Our Amazing Trip to Central Europe!
Day 1 - Our Flight and Vienna, Austria
Shelly and I had booked a 15-day Viking cruise in the Baltic Sea with friends Pat and Lani Morrissey for 2022. With the war in Ukraine, we were concerned about stopping in St. Petersburg, Russia, Helsinki, Finland, Gdansk, Poland, and other Baltic Sea ports. Putin’s saber-rattling scared us off this cruise so we canceled it. Instead, we scheduled a two-week, land tour of Vienna and Salzburg, Austria, Prague, Czech Republic, and Munich, Germany. We figured if the fighting in Ukraine escalated within NATO, we could easily cancel this trip for full refunds.
We were so excited for this trip! We met Pat and Lani at Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia and boarded our flight. We booked Premium Economy seats which offered wider seats, lots of legroom, and bigger video screens. We also got a food menu for meals that was better than economy seats but not quite what you get in business class. The flight departed at 5:30pm and was about 8 ½ hours, and I knew I probably would sleep at all, so I watched three movies. The latest James Bond flick, “No Time to Die”, was decent, lots of action as you would expect, but the story line was a bit confusing for me. I then watched what might have been the worst movie I have ever seen, “Moonfall”. It was disjointed, had bad acting and terrible dialog, and was just utterly ridiculous. Lastly, I watched my favorite of all time, “Pulp Fiction”. The flight was comfortable and uneventful. Premium Economy was quite comfortable, not like business, but a lot better than economy. We arrived in Vienna around 8:30 am, collected our checked bag, and grabbed a taxi.
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We made it safely to our hotel, the Hotel Am Stephansplatz, a boutique hotel in the center of Vienna. It's the number one, traveler-ranked hotel and best-value hotel in Vienna according to TripAdvisor.
As the taxi driver unloaded our luggage, I realized we were missing one carry-on bag, and that I had left it on the plane! It had, among other things, Shelly’s medication and walking shoes, and my CPAP machine. We couldn’t believe it. We checked into the hotel and the front desk was very helpful to us as they filed a lost baggage claim on the Austrian Air website. I had hoped we would be notified that they found the bag and could send it to us at the hotel. We talked about going back to the airport but decided to walk around the streets of Vienna and get acclimated. I kept checking my phone for alerts about the luggage.
We walked to the Hofburg Palace, about ½ mile from the hotel, and marveled at the buildings and architecture. We thought about doing a tour but decided to do it later in the week.
We also found the building where the Lipizzaner Stallions train and perform. We wanted to return later to watch them train.
We had lunch at Lugeck, a block or so from the hotel. It was recommended by the hotel front desk and offers authentic Viennese cuisine. I had wiener schnitzel, which was good and filling. Shelly had soup and potato salad and thought it was just OK. We enjoyed chatting and the beautiful weather.
We went back to the hotel and our room was ready. The room was a nice size with a comfortable queen bed, and a large bathroom. We had a great view of the St. Stephan Cathedral, which was consecrated in 1147.
We unpacked, and Shelly said we should go to the airport and try to find our luggage. So, we got a taxi and headed out to fix our problem. We first checked with the Austrian Air ticket counter. They contacted the Lost Luggage Office and told us they had found the luggage, but we could not pick it up until tomorrow, which made no sense. We went to the airport information service desk, and tried again, pleading with them that we needed Shelly’s medications. The service desk representative was so helpful, and he confirmed our bag was found, and figured out how we could get it. He walked us to the office of the company that cleans the airplanes, and they produced our luggage! We were so relieved! I got his and his supervisor’s name and email address so I could send a formal compliment. We hopped in a taxi and headed back to the hotel where we rested for a moment.
We headed out and did a quick tour of St. Stephan Cathedral. It’s a massive and beautiful church.
We then ate a light meal at Orpheas, a Greek restaurant near the cathedral. We shared a gyro which was quite good and chatted about all kinds of things. It was a really nice experience. We headed back to our hotel with hopes of getting a good nights sleep.
