[visi107]

Finally got around to putting this together. A little delayed but better late than never. I'd like to begin my blog post about my ED by thanking everyone from the forums for sharing their experiences with me and my wife. You've provided invaluable information and have truly guided us along our journey. Secondly, my wife and I are not into #foodporn so apologies but no food pictures here.

Tip #1:
Finding the right sim card for your unlocked phone was a challenge for us when we got to Germany. The goal is to get a sim card with data that will work in most European countries, not just the country where you purchase your sim(which is usually the case). We purchased the ORTEL mobile sim card. You can get them at big supermarkets or gas stations (Germany only). In order to use it throughout Europe however, you need to activate the cross option which gives you 300 minutes of outgoing call time, 750mb, and unlimited incoming calls for 20 euros. Activating the cross option/plan did not work over the phone but worked online. You just have to register your SIM card and create an account. Wait until you get your confirmation (via text) before starting to use it; otherwise, it will eat through your credits very fast.

Here we go:

Day 0 - May 12:
The day had almost arrived. I had been thinking about getting the M3 for two years. Today, just the flight separated the dream from reality. This flight, however, would later be known as the flight from hell. It started with us waiting inside the plane at the gate in Detroit for three hours due to a fuel gauge problem with the plane. Because we weren't getting any updates, at the suggestion of a Delta representative, my wife and I got off that plane and boarded another Delta flight to Frankfurt (we were supposed to go to Amsterdam). They, then "booked us" on a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Munich. Throughout the entire process, they reassured us that they would get our luggage on our new flight. As soon as we got in line for takeoff, thunderstorms caused another 90 minute delay.

Day 1 - Friday, May 13:
Finally, we made it to Frankfurt but that magical "booking" on Lufthansa to Munich did not exist, compliments of Delta. The best explanation we got was "they told us about you but did not reserve you a seat." As a result, another two hours of additional waiting at Frankfurt for a plane to Munich that had seats available for us.

We arrived in Munich seven hours behind schedule, missing the noon factory tour. But at least we made it to our final destination and our nightmare was over. Or so we thought! Our luggage didn't come!!! So - we go to the Lufthansa desk to report the luggage and the following conversation occurs, which in retrospect seems kind of funny.
Us: We didn't get our bags
Rep: Sorry, we don't know where they are.
Us: Are you joking?
Rep: No sir, we don't know where your bags are. They might even still be in Detroit. No idea.

Our trip didn't start well at all. But the thing that was exceptional through all this mess was the Sixt service. Due to our delays, we emailed them four different times with new arrival information and they were totally understanding and accommodating. We got picked up in a 5 series GT. Our driver was fantastic, entertaining us as he drove crazy fast on the autoban. I couldn't wait to drive that fast too!

We had decided to stay at Leonardo Royal Hotel. Our reason for picking this hotel was close proximity to the Welt. We were staying in Munich for only one day. Price was very reasonable. If we would have spent several nights in Munich then I probably would have picked a hotel closer to Marienplatz.

We got to the hotel around 5 pm. It was raining in Munich but given that this was our only night there and we had already lost most of the day, a little rain was not going to stop us from doing a bit of exploration. First stop was the mall nearby (Olympia-Einkaufszentrum) to buy some essentials. We didn't buy much - the wife had high hopes that by the time we came back to the hotel, our bags would be there. Afterwards, we took the U bahn (subway) to Marienplatz. We walked around the city center then headed to Hofbrauhaus for some bier and sausage. It was packed. The bier was great, the local band was nice . . . the sausage, just ok, in my opinion. We, then, went back to the hotel and, of course, no bags. My wife proceeded to call Delta, Lufthansa, and KLM (using skype) and each one would tell us to call the other. Terrific! Well, at least we had the overnight kit from Lufthansa so toothbrush and deodorant were accounted for…. and, very very very large white Ts!

Day 2 -May 14:
D Day. I guess the good thing about no luggage is not having to lug much stuff around. Our check-in time at the Welt was 8:50am and delivery time was at 10:20am. We spent the morning having breakfast and talking to other ED guests who were waiting to pick up their cars! You are treated very nicely at the Welt. We checked in, signed a lot of documents, and were told about the ED experience - insurance info, pointers about driving in Europe, need for emergency triangle, etc.

