June 11, 2015 Tour

KieferMom

Hello out there fellow travelers! Anyone on this tour? I am staying my extra night in Bad Worishofen (no German keyboard option on this laptop) as I will be spending the following week in Munich with family again like my last Tauck Tour. Last time I connected with a couple folks ahead of time and it was fun exploring with them before the tour. I speak German so will be able to translate if needed.

Tauck folks, I am looking forward to another wonderful trip with you. Am hoping for some free time again as I have toured Munich and Neuschwanstein before. and there are things I am hoping to see I missed on my own. Can't wait for the European food and traditions! It's always nice to see how they live their daily lives in addition to being spoiled rotten by all of you and your travel partners.

AlanS

It sounds like you are quite familiar with the area so I don't have much to offer. We took this trip last June and frankly I don't think there was really much to see and do in Bad Wörishofen (no German on my keyboard either, but cut and paste works well : ) . We weren't into the spa thing- Kneipp or the hay treatment and the downtown which is just a short walk from the hotel, is very small. There is not a lot of free time on this trip until you get to Salzburg and some in Davos, but that is about it. We arrived in Munich a day early and took a Segway tour of Munich- it was a really fun way to see a lot of the city and many areas not on Tauck's itinerary

One recommendation- try to stay awake during the early morning departures while traveling through the Dolomites. If you don't, you will miss some fantastic mountain vistas, especially between Cortina and Balzano. Personally I think they were better than the Bavarian side of the Alps. I saw some great scenery and castles from the bus that many of our co-travelers missed because they were dozing. I was able to get good photos of them, even through the bus window, so was able to research them after we got home. That was a fun exercise that enhanced the afterglow of this trip. I'd post some photos but Tauck's forum software can't seem to handle the size.

smarks50

Keifer Mom: I am signed up for this trip as well. I plan to arrive in Munich early to spend a day resting and another touring Munich as I haven't been there for a number of years. I am looking at day tour ideas through Viator. I just finished the Tauck Yosemite Event and had a great time and I can't wait for this next adventure. I look forward to meeting you in Munich on June 11th! And thanks for the great tips, Alan S. Happy New Year to all.

Skipper9315

Hello fellow travelers! I am looking forward to my first Tauck tour/first European trip this June and I really appreciate reading all of the travel advice...will definitely try and stay awake for the Dolomites trip!

AlanS

Also, there is another thread on the forum about things to do in Munich if you arrive early.

To help you out, you first may want know what Tauck covers the morning after the welcome dinner, before departing for Oberamergau and Seefeld (June 2014 tour- 2015 itinerary look identical)- You will have a walking tour that includes Marienplatz (Mary's square) where you will see the famous glockenspiel, THE Hofbrauhaus beer hall, and the exterior of the Residenz (Wittlesbach palace), the nearby park, tomb of the unknown, and government building. Then you have lunch on your own and a little free time before boarding the bus. To take full advantage of your limited free time here, have a place already picked out for lunch.

If you really want to see Munich go a few days early.

A tip just for readers of this forum- your Tauck tour will split into groups for the walking tour around the Residenz- if one of the local guides is a man with a small rolling suitcase- try to get into his group! He is a local high school teacher (with all the good things that means) and extremely interesting, knowledgeable, and, yes, entertaining! The suitcase holds his props!! His tour was especially interesting and great fun. But, if you are shy and embarrass easily when asked to participate- you don't want to hold a flag and become the king- then don't bother.

From my and other posts- places to visit, things to see in and around Munich-

As I previously mentioned, the Segway tour (easy to do, even for two 60+ people- <5 min to learn, after 10 you are an expert!). Interesting guides and sites- riding the Segway is not the focus, it is just a safe, fun, and quick way to get around. I mounted a GoPro on my helmet and shot a video, but never got around to posting it on YouTube.

Munich has many pedestrian-only streets, wide sidewalks, and great public transportation- surface trams everywhere and many subways lines.

