Germany

I have been waiting and waiting to visit the beautiful country of Germany and finally this year we were able to go! We flew into Frankfurt, and then spent the remainder of our time down in the region of Bavaria. My hope is that the next time we visit Germany, we can head up north to Berlin! Keep scrolling to read about our Frankfurt, Munich and Berchtesgaden National Park adventures!

Frankfurt:

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If you’re traveling to Europe from the USA, chances are that you might find yourself flying into Frankfurt. If you end up having a layover or using this as your starting point for a trip, make sure to head to beautiful Romerberg and enjoy dinner at one of the neighboring restaurants. I had the best pretzel of my life at Alten Limpurg. Seriously, it was AMAZING…and we throughly enjoyed listening to a street musician perform right near Old St. Nicholas Church while sitting at Alten Limpurg’s cafe tables.

There’s just something so enjoyable about hearing some beautiful music right next to centuries old cobblestone streets and buildings. To me it’s quintessential Europe.

After dinner, we headed to Goethe’s House. For many years, Frankfurt was the home to Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe; a famous poet and playwright. It costs 7 Euros to tour the house and you can find more information on the hours of operation here.

Money saving tip: If you’re looking for a quick/cheap breakfast check out the grocery store Aldi. They have bagels, muffins and other pastries for cheap! Makes a good and easy breakfast if you need to be on the go early.

Munich:

To start our day in Munich, we signed up for a free walking tour with Sandeman’s Tours.

We started at Marienplatz and the site of Munich’s New Town Hall and the wound our way through the old part of town. At 11am we headed back to Marienplatz to watch the glockenspiel on the New Town Hall chime. This historic glockenspiel was once responsible for signaling the beginning and ending of the lunch hour (11am and 12pm) and the end of a traditional working day (5pm).

Right next to Marienplatz is the Old Town Hall, where Joseph Goebbels and other Nazi leaders planned Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass: Nov. 9th-10th, 1938 ). As a former history teacher, I stood under this building solemnly because I know how tragic that night was for many of the Jewish families in Munich and around Germany.

For a happier stop, head to the gorgeous English Garden and watch the surfers on the Eisbach River or visit the Chinese Pagoda and eat some yummy spatzle at a neighboring beer garden. This park is a great detour for relaxing and lounging.

For more WWII/Nazi history, head over to the Munich Documentation Center for the History of National-Socialism. Warning: this museum is heavy. There is some fabulous content, but it takes about 3 hours to read and digest all the information. If you have young kids, you might need to save this stop for when they are older.

If you have an extra half day, I would also recommend visiting the neighboring town of Dachau to view the first Concentration Camp ever created. It is touching and powerful. It will leave you in tears and cause a mark of compassion to remain on your heart forever.

To get to Dachau, we booked a tour with Radius Tours and took a train ride with our tour group and guide from Munich’s Central Train Station (Hauptbahnhof). I would highly recommend visiting Dachau with a professional guide who can give you the background, history and primary accounts of people who survived the horrors of this camp. It forever changed my life.

Berchtesgaden National Park:

If you can see only one thing in Germany, make it Berchtesgaden National Park! This is a stunning national park located in southern Germany, just outside of the Austrian city of Salzburg. We took a Panorama tour up to the top of Hitler’s Eagle Nest and then enjoyed lunch in Obersalzburg.

In the afternoon, we jumped on a Sound of Music tour (with Panorama tours again) that took us to the filming locations used in this 1965 classic movie. Lots of people view this as a cliche touristy thing to do, but my husband and I really enjoyed it! Again, this tour left from Salzburg, Austria and covers a lot of sites in Austria but you can find tours that cover the Berchtesgaden filming sites instead.

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There you have it! Some of my favorite spots in Germany! I hope this posting was helpful in planning your own trip to Germany! It’s a beautiful place to explore.

Feel free to leave me a comment below with questions or suggestions!

Where we stayed:

Frankfurt Hostel–right near the central train station but it did tend to have a rowdy crowd on the street outside especially at night.

Holiday Inn in Frankfurt–This was in a little quieter neighborhood that we enjoyed more.

Jaeger’s Hostel in Munich–Nice hostel option!

Where we ate:

Frankfurt: Alten Limpurg a lovely Germany restaurant in Romerberg

Munich: Chinesischer Turm, the beer garden inside the English Garden