This is going to be a long post, sorry! We went to Europe for 2 weeks in October and visited tons of fun places. So I wanted to share all the details of my trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland so I don’t forget anything.

We flew nonstop overnight from Charlotte NC to the Frankfurt airport in Germany. We arrived at about 7am local time, where we met up with Jason’s parents. They also flew overnight from SLC, Utah to meet us for our trip. We slept a little on the plane but were so, so tired, as you can imagine. The idea was that we would power through that first day and then sleep again that night to officially acclimate ourselves to the time change. It worked for the most part but that doesn’t mean we weren’t zombies a little on that first day ha.

Rothenburg, Germany (Days 1, 2)

On our way to Rothenburg, we stopped in a cute little town called Dinkelsbuhl for lunch. The owner of the shop only spoke German so Jason’s parents ordered us bratwurst, fried potatoes, and a side of sauerkraut. Our first of many German dishes! After exploring the little shops a bit, we hopped in the car and finally arrived in Rothenburg and checked into the Akzent Hotel Schranne. It’s a little medieval town with cute shops, restaurants, architecture, walking paths, and a wall around the whole city. During our time there we explored the shops, bought some art, ate gelato, did a night watchman tour (so fun!), walked the wall surrounding the city, saw the medieval crime museum (this was just ok). Some of our favorite restaurants were Ratsstube Restaurant and the Reichsküchenmeister Hotel restaurant where I had Flammkuchen! It’s basically a flatbread pizza and it was delicious. 

Nuremberg and Munich, Germany (Days 3, 4)

We left Rothenburg and on our way to Munich, we stopped in Nuremberg where we saw Zeppelin field (where Hitler once addressed 200k of his followers). I was surprised how rundown the area is now and that nothing has been done with it. The city of Nuremberg was really pretty. We walked up to the castle and did a tour. My favorite was going up in the tower and seeing a 360 degree view of the city now while referencing photos of what the city looked like after all the bombings in WW2. So much had been bombed and reconstructed these last 80 years. After the castle, we ate tummy bratwurst sandwiches from Bratwursthäusle Nürnberg and explored the marketplace before heading to Munich.

Munich (Munchen), is like the NYC equivalent in Germany. Lots of people walking and biking, tons of shopping and restaurants. Parking a car is very difficult so we tried to walk as much as possible. We ate twice at Ayinger am Platzl, saw the Glockenspiel tour, walked the Viktualienmarkt market and ate street food, walked around the Munich residence gardens, and even climbed 300+ steps up the St Peter’s church tower to catch amazing views of the city. One morning, we also toured the Dachau Concentration camp which isn’t far from Munich. We paid for an english tour guide rather than doing the english audio tour and our guide was excellent. Highly recommend doing an in-person tour guide if you can. 

Hallstatt and Salzburg, Austria (Days 5, 6)

Got an early start to Salzburg Austria and did a quick stop at Hallstatt for an afternoon. We ate street kebabs at Hallstatt Imbiss before going on a boat ride around the lake. We also walked through the Skull and Bone Chapel where you can see over 1200 decorated human skulls which was pretty cool.

Salzburg was probably one of my favorite places on the trip! It’s where the Sound of Music was filmed, and also the birthplace of Mozart, so it’s very charming and beautiful to walk around. Our first evening we explored the little shops, walked past Mozart’s childhood home, and ate dinner at Sternbrau which was so, so good! The second day we took a train up to the castle and walked around. It’s really just an empty castle so not much to look at but it was fun strolling around and seeing the views of the city. We then walked past Mozart’s residence before exploring around the palace and mirabelle gardens, which I loved. After a quick trip to a local sandwich shop, we took a power nap before driving up to Berchtesgaden and the Eagles Nest. Unfortunately we didn’t realize the Eagles nest closed so early, so we shopped around Berchtesgaden where we also admired all the fun paintings and murals on the buildings before heading to Königssee Lake. At the mouth of the lake there was parking, shops, and restaurants. We got a big pretzel to share and walked around. They do lake boat tours there which probably would have been fun if we knew about it ahead of time, but it was nice to just walk around. On the way out we stopped at Gasthaus Schusterstein to eat dinner. They didn’t really speak English, but the food was good and the portion sizes were gigantic. We were all so stuffed. The next morning before heading out, we went back to the Eagles Nest to walk around and enjoy the views. I’m so glad we did because it was so cool up there! You can only get there by shuttle so you are kind of at the mercy of the bus times, but learning the history, riding in the gold elevator, and those views were so worth it!

Fussen, Germany (Days 7, 8)

Castle Days! After the Eagles Nest, we made our way to Fussen. It was nice to just have a relaxing travel day, and it worked out great because it rained most of the day and we didn’t have anything else planned except travel! We stayed at Cafe Maria right on the water. Super cute and quaint little b&b. We had a balcony and could see the castles across the water. It was pretty rainy when we arrived so we didn’t do much walking around, although we tried and quickly turned around… We drove 10 minutes and ate at a super yummy pizza place called Pizzeria San Marco. The staff was so nice. We got huge salads and then spit a couple pizzas between the four of us.

