Material objects certainly have their virtues, but as I’ve grown older I’ve come to value the significance of worldly experiences. Travelling has indeed become a great passion of mine as I’ve comfortably settled into my mid-twenties, and although I often do enjoy travelling solo, I also value sharing these experiences with loved ones. Just a few weeks ago from the publishing of this post, I spent 10 days in Germany, Austria, and Italy with my bf, Pat, and my mom. It was an epic trip, needless to say.
Departing at night from Boston aboard Lufthansa, we landed in Munich around 9:30 local time, made our way through customs and baggage claim and picked up our rental car from Sixt. We proceeded making our way through mid-day Munich traffic to the Hotel München Palace, a charming little boutique hotel in the upscale and less touristy Bogenhausen district on the eastern bank of the Isar River.
Although the hotel did have a parking garage, the bellhop considerately suggested I take advantage of the ample perpendicular street parking for 6 euros daily versus 10 for the garage. Located within 10-15 minutes walking distance of Marienplatz, the central square of old town, I’d highly recommend it to anyone visiting Munich.
Beneficial to me, it was also only several blocks from Maximiliansanlagen, an expansive park with trails offering scenic views of the Isar and city that I would run through on my daily morning run, one of my favorite ways to explore a new city.
Our first two days were spent exploring Munich by foot, taking in the sights and soaking up the culture. Marienplatz was crowded, but otherwise Munich in November is not a very busy time as far as tourists are concerned.
Pat and I did some shopping, taking advantage of the abundance of smaller European sizing, while my mom searched far and wide of a Weihnachtspyramide (traditional German Christmas pyramid), unfortunately to little success.
It’s an understatement to say that every third car in Munich is a BMW, as Munich is to BMW what Dearborn is to Ford. Yet I was happy to find a host of other interesting cars, both Curbside Classics, and newer cars that are either not available at all here or brand new models that haven’t made their way to U.S. shores yet, including the VW Arteon, redesigned Mercedes-Benz CLS, and BMW X7.
Contrary to what I saw in France last year, Germans, especially in Munich like their larger cars with larger engines, despite the high cost of fuel. Now that I sell Land Rovers, they are much higher on my radar and I was amazed to see so many of them in Munich, especially the full size Range Rover and the almightily LR4.
Our next day was devoted to BMW Welt, where I was allowed to geek out over my favorite automobile brand like a little kid visiting Disney World. Unfortunately a substantial part of the museum was closed off, as they were changing some of the exhibits in the off-season, but it was nonetheless another exciting visit to the Welt.
We capped off our last evening in Munich with a fantastic dinner at Brenner, a high-end restaurant offering magnificent old world decor, a central open kitchen with wood grill on display, excellent food and drinks.
Early the next morning, we departed Munich for Berchtesgaden, a small town in the Bavarian Alps just a few kilometers from the Austrian border. History buffs will know Berchtesgaden as the location of the Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus to Germans), a strategic Nazi era compound used by Hitler and the Nazis that lies intact today. Located several kilometers from where Hitler’s fames Berghof personal residence once stood, the Eagle’s Nest is located just a stones throw away from the spectacular 5-star Kempinski hotel where we stayed.
In fact, the Kempinski Berchtesgaden hotel itself was the primary reason why I chose to spend three nights in the otherwise relatively small and unheard of Berchtesgaden area. Offering breathtaking views of the German and Austrian Alps, the hotel itself is easily one of the most beautiful and impressive hotels I’ve ever stayed in, blending modern architecture with traditional Alpine elements.
The rooms were outstanding, featuring fireplaces and bathrooms larger than my bedroom at home. The hotel restaurant, fitness center, and spa were wonderful, and above all, the service was top-notch. Every staff member was über friendly and accommodating, but the thing that impressed me the most was that the restaurant maître d’ remembered our names the second morning and addressed us so the moment we walked in. It’s little things like this that leave an impact.
I should also mention that the Kempinski Berchtesgaden has a partnership with a certain German automaker’s performance division, and that I got to drive a courtesy hotel supercar from said performance division for an afternoon, but stay tuned for Part 3, my full review of it.