So after finally picking up the car it was time to party, literally, in Cardiff Wales…. for one night. On our way to the airport, we stopped by the Real supermarket to get our Ortel Mobile sim card. At the airport, we parked the car at P41, an open lot, about two miles from the terminal with free shuttle service. Parking here was about 20 euros per day; the garage by the terminal is way more expensive. If you need to park the car at the airport, I would totally recommend this lot. There is free shuttle service which takes you to and from the terminals. The party we were attending in Cardiff was the bi annual party of Admiral Insurance. It was the craziest party I have been to in my life…. 5,500 hundred people inside the Millenium stadium (rugby/soccer stadium).

The wife being goofy!
https://youtu.be/4gTBr1NRt1A

Day 3-May 15:
We rented a car for our one day in Wales. On the way back to the airport, we stopped by the supermarket to get some clothes and other items we needed. At this point, we gave up on our luggage. When we got back to Munich, we stopped at Lufthansa baggage claim again to check halfheartedly but no new updates on the luggage. Not all was lost however -- another overnight kit was in order and I enjoyed two macchiatos while waiting to speak to customer service.

Changed allegiance for a day. The M doesn't know yet. The A1 was fun to drive too.

After we got back to the car, we started driving towards Nurburg. The Munich to Stuttgart part of A8 is great. There wasn't much construction going on and there were some long no limit stretches, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I stuck to the max 5K RPMs. As far as the speed limit though, I couldn't resist driving the max the car allowed. I got to 165mph or 265 kph. The feeling…. I cannot put into words…. simply amazing. You'll have to try it yourself. The car felt totally stable and if not for the speed limit, I could have done more without a problem. The wife, on the other hand, was shaking a bit so couldn't get a picture of the 165 mph, which I wanted to for verification purposes. Oh, one more thing: you can literally see the fuel gauge move when driving that fast.

The wife's hand was shaking too much so couldn't capture the actual 165mph craziness!

Our adventures for the night weren't over yet however. While driving on A8, the GPS suddenly stopped working. The screen asking for the activation code came up. We had not touched the flashdrive - it just stopped working randomly. We pulled over in a rest area, turned the car off and left it alone for a few minutes…. no luck. Maps did not load, just the black screen asking for the code. We tried it a few more times but still no success. So luggage-less and GPS-less, we got back on the road for Nurburg. At least, the ultimate driving machine was going strong! We made it to Nurburg by 11pm. We stayed at Doriant Hotel, which oversees the Grand Prix Circuit. They have a very spacious underground garage which you can use for 12 euros per night.

The Grand Prix circuit from the hotel balcony.

 

[visi107]

Day 4-May 16:
I had planned on being at the ring at 8am but the past few days finally caught up with us. We got up at 9:30 and made it at the ring a little past 10. All my wife could handle was one lap - she was nauseous. After the first lap, we ate lunch at the Devil's Dinner. This restaurant overlooks the track and is right by the entrance area. Their burgers were great and huge. The fries even better.

This was my first time at a track and my first time with a 250+hp car so I have to admit I was a little nervous. To anyone who might be nervous about being in a track especially if it's your first time, just take it easy, stay on the right side, let faster cars pass you, and you'll be more than fine. I did four laps total and loved every minute of it -- even managed to pass a few cars too. My first lap was 15 minutes!!! The other three were about 10.5 minutes. For me, this was the co-highlight of the trip (165mp was the other); for the wife, you'll discover later. I took 10-15 minute breaks to let the tires/break cool down in between the laps. The parking is very convenient and very close to the entrance/exit. The track did also closed down for about an hour as one guy crashed into the wall, so be prepared for these. He wasn't injured but his car wrecked.

After the four laps at Nordschleife, we started our seven hour drive to Geneva. There were some good stretches on the autobahn without limits but there was some traffic and rain -- the 165pmh, sadly, was not experienced again.

We didn't know when we crossed the border into Switzerland. There was not even a "Welcome to Switzerland" sign. The Vignette was very easy to get ***8211; we just stopped at the last gas station/rest area in Germany, 40 euros and voilà. Once you enter Switzerland, unless you have a cash stash for tickets, make sure you follow the speed limits. There were a ton of cameras everywhere, some were very well hidden and camouflaged too.

Hidden speed cameras in Switzerland.

You get spoiled from driving in Germany because the default speed in Switzerland is 120 kph (74mph). That is still pretty fast compared to here in Michigan. In Geneva, we stayed with my wife's friend. We parked the car at a surface lot outside of the city, in Bernex. It's a large open lot and the spaces are not that wide, but I managed to tuck the M in the corner.

It was 14 Swiss francs per day but that price also came with two all day tickets of the metro, so a really good deal. That night we also got an email from Lufthansa saying that our luggage was finally found! What a miracle ***8211; we had given up hope completely.