Next day was castle day, and although it was a little rainy and cold, it was still super fun! First tour was of the Hohenschwangau Castle. It was really cool to see the furniture that the king and queen used. They each had their own floors that they lived on, and the servants stoked the fires from the walls so that they were never seen. Their boys, Otto and Ludwig, lived in a separate house just next to the castle. Otto died in his 20’s due to mental illness and Ludwig became king after his father died. He started construction on many castles during his time as king including the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle at Disney.

After a little rest at our B&B and dinner at Cafe Maria, we did a tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle. Everything from the ceilings to the floors were a work of art, all dedicated to Ludwig’s favorite composer and plays. There was even a literal man cave! Only 20 rooms were completed before he was mysteriously killed in the nearby lake… so now the castle is open to the public for tours. Our tour was later in the day so we were able to get some dusk photos of the castle from the bridge. Only downside was we missed the last of the shuttles and carriages and had to walk over a mile back to the parking lot in the dark.

Lake Lucerne, Switzerland (Day 9)

First day in Switzerland! We drove to Lucerne and although it was so cold out, it was still a beautiful and sunny day. After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we went into town and bought tickets for a 1 hour round trip boat ride around Lake Lucerne. While waiting for our departure time, we got some quick kabab’s from the train station across the way. The boat ride was really pretty, albeit a little chilly on the water. 

After the ride, we walked to the wounded lion statue and read a little of the sad history about it. The lion was carved right into the statue which was very impressive. Next we walked to the covered bridge and took tons of photos before doing some window shopping. We stopped in a chocolate store since the Swiss are known for their chocolate. It did not disappoint. For dinner, my in-laws wanted to get fondue but the place they ate at before and loved (DuPont Fondue) was reservation only. So we got dinner elsewhere, and took a few more night photos of the covered bridge before turning in for the night.

Lauterbernnun Switzerland (Days 10,11,12)

Our next last big stop of the trip was in Lauterbernnun. This is a cute little town that was close to many stops we wanted to make over the next few days. The B&B we stayed at was horrible so if I went back again, I’d probably try Hotel Oberland, or stay in one of the hotels in Interlaken. Driving in, we stopped in the town Grindelwald and ate at Bebbies which was pretty good. Then we drove to Lauterbernnun and explored Trummelbach Falls which I highly recommend! You hike up this mountain and see 10 waterfalls INSIDE the mountain! Next we rode the train up to Wengen to walk around the mountain town. 

Next day we got up early to drive to Zermatt to see the Matterhorn. On the way up,  we stopped at a bakery for breakfast croissants (sooo delicious, especially the almond croissants). When we arrived at Zermatt, we were going to try to go to the highest peak (Paradise Peak) but it was closed because of wind. It was also a cloudy day so I’m glad we didn’t go up to PP or we would have been right in the clouds and would definitely not have been able to see anything. So instead we rode the cable car to a different peak and got photos with the Matterhorn.

After seeing the Matterhorn and taking the cable car back to town, we went in search of food. I want to note that because we were there in the off season (mid-October) there was a lot of construction going on and not many restaurants were open. We ended up eating at Restaurant du Pont in Zermatt which was VERY good. We were inside but there was also outdoor seating with blankets. After lunch we walked around the old town of Zermatt and around the church cemetery. I was surprised that there are so many gravestones of people that have fallen and died from climbing the Matterhorn. Lots of friend groups that were buried together which made me sad. On our way back to our hotel, we stopped in Interlaken at an Italian restaurant called Restaurant Tenne and it was awesome. We all got salads and split a couple pizzas and they were delicious.

Last day in the area, we got tickets to travel up to the Schilthorn, which was pretty cool! We even stopped at the Birg on the way down and walked the thrill walk where the path is on a grate on the side of the mountain. It was scary!! After we made our way back down the mountain, we got corn dogs in Lauterbrunnen at Betty’s Corn Dog. I had the regular corn dog and a mars bar dog which was soooo good. The breading around the hot dog and the mars bar was a scone breading. It was delicious! After lunch, we drove to Interlaken and sat on a bench on the lake for a bit just enjoying the nice weather. We stopped by the Aldi to get snacks for the ride to the airport tomorrow before going back to Lauterberren to Hotel Oberland for our dinner reservation. I had spaghetti and it was a great meal to end our evening.

Travel day back to Frankfurt Germany (Day 13)

We stopped at a pastry shop in Interlaken before departing for our long drive day back to Frankfurt. During our trip, we did a quick drive-by of the Bern, Switzerland Temple, then drove around Mannheim Germany to see some apartment buildings that Jason’s grandparents lived in before migrating to Utah after WW2. Our last dinner was at Green Thai in Frankfurt. At this point, I was pretty sick of the Bavarian food we’d been having nearly every day. So Thai food was a welcome change.

*I took the photo of the dogue de bordeaux on the truck while we were driving back to Frankfurt. It looked so much like Boris.

Flying from Frankfurt, Germany back to Charlotte, North Carolina (Day 14)

What an amazing trip, and I’m so glad we got to go with Jason’s parents. Although most of the local people we encountered spoke English and were very nice and friendly, it was still helpful having them with us when we needed German translations. My favorite stops of the trips were Rothenburg Germany and Salzburg Austria. This was our first European trip, and it was so much fun! I hope we can go back to Europe sometime in the near future to explore other countries!