Germany & Czech Republic Travel Options

[Sir Stinkalot]

The Stinkette has been doing a good job of planning our up coming trip starting in 4 weeks ..... unfortunately she has given me the task to investigate what we can do in Germany & Czech Republic. Due to being very busy I have been slack and am turning to the knowledge of the all mighty forum for advice on what we can/should do.

We will be in the area from July 20th - Aug 10th ..... however these dates are flexible if something special happens ....

Joint interests are in no particular order:

Beer
Wine
Food
Architecture
Art
History
Things we cant do in Australia
Woodwork (perhaps more interest to the Sir than the Stinkette)

If you can give any hints on your own experiences it would be appreciated.

Cheers

Stinky.

[rick_rine]

Pizen (Pilsen) is where beer got its name. Cheap beer but not the best. A good beer museum (12 years since I went). Food is nice but strangely you order every vegetable seperatly, for like 20 cents a serve. ie. if you ask for a steak thats all you get, no extras. Over the border in Krakow are the salt mines and some very lovely old towns. Very nice.
I came up from Poland where I saw Auschwitz. It is a horrific place but I thought, and would suggest to anyone else, that it was necessary to visit to try to understand the horrific war crimes commited. It was a very moving experience and I ended up staying longer than planned. I could sense the souls in the gas chambers and had to leave that area very quickly. It was very moving.
One of the most selfish or narrowminded (I can't express the words I'm looking for) things that I've ever experienced was a group of Yanks laughing and making jokes there. Maybe it was just their way of dealing with it?
It is not that far from Czech republic.
Rick

[Gra]

czech republic you have Pilsen home of Beer...

Germany, depends on where in Germany, I am suspecting Munich area?
BMW Museum (Munich).
glockenspiel (?) in Munich town hall
Rothenberg (Very pretty medieval city, the craftsman's shops are amazing)
look into the romantic road (Architecture and history)

Black forest and rhine region are on the french side otherwise I would recommend there

They are off the top of my head, will have to look back at my photos to remember others

[Bodgy]

Stinky

Get across to the Slovak Rep if poss. Just as beautiful as Prague etc. Cheap as chips, and the old towns look like something out of Grimms Fairy Tales.

One of my best nights was at the Slovak National Opera House. Bee hive design, saw Barber of Seville by the Slovak national company. Absolutely magical despite me thinking this particular opera is not the best.

We had a box, just wonderful. Total cost < $20.

Best beer in the world too.

Bratislave is only 90 minutes from Vienna and a couple of hours from Prague (which has become a bit touristy in the last few years, I feel.)

[zathras]

If you look for the "BrauHaus"'s in Germany you won't go wrong on the beer side of things.

Brauhaus = brewed on site = great beer

[joe greiner]

You probably should visit and photograph Mad King Ludwig's castle (the one in all the posters) just to prove you've been to Germany. In Fussen, about 90km SW from Munich. Hotel Elisabeth (B&B) is a quaint reminder of Addams Family mansion. Rothenburg definitely worth a visit.

IIRC, there's a tools and toys museum around Tubingen, Black Forest area, about 20km S of Stuttgart.

Joe

[sumu]

Hello,

I have visited Neuschwanstein once and it is impressive, but only from a distance. There is not that much more to see inside the castle, many unfinished rooms and structures and only a few better details. Ludwig the Second was "mysteriously" drowned in the Starnberger lake in the middle of the building process, and right after that the tools were dropped off in Neuschwanstein.

But please visit Schloss Linderhof, "The Ultimate Hunting Hut". It is located nearby Neuschwanstein. You won't be disappointed. Both the interior and the yard are very cool, tempered to raise infinite amount of envy in certain types of minds :D.

Anyway, in very south of Germany, visiting towns like Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Oberau and Oberammegau are worth while. Our family is going to Garmisch next July, to spend some time in a figure skating camp. I do not skate, but my kids and my dear wife do.

In Munich, I recommend to visit Deutsches Museum. Very tech-oriented in a historical manner. The marine department is cool (U-1 is there), so is the aeromotive one, too. Car department locates in different part of the city at the moment.

The noisy (sometimes almost deafening) old Hofbrauhaus Munchen is one of the must stops in Munich, so is the old marketplace area not far from the Hofbrauhaus.

I have not visited the Egyptian Museum in Munich, but it is claimed to be nice.

On the way to Czech by car, passing through Harz (Province of Thuringia) could be an experience. There is new asphalt on roads that go up and down through dark green narrow and forested passes where GPS navigator tends to sometimes lose contact with satellites. Careful driving when wet conditions are recommended. Those roads are a dream for any motorbiker guy.

Germany is well organized country for you to find anywhere you want to go to. If you rent a car there, for example 1.9 TDI gives you enough engine to manage the traffic and slopes quite well. Bigger the better, though. But before driving the thing, take the car rental personnel to walk around the car with you and mark all existing dents and scratches in that paper describing flaws in the car, and then make him date and sign it. This way you avoid some useless nagging on bad care of the car.

I have visited Prague, and only thing I can say about it is that the main tourist spot there is the Charles Bridge and all such stuff is quite near it. To go a bit further, you should have a guide. Prague is a city with really good action here and there. Careful about the guide, though :D.

kippis,

sumu

EDIT: If hanging around in very south of Germany, why not considering to drive over Austria to visit Italy, for example Maranello. It is not that far for a bit longer daytrip. For example Maporama ( http://world.maporama.com/default.aspx ) is suggesting the route being 504 km by road. Just a thought, at least to see how small hole the town of Maranello actually is.

[Sir Stinkalot]

Thanks for the replies .... all food for thought.

Germany & Czech Republic are only a small part of the overall 6 month trip. I have passed the details onto Stinkette and we will see what happens.