Dis Exclusive Once Upon a Fairytale Germany Trip 9/20 - 9/28/2013

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Originally Posted by JWren1234

I've been watching airfares for a couple of months now, haven't found a great deal yet. About $1100-$1200 R/T on United and Lufthansa, flying non-stop to/from Newark. I want to see if the fares drop before I decide to buy.

Jason

That seems pretty similar to what I'm finding (although there are no direct flights from Ohio!) I'm going to watch for awhile, too.

Laurie

[rkdahl]

Originally Posted by rkdahl

Laurie,

We took the ABD trip, no longer offered, that toured Prague, Salzburg and Vienna a couple of years ago. We can help direct you to a few of the highlight sites of the Sound of Music movie. If you can't find something or would like help in knowing a few inside spots to visit. Let me know. We can point in you in the direction of the things we saw when we were there. It was quite fun to be dancing in the gazebo or walking down the paths of the garden scene or seeing some of the buildings used many years ago. Feel free to drop me a PM and I will share what we know. We also did a salt mine tour which was super cool and ate in one of the oldest restaurants in Europe. It was a great trip!

Keith

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

I know some of you are considering visiting Salzburg before or after the ABD trip. I promised Laurie I would send her some info on our ABD trip that toured Salzburg several years ago. We saw some really cool sights and toured some fun spots, including a lot of the Sound of Music venues.

I thought I'd share this here too so others that are considering going there can look through this in case it may help. So here goes!

Our ABD tour of Salzburg was great and its too bad they don't offer that tour still. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful tour! In Salzburg we stayed at the Sheraton. It was ABD's choice so I didn't research hotels or costs. There may be better or worse places...lol. However the Sheraton was a great place to walk to the town centre.

We had a lot of fun in Salzburg! A beautiful town, easily worth 2-3 days of visiting. Our highlights:

- Sound of Music site tour, see website below. Mirabell gardens, the famous gazebo site and others. There is a web site I found after we returned that lists many of the SOM highlights. Here's the link: http://www.visit-salzburg.net/travel..._locations.htm

- Salt Mine tour and ride (fun!!)
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...s.html#REVIEWS

- Eating at the oldest restaurant in Europe, Stiftskeller St. Peter (Excellent!)
http://www.stpeter-stiftskeller.at/index.php?id=7&L=1

-Taking the cable car tram ride to/from Hohensalzburg Castle and walking around at sunset (beautiful, a must see)!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohensalzburg_Castle

- walking through the Salzburg olde town center and all the shops and restaurants and music

From the Sheraton everything is an easy walk. Matter of fact on your way to the town center, you walk through Mirabell Gardens where several scenes were filmed.

Now keep in mind we did most of the tours (Salt mine and Sound of Music sites) with our own ABD tour bus and guides. So we did not have to book a local tour company, so I am not sure of possible differences.

The walking tours; Mirabell, Castle at dusk, tram car ride, downtown shops we did all on our own, just getting a map and walking.

We would go back there in an instant and spend several days for sure. Hope this helps! Holler if any questions!

Keith

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Thanks, Keith! That's great information!! Rick Steve's Passport to Europe yesterday was a tour of Salzburg. Brian mentioned he would like to see the Eagle's Nest if it's close, and I found a tour from Salzburg with the following ominous description:

"The buses to the Eagle's Nest are equipped with special engines and brakes to transport you from the Obersalzberg to the Eagle's Nest. The adventurous bus ride along the steep rock walls and deep gorges takes about 20 minutes. "

Hmm...think I'll stick to frolicking in pastures.

Laurie

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Very excited to see that the same people who do Coffee Break French are launching Coffee Break German in January. I subscribed to the French one on itunes in anticipation of our London/Paris trip and found it very helpful. They are 15 minute episodes of practical lessons (much more practical than when I took Russian in college and one of the first things they taught us to say was "I play the bassoon").

http://radiolingua.com/2012/09/annou...-break-german/

Laurie

[JWren1234]

You may want to check airfares this weekend, I've noticed the prices have dropped on United and Lufthansa on the Newark-Frankfurt/Munich-Newark routes leaving Wed, 9/18 and returning Sat, 9/28.

Going through United's website, United is coming in at $1,035 R/T, about $100 cheaper than what this itinerary has been since the flights were first made available to book.

Also, going through United's site, Lufthansa is at $1,125 R/T, again about $100 cheaper than what it has typically been going for. However, going through Lufthansa's own website, the same itinerary is $1,075 R/T. One thing about Lufthansa that I am unsure on is seat selection. Going through United's site, you cannot select a seat on a Lufthansa flight. I don't know if this is also the case going through Lufthansa's own website.

I'm really considering going ahead and buying tickets this weekend, these fares are not bad at all (especially considering we are leaving Munich during Oktoberfest)!