Our stay in Berchtesgaden was relaxing, with day trips to the town of Berchtesgaden (above), as well as nearby Salzburg, Austria, which is only about a 25-minute drive away. Salzburg (below) is a beautiful city, combining medieval architecture with many splendid nineteenth-century villas evoking a Parisian vibe.
In a now rather comical moment, reminiscent of something that would be in Top Gear or Grand Tour, I drove us down a narrow, winding cobblestone road, only to reach the end and a blockade. After a brief moment of panic and embarrassment, I proceeded with the only plausible option and began slowly backing up down the quarter mile or so of road filled with pedestrian onlookers.
In typical fashion, my mother stepped into action and saved the day, seeking out an Irish shopkeeper no less who informed us that if we pulled up close enough to the blockade, it would in fact lower automatically for us. Blonde moment, I know.
Following three nights in Berchtesgaden, we then proceeded on what would be the longest single portion of driving to Padua, Italy (Padova in Italian). Our original plans had been to spend two nights in Venice, but the recent floodings and subsequent warnings that tourists cancel non-essential travel into Venice led us to change our plans the week before we left.
Quite honestly, the less said about Italy, the better. I’m sure there are some very lovely parts of Italy to visit, but unfortunately we just visited the wrong place, leaving a bad taste in our mouths. Padua was dirty, industrial, and sketchy. None of us felt the same level of comfort, welcoming nature, and above all, safety, that we did in Germany and Austria. Thankfully we were able to cancel the second night in the hotel and decided to head back to Austria (above: Mondsee, Austria) and do a night in Innsbruck, a city always under consideration for our trip.
Knowing our own Paul Niedermeyer is originally from there, I asked him if he had any recommendations of sights to see and his list sure did no disappoint. The following morning we made the 3.5 hour drive up to Innsbruck, a city which is absolutely stunning.
Between its picturesque buildings encompassing centuries of architecture, the Inn River that flows through the city center, and the awe inspiring Alps that surround it, Innsbruck is without a doubt one of the most beautiful cities I’ve had the fortune of visiting. In hindsight, I can’t believe I almost did not get to see it.
Upon checking into the high-end yet very inexpensive Alelrs hotel, we set out on foot in the very pedestrian-friendly Innsbruck a towards Altstadt (old town), checked out some of the shops and historical buildings, and upon Paul’s suggestion climbed the clock tower to get some stunning 360 views of the city and the mountains.
I really wish we could have stayed longer in Innsbruck, but we had already planned to spend our last full day visiting the new 007 Elements experience/museum about an hour away in Sölden, before turning around back north to Germany.
I only became aware of 007 Elements several months ago following some brief media coverage of its grand opening. Indeed, it’s a hidden gem. Accessible only by 25-minute gondola ride, and in remote Austria no less, 007 Elements hardly feels like Disney World or the Smithsonian, making for a very intimate, specialized experience.
For those who haven’t heard of it, it’s a complex situated 9,000 feet above sea level at the summit of Gaislachkogl Mountain in Sölden, the very location where one of the key action scenes of Spectre, the most recent Bond film to date, was filmed.
The main building, which looks and feels very much like a Bond villain’s lair, houses the walk-through and interactive exhibits. The glass building next to it houses the posh “ice Q” restaurant and was actually featured in the film, albeit superimposed to be four times larger, serving as the fictional Hoffler Klinik where Bond stays.
Just beyond that down a rather steep little slope lies one of the film’s Land Rover Defenders. True to the brand’s “Above and Beyond” motto, it was fittingly perched atop a boulder. As both the Defender and the Range Rover Sport were prominently featured in the Austrian portion of Spectre, Jaguar-Land Rover actually is one of the key sponsors of 007 Elements, something I found cool given my position.
The air was quite thin up at 3,043 meters, causing my usually dormant asthma to act up a bit, but it was nothing a little alcohol couldn’t aid. Looking out over the Alps from the ice Q restaurant, sipping my dry vodka martini was the perfect end to an exciting day. After travelling back down the mountain, we returned to our car and made the hour and a half or so scenic drive to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, where we would be staying our final night before driving another hour our so to the Munich airport in the morning.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen itself is a cute little town nestled at the foot of the Alps, and history buffs will remember it as the location of the 1936 Winter Olympics. I don’t know exactly where in Bavaria a branch of my German ancestors came from five generations back, but I could easily see my great-great grandmother, Afra Glück on a farm on the outskirts of a town like Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but I digress. Tired after a long day of travel, we checked into the Obermühle Boutique Resort, a cute little hotel combining traditional Alpine elements with thoughtful contemporary conveniences, and a very artsy Volvo XC90 parked out front.