Day 2 - Exploring the Summer and Winter Palaces of the Emperors
A good nights sleep eluded me. I fell asleep around 10:00pm but woke up at 12:00am and was up the rest of the night. We went to breakfast early, and I enjoyed some eggs, cereal, and very fresh croissants.
We booked a 9:30am walking tour of Schönbrunn Palace, the summer retreat of the Habsburg royal family, through a company called Tours by Locals. We met our guide, Kaspar W., in the lobby of of our hotel. He was right on time and very pleasant.
Kaspar led us to the metro located right outside our hotel in Stephansplatz, the central square of Vienna. We were on the metro for maybe 20 minutes, exited, and walked 1/2 mile to the palace. We started on the palace grounds and walked through hedge-line paths and gardens. We then came to the Neptune Fountain, and saw the Gloriette in the background.
Here we are in the garden.
Here's the Roman Ruin and the grounds.
We then toured the 40+ rooms inside the palace. There was no photography allowed inside the palace, but you can use an interactive tool and see photos of the inside of Schönbrunn Palace at the link provided. Here's a photo of the center section of the palace.
We finished the tour and Kaspar led us back to our hotel. We had beautiful weather and a wonderful tour. We were starving and went looking for a restaurant that served authentic, Viennese food. We passed several that were not opened, so we settled on a Thai restaurant. Unfortunately I do not remember the name of it, but it was quite good, and only a short walk from Stephansplatz.
We then walked 1/2 mile to the Hofburg Palace and did the tours of the Silver Collection, Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments. There was no photography allowed but the links below offer an interactive tool with photos.
The Silver Collection is full of royal dishes, silver utensils and cisterns, and other tableware. Did I mention there are dishes? Lots of them. It very quickly got boring. But we pushed through to the next section of the tour.
The Sisi Museum, dedicated to the life, times, and murder of Empress Elisabeth (Sisi), was interesting and worth the time.
The Imperial Apartments were the highlight of the tour. It's where the royals lived and contained original furnishings. This tour, along with the tour with Kaspar this morning, provided at great overview of the Habsburg dynasty and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
We found a nice, outdoor café near our hotel. had a few drinks, chatted, and people-watched. We then went to a pastry shop named Aida for some apple strudel with vanilla ice cream. We got back to the Stephansplatz in time to hear the bells from St. Stephan Cathedral.
We headed back to our hotel and went to bed early. I fell asleep around 9:15pm and slept very well.
Day 3 - Lipizzaner Stallions Training and Food Walking Tour
We had a 2:00pm walking food tour so we had some time in the morning to relax. Pat and Lani decided to sleep in so Shelly and I walked to the Spanish Riding School to watch the Lipizzaner Stallions train at 10:00am. It was pretty boring. There really was no training that we could see. It looked more like riders walking the stallions. I would not recommend this event, but If you do go, get a seat on the short ends of the arena rather than the long sides. You'll be able to see better.
Shelly and I then walked to the Danube Canal and had a couple drinks at a restaurant situated on the canal. It was about 6 blocks from the hotel.
We met Pat and Lani at the hotel for our 2:00pm food tour. We met Gabriela from Tours by Local in our lobby and began our Gourmet tour - food walk in history. We started out at a shop that served open-face sandwiches. It's a common lunch meal for Viennese. There small sandwiches, about half the size of a slice of American bread. Most had an egg spread with a topping, like a slice of roast beef.
We shared about 10 sandwiches and headed to a café to have some desserts. I had nice slice of apple strudel.
We walked to the Naschmarkt or snack market. Along the way, we snacked on some sausages from a street vendor, and stopped at a café to sample a glass of wine. We only spent a few minutes at the market as it was closing. The food tour was not that great, and was pretty expensive, about 100€ per person. Gabriela had a drink on our dime at every restaurant we stopped at, which I don't think was right. It was not communicated in advance that we'd be paying for her to drink, so we were a bit pissed off. I would not recommend this tour with this guide.