Have lunch at the Hofbrau house or other Beer garden- there is a great gelato place nearby.

Take a tour to the nearby town of Dachau, the concentration camp exhibits, and memorial.

Tour the BMW headquarters and museum - people on our tour who went gave it high marks.

Tour the Residenz

Go to the Zoo

Visit the Bayerische and other museums

Watch the surfers or check out other areas in the English Garden

KieferMom

AlanS - thanx bunches, lots of great info! And, I agree the lunch at Hof Brau would be great, I go there every visit and am never disappointed. Their meals can be huge, but represent the region well! For quiet time eat upstairs, for the raucous beer hall feel and lighter fare eat downstairs. I think the English Garden will be my choice in Munich since it will be easy to walk to from the Hotel.
"50" - looking forward to meeting you too!
I also think my extra day at Bad W. will be spent at the Kurpark. I'm a garden buff and past pres. of our local Herb Assoc. so should find it interesting. Maybe I'll do the Kneip thing for my left knee which will probably be complaining by then (haha). Reviews of past trips as well as past experience tells me I need to be able to do my 10,000 steps ( 3 mi.) before I depart!

AlanS

KieferMom wrote:

I also think my extra day at Bad W. will be spent at the Kurpark. I'm a garden buff and past pres. of our local Herb Assoc. so should find it interesting. Maybe I'll do the Kneip thing for my left knee which will probably be complaining by then (haha). Reviews of past trips as well as past experience tells me I need to be able to do my 10,000 steps ( 3 mi.) before I depart!

With your interest in gardening, you might enjoy the short herb garden (Steigenberger Hotel Sonnenhof staff-guided) walking tour. I don't remember any of the details about scheduling a Kniepp treatment, but you can have a warm "hay treatment" while in your room (and in bed) early on departure day. I believe you will learn about the hay bath on one of the day trips from Salzburg.

Of course it depends on your pace, but, it certainly won't hurt to be able to handle 10,000 steps a day. I received a FitBit for XMAS so am "in training" for our next Tauck tour. There is a fair amount of walking (and stair climbing in castles) on this tour, but there are only a few places that require a moderately strenuous walk to enjoy the attraction. One example is the short walk from the carriage drop to the entrance of Neuschwanstein. Most others, like these are optional- if you visit the "Fortress" in Salzburg during your free time and decide to walk up instead of taking the funicular (take the funicular!), if you decide to walk up hill from Hitler's challet to the edelweiss cross at the "Eagle's Nest", or the toughest for me- the 15 - 20 min. walk from Neuschwanstein castle up to Mary's bridge for the iconic photo opportunity. We were short on time so had to hustle. I made it after stopping two or three times to catch my breath, but the view of the castle and my photos made it well worth the effort. There are a few other occasions but all are optional. Most other walking is on relatively flat terrain, though you will find some of it on cobblestone streets. Also, due to vehicle (car and bus) restrictions in the historic part of Salzburg where your hotel is located, you will need to walk to the bus for daily excursions on two days.

smarks50

Alan S: Did you do (or hear about) any of the classical music "shows" on your free night in Salzburg? I see them advertised on the tour sights like Viator; supposedly a combination of costume, music and dinner.

AlanS

smarks50 wrote:

Alan S: Did you do (or hear about) any of the classical music "shows" on your free night in Salzburg? I see them advertised on the tour sights like Viator; supposedly a combination of costume, music and dinner.

They were getting ready for a festival in Munich when we were there (12-13 June). In Salzburg, we didn't go, so I have little info to offer, but others in our group attended concerts- remember this city has strong ties with Mozart as well as the "Sound of Music". I'm not sure if anyone booked one of the dinner/performance packages thru Viator, but I do know a few couples attended concerts and one couple in our group attended a free performance by a children's choir from the US. There is free time (meal on your own) in the schedule to do this on at least one night. I believe there was some sort of music festival there in mid-June, but a quick Google search shows it may be 18 July - 30 August this year. Salzburg Festival 2015 European Festivals

smarks50

Thanks AlanS. The concert I mentioned is centered mostly around the music of Mozart - there are the period costumes, a dinner, etc. Sounds a bit hokey and touristy but that's what travel is about sometimes. I will check the festival you reference and do further research on the concert sold through Viator. Thanks for your feedback.

