Just booked flights to Prague for Christmas and flying home from Zurich, Switzerland.

14 days - 2-3 in Prague, 6 in Munich and the rest in Switzerland.

Been to Prague before but would always like some suggestions, especially for Winter and Christmas markets. It's been awhile since I've been.

Munich will be a homebase for a lot of excursions. We're looking at doing a day trip to Nuremberg, seeing the neuschwanstein castle, ski a day at Garmisch or Kitzbuhel and then spend a few days in the city.

From there we head west to Switzerland. Have no idea what to do here. Some cities I've heard that are good are Lucerne, interlaken, and Bern. I'd also like to make it to Zermatt and maybe ski around the Matterhorn.

We like history tours, breweries, foodie stuff - you know, the normal basic ***** stuff.

All suggestions and discussions welcome!

Would goto Neuschwanstein after Garmisch as it will be along the way. The Christmas markets and general Christmas atmosphere is awesome. I'm presently in Munich but travel her annually. If you need recommendations let me know.

It's been 20 years since I've last been to Prague.

Switzerland is VERY expensive, but spectacular in its landscape. During winter the view of the snow capped Swiss Alps will be a sight to see.

It is probably too far out of your way, but if you could swing it, I would take a train from Munich to Tirano, Italy, and then take the Bernini Express train (you won't book it as this, otherwise you will pay out the wazoo) from Tirano to Zurich.

It is a very slow moving train through the Swiss Alps. It is absolutely stunning. It was easily the highlight of my entire trip.

There is an awesome website where I got tons of information (and still do) before I went on my trip - Seat61 dot com. He tells you how to travel all over Europe and how to do it efficiently and cheaply. That is how I found out how to take the Bernini Express train.

Danger Mouse said:

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Would goto Neuschwanstein after Garmisch as it will be along the way. The Christmas markets and general Christmas atmosphere is awesome. I'm presently in Munich but travel her annually. If you need recommendations let me know.

It's been 20 years since I've last been to Prague.

Switzerland is VERY expensive, but spectacular in its landscape. During winter the view of the snow capped Swiss Alps will be a sight to see.

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Yeah, I don't think the wife is quite prepared to see prices in Switzerland but AirBNB's in the towns look reasonable. We'll just have to pony up for a night or two in Zermatt.

We did a few days in Munich last summer on our honeymoon. Went to Dachau and did some general touristy stuff in the city.

Would love some more recommendations here. Buddy of mine mentioned a monastery brewery outside of town to the west.

Good suggestion on Neuschwanstein and Garmisch. I think we're going to do both as day trips though to keep from having to move around and change lodging a ton.

If you are driving to and from Garmisch or Neuenschwanstein, take a detour to the Weiss kirche and the Ettal Monastary. The Weiss Kirche is one of the most beautiful churches I have been in and it setting is beyond picturesque.

The Ettal Monastary is truly an impressive location as well, both architecturally and as far as it's natural setting. If you visit, stop at the restaurant across the street for some great food. It also serves the beer and liquor that is made at the Monastary.

Just note that the castle tour is very quick and the castle is actually pretty modern, just made to look old. Thousands of people visit it a day. Buy tickets in advance if you can. Take the horse carriage up for added fun.

All of these locations are an easy drive out of Garmisch. I rented a car for just a day and hit them all plus Linderhoff Palace as well.

Nuremberg at Christmas is magical. Don't skip that portion of your trip.

AggieFanatic09 said:

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Just booked flights to Prague for Christmas and flying home from Zurich, Switzerland.

14 days - 2-3 in Prague, 6 in Munich and the rest in Switzerland.

Been to Prague before but would always like some suggestions, especially for Winter and Christmas markets. It's been awhile since I've been.

Munich will be a homebase for a lot of excursions. We're looking at doing a day trip to Nuremberg, seeing the neuschwanstein castle, ski a day at Garmisch or Kitzbuhel and then spend a few days in the city.

From there we head west to Switzerland. Have no idea what to do here. Some cities I've heard that are good are Lucerne, interlaken, and Bern. I'd also like to make it to Zermatt and maybe ski around the Matterhorn.

We like history tours, breweries, foodie stuff - you know, the normal basic ***** stuff.

All suggestions and discussions welcome!

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You definitely want to see Luzern and Zermatt. If you are into skiing, then Zermatt is the place. The hotels will

be a bit expensive there though. The mountain just next door is Saas Fee and hotels there are not

so expensive. The skiing is good as well. Interlaken is not anything super special. It is a point

to jump off to go somewhere else. Bern is an interesting city that I still love after all these years.