Shelly, Pat, Lani and I found a restaurant near the market and had a couple drinks. We then walked back to the hotel and turned in for the evening. Our tour of Vienna was over and we were heading to Prague in the morning. Vienna was great. It's a very walkable city with beautiful buildings and churches, and lots of cafes. We loved the city and the people, who all were extremely nice and helpful.
Hotel Am Stephansplatz was a great hotel with great service. We had a nice, sized room with a large bathroom with shower and tub. The location, right on the Stephansplatz, is convenient to everything, including the metro. And the view of the St. Stephan Cathedral is magnificent. I highly recommend staying here if you plan to visit Vienna.
Day 4 - On to Prague, Czech Republic
We chose to use a service called MyDayTrip.com to go from city to city. With 4 people, it’s as cost-effective as a train, almost just as fast, and includes a hotel-to-hotel pick-up and drop-off. It’s a little over $100/person for the MyDayTrip.com service, and around $80 for the train. So with the added benefits and comfort, it was a no-brainer.
We met our driver, Thomas, for our trip to Prague at 10:00am. He collected our luggage and we were underway. We planned for a one-hour stop in Třebíč, a city of UNESCO monuments. It would be a 4-hour drive with one hour in Třebíč. The drive to Třebíč was mostly backroads through farmland and small villages and towns. We got a little carsick with all the twists and turns. We made it to Třebíč in a little over two hours.
Třebíč is located on both banks of the river Jihlava and the beginnings of the city are connected with an important Benedictine monastery, which was founded by Moravian princes in 1101. There are three UNESCO Natural Heritage sites, the Basilica of St. Prokop, the Jewish quarter, and the Jewish cemetery. The basilica was closed until 1:00pm, so we did not have time to tour it. We ate lunch at a café named Kocour, which was at the entrance to the Jewish quarter. I used Google Translate to read the menu. Shelly and I each ordered the fried chicken with potato salad special and it was very, very good. We enjoyed the meal and chatted with Pat and Lani.
We then headed for Prague with 40 minutes on backroads (Thomas kept his speed down a bit and the twists and turns were less stressful) and 90 minutes on highways. We made it to Prague without incident and checked into our hotel, Hotel Pod Vezi. It’s in the lesser quarter and very close to the Charles Bridge (Prague’s oldest bridge dating to the early 15th century) that spans the Vltava River and connects the lesser quarter (founded in the 10th century) to the New Town (established in the 14th century). The hotel is the number 4 best-value hotel and number 2 traveler-ranked hotel in Prague based on TripAdvisor. Our room, in the annex building, was on the 1st floor, large, with a high ceiling and bathroom with a shower and tub. There were two, large windows overlooking a square and the hotel main building. There is a portable room air conditioner and free-standing heater, as there is no central A/C or heating. The room and bed were comfortable.
We unpacked and headed to the Hotel Pod Vezi café to have a drink. We then walked over the Charles Bridge to stroll the New Town. There are three large Gothic towers, the Old Town Bridge Tower and Lesser Town Bridge Towers, at each end of the bridge. You can climb these towers and get great views of the city.
The first building you see across the bridge in New Town is the beautiful St. Francis Of Assisi Church. It is located at the Square of the Knights of the Cross with Klementinum and Charles Bridge as its neighbors. Built in Baroque style between 1679 – 1685 it stands on the site of the original church of St. Francis of Assisi from 1270. Buglers were blowing tunes announcing a concert this evening.
We walked along Křížovnická Street in New Town and marveled at the architecture.
We walked a bit then had dinner at Restaurant Pushkin. It had a nice atmosphere and good table service. Shelly had escargot as an appetizer and the beef goulash with bread dumplings. She loved it. I had a chicken Caesar salad (not very adventurous tonight) and it was pretty good. Fresh greens but a bit too much dressing.
