisch-Part., back to Munich
Day 3 (Monday) - BMW Factory tour, drive to Prague, Prague
Day 4 - Prague
Day 5 - Prague for most of the day, drive to Salzburg evening
Day 6 - Salzburg & Berchtesgaden
Day 7 - Drive to Innsbruck, Innsbruck,
Day 8 - Drop off car, Munich
Day 9 - leave in AM

Munich and Prague is firm, but other than that I'm flexible. The two main things I'm wondering are:
1) is day 2 too packed, and if so, is it worth making Garmisch a separate day visit? and
2) is Innsbruck (and surrounding small towns) worth spending a day at, or would it be better to drive from Berchtesgaden back to Munich, then spend day 7 in like Rotenburg or elsewhere?

Any help is appreciated, guys!:thumbup:

[TrojanBMW]

I'm doing Prague on my ED trip and its been highly recommended to me by several people.

I highly recommend Salzburg. Fussen/Neschwanstein is worth the trip once in your life.

I haven't looked at a map, but would it make more sense to do Salzburg, Innsbruck, then Prague?

[AlfatoBMW]

Don't forget to get a "Vinginette Sticker" for driving in Austria. I am not sure about Prague. What interior did you get to go with the Monaco?? I have the Taupe Ette..

[drand]

Ok, I haven't gone yet but I am hitting many of the same places. Day two is too packed, I think that you need to drop at least one place. From my research, I would drop Innsbruck and go to Rothenburg. I am staying over night in Rothenburg and really wished I had scheduled two. It sounds much better than Innsbruck does.

[dclee1]

Originally Posted by AlfatoBMW

Don't forget to get a "Vinginette Sticker" for driving in Austria. I am not sure about Prague. What interior did you get to go with the Monaco?? I have the Taupe Ette..

Thanks, yeah I plan on getting one so I don't get leveed a "tourist tax". Went with black leather (toss up between this and lemon, but I'm keeping the car for a while and didn't want to have to worry about it looking dirty later on).

Prague is stuck in there when it is as a result of a timeframe we need to be there, so it's probably not the most efficient trip, I admit. I'm seriously considering switching innsbruck for Rotenburg.

[Spook]

For me:
Sat Day 1: Munich, no car
Sun Day 2: Munich, no car
Mon Day 3: Pick up car, drive to Verona via Swiss Alps
Tue Day 4: Venice (car ends up in a car park)
Wed Day 5: Venice (ditto)
Thu Day 6: Drive back to Munich through the Dolomites and up the Austrian side. All day driving.
Fri Day 7: Quiet day in Munich, drop off car
Sat Day 8: Fly home early

Do you think you'll have enough down time on arriving to recover from Jet lag? I really thought about Prague but I wanted lots of Alps driving and I love Italy.

[TrojanBMW]

Czech Rep. needs a vignette sticker too.

[dclee1]

Originally Posted by Spook

For me:
Sat Day 1: Munich, no car
Sun Day 2: Munich, no car
Mon Day 3: Pick up car, drive to Verona via Swiss Alps
Tue Day 4: Venice (car ends up in a car park)
Wed Day 5: Venice (ditto)
Thu Day 6: Drive back to Munich through the Dolomites and up the Austrian side. All day driving.
Fri Day 7: Quiet day in Munich, drop off car
Sat Day 8: Fly home early

Do you think you'll have enough down time on arriving to recover from Jet lag? I really thought about Prague but I wanted lots of Alps driving and I love Italy.

Well, I figure I'll just stay up most of the night before the flight, take a sleeping aid and try konking out for the rest of the flight so I can be awake for the rest of the day in Munich. I've read that if you don't adjust yourself in the first day (i.e. if you fall asleep middle of the day at your destination) it's going to take you a lot longer to adjust, so I'm going to do my best to stay awake that first day.

Prague is friggin gorgeous - I've been there once before. It's one of my favorite cities in Europe, and the GF wants to go, so we're stopping by even though it's a bit out of the way. But I am looking forward to the alps driving very much.:thumbup:

[Spook]

I'm going to try to sleep on the plane as well (in spite of being totally pumped up over the trip) and stay up as long as possible when I get there (I arrive at 5:30AM). Might be kind of goofy walking around the English Gardens, but it will be good.

Would really like to see Prague. Look forward to your review and pics.

-Spook
May 19 pick up

[happywalmartcustomer]

I fly back and forth to Paris a good bit on business. I would seriously advise you not take a sleeping aid if you don't have a few days to adjust. The best bet is to take an overnight flight and stay awake on the flight over. Unless you can't handle 35 hours or so awake, you'll hit the sack exhausted your first night in Europe and wake up adjusted for the rest of the trip. Sleeping aids may not effect you until you leave the airplane and zonking out at 8am your first day can ruin the pace for the whole trip. Cheers!