 

[visi107]

Day 5-May 17:
First thing's first: we called Lufthansa for updates on our luggage. They were in Munich but they promised us they would be delivered to our address in Geneva within a day. My wife's friend works at the UN so, in the morning, she gave us a tour of the UN and we had a very expensive cafeteria lunch with her there. We also stayed for the official one-hour tour, which was worth taking.

The Red Cross building

The ceiling of the Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room used by the Human rights council. It was done by Miquel Barcelo. It represents the floor of the ocean. It was beautiful and the iphone photo certainly does not do it justice.

In the afternoon, we took the city bus to the cable car to get to the top of mount Saleve also known as the "Balcony of Geneva." You can see the whole city from there.

The mountain is actually located in France, but again don't expect much in terms of border crossing - just a sad looking "customs" building.

On the bus ride back to the apartment, Thomas from the Welt contacted us regarding our non-working GPS. At my suggestion, he agreed to ship a new USB stick to our friend's address. Later in the afternoon, the luggage FINALLY came. . . and, things were finally heading in the right direction. For dinner, we went with our friends by the lake and had fondue.

Day 6-May 18:
This was our day of driving though the Swiss countryside. Our first stop was Gruyere, about 75miles away from Geneva. We took the highway to Lausanne, then country roads to Gruyere. If you like Gruyere cheese, this is where it comes from. We had a tour of the cheese factory, where they also gave us some cheese samples (varying degrees of age), then went up to the village of Gruyere for brunch. This was followed by a tour of the castle. The village is on a hill and surrounded by the alps. It was truly beautiful.

It takes a lot to make cheese.

The real happy cows!

View From the castle at Gruyere.

The village of Gruyere.

We then took the mountain road to Montreaux - great views and fantastic twists. We had some amazing Movenpick ice cream in Montroux then drove to a restaurant high up on the hill overlying Lake Leman, with great views of the lake and Alps in the distance. The place was called "The Deck."

Montreaux

View of Lake Lemon(Lake Geneva) from The Deck

Afterwards, we made our way back to Geneva. We parked at the same surface lot in Bernex again and took the tram to our friend's apartment. For dinner we went to Les Tilleuls, where we had the best pizza of the entire trip. Would definitely recommend this.

Day 7-May 19:
Our original plan was to leave Geneva in the morning for Interlaken. However, the weather in the Interlaken area was indicating freezing rain for the whole day and the passes close to Lucerne (Furka, Grimsel, Susten) were still closed. USB stick also hadn't arrived, so we decided to stay another day. We spend the early part of the morning walking around Geneva and stuffing ourselves with chocolate presents for family and friends back home. Laderach - amazing and expensive.

Random walking through the city.

For the later part of the morning and afternoon, we took a trip to Neuchatel to visit the castle there. Parking by the castle area was tight but after several maneuvers back and forth, we made it work between the tree and the other car (pic below). To my credit, it was much tighter than it looks.

You can only go inside the castle with a guided tour, however, the guided tour is free. It was originally built in the 12th century by the King of Burgundy. The castle is still used today by the Neuchatel regional government (regional parliament and court are there, equivalent to the state government in the US). Afterwards we took some pictures of the M by the castle area.

View of the city from the castle.

Panorama of the courtward inside the castle.

Regional court inside the castle.

Regional parliament is inside the castle.

On the drive back to Geneva, we got a call from the mail company saying they tried to deliver the USB but no one was home; they would try again the next day. Since we were leaving the next day, the only way to get it that day was to go to the driver's apartment as he still had it in the delivery car. Well, without further ado, we were off to another adventure for another hour searching for this apartment complex. When we got the package, the flash drive worked so we were relieved. Finally everything was good again . . . Or so we thought.

 

[visi107]

Day 8-May 20:
Our next destination was Lake Como and given that we did not go to Interlaken, we decided to get there by going south, driving through the Mt Blanc tunnel. It's not cheap -- 44 euro toll just for the tunnel. The tunnel itself is 11.5 km long. We did get some good views of Mount Blanc and the rest of the alps along the way.

On the Italian side of the tunnel.

Then, as we were driving on the Italian autostrada, I heard a crack then noticed a small chip on the windshield, I felt sick for a few minutes. But at least the weather in Lake Como was gonna be in the 70s, so, yay.