After dinner we started heading back to the hotel and Pat and I each ordered Trdelnik, which is a cone made of grilled dough (kind of like a donut) filled with ice cream. I had tiramisu ice cream which was quite good. The dough was good, but I still prefer a good old waffle cone!
We had a nice overview of the the Charles Bridge and New Town, and headed back to the hotel and turned in for the night.
Day 5 - Tour of the Prague Castle Complex and Strahov Monastery
We had a nice breakfast at the Hotel Pod Vezi café. We then met David F. from Tours by Locals for our Tour of the Prague Castle Complex & Strahov Monastery Orientation. David was an Englishman who retired in Prague. He was delightful! We walked up Nerudova Street to the Prague Castle and saw gorgeous buildings from different periods. I huffed and puffed and made it up the steep street to the castle (you can also take a tram to the castle). We had great views of Prague
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We were welcomed by giant St. Vitus Cathedral, the largest church in Prague.
Here's a photo of St. George's Convent.
Went to the Strahov Monastery Brewery to sample some beer. We sat for about an hour, chatted with David, and watched the rain pour down on the campus. We ended our tour with a tram (be careful on the trams, they start and stop abruptly and you can easily fall) ride to new town where we bid adieu to David. David F. was a great and delightful tour guide and I highly recommend seeking him out on Tours by Locals.
We had lunch at the Café Slavia across from the National Theater pictured below.
After lunch, Shelly and I walked to the Lennon Wall, a memorial to Beatle John Lennon. I'm not sure the original intent of the wall, but it is covered in graffiti so most of the messages have been blocked out. Now there are also letters and poems of support for Ukraine posted near the wall.
There's a pub near the wall with a Beatles theme. We did not go in, but I took a photo.
Day 6 - Prague Food Tour and Tour of the Jewish Quarter
We scheduled a food tour with Markéta L. through Tour by Locals, and we met her in the hotel lobby at 10:00am. We loaded into her car and went to a shop and sampled open-face sandwiches. It was similar to the shop we went to in Vienna, with a piece of bread with a light cover of egg salad and a slice of meat. The sandwiches were good, and we washed them down with a drink.
We then went to a restaurant and had a full meal. Shelly had pork knuckle and I had chicken schnitzel. We enjoyed both meals.
We stopped at a café Louvre for dessert and had blueberry pie and other desserts. They were very good.
Markéta drove us to a highpoint in the New Town which was incorporated by Emperor Charles IV in the 1340s. Prague was growing and needed space. It also needed fortifications to protect it from invasion, so it built city walls, which you can partially see in this video.
The food tour was great and Markéta was an excellent guide, and showed us sites we would not have seen. She dropped us off at the Jewish Quarter in New Town.
We toured several, historic sites in the Jewish Quarter. We went to the Pinkas Synagogue that had the names of over 77,000 Prague Jews who perished in the Holocaust during World War II. It was disturbing, moving, and astonishing to see these names and think of the lives that were represented.
We also visited the beautiful Spanish Synagogue and learned about the history.
Lastly we visited the Old Jewish Cemetery, with it's dense grave markers depicting the population of the Jewish Quarter dating back to the 16th century.
We got back to the hotel around 5:00pm. Shelly and Pat climbed the Charles Bridge Tower and took some photos, and I waited for them in the Hotel Pod Vezi café.
We headed back to our rooms for our last night in Prague, and prepared to travel to Salzburg, Austria in the morning. We had a wonderful time in Prague, and it is a glorious city, and it's people were very friendly.
Day 7 - Our Tour of Salzburg
We left the beautiful city of Prague and with our driver from mydaytrip.com, drove to Salzburg, Austria. It was a 4 hour drive, and we chose to stop midway at a quaint town in the Czech Republic, Český Krumlov.
Český Krumlov, is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. Here's some photos of the Český Krumlov Castle and the former Church of Saint Judoc. We ate at a good restaurant named Restaurant Terasa, which has a nice stream behind it. Pat decided to climb up to the castle while Shelly, Lani and I walked the town center.