Dokey

Hi Smacks50, My husband and I did this trip the end of June last year. We went to the dinner and Mozart concert at the Stiftskeller, St Peter, which is the oldest restaurant in Europe. It was a really nice evening. Everyone gets the same meal, cooked like it was back in the day, and the performance was very good. Something to experience while in Salzburg. We didn't book it ahead of time. Our tour director mentioned it to us and we booked it through the concierge at the hotel we were at in Salzburg. The price was 54 euro a person at that time. They had some small tables, but most were tables of 10. We had a few from our tour at our table, plus a lovely couple from Salzburg who were a pleasure to talk to. So locals do go, not just us tourist. Getting tickets ahead of time may get you a table in the front that would be very nice. Hope this helps make up your mind. This is a really nice trip, we had a lot of fun.

Dokey

To Smacks50, On second thought. You can get tickets a head of time, which would be nice, but I don't think you can actually reserve a certain table. The best thing is to get there really early for a table in the front. Hope this helps.

smarks50

Dokey: Thanks very much for the feedback. I saw comments on Viator that stated it is best to arrive early for a good table so it seems you are correct that there are no reservations. Other comments were that it is a very difficult location to find. I am going solo so thought I would just scope the walk out before dark and be prepared for that evening. I am glad you enjoyed this tour so much; I am counting the days until our June departure.

matchel

Hello fellow travelers! This will be our 5th Tauck tour although it's our first regular Tauck as opposed to Bridges tour. We are very excited! Thanks for all of the great information that's been posted so far! Just wondering if anyone is traveling with young adults? We are two moms traveling with two college aged sons.

I've also been checking out the weather and it looks warmer than I was anticipating. Those who have previously traveled on this adventure, did the temperature change a lot from am to pm and in the mountains? Is a warmer jacket needed? Thanks!

AlanS

Yes and yes. Temps were pleasant last year in June but as you might expect it can get cool in the evening (sometimes not) and definitely in the mountains- on the Zugspitze and crossing Grossglockner pass. For those occasions I wore a long sleeve shirt and a lightweight vest. My wife wore a lightweight jacket. You can go to weather dot com and other online weather sites to check the current weather and history for temps on dates in prior years in most places you will visit.

As you can see, unfortunately the summit of the Zugspitze was in the clouds when we visited: : (

matchel

Thank you so much, Alan! I'm meeting with my travel buddy tonight so I may have more questions later. I appreciate your insights! Ellen

AlanS

For a bit of a follow-up, I just went over my photos, noting what others and my wife and I wore each day during our 12 - 23 June 2014 UA trip. We had great weather and only about 2 hours of rain while we were touring the Passion Play theater in Oberammergau.

About 2/3 of the men wore khakis or jeans. A few wore shorts on certain days. On a couple of occasions I wore the convertible pants I bought for this year's safari. I think I removed the lower legs on at least two occasions. The men also wore a mix of long and short sleeve shirts or sport/golf shirts. Most either wore, or brought with them on the bus, lightweight jackets/windbreakers or lightweight jacket/fleece/sweater vests. I also carried a lightweight, stowable rain jacket in my day/camera bag but would leave it on the bus if it was obvious it was not going to be needed.

The ladies wore similar clothes- slacks, Capris, jeans, but rarely shorts; a mix of short and long sleeve blouses or T's (no tank tops or sleeveless tops); and lightweight jackets or sweaters.

Everyone will be wearing 'stylish' (yeah, right ) coveralls during the Berchtesgaden salt mine tour and dinner (in the mine) so you shouldn't need any additional layers beyond what you will be wearing earlier in the day to the Eagle's Nest.

'Layers' is the recommendation for this and most Tauck tours.