In May/June 2000 we had almost 3 weeks so we flew to Frankfurt, Germany and drove south to Austria. We were upgraded to Business class flying there. This was certainly a surprise, since I had just gone to the gate agent to make sure of our seats and she said she could move us up to Business.
Most of the focus on Germany was to the south. We were able to drive the Romantic Road, go through the Black Forest area, hike the Bavarian Alps, and see a lot of castles. There were so many little towns that had a lot of charm, and a tremendous amount of scenery. It was a shame Germany has the Autobahn; this is one place you want to stay off the main roads.
We went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, an old town surrounded by a wall with a lot of old world charm. We also spent several days around Fussen and Garmisch Partenkirchen near the Germany border of Austria. The main attraction here is the Schloss (Castle) Neuschwanstein, the model used by Disney.
We headed up toward Munich for several days. We were able to park the car and use the train system to get around. Here we saw the BMW Museum, Olympic Park, Marian Platz, the Glockenspiel at city hall, and just about everything else. We continued heading east from here until dropping down south to Salzburg, Austria.
Right in front of where we were staying in Salzburg was a bus stop that took us right into town. Since this is the birth place of Mozart, there were lots of things related to this in the stores. Also, the catacombs and church from the Sound Of Music are here. The old town center was very busy with tourists.
Making our way to Innsbruck, Austria we were able to see a lot of small towns and beautiful mountain scenery. We actually stayed a couple days in Seefeld, Austria and took a train to Innsbruck for a day (that was all we needed). Seefeld was a great place to stay, very relaxing, and had tremendous views of the Austrian Alps.
We headed back to Germany to stay in Heidelberg. From here we drove along the Rhein River to see all the castles. Eventually we had to return to Frankfurt.
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