We stayed in Varenna at Divina Vita. It's one of the first buildings on the lake. Our apartment was on the second floor with the fabulous lake view. I would totally recommend this. It is above Bar il Molo, same owner. The only small downside was that their parking was occupied; we parked in the city's parking structure (5 min walking) for 25 euros per day. It was a little nerve racking going up and down the structure with the car because of the tightness and steepness. For the rest of the day, we visited the castle in Varenna and Villa Monastero. Make sure you are wearing comfortable shoes when you take the path to the castle. It's a hiking trail and you'll walk for a good 30 min uphill.

The view from our apartment.

In Varenna

View of Varenna from the castle.

From inside Villa Monastero.

 

[visi107]

Day 9-May 21:
Breakfast at Bar il Molo.

We spend the first part of the day walking around Bellagio and the wife did some shopping. Then we took the Villa Balbianello tour with the Bellagio water limousines. The villa has been used for several movies in the past including Casino Royale and Start Wars Attack of the Clones. The villa and the grounds were beautiful and the history very rich. This is a must do experience in Lake Como, WITH A GUIDE though! You can***8217;t rent the villa but the house next door (owned by the head of Virgin) is and it costs $200,000/week, we were told! We spend the evening in Varenna drinking wine and eating good food.

Some older cars passing through.

Bellagio in the background

The Villa Balbianello

200K a week will get you this!

View of Varenna from the ferry.

 

[visi107]

Day 10-May 22:
In the morning, the wife was feeling kinda tired so she let me go drive in the mountains all by myself (it would snow there the next day when we would leave). I drove north from Varenna through Passio di Spluga into Switzerland then took the San Bernardino Pass coming back south to Menaggio. The drive was great and with breathtaking views as well as breathtaking roads. I drove some of the narrowest roads I have ever seen that day. The road was clear but there was still a lot of snow on the ground at the top. Outside, it was really cold. It was 45 degrees at the top of the mountains and 77 in Lake Como.

Passo di Spluga

San Bernardino pass

View from the bottom looking up at San Bernardino.

From the top of San Bernardino.

I met back with my wife in Menaggio with the idea to spend the afternoon there. Menaggio however is a very tiny place and not much to do so we just got on the ferry back to Varenna with the M adding some needed color to the old ferry.

The M went back to the parking structure and we decided to be lazy and admire the lake view from our apartment for the rest of the late afternoon/evening.

 

[visi107]

Day 11-May 23:
We left Lake Como for the Aqua Dome. The road takes you through mountains and back roads the entire way there.
The only 'real' border crossing we encountered on our trip.

It snowed for parts of the drive there (mainly in St Mortiz with the lowest temp being 33). And if that wasn't enough, as the snow kept accumulating on the ground, we decided to drive around for an hour in St Mortiz to look for a grocery store for more chocolate presents for people back home as this was our last time in Switzerland. Not gonna lie, the snow did make me a bit nervous but the M did just fine.

I totally forgot about purchasing the Austrian vignette until we got to the border. Thankfully they did sell them at the border so no issues there. We got to the Aqua Dome just a little bit after noon. The Aqua Dome was a belated birthday present for my wife. We only stayed here for one night but she enjoyed every minute of it, relaxing and getting spa treatments. She's already told me that we need to include Aqua Dome in our next ED again for a few nights. @[m4recruiter](contact:261745), I got the idea for this from your itinerary so thanks! The Aqua Dome restaurant is also very classy and has great food, which was included in the price of our nightly rate.

Day 12-May 24:
We spend the morning where we left off the previous night, enjoying the spa facilities and immersing ourselves into the unfamiliar ways of European spas. (for most of the treatment rooms, no clothes are allowed!). I would definitely recommend this. For all the guys here, the women in your lives will love it. We didn't take any pictures of the inside as it's not allowed.

The views from our room.

We left Aqua Dome around noon for the much awaited castles. We walked the Neuschwanstein castle grounds but skipped the inside tour as it would have been a two hour wait and we were going to Salzburg from here. We got some obligatory pictures of the car with the castle in the background then we left for Salzburg.

Half of the way to Salzburg was through back roads (a part through the German Alpine road) and the other half was on A8. On A8 is also where I got pulled over by the German police. They were in an unmarked 528. There was a section with a 100kph limit and I think I was driving 140kph. I thought for sure we had a hefty fine coming our way but to my surprise they didn't ticket me. They just told me to be more careful. In Salzburg, we stayed at the Von Trapp Family home which they have converted to a B&B. The M enjoyed the parking at the Villa Trapp, most of the courtyard to herself. We checked in then, drove to town for dinner then called it a night. (The city's parking structure was carved inside the mountain. Coolness!) We ate at Sternbrau which had some good Austrian food and beer.

