Germany and Austria (and a bit of France) 2024 In late September and early October we explored Germany and Austria. We flew into Frankfurt and promptly drove to Heidelberg to start our trip in the state (or Bundeslander) of Baden-Württemberg which also included the resort town of Baden Baden in the Black Forest. Since this was along the Rhine River, we popped across one day to take in Strasbourg and Colmar in France before leaving the Black Forest region for Stuttgart where we visted the Porsche Museum. Next we traveled to Bavaria where we breifly visted the Neuschwantstein Castle near Fussen before spending several days in Munich during Ocktoberfest. Finally, we crossed the border into Austria to visit Salzburg with some side trips to the lake villiage of Hallstatt and Berchtesgaden to see the Eagle's Nest before ending our journey in Vienna. See below for a day by day selection of photos from our trip... Or jump to a specific place: Heidelberg Rothenburg Baden Baden Strasbourg and Colmar Stuttgart (Porsche Museum) Neuschwanstein Castle Munich Salzburg Hallstatt Berchtesgaden Vienna Germany and Austria (and France) 2024 Select Highlights from each day of our Europe trip Stuttgart, Germany We left the Black Forest and headed to Stuttgart for one night and a visit the next day to the Porsche Museum... Day 6 On the way to Stuttgart we stopped breifly to see Titisee, a lake and small village in the Black Forest. Late that afternoon we arrived in Stuttgart and took in the shopping district before having a nice German Tapas meal at a local eatery.             Day 7 We visited the Porsche Museum and enjoyed seeing many historic and famous Porsche models both road cars and from their illustrious motorsport history.                                                                                                           Neuschwanstein Castle - Fussen, Germany From Stuttgart and on the way to Munich, we detoured slightly to the town of Fussen to see the neasrby famous Neuschwanstein Castle which is said to have inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella Castle. Day 8 The Neuschwanstein Castle is relaively new castle built in the late 1800s. It was built by King Ludvig II of Bavaria despite there already being a huge palace in Munic (which we would see later in the trip), he felt the need to build a retreat. He died before it was completed and it was turned over to the public. It is near the Hohenschwangau Castle pictured directly below which was the childhood residence of Ludvig II. Views from Neuschwanstein castle looking at the Hohenschwangau Castle in the distance. We hiked up to the Neuschwanstein Castle from the villiage below.     Munich, Germany The next stop on our trip was Munich where we would be for three days (some of them rainy) and which overlapped with the last weekend of Ocktoberfest. Day 9 We arrived and enjoyed spending some time in old town and the taking in the impressive Town Hall building in Marienplatz with its huge Glockenspiel, a mechincal clock that includes 32 statues and 43 bells that play out historic Bavarian events. We also booked a tour that morning to the Dachau concentration camp with the rain adding to the somber atmosphere. After returning from Dachau to Munich, we explored more of the old town and later that night we went to the official Ocktoberfest fairground area.           Sculputre memorializing those tortured and killed at Dachau... Map showing the extensive Nazi German work camp system...   We went to the official Oktoberfest fairground. All the building were built in the weeks running up to Oktoberfest, each by one of the major beer brewing companies. Much to our surprise the "official" Ocktoberfest was away from the old town area and enclosed in this faiground like environment. We were not able to get into the major beer halls as it required buying at least 8 tickets months prior. But we went to some smaller beer gardens. The next day we went to a regular perpetual beer hall in old town Munich which ironically we felt was much more of an authentic Ocktoberfest experience. Incidently, we learned that the last weekend in Ocktoberfest is called Itlalian Week when lots of Italians come up for the festivities. Day 10 The day started with a climb of the bell tower staircase at the Alter Peter tower of St. Peter's Church. It was a climb of 306 steps and afforded wonderful views of the city. The tower swayed a bit when the huge bells rang. We were also able to get a birds eye view of the Glockenspiel across the way and the statues moving. Afterwards we visited shops, markets and churches as we continued sightseeing in Munich Day 11 The last full day in Munich, we started with a nice meal and then visited the Munich Residenz, a former royal palace for the monarchs of Bavaria. We also visited more churches and sites and ended the envening at the Munich Hofbrahaus where we continued Oktoberfest festivities.

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Jump To:

• Heidelberg
• Rothenburg
• Baden Baden
• Strasbourg and Colmar
• Stuttgart (Porsche Museum)
• Neuschwanstein Castle
• Munich
• Salzburg
• Hallstatt
• Berchtesgaden
• Vienna