Bavaria -convince me, tell me more....

[CroissantNeuf]

DP has got it into his head that he would love us, as a family, to go to Bavaria .

I'm not entirely convinced, mainly due to:

1. its a bloody long drive (even though we'd spread it over 2-3 days each way)
2. I'm veggie so the prospect of endless menus of sausages, pork belly etc does not appeal (together with the fact that even the so-called non-meat dishes will probably contain meat stock etc as vegetarianism seems to be quite an alien concept)

Convince me

forgot to say, this would be during the summer next year

DP is still really keen and keeps mentioning it so come on please...sell it to me

Bavaria is lovely. I did a 2 week exchange visit as a teenager, and we have friends who live there, so we visit occasionally. It is just so lovely and clean and the mountains are wonderful. I would worry a bit about the veggie thing though.

Dh has family in bavaria. We have driven over there a few times. It is a long drive - we once did it in one go (never again, it was 14 hours on the road), but there are a lot of places where you could break up the journey, and stay for a night or 2 for extra sight-seeing on your holiday. We've stayed in different towns in france, belgium and holland on the way over, and that breaks up the journey nicely. Is there a reason why you wouldn't fly and hire a car?

And 'bavaria' is a huge state - there's a lot to see and if you wanted to see as much as poss, you'd probably be better either travelling around and stay in a different plave every few nights or be aware that there will be somethings which are very far away.

I really enjoy going over there (when we don't stay with the in-laws) because there is a lot to see - and I love the castles, the mountains, the history (and the beer's ok too).

Granted veggie food is difficult in restaurants (dh is veggie) but it's becoming more common to find things. And it's more a problem to find veggie food in traditional pubs than anywhere else.

I was vegetarian in Bavaria (!) about 20 years ago and ate a LOT of macaroni cheese (non-veggie cheese). On the upside though the cakes are amazing!!

It's beautiful, a lovely place for kids and they like children over there, so no hushing them quiet at the dinner table needed. I can't wait until dc are old enough to appreciate a trip out there.

As Iliketea says Bavaria is enormous but some highlights are Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Castles, and Garmisch Partenkirchen which has a cable car and a luge type affair.

Many of the woodland walks out there have little activity stops for children (as well as for serious fitness fanatics).

And they are starting to get better about veggie options. Lots of farming communities though so that kind of explains the slightly different attitude to meat.

Go! I'm

I've never been, but now I want to go. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it on this thread.

And the Wank! It is a mountain. You go up (as I recall) on the Wankbahn (cable car) to the Wankhaus (cafe at the top). If that's not a good reason to go, I don't know what is. Think of the photo opportunities!

Can we come too .

Latsia -blimey I hate to think what it would have been like being veggie in Bavaria 20 years ago! I remember trips to Italy about 20 years ago and France 16 years ago when I really struggled to find anything veggie as it just wasn't a concept they understood.

Food and distance aside it does sound lovely.

IlikeTea -what sort of food does your DH end up eating in restaurants

at Wank photo opportunities

Don't forget you can always "escape" to Austria as well and loads of places serve Kase Spatzle (cheese pasta)!

I've just relayed the Wank photo opportunities to DP, and she's sold.

So at the end of the summer term, standing around in the playground, it goes like this:

Random parent: "Are you doing anything nice this summer?"

Me : "Yes. I'm going to Wank"

Get yourself over there!!

We went this summer and last summer. It's fab! So child-friendly and so much to do and see. This year we did a week in Innsbruck (my favourite place) and a week near Chiemsee.

Did loads of bike riding, toboggan runs, swimming in different pools (they are brilliant over there with lots of slides, wave pools), cable cars up mountains. Some of the mountains have playgrounds and kids activities right at the top. Visited Italy (only about 40 mins from Innsbruck). There are lots of lakes to swim in)

Recommend it definitely, we drove this year as we wanted to take our bikes. Was a long drive but stopped over on the way there and back.

We flew to Munich last year and the flights were really cheap.

its lovely lovely lovely.

Drive down the Romantic Road (look on tinterweb) and stay in beautiful medieval towns like Dinklesburg en route and admire the cows and onion dome churches, in Bavaria visit King Ludwig's berserk castles, frolic in the mountains, go to Lake Constance(?) etc. Oh, and there are loads of great Italian restaurants. We stayed in a house that had bikes and animals and the kids thought it was heaven.

Fussen was the place we stayed. Jolly good show.

And I'm veggie too.

(and don't work for the tourist board, honest)

look - I am not making it up!

Re: why driving -it would add about £1k to the cost for us to fly and hire a car.

Also we have places we can stop en-route (friends/family).

DP has always been used to long driving holidays since he was a child and loves it -I tend to be more the "are we nearly there yet?" type and don't particularly see the journey as part of the holiday IYSWIM

So Hullygully -what did you eat when you ate out? I'm desperate to know what sort of thing there will be as it'll be a grim holiday if I can't eat well

Dh normally eats klos (?spelling) which is a big potato type dumpling thing, kase spatzle, which is a type of egg noodle as far as I know, pasta or pizza. Also a lot of pubs do a 'brotzeit' meal which is bread and cheese (or meat) which is rather nice for lunch time and goes beautifully with a weisbier. Mil is also a veggie and often has some type of veggie salad.

We went up the wankbahn earlier this year - oh how I laughed (and prayed that toddler dd did not pick up the word!). Have a nice postcard on the fridge saying 'wank' at the top - makes me chuckle everyday.

I also think popping over the border to Austria is a great idea if you're far enough south - we visitied Insbruck this year for the first time and it was lovely. The towns in bavaria I've seen (munich, nurnberg, bamberg, bayreuth) are lovely for a visit.

DH and I had a lovely holiday there when I was pregnant with DD1. It's very beautiful and quiet etc. We stayed in Dinkelsbuhl which was particularly nice, and walked round Schloss Harburg.

I have to say that the beer and the bratwursts were one of the main attractions though . . .

Go! It's beautiful, and you will find plenty to do. Munich is a wonderful city, and there are lakes and mountains aplenty. And the cakes are wonderful.

If you like cheese you'll be fine as a veggie. Käsespätzle are delicious cheesy noodles with crispy onions. And there are several variations on the fried potato/ fried egg theme, as well as yummy salads. And of course there are always Italian options: pizza, pasta etc.

Avoid Oberammergau though. Horrible place!

Also, if you like champagne, epernay and reins are quite nice stops (and good for stocking up!). We've stopped there a few times and a lot of the smaller vineyards will gladly show you round for free or a small fee including tasting of the product (and delicious champagne for much less than the big brands).

Agree with other posters - if you are near the border, it's worth a trip to Austria, either to Salzburg or to Innsbruck, both of which are near the border, on different sides.