# Germany?!?



## Dimage

Stationed here, been around mostly the southern area..anyone else?


----------



## hobbes28

Go and check out Jung Frau Joch in Switzerland.  There is an Ice Palace built in the mountains and you can take a train to the top and check it out.  You can find it on mapquest.  Good day trip from Ramstein.  You can also check out Bitche France right across the border and you have to check out Luxembourg and Amsterdam while you're there.  It's about 45 mins and three hours respectively.  There is so much to see there.  I think I have some pictures on my site from there still.

Also, I don't know if you've heard about this place or not but there is an airline called Ryan Air www.ryanair.com where you can get tickets to lots of places in Europe like Italy and Ireland for pretty cheap.  We flew to Pescara Italy for 15 bucks round trip and Shannon Ireland for 30 bucks.  You fly straight from Hahn (near Frankfurt) right up Autobahn 62 from Landstuhl.  And they have free parking within walking distance from the terminal.


----------



## PetersCreek

Yep...my last assignment prior to retirement was at Ramstein,95-99. A _very_ good tour of duty. 

Do the Oktoberfest at Munich if you must...but I think it's overrated and certainly overcrowded. Much better, IMO, is the Oktoberfest in old Bad Cannstadt, in Stuttgart. It's just about as big, has more to do and see and eat, and isn't nearly so crowded. Probably Germany's best-kept fest secret. While you're in Stuttgart, be sure to tour the Ludwigsburg palace and garden in Kornwestheim. It's Germany's largest baroque palace and the extensive baroque garden is impressive. I hear that it's even better furnished than Versailles...which is bigger but mostly empty. 

Another fun event is the wine fest at nearby Bad Dürkheim...and a trip down the Weinstraße to get there wouldn't be a bad way to start it off. The Pig Fest at Wittlich is unique and the sandwiches are killer.

Great photo opps at Kehlstein, Die Zugspitze, Berchtesgaden, and of course the area around Garmisch-Partenkichen including the castles. If you do the castle tours and wish to photograph Neu Schwanstein, try to catch it on a sunny day if your schedule allows the flexibility. It can look quite dingy under overcast skies, thus losing its fairytale quality.

If you plan on touring Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Kehlstein, let me know. I have some insight on the tour you might appreciate.


----------



## Dimage

Yea i needa get some of my pics uploaded. I hit up several of the spots yall mentioned. Yes ive heard of Ryan Air. Great deals as long as you dont have alot of baggage. Where exaxtly is this Bitche Franceand whats there? Im plannin on goin "Picturin" Next week.


----------



## hobbes28

To get to Bitche, you need to take A6 towards Saarbruken.  You'll eventually run into A8 direction Parm., and Zweibruken.  Take that one and follow it to, I think its B38 or something similar.  It will say Bitche on the sign and just follow the priority roads into town.  It's a very nice drive and lots of pictures to take along the way.  There is also an old fort (citadel) in the center of town that you can take a tour through which I would definately recommend for around 10 Euros.

I also remembered that there is a place called Triberg down in the black forest off of A5 south of Mannheim that has the worlds highest waterfalls.  It's also where they have all those clock stores.  So much to see around there.  I'm sure I'll remember so many more as my memory starts back up.


----------



## Dimage

GET IT CRANKING then.. I dont really know too many lil villages besides around base, or along the Autobahn. Its sad though bc the lil villages are the best ones.


----------



## hobbes28

You could always shoot up the hill to Landstuhl and take pictures of the castle up there. (schloss is castle)


----------



## PetersCreek

Triberg was a great trip. Left the car at home and took the DB. It's a slower way to go since the train stops at almost every little village along the way but it was pleasant. It was a fair hike to the pension I stayed in, though. 

The waterfall is the tallest in Germany (but not the world) and the deep gorge it has carved is really impressive. There's a footpath to the falls that winds alongside the rushing river, at times going under huge overhangs or through narrow crevices. A fun, scenic walk. Lots of spray, whitewater, and imposing stone. 

The castle at Landstuhl (Burg Nanstein) is a good place to start. As Hobbes mentioned, be on the lookout for signs that say _Schloß_ (alt: _Schloss_) or _Burg_ something-or-other. IIRC, another not too far away is Burg Lichtenberg, on the way to Idar Oberstein...which is another nice place to go, itself. Gem mining is their claim to fame and they have a lot of shops offering semi-precious stones and mineral specimens. The gem and mineral museum worth visiting and there's also a church actually built into the side of a stone hill/mountain.

Cathedrals are another good subject. Dom Speyer is not so far away, just off the Autobahn on the way to Stuttgart.

I also have to mention the medieval, walled town of Rothenburg. It's supposed to be Germany's best-preserved walled city. Very historic and very picturesque. I ate in a restaurant that's been standing for more than 600 years...although it wasn't always a restaurant. I think it was a stable at one time. Anyway, have you seen the Käthe Wolfarht Christmas concession at the BX? One of their main stores is located in Rothenburg. 

If you plan to visit, just make sure you navigate to Rothenb*u*rg and not Rothenb*e*rg. A German friend of mine told me a story about some tourists who wound up in Rothenberg, walked all the way up to the tallest point in the village and wondered why the couldn't find the wall. The full proper name of the place is Rothenburg ob der Tauber.


----------



## fightheheathens

i would suggest oberstdorf. its a small village in the south of germany and its right in the middel of the alps, i was there in the winter, but there are a lot of mountain bike trails and hiking trails etc etc and its really pretty. Also Freiburg is a nice city and if you take the DB just outside it towards Himmelsriech (kingdom of heaven) you can walk/hike in the Hoellental (hells vally) its really cool. its smack dab in the middle of the black forrest and its really awsome.


----------



## LaFoto

Seems like sooner or later in my life I will have to travel south - I don't know any of the places you mention, other than Freiburg, AND I AM A GERMAN IN GERMANY!!!!! :shock:

I only know (and love!) the north - but not the weather we are having here at the moment  :cry:... the south is supposed to be a lot luckier weatherwise. Do show us photos of the places you have been to Dimage (and you too, PetersCreek!), it might help us a lot in planning our next holidays .


----------



## Dimage

Thanks for the insite on Triberg, deff have to do that one. Landstuhl castle,or Burn Nanstein is good one. I can actually see it from where i am now. I work on the flight line so its there in the mountains,ive been to Rothenburg "on the river" its really nice,i actually drank a Franken sweet wine, i bought from there, last nite..lol I REALLY needa get some of my pics uploaded. Heres a few i took in the past b4i got my new cam.


----------



## fightheheathens

La Foto, you might just find nice weather in freiburg

these photos from freiburg and Himmelreich were taken in January.....






1 day later....


----------



## fightheheathens

also heidelburg had nice weather. and good photo ops...there is like a big castle there or something...i forgot


----------

