timanda
Puppy Love
Member since 6/08 1627 total posts
Name:
Amanda
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Review of Munich/Prague/Austria
We went to Europe this past March and I never wrote any kind of review, so I figured I would do it now. I'm not really going to review the tourist destinations, because it is so easy to find reviews all over the internet. There are a few things we did that I have been recommending to others, so I'll just talk about those in case anyone finds it useful.
First off, we went during the low season, mostly to save $. The weather was nasty and cold, and it was raining most of the time, but we expected this and dressed warm and waterproof. I don't necessarily recommend this, but we did 9 days in 3 different European countries for VERY cheap. The flight itself to Munich was $500 per person roundtrip (AND it was a nonstop flight both ways - which was a huge plus for me).
We spent 3-4 days in Munich and 3-4 days in Prague. We rented a car, which I highly recommend. Someone told us that the roads were difficult to navigate, however, we found that the roads were in better shape than a lot of roads around here. We didn't know the language and we managed to easily navigate through three countries. We did, however, rent a car with a gps, which was a huge help. It was nice to have the freedom to pick up and go wherever we wanted, and we were a bit more interested in exploring the countryside and some of the smaller villages - which we did and we loved. Some of my fav parts of the trip were just driving through the snow and taking in the countryside.
We did go to the Dachau concentration camp, which was sobering, and as difficult as it was to go through and take it all in, I do recommend it. It took about a half a day and I am so glad I went.
We didn't rent the car until we were leaving Munich, so for the first three days we used the underground system, which is very easy to navigate. There were three of us, we got the group day passes which were reasonable.
Prague was unbelievable. The architecture and the history was so amazing, and so much to take in. In hindsight, I wish we had done Prague first, as I had so much more energy in the beginning of the trip, and after a week of sightseeing, I was burnt out by the time we got to Prague. Everything was inexpensive due to the exchange rate at the time (and I guess its just cheaper there in general). DH took me to a very nice lunch right on the Charles River and it was a nice break from the rain and the food was DELICIOUS. While we used the underground system in Munich, we did not do that in Prague. The city is fairly small and we enjoyed walking.
The other thing that we did to save money was rent apartments through homeaway.com. There are a lot of websites that you can rent through, we just happen to find apartments we liked on homeaway. We loved having the comforts of an apartment, with a kitchen and living room. We rented studios with bedroom areas and a pullout couch (for my BIL). We split it 3 ways and it never cost more than $35 per person per night. In Munich we stayed in a very nice, residential part of the city, and it was a 10 minute underground ride to the center of the Munich. The apartment we had in Prague was very nice and was $25 per person per night. We could have got an even cheaper place if we wanted, but this one was larger and nice and close to everything.
And finally, my FAVORITE part of the whole trip was our stop in Hallstatt, Austria. We drove south about 4 hours from Munich to this tiny little village on a lake in the Austria Alps. I believe it is about an hour and a half to two hour drive from Salzburg, Austria. We only stayed over for one night, but if I had known how beautiful it was I would have spent the whole week there. I'm not going to waste my time describing how amazing it is because I won't do it justice. It was breathtaking. It was the only day it was sunny, and it was perfect. The only places to stay are in people's homes. There are few larger B&B's but as it was low season, most were closed. We stayed at this very nice woman's home. DH and I had our own private bedroom (finally!!), and a balcony overlooking the lake and the mountains. It was wonderful. I recommend to everyone that they see this little town. I know it is kind of out of the way, but it is worth it. SO worth it.
So I'm sorry for the long review, and if anyone has any questions about anything I mentioned, feel free to ask on this thread or via FM. I hope you enjoy reading it. 
Pics are in my album.
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