We arrived in Salzburg and checked into Hotel Auersperg Salzburg. The Hotel was a bit far away from the town center (a 10 minute walk to the old town), but it was my favorite of the three so far. The room was large with a living space with couch and chairs, and a nice sized bathroom. There is a courtyard garden in the back of the hotel with comfortable seating, and a nice restaurant with a good breakfast. Here's a few photos of the garden.
We met up with Lani and Pat's son and girlfriend, John and Shanna, and their former au pair, Janine, who were joining us for the Salzburg and Munich experience. They went out for dinner near the hotel, and Shelly and I walked to the old town center to explore. It was after 6:00pm and the shops had closed up, so we decided to have a light dinner.
Day 8 - Walking Tour of Salzburg
We scheduled a two-hour Walking Tour of Salzburg through Viator, and the guide met us at our hotel. The highlights of the tour were to be Mirabell Palace and Gardens and St. Peter's Abbey. It was raining pretty heavily, but we headed towards the old town, and walked past Mozart's Birthplace.
We visited a cemetery and chapel near Mirabell Palace and Gardens, but I forgot to note the name. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.
We then visited Mirabell Palace and Gardens. We did a quick view of the Marble Hall, which is one of the top wedding locations in the world. Here's a view of the garden with Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background.
Here's Shelly in the Dwarf Garden. You're not supposed to touch the statues!
We then walked to beautiful St. Peter's Abbey including St. Peter's Church and cemetery. Here's some photos of our walk in and around the Abbey.
After the walking tour, we took the Fortress Funicular (a cable car) to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. The fortress was built in 1077 and expanded in the 16th century. There were no photos allowed inside the fortress, but here are some photos from the grounds with views of St. Peter's and the old town.
At the end of the tour, there was small grotto where we donated 1€ and had our picture taken for good luck!
After our walking tours, the rain had stopped and we had lunch at a café near the hotel.
Day 9 - Eagles Nest and Bavarian Alps Tour
The forecast for our third day in Salzburg was more rain. But no worries, we were scheduled for a tour of Adolph Hitler's Eagles Nest and the Bavarian Alps. Our Viator tour guide, Michael, met us at our hotel at 9:30am and we headed out.
We drove to the Eagles Nest and took a bus to the entrance. We loaded into an elevator and rode to the main entrance. We toured the conference room where I took a couple photos of the fireplace, a gift to Hitler from Mussolini. Note some stones in the fireplace are chipped. Some soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division who captured the property in 1945 took some souvenirs home.
The rain stopped, but the fog was heavy, so I wasn't able to get any views of the Alps. But here's Shelly!
There are walking trails on the grounds.
Kehlsteinhaus is the German name for the property. Eagles Nest is the English name.
After Eagles Nest, we went to Hellbrunn Palace and Fountains, a palace built in the 17th century for the royals rest, celebration, and pleasure. There are some fun fountains on the grounds, but we were a bit too tired to tour anymore, so we headed back to the hotel. Here's some photos of the palace and grounds.
Here's our tour guide, Michael, and Shanna, John, Pat, and Lani.
Our last night in Salzburg, Shelly and I went to the Salzburg Marionette Theater, established in 1913 and one of the oldest puppet theaters in the world. The performance was Mozart's The Magic Flute. We had hoped they would be doing "The Sound of Music", but no luck. Regardless, the show was fantastic, and the puppet performance was mesmerizing. There were times I forgot I was watching puppets! We could not take photos of the performance, but here's a photo of the stage before the show.
We had a wonderful time in Salzburg, the sights were spectacular and the people were great. Tomorrow we leave for our last city of our tour, Munich.
Day 10 - Our Trip to Munich, Germany!
Our driver from mydaytrip.com arrived at our hotel and we left Salzburg and headed to the gorgeous Lake Königssee in Germany, nestled at the foot of the imposing eastern wall of Mount Watzmann in the heart of the Berchtesgaden National Park.
