Guides: Jennae and Steph (they worked very well together--Jennae is the "American" guide and Steph hails from the northern part of Germany). This was the first Christmas trip for the Germany trip--and two months since the last ABD trip to Germany. With the holiday closures, the weather, delayed guests and new additions to the trip, the Adventure Guides had their hands full! (And the best part: they pulled it off with good humor and no outward signs of distress--I assume behind the scenes they were doing a lot of calls).
The Adventurers: 33 total--it was 35, but one couple cancelled at the last minute due to the weather in the States; one family of two were delayed by a day due to weather, and one family of 8 missed Heidelberg altogether because of airport closures (midwest), but happily joined us for the next hotel stop (Hotel Burg Trendelburg). We had a range of ages--dinners eventually split into adults tables, kid table and teen table.
Hotels: All had excellent breakfast buffets (plenty of breads, sausages, fruits, pastries--it is tough now to adjust back to more mundane breakfasts). The first hotel (Crowne Plaza Heidelberg) and the last (Kempinski in Munich) had indoor pools and excersize rooms. The non-Christmas trip includes a two-night stay at the Trendelburg castle; we liked the dining area and the grounds--and the town (small, very walkable with a great bakery) was nice, but I think the one night stay there was sufficient (the castle has been modified over the years to fit in showers, etc--sort of hodgepodge but very unique). The third hotel was within the walls of old Rothenburg (Hotel Eisenhut)--two nights. The Christmas Market was going on, decorations everywhere--gorgeous location. The Munich hotel was in a terrific spot--Old Town Munich was minutes away.
Weather: as noted elsewhere, storms in the US created flight delays. We did a pre-night and a nonstop (LA to Frankfurt), so managed to avoid the weather delays. But we hit very cold weather in Heidelberg--used the hand and foot warmers. We had light snowfall while touring the Heidelberg castle tour, and heavier (wet) snow while walking the Christmas market on our own--but after that, for the rest of the trip, the temps warmed up and we did not have any more snowfall. (Happily, there was snow on the ground from previous storms so we still had the beauty of the German countryside enhanced with snow).
Highlights: rather than going into day to day detail (which another member of this same trip has already started--thanks Figmentfan!), here are my scattered thoughts about the trip. First, I'm very glad we did a pre-night--not only because we avoided the worst of the weather delays, but also this gave us time to get over jet lag and gave us extra time to see more of Heidelberg (and pool time for the kids). I'm also glad we did a two-night add-on at the end--in Munich--as we were able to train to Salzburg on one day (thanks to Steph for helping us get train tickets on line!) and spend most of the other day in the Deutsches Museum (a massive science and tech museum located on an island in the middle of the Isar River which runs through Munich). Both pre and post nights were booked through Disney, which then provided us with airport transport--I did not want to have to deal with the details of getting to Heidelberg from Frankfurt, or from the hotel in Munich to the airport (a good 25 minutes away).
Disney has already tweaked this Christmastime adventure for 2010. We learned that Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th--so things close early on that day. On the 25th, most things are closed. For 2010, the trip will end on Dec 24 (rather than the 28th, as happened this year). This posed a problem this year, as the Christmas markets (the main purpose for this trip) ended largely on Dec 23--with the main Christmas Market (Nuremburg) closing at 2 PM on the day we were there (Dec 24). The local guide in Nuremburg had a lot to talk about--the castle there, the city history--but was rushed as we had limited time in the Christmas Market. It would have worked better (in MHO) to let us lose in the market first, then at 2 meet up wih the guide for a tour--we were told to meet the bus at 3:30, so that gave us a long meal break from 2 to 3:30--and not needed as most of us snacked while walking the market. Next year, not a problem as the tour will be at this Christmas Market on a day when it will be open late into the night.
All in all, we had plenty of shopping time in the Christmas markets--a large one in Heidelberg, mid-sized in Rothenburg and huge in Nuremburg. When you buy the hot wine in mugs, you pay extra for the mug--and can return it to get a euro back. Most tourists keep the mugs (with the year and market city)---we came back with about 6.
In Rothenburg, on Christmas eve, Steph took a small group of us to the huge Protestant church for services--a memorable service, all in German with the highlight of hearing Silent Night (a German song) sung in German. The sermon was too long--just like here!--but watching the minister and his hand movements was interesting.
The group events were a blast--making pretzels in a small bakery in Rothenburg, archery (the weather was nice enough to allow us to do this outside--at a place near Trendelberg, which in the summer also has canoeing and oversees the bikes for the ABD bike ride). On Christmas day we drove to Munich--our longest bus ride of the trip (4 hours)--giving us enough time to get to our rooms and then back to the bus for a few hours at the circus (Krone)--opening day, full house, great seats for ABD and a great show. Steph said she used to watch the Krone circus on TV, so it was exciting for her to see it live. (High wire acts, clowns, tigers, elephants and much more).