Jason

[Flossbolna]

Originally Posted by JWren1234

One thing about Lufthansa that I am unsure on is seat selection. Going through United's site, you cannot select a seat on a Lufthansa flight. I don't know if this is also the case going through Lufthansa's own website.

With Lufthansa you can usually pick a seat for their own flights (only transatlantic though, they don't offer pre-assigned seats for Inner-European flights) during the booking process. In case you can't get a seat assignment during the online booking, you can always call them to get a seat assigned to you. I used to do that for years.

Also, I would recommend checking Expedia as in my experience it is sometimes easier to see which seats are available there.

[Flossbolna]

For those of you thinking about going to Salzburg I have a recommendation. In my opinion it is the most breathtakingly beautiful place I have seen so far in Germany: the Königssee (king's lake). It is in one of the few national parks we have.

It isn't far from the Obersalzberg (Eagle's Nest) either, it's about a 20 miles drive from Salzburg.

I was there on a hiking trip a few years ago and these are few pictures:







The lake is very long and one starts out at one end with an old fashioned boat which first takes you to the little village with the church as seen above. From there you can either return or take the boat to the end of the lake where there is a restaurant as well as a typical alp (i.e. a place where they keep the dairy cows in the summer). There is a nice walking path for a short circuit walk on the valley floor, I think about 2-3 miles.

The mountains surrounding the lake are impressive and it is one of the easiest ways to get a feeling of the solitude of the mountains without having to hike for hours.

The official website can be found here: http://www.koenigssee.com/en/

[JWren1234]

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

With Lufthansa you can usually pick a seat for their own flights (only transatlantic though, they don't offer pre-assigned seats for Inner-European flights) during the booking process. In case you can't get a seat assignment during the online booking, you can always call them to get a seat assigned to you. I used to do that for years.

Also, I would recommend checking Expedia as in my experience it is sometimes easier to see which seats are available there.

Thank you very much!

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

For those of you thinking about going to Salzburg I have a recommendation. In my opinion it is the most breathtakingly beautiful place I have seen so far in Germany: the Königssee (king's lake). It is in one of the few national parks we have.

It isn't far from the Obersalzberg (Eagle's Nest) either, it's about a 20 miles drive from Salzburg.

The lake is very long and one starts out at one end with an old fashioned boat which first takes you to the little village with the church as seen above. From there you can either return or take the boat to the end of the lake where there is a restaurant as well as a typical alp (i.e. a place where they keep the dairy cows in the summer). There is a nice walking path for a short circuit walk on the valley floor, I think about 2-3 miles.

The mountains surrounding the lake are impressive and it is one of the easiest ways to get a feeling of the solitude of the mountains without having to hike for hours.

The official website can be found here: http://www.koenigssee.com/en/

Thank you for sharing the pictures! What a beautiful location!

Jason

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Thanks, Jason! I checked and the ones I was watching dropped a little, too. I just need to figure out exactly what we're doing post-ABD before I book. We may fly back from Vienna rather than Munich.

Originally Posted by Flossbolna

For those of you thinking about going to Salzburg I have a recommendation. In my opinion it is the most breathtakingly beautiful place I have seen so far in Germany: the Königssee (king's lake). It is in one of the few national parks we have.

I was just listening to a Rick Steves podcast this morning where a caller mentioned this lake, so it's perfect timing to see actual pictures.

The more I'm reading and learning about this region, the more excited I am and the more I want to see!

Laurie

[JWren1234]

Originally Posted by Sarabi's Cubs

Thanks, Jason! I checked and the ones I was watching dropped a little, too. I just need to figure out exactly what we're doing post-ABD before I book. We may fly back from Vienna rather than Munich


I was just listening to a Rick Steves podcast this morning where a caller mentioned this lake, so it's perfect timing to see actual pictures.

The more I'm reading and learning about this region, the more excited I am and the more I want to see!

Laurie

You're Welcome! I just booked the Lufthansa flights this morning. Very excited!

I just started listening to the Rick Steves podcasts, they are very enjoyable to listen to!

Jason

[MinnieGarden]

Awesome Jason!

Has anyone checked out trip insurance for this adventure?

[HollyMac71]

I think I saw $268 Christy.

[rkdahl]

Originally Posted by MinnieGarden

Awesome Jason!

Has anyone checked out trip insurance for this adventure?

Yep, it's $239/person through ABD. I usually don't get trip insurance and just take the risk. However for this trip due to the trip cost and since its international, I purchased it for us on this adventure.

Good luck!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

[JWren1234]

Originally Posted by MinnieGarden

Awesome Jason!

Has anyone checked out trip insurance for this adventure?

I bought the trip insurance through ABD. I recall that it was around $300, maybe a little less.

Jason

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Just saw that the introductory episode of Coffee Break German will be 1/16 with the first real episode on 1/23:

http://radiolingua.com/2013/01/coffe...german-update/

Laurie