[nobbyv]

I'm doing almost the exact same itinerary but in June, including a Saturday pickup. Let me know how it all goes and what you'd recommend more/less time for, and also if over the weekends you found places were inordinately crowded. :w00t:

[dclee1]

Originally Posted by nobbyv

I'm doing almost the exact same itinerary but in June, including a Saturday pickup. Let me know how it all goes and what you'd recommend more/less time for, and also if over the weekends you found places were inordinately crowded. :w00t:

For sure I'll let you know. I think I"ve decided to move Garmisch and share it in a day with Innsbruck, so there'll be plenty of alpine fun on this trip!

[WhiteOne]

My niece has lived in Germany just about all her live. Garmisch is her and her husbands favorite town. She says it is not to be missed.

[OakStreet]

anyone going to neuschwanstein:

keep in mind that the castle is extremly popular.
You get assigned a timeslot for your visit/tour when you by tickets and depending on the time of the day and how many people bought tickets really early you might be looking at 2+ hours of wait.

manuel.

PS: I was born in Munich and lived in southern Germany for 20 years, I will post some recommendations and estimates for travel times and route choices during some quiet time this weekend.
Now out to enjoy the Vancouver rain.

[ez311]

Yesterday I returned from a two week trip to Europe, so I'll make some suggestions. I also toured the Audi factory in Ingolstadt, BMW factory in Munich, and Porsche Zuffenhausen. All were great tours, but I have to say that the Audi tour was the best of the three (sorry guys, I know this is a BMW forum).

Munich is a great town, easily worth 2 or more days. It would be best not to have a car and stay at a hotel near an S-bahn / U-bahn station. Traffic is somewhat bad and parking can be expensive. The rail system in Munich is great, one of the best in Germany from my experience.

Try to fit in a visit to Nuremberg if at all possible; it's a relatively short drive North of Munich with a one of the better stretches (ie less crowded, less construction, and partially 3 lanes) of the Autobahn. This is a very scenic town and great to walk around, try to stay close to the Altstadt / Hauptbahnhof. Get some Nuremberger wursts while you're there too...they are great (the Barfusser restaurant in the old section of Nuremberg is a great place with very reasonable prices).

I spent ~ 2 hours in Garmisch, but was a little disappointed. I think part of it was because it's not really the tourist season yet. There were lots and lots of older people there (70+). Definitely a scenic town, but I liked Munich and Nuremberg much better.

I stayed in Innsbruck for one night. A nice town, but I think if you had to skip one, Innsbruck could be skipped. Definitely don't miss driving through the Alps. The scenery is unbelievable. From what I’ve heard, Salzburg is more scenic than Innsbruck.

I've also heard a lot of good things about Prague, but haven't been there but I'll plan it for my next trip.

For anyone who has a longer itinerary or wants to do some more driving, any car fanatic’s trip to Germany would not be complete without a trip to the Nurburgring track. I saw over a dozen disguised prototype cars during my trip in Germany (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Seat, and one that I couldn’t recognize but I would guess it was Japanese). Most of them being tested on the ‘ring. The track really is something to see in person.

I’ve been back in the US for only 24 hours…and I’m already stating to plan when I can get back to Europe. If only the dollar would strengthen against the Euro it wouldn’t be so damn expensive!

Eric

[Spook]

Thanks for that Eric.. I'll be in Munich for a couple of days without a car and there is just too much to see. Do you have a recommendation for a westerly Alps route between Munich and Verona? My easterly route will go from Venice through Salzburg back to Munich.

Jeez.. trip is less than a month away now. I know I'm forgetting something.

-Spook

[atr_hugo]

Don't forget the Deutsches Museum in Munich

[ez311]

Originally Posted by Spook

Thanks for that Eric.. I'll be in Munich for a couple of days without a car and there is just too much to see. Do you have a recommendation for a westerly Alps route between Munich and Verona? My easterly route will go from Venice through Salzburg back to Munich.

Jeez.. trip is less than a month away now. I know I'm forgetting something.

-Spook

The drive from Garmisch to Innsbruck was really good. I'm not sure if there is a really bad route (scenery wise) but beware that some of the roads that appear to be smaller roads on the map can have really low speed limits and make the journey pretty long.

There were lots of long tunnels in the Western part of Austria heading towards Dornbirn. Some of them have tolls, so be sure to have some cash on hand.

If you don't have GPS in 135, a portable unit with European maps would be good. It's easy to get mixed up by the roads and roundabouts with many options. Sometimes the road signs are predominately marked with the next town (not always on a map) and not the road number. It's easy to get mixed up on the rural roads.

Feel free to ask any other questions.

Eric

[ulrichd]

Originally Posted by OakStreet

anyone going to neuschwanstein:

keep in mind that the castle is extremly popular.
You get assigned a timeslot for your visit/tour when you by tickets and depending on the time of the day and how many people bought tickets really early you might be looking at 2+ hours of wait.

manuel.

PS: I was born in Munich and lived in southern Germany for 20 years, I will post some recommendations and estimates for travel times and route choices during some quiet time this weekend.
Now out to enjoy the Vancouver rain.

Hey Manuel,
I lived in Munich for many years, in Waltrudering to the East, perhaps you know it. I am picking up my 128 in September.
Ulrich