The next morning, after a chilly sunrise run, we packed the car and headed back up to Munich for our flight home. On a side note, throughout Germany and Austria, but especially evident at the airport going through security and boarding, the Germans do everything so organized and efficiently, but I digress.
All in all it was an incredible trip, literally the trip of a lifetime, as I’ve personally never seen so much of the world and been in another part of the world for so long a period. It was wonderful getting to discover so much of an area near and dear to my heart with the people I love most. We couldn’t have asked for better weather either, with temperatures averaging in the 50s each day, and the only rain being the morning we left for home.
I’m sure most of you are also wondering what fortuitous vehicle I had to drive across three countries and some 1,400 plus kilometers. Well, drumroll please…
It was in fact a 2018 Volvo V90 T8 Inscription. Stay tuned for my full review of it in Part 2 of this series. Part 3 will be a review of the car I was provided with by the Kempinski Berchtesgaden, and because I’m bad at keeping secrets, it was a Mercedes-AMG GT.
Related Reading:
CC Road Trip (Part 1): Ten Days Through The German, Austrian, and Italian Alps
CC Road Trip/Driving Impressions (Part 3): 2018 Mercedes-Benz AMG GT roadster
I’ve been looking forward to this bro!
I had no idea 007 Elements was a thing. And gosh, Innsbruck is gorgeous. Next time I’m in Austria, I need to go. My brother and I considered it but we had to make cuts to our itinerary.
If you think all of Germany is efficient though, go to Tegel airport. Blech. Worst airport I’ve ever been to, inclusive of Heathrow and LaGuardia. Massive lines, poor communication, unhelpful staff, public toilet ambience.
Looking forward to parts two and three! Especially three.
I agree with you about Tegel, having flown there a several times. The sole advantage of Tegel is each gate in the main terminal has its own luggage claim area. The luggage arrives as soon as you disembark the plane and walk through the jetway.
Berlin is supposed to close Tegel six years ago once the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport in the south opens. Nothing gets done in time and on budget: typical Berliner mentality…
Innsbruck and 007 Elements were both wonderful. Probably my favorite part of the trip! I’d really like to go back to Innsbruck at some point and spend a couple of days there. They were just starting to set up the Christmas markets too!
Sacrilege!!! Tegel is an architectural gem and a true masterpiece (albeit in need of renovation, yes).
Before dissing Tegel, make yourself aware that it was intended to carry a mere fraction of the amount of passagers passing through it today: starting out, it was to carry 7 million passengers per years. In 2017, it was 21,5 million – that it is still working and serving its purpose is a true testament to the quality of the concept and its architecture.
Besides, I love Tegel because it’s not one of those malls with an airfield attached. It’s supremely compact an purposeful! Get out of the plane, fall into a cab. 2 minutes. Try that in Munich, where you‘ll be walking for 30 mins before even getting close to the exit.
Try that in Munich, where you‘ll be walking for 30 mins before even getting close to the exit.
Are you sure? 30-minute walking is definitely exaggerating! In my experience, it’s never more than ten minutes from the gate to the luggage claim area and another five minutes to the S-Bahn station inside the aeroport or to the taxicab or bus platforms.
I know because I live in Munich and use the aeroport many times.
Takes nearly an hour to get to the city from the airport though, since the airport was planned to be served by a space age high-speed connection never built due to ballooning cost (10 Minuten!).
I am sure 🙂
I regularly fly Munich for work and always seem to be lucky to have the most remote gate in existence. And that means walking, walking, air train, walking and more walking to get out. 30 mins is not exaggerated. Add to that the 50 mins on the train into the city (or a freakishly expensive cab, which is not much quicker). I loathe Munich airport for that reason alone.
Granted, not all gates are that remote. But somehow, Lufthansa always decides I don‘t get to use them!