Lake Königssee is beautiful, and just what I expected to see in the Alps. The water was crystal clear and cold, but there were swimmers in the lake. We walked around the small town, and settled in at a beer garden for drinks and lunch.
We hopped back in our vehicle and after 90 more minutes of driving, we made it to Munich and the Platzl Hotel, and checked in to our rooms. Our room was a nice size, with queen bed, side tables, a desk and chair, plenty of cabinet storage for luggage and clothes, and a decent sized bathroom. The hotel is located near the Marienplatz. We found the staff to be very pleasant and helpful.
Shelly and I headed out to explore. We weren't very hungry, so we went to the Hofbräuhaus, a famous tavern and tourist spot just down the street from our hotel. It was quite crowded, but three nice guys motioned for us to sit down at their table. The guys were from Liverpool, England, (being a huge Beatles fan, I loved this!) and we chatted with them for a bit.
We walked to Marienplatz and took some photos before heading back to our hotel. We had an 8:30am tour scheduled and wanted to get a decent nights sleep. Here's a photo of the New Town Hall, which looks quite old but was built in the late 19th century.
Day 11 - Tour of Bavarian Royal Castles - Day Trip from Munich
Today we were taking a tour of Bavarian castles on a day trip from Munich. Our tour guide, Thomas D., met us at our hotel at 8:30am. It was a 9 1/2 hour tour, so we loaded up on eggs at breakfast. Our first stop was at the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which was one of the inspirations for the castle at Disney World.
We took refuge in the Hotel Muller Café while it was pouring rain, and arranged for a carriage ride to the castle.
You can walk, take a bus, or a horse carriage to the castle. We took a horse carriage.
Here's Lani, John, Shanna, and Janine in the carriage. We masked up per our guide's recommendations.
A nice view from the castle grounds.
Ken and Shelly in front of the castle.
Janine, Lani, John, Shanna, Shelly and Ken with the castle in the background.
Part of the castle interior. There was no photography allowed in the castle, but it was beautiful.
A view of the town and the Hohenschwangau Castle.
We had lunch at a café near the castle.
We then drove back to Munich and on the way, stopped in Oberammergau, where the annual Passion Play is performed. We visited a craftsman's shop where the proprietor was retiring. He had beautiful wood carvings, mostly of nativity sets and other religious depictions. We bought a beautiful nativity set with about 20 pieces and had it shipped home. Here's a photo of it.
Day 12 - Tour of Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial
The last tour of our trip was to Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial. It was a very somber visit, but I feel I need to experience this history so I am aware of it's origins and realities, so that I can help ensure if never happens again. Most of the original camp was torn down in the 1960's, and a barracks has been rebuilt to demonstrate what it looked like.
The area on each side of the trees had barracks for political prisoners, soldiers, and Jews.
A reconstruction of a barracks.
The International Monument was inaugurated on September 8 1968. It was designed by Nandor Glid, who himself was persecuted as a Jew by the Nazis in his home country of Yugoslavia and had joined the resistance to the German occupation forces at the end of 1944.
We returned from the tour and had lunch near the Viktualienmarkt. We made it to the glockenspiel in Marienplatz for the 5:00pm performance. Here's a video.
Day 13 - Walked Munich and Relaxed at a Café for the Afternoon
We were scheduled for a Third Reich History Walking Tour but the guide got COVID so it was canceled. We decided to have an unstructured day in Munich and explore the city on foot.
In the morning, Shelly and I walked to the English Garden, the largest park in Munich.
There was a stream running through the garden, and we saw dozens of locals surfing near a bridge in some rapids. It was really cool to watch.
We spent the afternoon walking around near Marienplatz and relaxed at a café for the afternoon. We met some couples from the U.S. and chatted, and Pat and Lani joined us. We met a really nice dog named Echo too!
We made it to the end of our trip, and had a fantastic time. Pat, Lani, John, Shanna and Janine were great travel companions. Thank you to the wonderful people of Vienna, Prague, Salzburg, and Munich for being so welcoming and helpful.