For Disney fans like me, seeing the Neuschwanstein palace was fantastic--and we had a great local guide (who provided a fun walking tour of Munich the day before--on Dec 26). On the way to the palace the guide, Michael, continued his very enthusiastic discussion of German history--and on the tour the palace guide would finish in one room and the ABD group would hold back and listen to more details provided by Michael. Lunch was just at the bottom of the hill leading up to the palace--and ABD had the one room that had the view of the palace. On the way back, while the kids were busy in the back of the bus with their games--and at our request--Michael gave a talk on the rise and fall of the Nazi party and the role Munich (and our hotel!) played in all of that.
Munich was a nice surprise--I'd recommend the Fodor's book on Munich and Bavaria (has a section on Salzburg, too)--it was helpful. If you go, don't miss walking to and touring the Residenz--beautiful palace rooms, and a large high-ceiling room with statues, frescos and the like that literally evokes a "wow" as you walk in--it is the room on the cover of the Fodor's book, in fact. And if you can get to Salzburg, it is easy from the Munich hotel (short street rail to the train station, then a 1 and 1/2 hour train ride to Salzburg--and we walked from there to the old section of Salzburg and the castle above --and then a train ride back, all in one day. Be sure to see St. Peter's church and graveyard--very ornate gravesites which are "rented"--you stay buried so long as your family keeps paying--and eat in the oldest restaurant in Europe (founded in 803!)--pretty reasonable prices too.
As for money. When we went one Euro was $1.44--and it was tough spending $4 on coffee etc. We took dollars for guide tiips, and brought Euros with us. We took euros out of an ATM once, in Munich (at a bank across from the hotel)--which was easier than I thought, and only a small service charge to boot. You'll need cash for the Christmas Market booths, and for many restaurants--don't rely on just using a credit card!
There are many more details--but overall, it was great to be in Germany at Christmas, since so many of our traditions here started there. They LOVE Chirstmas, and go all out. Munich is worth extra time if you can swing an add on day or two.
Happy to answer any questions! (Oh--and while the Adventure Guides said they do not have any information on upcoming new trips, they believe there will be new additions. Rumors I heard on the trip from others included Egypt--and due to cost, likely not Japan. The guides are excited about the cruise/ABD combo--but no word if this will happen with the Baltic cruises).
As I think back--the guides were very good about taking care of the details (baggage, local guides, shepparding us to events, providing water and snacks on the bus, giving us tips re the markets and where to explore) but also were good about letting us discover things on our own. An excellent trip!
The Adventurers: 33 total--it was 35, but one couple cancelled at the last minute due to the weather in the States; one family of two were delayed by a day due to weather, and one family of 8 missed Heidelberg altogether because of airport closures (midwest), but happily joined us for the next hotel stop (Hotel Burg Trendelburg). We had a range of ages--dinners eventually split into adults tables, kid table and teen table.
Hotels: All had excellent breakfast buffets (plenty of breads, sausages, fruits, pastries--it is tough now to adjust back to more mundane breakfasts). The first hotel (Crowne Plaza Heidelberg) and the last (Kempinski in Munich) had indoor pools and excersize rooms. The non-Christmas trip includes a two-night stay at the Trendelburg castle; we liked the dining area and the grounds--and the town (small, very walkable with a great bakery) was nice, but I think the one night stay there was sufficient (the castle has been modified over the years to fit in showers, etc--sort of hodgepodge but very unique). The third hotel was within the walls of old Rothenburg (Hotel Eisenhut)--two nights. The Christmas Market was going on, decorations everywhere--gorgeous location. The Munich hotel was in a terrific spot--Old Town Munich was minutes away.
Weather: as noted elsewhere, storms in the US created flight delays. We did a pre-night and a nonstop (LA to Frankfurt), so managed to avoid the weather delays. But we hit very cold weather in Heidelberg--used the hand and foot warmers. We had light snowfall while touring the Heidelberg castle tour, and heavier (wet) snow while walking the Christmas market on our own--but after that, for the rest of the trip, the temps warmed up and we did not have any more snowfall. (Happily, there was snow on the ground from previous storms so we still had the beauty of the German countryside enhanced with snow).
Highlights: rather than going into day to day detail (which another member of this same trip has already started--thanks Figmentfan!), here are my scattered thoughts about the trip. First, I'm very glad we did a pre-night--not only because we avoided the worst of the weather delays, but also this gave us time to get over jet lag and gave us extra time to see more of Heidelberg (and pool time for the kids). I'm also glad we did a two-night add-on at the end--in Munich--as we were able to train to Salzburg on one day (thanks to Steph for helping us get train tickets on line!) and spend most of the other day in the Deutsches Museum (a massive science and tech museum located on an island in the middle of the Isar River which runs through Munich). Both pre and post nights were booked through Disney, which then provided us with airport transport--I did not want to have to deal with the details of getting to Heidelberg from Frankfurt, or from the hotel in Munich to the airport (a good 25 minutes away).