Ah, what a surprise to see you staying at a hotel in my neighbourhood where I live! I instantly recognise the Munich streets in the photos, including first one where I visit two of my favourite haunts, Café Wiener Platz for afternoon coffee and Hofbräukeller (less touristy and more mellow than Hofbräuhaus) for Bavarian dinner. I could have given you shopping tips and where else to see in Munich.
About the Christmas items, I know a couple of places in Munich that sell them year-round since my friends from the US often asked for them. There are several stores in Berchtesgaden and Salzburg that sell them, too.
Looking forward to the second and third instalments!
Haha small world! I truly enjoyed Munich and especially that neighborhood. The second photo was actually taken at Cafe Wiener Platz. My mom and stopped for a glass of wine following a walk through Maximiliansanlagen and along the Isar. Munich is also somewhere I’d definitely like to visit again in the future!
Do let me know next time you are travelling to Germany…
Will do!!
Right part of Austria to visit at this time of the year. You have been very wise to avoid the joys of being stuck in a Vienna traffic jam and the general winter dreariness which descends upon the city before the first real snow.
We considered doing Vienna for a day but the distance was just a little too far to justify a day trip. I’ve heard it’s beautiful though and is still on my list to see on a future trip.
Vienna is beautiful and of course being a major city there’s lots more to see and do. Do yourself a favor and do this in the spring when temperatures are mild (believe it or not, we can get heatwaves here and not everywhere is air-conditioned):)
As for the traffic jams and no place to park in town, the best thing to do is to park the car (if you decide to rent one) at one of the subsidized park & rides (€ 3.40 per 24 hours!) and use public transport which is the best in the EU.
Wow; spectacular trip, and thanks for the write up. Glad you had such a great time; definitely looking forward to the next installments.
Nicely done! Looking forward to parts two and three.
Meaning no disrespect to Venice, but you may not have to feel too disappointed it wasn’t on your itinerary. Friends who visited there recently found it crowded and shockingly expensive; beautiful and popular, to be sure, but with all the downsides that come with that. Sounds like your time was well spent.
Venice is astonishingly expensive, and very tourist centred. And, November is not the right time to sell your car for a cup of espresso in St Mark’s Square, so the Alp and sunshine seem a better bet.
I went there for three days this year.
It’s worth a two-day visit, tops. It’s so tourist-oriented that at 6pm or so, it feels like Disneyland. I.e., everyone pours out.
Agreed. It’s still fantastically beautiful but it’s more of a giant overrun open-air museum than a city. All Venetians now live in grungy Mestre, the industrial town on the mainland.
The trick is to visit Venice but stay or shop in Mestre on the mainland where “normal” local people live…
Seems a great trip. Salzburg is one of my favourite cities, and Mondsee is great too. I’ve never truly explored Innsbruck but the shots show some something special.
You were unlucky in having picked Padua – Italy is very different from Germany but can be even better! You won’t see many old style Pandas in Munich!
If you are in Bolzano/Bozen, you will definitely wonder whether you are actually in Italy or not. It used to be part of Austria’s Tyrol until it was partitioned to Austria and Italy in 1919. The architecture is still very Austrian, and German is still spoken there on equal par to Italian. The residents there are ‘better mannered’ than the rest of Italy.
Wonderful work, thank you! Visiting southern Germany and Austria can’t go wrong, that applies to both the cities and the more rural areas, you won’t be disappointed. The whole scenery, the folks, the hotels, the food, the prices and -of course- the products of the many local breweries….Everything is in order, so to speak.
Sunofab*, this lands on a Monday where I spent the morning cracking the whip over the two delightful kids who prevent me from taking such a trip, and now I’ve got the work week to look forward to. Thanks Brendan!
Sorry 🙂
Wow, such stunning scenery! But something just seems so wrong – Brendan & Co. touring Austria in a . . . Volvo? 🙂
Haha seriously, I felt the same way. Like renting a Bimmer in Detroit. They originally were going to give us an A6 but then said for some reason the length of our rental was too long to have that car out. They also offered us an X5 diesel, but I didn’t want an SUV. I’m happy to say the V90 impressed me though!
