What a whirlwind of a trip we had making our way through Germany! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to photograph a wedding for some friends in the Germany/Austria border and we extended the trip so we could spend some time adventuring around Europe! We spent 2.5 weeks in Germany and another 4 days in Prague. The weather ended up being absolutely wonderful and we lucked out in the rental car department and ended up with the cutest little convertible. It was perfect for the unseasonably warm days we had, particularly early in our trip! We flew into the Frankfurt airport, landing at 9:30am after leaving Seattle at 2:30pm the day prior, and new we needed to try and fight the jet lag and make it through the day. I always find it much easier to do this when you’re getting your vacation started rather than coming home 😉 We decided to find the closest castle we possibly could to the airport and headed straight there. We ended up at the cutest little town of Aschaffenburg and checked out the Johannisburg Palace, walked the town and ate some lunch!
From there, we made our way to Würzburg, a larger town about an hour away and headed towards the small town we were staying in that night. I’d heard so many good things about this town and I’m so happy we were able to make a quick afternoon stop. We walked the city streets, had coffee and almond cookies at a small pub, made our way across the lively bridge across the river full of people drinking wine and playing music and hiked up to the Marienberg Fortress for an amazing view of the city. There was SO much going on in this town, I wish we could have spent more time and here I think we will definitely be back! We made our way to the cutest little Best Western Hotel Polisina which was a good half way point before we continued the next day to Garmisch! Loved this hotel and the restaurant was delicious.
The next day we were up bright and early, thanks to not being at all acclimated to the time change, and hopped back in our car to make our way towards Garmisch. On the suggestion of my Grandpa, we decided to stop at the Linderhof Palace, his favorite palace in Germany, and I am SO glad we did! What an absolutely incredible place. While the palace itself may be the smallest of the palaces built by King Ludwig II, the palace and the grounds surrounding certainly aren’t small – I wish we could go back when the gardens are in full bloom! We spent a few hours here walking the property and touring the interior which will make your eyes pop out of your head due to the the sheer amount of gold on every surface. My favorite part of the interior, though, was the stunning waterfall visible from the bedroom through a large window. The water cascades down 30 marble stairs toward the Neptune fountain 💦 Another major highlight here was driving with the top down on our cute little convertible along the Plansee Lake which reminded me so much of Lake Diablo!
After squeezing in as much time at Linderhof as we could, we finally arrived in Garmisch and stayed at this wonderful Airbnb conveniently located just a few minutes from town and boasting an incredible view of the surrounding mountains. We were here in Garmisch for 4 nights to include the rehearsal dinner and wedding and had just enough time to squeeze in some sightseeing! This little town has SO much to do, it was a treat to spend a good chunk of time here. When we weren’t partaking in wedding festivities, we were eating and adventuring. We absolutely LOVED the Waffelhaus and ate there several times during our stay. Downtown Garmisch is so charming and full of unique shops and restaurants – it was a perfect place to call home at the start of our trip! We checked out the Partnach Gorge – partnachklamm – which is a deep gorge that has been incised by a mountain stream.The gorge is 702 meters long and was designated a natural monument in 1912. You can walk through the gorge down a small pathway built into the side of the huge rocks while water trickles down from above! We wandered back down from the gorge making a few essentials stops for roasted chicken and beers and to hang with the locals.
We even made our way over to Innsbruck, Austria (NOT in Germany) one evening by taking the scariest mountain pass road, ha! People in Germany are not afraid to drive fast and this road was full of hairpin turns and steep mountainsides, but it was well worth it to spend some time in Innsbruck.
