3 Country Adventure: Southern Germany

This was an adventure for us. We were on our way to Budapest and Vienna when we decided to ditch those plans due to some personal problems. We didn't really want to waste the weekend so we decided to head down to Garmish. We got to town about 9pm and just stopped at a gasthaus that was open and luckily they had an open room. It was more then I would of liked to paid but for the same night it would be hard to get a good deal. We were all pretty drained so we went right to bed.

The next morning during our breakfast at the inn the owner talked to us and gave us several maps and directions to different attractions. We decided to first head to see Neuschwanstein castle. It is the most famous castle in Germany because Disney mirrored Sleeping Beauty's castle after it.

We decided not to do the tour of the inside since are kids aren't really into that. I have heard mixed reviews of the tour. Some say its a must do but others think if you tour on castle in Germany you are good. We may go back and tour the inside before we leave. We decided to walk up to the castle. It is all straight up hill put totally do able. I had the ergo and the kids took turns riding. We walked right up the the castle and looked around the outside and then headed off to the bridge that gave us this amazing view of the castle. The bridge is near where the bus lets people off. We then hiked back down on the gravel path through the forrest. The second castle right there is the Hohenschwangau. We didn't even walk up to it but you could get a pretty good view from the start of the trail to Neuschwanstein. 

We headed back to Garmisch after and planned to do the gorge but it was raining and since we hadn't planned this destination the kids were in need of jackets. We went downtown to do a little shopping, eating and sight seeing. As all German towns there is plenty to look at in ways of architecture. They had some of these cool benches around downtown and a very nice garden we strolled through while enjoying some ice cream. 

The next day it was a little nicer and not raining so we decided to head to the Partnach gorge and the olympic ski jump. The ski jump isn't really much to look at. It's impressive how big it is but thats about it. You park right there to hike to the gorge so thats why we saw it. The gorge is very impressive. The walk ways can be pretty narrow and wet with some dark tunnels too but nothing really bad. Passing people can be tricky but the views are totally worth it. The kids didn't have any problem walking as the took turns riding again. I just made sure to hold hands the whole time and keep them closer to the mountain then the water. 

Even though it wasn't planned we still managed to have a pretty good time in the Garmish area. The weather could of been better and it would of been nice if I was more prepared for that. I'm guessing we will be visiting the area again.