Great weather and gorgeous pictures, we’ve always enjoyed Bavaria. But don’t be too quick to write off Italy, if we had only one country on earth to spend more time in it would be Italia. The people, scenery and vibes are endearing and unique and the food and wine is matched only by France, imo. Venice, while touristy, is fantastic; the nearby Murano area is one of the lesser known parts and a particular favorite. And of course Umbria is a great alternative to the wonderful but rather over-exposed Tuscany.
Excellent write up and I have to say it’s great to see younger people travel (repeatedly) and be open to seeing other parts of the world and experience other peoples. Obviously not everyone has the budget or time, but when there’s a will, there’s a way, it doesn’t have to be all Kempinski all the time 🙂
And yes, don’t write Italy off, there are plenty of places that are amazing. Even (or especially?) Rome obviously, which has its issues like any big city but fantastic history, culture, and sights. Florence, the southern coast, plenty of other opportunities there.
Indeed! The Kempinski was a bit of an indulgence, but even as one it was quite reasonably priced as far as hotels go. The hotels in Innsbruck and Garmisch-Partenkirchen was absolute steals, only about $100/night! We went at the right time!
Brendan, I always enjoy living vicariously through your travels as in a couple of previous posts, and this one was outstanding. Great pictures. Thanks for taking us along.
Thanks Joe! I still laugh every time I think of your Paris cab story when you went with your family as a kid!
You’remaking me homesick!
Italy is a dual-edged sword. It has incredible highs and plenty of lows. One has to pick and chose more carefully than say in Tyrol, where it’s simply hard to go wrong.
I’m not going back to Venice (I spent an incredible couple of days there in 1969) and a few other places because they’ve become too over-run. Back then, locals still lived in Venice; one could poke around the city and experience it as it was, before it got turned into a Disney theme park.
The same goes for Florence.
I have become increasingly allergic to crowds, and had some a bad experience at the Louvre the last time we were in Paris. Hordes of Chinese tourists would get off the bus, literally run down the halls to the room where the Mona Lisa was, cram in with the horde there just close enough to quickly grab a selfie, and then literally run out again. So much for actually looking at her enigmatic smile. Actually, her smile is rather perfect for what she’s having to see every day.
This has become much of the current reality at top tourist attractions: it seems to be more about letting others know you were there than actually experiencing it even semi-properly.
I can’t deal with this. Hence I find myself in the remotes of Eastern Oregon increasingly.
That’s not to say I can’t enjoy myself in the cities of Europe, but I have to be more selective just where I go, when I go, and what I chose to see. I wish I could unsee the scene in the Louvre and a few other places.
Thanks Paul and thank you so much again for the Innsbruck tips! I enjoyed your home city very much!
I couldn’t agree more with you regarding the overrun tourist cities, reasons why I generally like visiting smaller, less touristy cities and towns as I generally did on this trip and my to Strasbourg last year. It’s nice to do a few touristy things once in a while but I prefer taking in a local area’s authentic culture.
BTW, your pictures of Innsbruck are superb. You apparently have a better camera than my 5 year old iPhone 5. 🙂
The 007 Experience looks very intriguing. Glad you enjoyed it. Have you been to DC’s International Spy Museum, and is the 007 attraction comparable? Except for scenery, of course; those mountain views and gondola ride are spectacular.
I have been to the International Spy Museum two or three times over the years. It’s a lot more expansive with many more exhibits. You could spend half a day going through it.
By comparison, the actual museum component of 007 Elements probably took us only an hour to go through at leisurely pace. But there is plenty of space to walk around up on the mountain top, and the views are absolutely to die for, so we probably spent another 2 hours just walking around up there, and then we had lunch at the ice Q restaurant. So indeed we did spend half a day up there.
Looks like a fantastic road trip you’ve had Brendan! The plates on the Volvo give away its engine, did you plug it in?
Munich is a beautiful city and your pictures bring back fond memories of the time I lived there. It’s also the wealthiest city of Germany, hence the large number of high-end cars there – the car landscape elsewhere in the country can be quite different. Unfortunately Munich is very expensive to live in, too, a major factor in my decision to leave again. My Corsa C doesn’t look out of place in front of my substantially larger flat in western Germany now. Too bad about the Alps missing from the horizon.