At Villa Trapp

The inside of the mountain has been carved into a parking structure.

 

[visi107]

Day 13-May 25:
Our first stop today was Frey BMW dealership in Salzburg for the long needed first service. I had gone over the 1200 mi but with our itinerary not being set in advance and the BMW dealerships in Geneva telling me they could get me in for a month, this was the best I could do. I could not get the launch control to work afterwards but after reading some more about this online, I think I just wasn't hitting the gas pedal hard enough to activate it. The service cost 380 Euros and took about 1.5 hrs. Afterwards we went to the Eagle's Nest, Hitler's home 6,000 feet up a mountain.

To get there, you park your car half way up the mountain and purchase tickets for the experience. Then, with the other tourists, you take a bus to the top. Even though it was a sunny day at the bottom, there were big clouds at the top so we couldn't really see anything from there. But we had some good views of the area below from the bus ride. The Eagle's nest functions as a restaurant now. We had beer and soup there and then decided to go for the salt mine tour.

The Eagle's Nest

The salt mine was very interesting, both the history and the process that is used to get the salt out. They do not allow photos inside the mine. They do take photos of you in two spots; photos which you can purchase but only as a paper copy so we skipped that. Afterwards, we drove back to Salzburg where we walked around by the river, had dinner then called it a night. The salt mines and eagle's nest are both in Berchtesgaden (which is in Germany), only about a 20-30 minute fun drive from Salzburg.

Day 14-May 26:
Today was our last full day with the car. In the morning, we visited the Mirabell Palace and gardens. We couldn't find a tour of the inside of the palace. Perhaps there wasn't one. We didn't want to take the half a day Sound of Music tour as we were planning to go back to Berchtesgaden. After Mirabell Palace, we visited the castle. Overlooking all of Salzburg and beyond, the castle and the visit there gave us insight on 1000 years of history of the region. It was a sunny day and offered great views of the city.

Afterwards, we headed back to Berchtesgaden to explore Lake Konigsee. You can pay by credit card for all-day parking at the machine by the information area. The rest of the parking stations only take cash. We had a beer by the lake then went on the boat tour: we elected to do the full lake boat ride. It's one hour each way but you can get off the boat after one way and come back for the round trip with a later boat. The lake is 7 km long I believe and surrounded by mountains. It's Europe's cleanest lake - no motorized vehicles! It offers breathtaking views but you have to take the boat ride to appreciate them due to how it is geographically oriented. It's was a good day to visit the lake as it was sunny and in the high 70s. In May, these days are rare in Germany. In the evening we went to the city again (Salzburg). We spent some time walking around east of the river (New Salzburg). After dinner we went back to Villa Trapp and packed our bags for the morning.

At Lake Konigsee

 

[visi107]

Day 15-May 27:
Our appointment at Log In Out was for 9:30. We left Salzburg around 645. There were a few no speed limit sections on the way to Munich but also plenty of constrution so the fastest I could go was 220kph or 140mph. This is also were we got pulled over again. This time though it was during a section without a speed limit. They were mainly interested in making make sure the car was really mine and didn't say that I had done anything wrong. They thoroughly checked all the documents as well as the vin number on the documents against the one imprinted at the bottom of the windshield and the one under the hood. They were driving an unmarked E92 328. The rest of the drive was uneventful. We stopped at the Agip station by the airport for gas and to wash the car. This is very easy to find, it's on the left side right before you enter the airport area. They have self-wash and automated. We elected for the automated one as we both felt lazy. The Log In Out can be a little tricky to find but as several other people have mentioned, it is by the Audi forum, on the side of the building. Dropping off took about 20 min. Both terminals are a 3-4 minute walk from there. And so our journey, with the car came to an end. In total we did 2230 miles.

'See you soon dear!'

Day15-Day19 - May27-May 31
From Munich we were off to Antibes, France for 4 nights before returning back to the states. We stayed at a friend's villa on the Mediterranean which was amazing. We only took a one day trip to Monte Carlo, the day after the Grand Prix.

If you ever go to Antibes, I would definitely recommend this restaurant

Monte Carlo

The chocolate made it back in good condition too

 

[turpiwa]

That's an excellent report out. Loved it. I think my next one will have to include Switzerland again and I need to get to the aqua dome. Just finished and already planning the next!
Not that I am biased but love the colour!
When did you take re-delivery?