It might be a bit early in the season for Kitzbhel. Soelden mit be a bit better.

Federale01 said:

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If you are driving to and from Garmisch or Neuenschwanstein, take a detour to the Weiss kirche and the Ettal Monastary. The Weiss Kirche is one of the most beautiful churches I have been in and it setting is beyond picturesque.

The Ettal Monastary is truly an impressive location as well, both architecturally and as far as it's natural setting. If you visit, stop at the restaurant across the street for some great food. It also serves the beer and liquor that is made at the Monastary.

Just note that the castle tour is very quick and the castle is actually pretty modern, just made to look old. Thousands of people visit it a day. Buy tickets in advance if you can. Take the horse carriage up for added fun.

All of these locations are an easy drive out of Garmisch. I rented a car for just a day and hit them all plus Linderhoff Palace as well.

Nuremberg at Christmas is magical. Don't skip that portion of your trip.

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how was parking and renting a car?

I think trying to hit those in one day and staying in Garmisch area would be easier than doing a few days back and forth from Munich

SwissAgg said:

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AggieFanatic09 said:

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Just booked flights to Prague for Christmas and flying home from Zurich, Switzerland.

14 days - 2-3 in Prague, 6 in Munich and the rest in Switzerland.

Been to Prague before but would always like some suggestions, especially for Winter and Christmas markets. It's been awhile since I've been.

Munich will be a homebase for a lot of excursions. We're looking at doing a day trip to Nuremberg, seeing the neuschwanstein castle, ski a day at Garmisch or Kitzbuhel and then spend a few days in the city.

From there we head west to Switzerland. Have no idea what to do here. Some cities I've heard that are good are Lucerne, interlaken, and Bern. I'd also like to make it to Zermatt and maybe ski around the Matterhorn.

We like history tours, breweries, foodie stuff - you know, the normal basic ***** stuff.

All suggestions and discussions welcome!

---

You definitely want to see Luzern and Zermatt. If you are into skiing, then Zermatt is the place. The hotels will

be a bit expensive there though. The mountain just next door is Saas Fee and hotels there are not

so expensive. The skiing is good as well. Interlaken is not anything super special. It is a point

to jump off to go somewhere else. Bern is an interesting city that I still love after all these years.

It might be a bit early in the season for Kitzbhel. Soelden mit be a bit better.

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the name fits!

How would we go back and forth from Saas Fee to Zermatt? While in Switzerland, I plan to only use public transit.

It looks like we'll have 4-5 nights there and will need at least one of those to be in Zurich since our flight is at 7am the following morning.

Would you suggest an itinerary?

I think going straight from Munich to Zermatt to get the skiing piece knocked out (day or 2 in Zermatt) and then head to Lucerne for 2 days and then onto Zurich?

Would that be a good idea?

Easy. The hardest thing to do was find a rental with an automatic transmission (I was worried about driving through the mountains with a standard). But I found one in Garmisch. Parking was never an issue for me, driving the roads was easy, and there was surprisingly little traffic through much of area. And most roads are in the valleys so the mountains weren't an issue.

Train to Garmisch and then rent a car from there?

That's how I did it. If you are going to Garmisch from Munich and then back to Munich, it may be cheaper to rent the car from Munich. Plus you will get to drive on the Autobahn. We left Garmisch and went on to Salzburg, so it was easier to train there and then rent once there.

Hmm.

Maybe we'll do garmisch and that stuff last and then just drive to Zurich to get on a train.

Any experience on driving cars and dropping in a different city? That would save us from going back to Munich and busing to Switzerland.

Edit - $250 transfer fee from Sixt if we take from Munich and drop in SUI. Wow that's steep.

yeah - anytime you are dropping the car off in a different country you're going to pay an arm and a leg.

I would devote a whole day to the Nuremberg Christkindlmarkt if you have the time and like christmas markets. I've probably been to 20 markets, and it's the best hands down. At night it's even better.

That's also a lot of time in Munich, for me personally. What about going to Rothenberg ob der Tauber? That is the second best (some people's favorite) christmas market.

AggieFanatic09 said:

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SwissAgg said:

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AggieFanatic09 said:

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Just booked flights to Prague for Christmas and flying home from Zurich, Switzerland.

14 days - 2-3 in Prague, 6 in Munich and the rest in Switzerland.

Been to Prague before but would always like some suggestions, especially for Winter and Christmas markets. It's been awhile since I've been.