Disney has already tweaked this Christmastime adventure for 2010. We learned that Germans celebrate Christmas on the 24th--so things close early on that day. On the 25th, most things are closed. For 2010, the trip will end on Dec 24 (rather than the 28th, as happened this year). This posed a problem this year, as the Christmas markets (the main purpose for this trip) ended largely on Dec 23--with the main Christmas Market (Nuremburg) closing at 2 PM on the day we were there (Dec 24). The local guide in Nuremburg had a lot to talk about--the castle there, the city history--but was rushed as we had limited time in the Christmas Market. It would have worked better (in MHO) to let us lose in the market first, then at 2 meet up wih the guide for a tour--we were told to meet the bus at 3:30, so that gave us a long meal break from 2 to 3:30--and not needed as most of us snacked while walking the market. Next year, not a problem as the tour will be at this Christmas Market on a day when it will be open late into the night.
All in all, we had plenty of shopping time in the Christmas markets--a large one in Heidelberg, mid-sized in Rothenburg and huge in Nuremburg. When you buy the hot wine in mugs, you pay extra for the mug--and can return it to get a euro back. Most tourists keep the mugs (with the year and market city)---we came back with about 6.
In Rothenburg, on Christmas eve, Steph took a small group of us to the huge Protestant church for services--a memorable service, all in German with the highlight of hearing Silent Night (a German song) sung in German. The sermon was too long--just like here!--but watching the minister and his hand movements was interesting.
The group events were a blast--making pretzels in a small bakery in Rothenburg, archery (the weather was nice enough to allow us to do this outside--at a place near Trendelberg, which in the summer also has canoeing and oversees the bikes for the ABD bike ride). On Christmas day we drove to Munich--our longest bus ride of the trip (4 hours)--giving us enough time to get to our rooms and then back to the bus for a few hours at the circus (Krone)--opening day, full house, great seats for ABD and a great show. Steph said she used to watch the Krone circus on TV, so it was exciting for her to see it live. (High wire acts, clowns, tigers, elephants and much more).
For Disney fans like me, seeing the Neuschwanstein palace was fantastic--and we had a great local guide (who provided a fun walking tour of Munich the day before--on Dec 26). On the way to the palace the guide, Michael, continued his very enthusiastic discussion of German history--and on the tour the palace guide would finish in one room and the ABD group would hold back and listen to more details provided by Michael. Lunch was just at the bottom of the hill leading up to the palace--and ABD had the one room that had the view of the palace. On the way back, while the kids were busy in the back of the bus with their games--and at our request--Michael gave a talk on the rise and fall of the Nazi party and the role Munich (and our hotel!) played in all of that.
Munich was a nice surprise--I'd recommend the Fodor's book on Munich and Bavaria (has a section on Salzburg, too)--it was helpful. If you go, don't miss walking to and touring the Residenz--beautiful palace rooms, and a large high-ceiling room with statues, frescos and the like that literally evokes a "wow" as you walk in--it is the room on the cover of the Fodor's book, in fact. And if you can get to Salzburg, it is easy from the Munich hotel (short street rail to the train station, then a 1 and 1/2 hour train ride to Salzburg--and we walked from there to the old section of Salzburg and the castle above --and then a train ride back, all in one day. Be sure to see St. Peter's church and graveyard--very ornate gravesites which are "rented"--you stay buried so long as your family keeps paying--and eat in the oldest restaurant in Europe (founded in 803!)--pretty reasonable prices too.
As for money. When we went one Euro was $1.44--and it was tough spending $4 on coffee etc. We took dollars for guide tiips, and brought Euros with us. We took euros out of an ATM once, in Munich (at a bank across from the hotel)--which was easier than I thought, and only a small service charge to boot. You'll need cash for the Christmas Market booths, and for many restaurants--don't rely on just using a credit card!
There are many more details--but overall, it was great to be in Germany at Christmas, since so many of our traditions here started there. They LOVE Chirstmas, and go all out. Munich is worth extra time if you can swing an add on day or two.
Happy to answer any questions! (Oh--and while the Adventure Guides said they do not have any information on upcoming new trips, they believe there will be new additions. Rumors I heard on the trip from others included Egypt--and due to cost, likely not Japan. The guides are excited about the cruise/ABD combo--but no word if this will happen with the Baltic cruises).
As I think back--the guides were very good about taking care of the details (baggage, local guides, shepparding us to events, providing water and snacks on the bus, giving us tips re the markets and where to explore) but also were good about letting us discover things on our own. An excellent trip!
Sounds wonderful! I am glad you had a great time. Salzburg is a beautiful place to visit to. I am glad you mentioned adding on to Munich. On my summer trip, i could not remember what was special about Munich since the last time i was there. Just going to a museum would have been nice.
