Common Questions answered:
If you can think of anything else, please email me, that we can include the answers we find right here!!!
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Packing especially underwear for 2 weeks should be no problem. For those of you extending their trip there is laundry available (for a fee) in Salzburg and Munich. We also found disposable cotton underwear at Amazon, we have no idea about the quality. Here is the link for Ladies and Men’s. |
| 2. Hair dyers | All hotels claim to have in room hair dryers. |
| 3.Telephone | FYI Karin and I have the T-Mobile Senior plan (55 & up, 2 lines for $70.00 a month tax included GSM Phone). Their plan includes unlimited texting and data (they advertise 2G) in all the countries we visit and a 20 cent per minute charge on voice calls. {they offer a referral plan (link here) a $ 50 MasterCard for the referrer, if you should sign up and use my information, we can use this card to have fun on our trip). According to my Brother-in-Law (with Verizon) he bought a Sim card in Germany and loads it up when he gets there. Please note you will have a different number and you need an unlocked phone (a phone which is not locked to your carrier, if it is, check with them if they can unlock it for you while you are on the road). |
| 4. Credit cards and money exchange | Use credit cards wherever you can, they usually give a better exchange rate. If you want to exchange some money, we checked the rate with 53rd and they were about 10 cents above the Forex rate, while the exchange airport kiosks usually charge 20 to 30 cents above. We noticed in Germany that the restaurants which take credit cards have usually somewhat higher prices and 4 out of the 5 restaurants we included in the itinerary take cash only, amazing to me as a couple of them are in high tourist areas. According to our bank (53rd) you have to go there and fill out a form if you want to use their Debit Card on ATM’s (Bankomat) in Europe. Include Germany, Czech Republic and Austria and for those of you going to any other country (Italy and The Netherlands) also include them. There are daily limits of how much you can withdraw and there might be extra fees and charges, but you should get a better exchange rate. |
| 5.Neuschwanstein | We will go there and see it, but there might be a problem. Before I start explaining, let me tell you about the “most spectacular” castle. Neuschwanstein was build in the late 19th century by King Ludwig II as a show place, it was never finished and he never lived there. The historic significance of this castle is, that is one of the 3 places (we scheduled all 3 of them in the itinerary) which almost bankrupted the Bavarian Kingdom and on the flip side are one of the biggest money makers of the State of Bavaria today. The entrance fee to the castle is included in the Bavarian Castle Card, but there is the necessity to get a reservation, in person, to get in, which has to be made 90 minutes (1½ hour) before you can enter the castle. You can get to the entrance in 3 ways. A) a 40 minute walk up steep inclines (Karin and I did it on our honeymoon in 1973 and our marriage almost ended right then and there, after she found out, when we got up there, that there was a horse and buggy going up). B) Bus up to the bridge (round trip 2.80€) , with a 15 Minute walk downhill, also considered steep, remember this is uphill on the way back to the bus and C) a horse drawn carriage (round trip 9.00€), which used to bring you right to the gate but now is also at the bridge, with the 15 Minute walk. This will leave us with only about 2 hours in Garmisch Partenkirchen. I am working on alternatives how to still include the castle.The Three Castles of historical importance that you can visit while we are there is the Castle in Prague (Largest ancient castle in the world with history going back to 870 AD), the Imperial Castle in Nuremberg (started before the first millennium was over, severly damaged in WWII and rebuild to it’s original plans) and the Castle in Salzburg (this one goes back to 1077 AD). |
| 6. Weather and clothing | The reason they rescheduled the “Oktober”fest to end on the first weekend in October is the possibility of colder weather. During our stay in a regular year we can expect weather like in northern Michigan (Gaylord area). Warm days and somewhat chilly evenings. We suggest layered clothing. We are pretty certain that you will not need your winter jackets, unless you are easily chilled.
We highly suggest to wear comfortable walking sneakers or shoes. Remember Germany is quite hilly and many walkways in the old towns, though well maintained, are cobblestone. |