Munich will be a homebase for a lot of excursions. We're looking at doing a day trip to Nuremberg, seeing the neuschwanstein castle, ski a day at Garmisch or Kitzbuhel and then spend a few days in the city.

From there we head west to Switzerland. Have no idea what to do here. Some cities I've heard that are good are Lucerne, interlaken, and Bern. I'd also like to make it to Zermatt and maybe ski around the Matterhorn.

We like history tours, breweries, foodie stuff - you know, the normal basic ***** stuff.

All suggestions and discussions welcome!

---

You definitely want to see Luzern and Zermatt. If you are into skiing, then Zermatt is the place. The hotels will

be a bit expensive there though. The mountain just next door is Saas Fee and hotels there are not

so expensive. The skiing is good as well. Interlaken is not anything super special. It is a point

to jump off to go somewhere else. Bern is an interesting city that I still love after all these years.

It might be a bit early in the season for Kitzbhel. Soelden mit be a bit better.

---

the name fits!

How would we go back and forth from Saas Fee to Zermatt? While in Switzerland, I plan to only use public transit.

It looks like we'll have 4-5 nights there and will need at least one of those to be in Zurich since our flight is at 7am the following morning.

Would you suggest an itinerary?

I think going straight from Munich to Zermatt to get the skiing piece knocked out (day or 2 in Zermatt) and then head to Lucerne for 2 days and then onto Zurich?

Would that be a good idea?

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www.booking.com usually has some good offers for Zermatt. You have to book early though, like right now.

There is a town called Grchen that is in the valley that is about equi-distant to Zermatt and Saas Fee.

It is a typical Swiss ski town.

Are you taking a car from Munich to Zermatt? By car or train it is about 7 hours.

You can rent a car anywhere in Germany and return anywhere in Germany for free.

As soon as you try to return it in Switzerland, it will cost you a lot.

Konstanz, Germany is about one hour from Zurich.

Still, I would take the train from Munich to Zermatt.

I'm not seeing any trains to Zurich from Munich, only buses from munchen OHB.

Am I missing something there?

wildmen09 said:

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yeah - anytime you are dropping the car off in a different country you're going to pay an arm and a leg.

I would devote a whole day to the Nuremberg Christkindlmarkt if you have the time and like christmas markets. I've probably been to 20 markets, and it's the best hands down. At night it's even better.

That's also a lot of time in Munich, for me personally. What about going to Rothenberg ob der Tauber? That is the second best (some people's favorite) christmas market.

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Seems like a lot but we're dedicating an entire day in Nuremberg and 2 days to Neuschwanstein/Garmisch. Maybe we'll shave a day off Munich and add a day to Prague or Switzerland.

AggieFanatic09 said:

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I'm not seeing any trains to Zurich from Munich, only buses from munchen OHB.

Am I missing something there?

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There are trains everyday from Munich to Zrich, about every 4 hours as well as a bus.

You probably entered a date after the travel schedule changes in December.

Try another date like December 1st, and you'll see the connections.

Neuschwanstein - One day is probably enough. Garmisch is not that great of a place

to ski really.

we were in Switzerland once over New Year's. we went to grindelwald and did sledding. that was a lot of fun.

I was looking at today and it only showed buses.

Know the train line? DB or ICE?

AggieFanatic09 said:

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I was looking at today and it only showed buses.

Know the train line? DB or ICE?

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Eurocity run by SBB. Right now is the summer time so there is reduced traffic.. The buses are actually

pretty good as well, much nicer than Greyhound or something like this.

Monastery/brewery is in Andechs

dcAg said:

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Monastery/brewery is in Andechs

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Work buddy who went to grad school in Munich suggested this.

It's on the list!

Andechs monastery is cool to visit. It is about 1 hour 20 mins out of town. They are famous for bock beer and Schweinshaxe.(Pork knuckle)

Looking at these same three cities for a trip later this summer. Would only have a week however. If you had two days in each, any recommendations on what to prioritize? Places to stay?

Aggie1205 said:

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Looking at these same three cities for a trip later this summer. Would only have a week however. If you had two days in each, any recommendations on what to prioritize? Places to stay?

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I would just visit Prague and Munich, if you only have a week. Zurich is nice, but it is

not as special as Prague or Munich.

If we expanded the potential list to include Vienna, Budapest, and Kracow, how would you rank them? Is hitting three in say 8 days too much?

I have heard that Krakow is really cool and not too far from Prag.

Budapest and then Vienna would be my rankings of the cities that I have visited.

Stay a bit longer and not have the stress associated with quick travel.