germany

[gingermonkey]

Im going on a whirlwind tour of germany, hamburg, cologne, heidelburg, fussen, munich and berlin. does anyone have any must see things in any of those places, also any recomendations for good places to eat/drink

[Glossopswift]

Get down the cellars of Heidelberg Castle and have a look at the size of the beer barrels! Flip me! You can have a sup down there too.

[gilby]

any where is good to eat but get plenty of stuck torte

[-=BigD=-]

Hofbrauhaus or Lowenbrau beer garden in Munich!!!!

Awsome beer and great bratwurst (sausages)! Hofbrau is central and a bit more tourist but well well worth it for the 1litre beer steins and odd ompa band!! Lowenbrau is more "local" but just as good!
check out:

http://www.muenchen.de/Rathaus/tourist_office/sehenswuer digkeiten/88120/index.html

[luckystrike]

Fussen:

The palace is not really worth a visit.  All there is is a permanent art exhibition in the state gallery, but very little else, as all the rooms are empty.  However, you are able to climb up a tower for great views of the town and the surrounding Austrian Alps.  I would, however, recommend visiting the Monastery of St. Mang, parts of which date from 830.  This incorporates the F�ssen Museum, and is much more interesting than the palace, as it has ancient excavations, a big library and displays on the history of violin making in the area.  You also get to see a painting depicting the most famous of the �Dances of Death�.  Around the back of St. Mang�s Monastery is a big wooden door that marks the very end of the 150-mile long Romantic Road.

Of course, the reason you are going to Fussen is to see the two castles, and they are fantastic.  Words cannot describe them, and I believe that everyone should see them at least once in their lifetime!  Order your tickets the day before over the telephone, and then you can join the express queue to pay when you arrive the following day.

The bus from Fussen train station to the area of Hohenschwangau only takes 10 minutes.  We firstly visited Hohenschwangau for a 35 minute tour, and then walked up the hill to Neuschwanstein, which takes a good half hour.  The tour here is another 35 minutes and basically continues where the other left off.  Both are very good if not slightly sad - you'll see what I mean.

Once we had visited both castles, we then walked up to P�llat Gorge for the postcard view.

On the way down the hill again there is a branch of Hofbr�uhaus where you can get a bite to eat or a few beers.

If you are looking for accommodation in Fussen, I cannot recommend 'Hotel zum Hechten' highly enough.

[luckystrike]

Munich:

I think that the most authentic beer hall in Munich is the Augustiner Br�uhaus on the main shopping street.  It's less tourist orientated, and is vastly better than the Hofbr�uhaus (in my opinion).  The food and beer are excellent, and much more traditional.

I would also recommend having lunch in the beer garden of the Viktualienmarkt, which is one of Europe�s greatest open air food markets.  Everyone shares tables in the shade of the huge trees, so it's a lovely way of sitting back and watching the world go by.  There is one particular stall that sells various cuts of hot meats - basically hot, dead pig wrapped up in chunks of fresh bread - lovely!

If you are travelling with any females, they might like to try a glass of Radler, which is 50% beer and 50% lemonade, but tastes vastly better than the shandy we get in the UK!

[KebabMeister]

I live in Munich and there are tons of things to do but it really depends on what month you intend on visiting?

Munich, there's the Hofbraeuhaus which has to be done; the neu Rathaus, Schloss Nymphenberg, Olympia Tower (there's a restaurant at the top and if you reserve a table you don't have to pay the fee to go up the tower), the English Garden (fantastic in summer and includes beer gardens), Deutsches Museum, walk by the Isar.... 

Public transport is very good with the centre having S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams and buses, plus intercity trains to other German/Euro cities (there's offers at the moment which is �29 each way to several top Euro cities). 

Fuessen, you can get there on a Bayern ticket from Munich for �26 which covers up to 5 people and includes the bus fayre from the station to the bottom of the Neuschwanstain castle.  I'd recommend walking to the cable car so you can see a better view of the castle and it would appear that's where all the photos are taken from. 

Also nearby is Herrenchiemsee which is also very nice and Salzburg is just down the road too in Austria.  Oh, the Eagles Nest & Koenigsee is very beautiful too if the weather is good.