Tour of Germany, Switzerland & Austria

May 17, 2025 6:29 am Paula

Mainz, Germany

Our first of two escorted tours started this week. After a quick train ride to Mainz, we arrived at our hotel. Mainz is famous for its university, and its Romanesque cathedral. We explored the quaint town and noticed the locals are visibly much happier here.

That evening we had an orientation meeting and dinner with our Tour Manager and the other 22 travellers. What a great bunch of Americans on this tour! And two lone Canadian’s lol.

River Boat Cruise

We left Mainz behind bright and early and headed out on the bus. Our first morning stop; a cruise on the scenic Rhine River. Numerous castles, palaces and fortresses lined the riverbanks. So beautiful!

Along the Moselle River, impressive terraced vineyards stretched almost vertically upwards. Some of the slopes are so steep that the vines can only be planted on narrow terraces secured by dry stone walls and they must repel down the cliff face in some cases!

Heidelberg, Germany

Next we visited Heidelberg, home to the oldest university in Germany. You can’t miss the red sandstone ruins of 12th century Heidelberg Castle. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the hillside, and dominates the view of the old downtown. We took the funicular railway up and enjoyed the beautiful view of Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley.

We stayed one night in Heidelberg and had a quiet dinner on our own after a heavy German lunch.

The Autobahn

We got to travel on the Autobahn on this route! My parents visited Germany a few times in their day, and Dad did not like driving in this partially de-restricted (no sped limit) freeway – can’t blame him! The fastest speed recorded was 432.7 km/hr by German racing driver Rudolf Caracciola in 1938. Luckily for us, buses had restricted speeds! It was ‘Fahren fahren fahren on the Autobahn’ for Kraftwerk fans haha.

The Black Forest

Next we headed south on a beautiful drive through the Black Forest region. This area a massive but dense forest, thick with pine trees so tightly packed, the darkness inspired the name “Black Forest”. They certainly were lush and green hills as well!

This is where some Brothers Grimm fairytales came to life; these forests inspired stories like Hansel & Gretel, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and others.

The Black Forest is known for its cuckoo clocks (we had a clock building demo), bollenhut hat, and for Black Forest cakes!

We saw the Rhine Waterfalls; one of Europe’s largest and most powerful.

Lucerne, Switzerland

Then, on to beautiful Lucerne, with its pristine lakeside setting and gorgeous panoramic mountains. We arrived here on Mother’s Day and were so surprised to find Spencer, Lindsay and the girls had a bottle of champagne waiting in our room! Needless to say, we enjoyed it; it was like a hug from home!

We loved Switzerland! We got to spend two relaxing nights here in the center of the Swiss Alps. 

The impressive Lion Monument, one of the best-known monuments in the country, was created in remembrance of the heroic death of Swiss guard killed in 1792.

The 14th century medieval Chapel Bridge is one of the oldest covered wooden bridges in Europe, a nice centerpiece in Lucerne.

Traditional Fondue dinner

The traditional Swiss Cheese Fondue recipe blends Gruyere, Emmental, and Appenzeller cheese, melted with wine, and seasoned with garlic and nutmeg. It’s served with crusty bread, potatoes, blanched cauliflower and broccoli and sides of gherkins and pickled onions. It was good and an enjoyable experience but lacked a protein that us North Americans are used to.

Fun fact: Apartment dwellers in Switzerland are not allowed to make loud noises at night (like flushing the toilet) or do things like vacuuming, hammering on Sunday’s, or your neighbours can call police and you could get fined!

Neuschwanstein Castle

Liechtenstein

We stopped  for a passport stamp at this small country situated between Switzerland and Austria. It was purchased by the Princely House of Liechtenstein, which gave the nation state its name.

Innsbruck

We crossed into Austria to Innsbruck, the Tyrolean “capital” of the Austrian Alps. A local guide gave us a tour of the old town.

Carriage Ride In Seefeld

This was fun and hokey at the same time, but enjoyable. Besides, the driver gave us a shot of schnapps! The scenery was beautiful – those mountains followed us everywhere.

 Salzburg 

Next up Salzburg! Our guided walking tour highlighted this birthplace of Mozart. We saw the house where Mozart was born, as well as the squares and gardens and a few Mozart statues.

The local guide in Salzburg was incredible. He wore his lederhosen and explained the leather is commonly cowhide, deerskin, or goat suede, and very expensive! They last for years and never get washed….

The Eagle’s Nest

The bus climbed up some extremely high mountains that brought us into the countryside of the ruins of Obersalzberg, once a mountain retreat for senior Nazi SS officers. It gave us an eerie feeling to be in this area.

We could see “Eagle’s Nest”, far off in the distance. It was the second most important center of power of the Nazi’s, after Berlin, away from public view.

The were filming a German TV show at this high viewpoint and the director was yelling at us to move up and down the hill to stay out of sight and to keep quiet. Bizarre.

The Sound of Music

Salzburg is also known for the singing von Trapp family and the setting for the film, The Sound of Music. I loved this part of the tour. Ironically, very few Austrians know anything about the movie as it was of course, a Hollywood production and in English! Our guide told us that besides other tour guides, he doesn’t know anyone in the city that has even seen it! So that meant NO souvenirs. Nothing! We managed to find a couple of postcards, that’s it!

We enjoyed seeing the sites where the movie was filmed and hearing all the stories. It was only in the last ten years that a group of guides pieced together where the hill was that Julia Andrew’s sang ‘The Hills are Alive’. We drove by slowly without stopping as the farmer is tired of the parade of buses and vehicles.

Recognize anything?

Munich, Germany

Our final destination city was Munich. We toured Marienplatz square, the cultural center of the city. The gothic New Town Hall dominated the square.

Housed in the towering building is Munich’s world famous Glockenspiel, which dates back to 1908. We watched at the stroke of noon as the colorful mechanical clock with its life-size figures came to life and danced to music.

We also went on two hour guided city bus tour past the Olympic Stadium and the stunning Nymphenburg Palace. Most things were difficult to see, the local guide not great and traffic was horrible so it really wasn’t the best. We did however, enjoy the BMW Headquarters tour!

That evening we went to a famous beer hall for beer and snitzel with our new found friends.

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof Palace is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It’s the only one which was actually completed and that he lived in most of the time from 1876. It was so beautiful!

Our tour came to an end in Munich and it was a jam packed, fast paced 11 days. We zigged and zagged in and out of Germany and Austria several times, sometimes in just a few hours. Germany has started doing immigration checks at main borders but luckily it did not effect us. Our travel companions were a fun and experienced bunch and we shared many laughs and stories.

Today we are flying to Palermo, Sicily. We are excited for what the next six weeks in Italy will bring us! Thanks for following along!

 

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