 

[1northcar]

Thanks for an excellent ED report with many interesting photos. It was interesting to see new and unique places that are not usually visited by EDers. Also it was nostalgic to see your M3 parked there at Villa Trapp where we had stayed on our most recent ED. There is some really interesting history tied to that location, some of which one does not find in the guide books. For example tradition has it that one night when Hitler was staying there he became annoyed by one of the soldiers in the area where you probably parked your M3 who was whistling a Russian folksong. In the morning he had the whole detail shot.

 

[visi107]

That's an excellent report out. Loved it. I think my next one will have to include Switzerland again and I need to get to the aqua dome. Just finished and already planning the next!
Not that I am biased but love the colour!
When did you take re-delivery?

Yes my wife has already told me the Aquadome is a must for our next ED in the future.

Sadly I still have not gotten the Car back. Dropped off in Munich on May 27th. Car went to VPC on June 28th and has been there still and i can't seem to find out why. Maybe they are replacing the windshield as i did have a small rock chip or maybe there was some other damage during transport. BMW genius basically say they can't find out.

 

[visi107]

Thanks for an excellent ED report with many interesting photos. It was interesting to see new and unique places that are not usually visited by EDers. Also it was nostalgic to see your M3 parked there at Villa Trapp where we had stayed on our most recent ED. There is some really interesting history tied to that location, some of which one does not find in the guide books. For example tradition has it that one night when Hitler was staying there he became annoyed by one of the soldiers in the area where you probably parked your M3 who was whistling a Russian folksong. In the morning he had the whole detail shot.

Yes indeed re the Trapp home history. I actually did not know that Hitler had stayed there.

 

[AggieKnight]

Thank you for your detailed report.

Very jealous of your trip!

 

[Snareman]

Great write up and pics!! Sorry about your flights. I'm always dubious that my bags are actually going to make it with those sorts of swaps.

I'm planning on most of the same stuff in Berchtesgaden in a few weeks when I'm there. How long did you spend doing each of the lake and Eagle's Nest? Did you need an international license when you got pulled over? I can't remember what the latest on that is.

 

[visi107]

Great write up and pics!! Sorry about your flights. I'm always dubious that my bags are actually going to make it with those sorts of swaps.

I'm planning on most of the same stuff in Berchtesgaden in a few weeks when I'm there. How long did you spend doing each of the lake and Eagle's Nest? Did you need an international license when you got pulled over? I can't remember what the latest on that is.

Both times that I was pulled over it was by the German Police. I asked them if they wanted the international permit and basically they said no.

Eagle's nest-the area is not that big, the building itself is now a restaurant so there is nothing to really see on the inside. I think half a day, 3-4 hours (including the bus ride to the top and back as well as sitting at the restaurant at the top to have a snak/drink) should be enough. If it is clear at the top then it may take more time depending how long you want to enjoy the view for. That day we spend the morning at eagle's nest and the afternoon at the salt mine.

The lake on the other hand was a 6-7 hour activity. The boat ride itself takes about one hour each way. There are also lot of shops/biergardens there so time does go by fast. And if you like taking photos of outdoors, you could spend a lot more time there.

 

[Snareman]

Both times that I was pulled over it was by the German Police. I asked them if they wanted the international permit and basically they said no.

Eagle's nest-the area is not that big, the building itself is now a restaurant so there is nothing to really see on the inside. I think half a day, 3-4 hours (including the bus ride to the top and back as well as sitting at the restaurant at the top to have a snak/drink) should be enough. If it is clear at the top then it may take more time depending how long you want to enjoy the view for. That day we spend the morning at eagle's nest and the afternoon at the salt mine.

The lake on the other hand was a 6-7 hour activity. The boat ride itself takes about one hour each way. There are also lot of shops/biergardens there so time does go by fast. And if you like taking photos of outdoors, you could spend a lot more time there.

Wow, I didn't know the lake was that long. I'm planning on arriving in Berchtesgaden around Noon-ish from Vienna after stopping at Melk Abbey and I'd have the rest of that day and the whole next day other than driving to Munich the following evening. I had plans for theoretically Eagle's Nest, Salt Mines and the lake. I was thinking Eagle's Nest on the afternoon I arrive, Lake the next morning and then the mines after that, but it sounds like that might not quite fit in in that order. I'm going to be alone though by that point so perhaps I won't be spending as much time in some of the places.

 

[visi107]

Wow, I didn't know the lake was that long. I'm planning on arriving in Berchtesgaden around Noon-ish from Vienna after stopping at Melk Abbey and I'd have the rest of that day and the whole next day other than driving to Munich the following evening. I had plans for theoretically Eagle's Nest, Salt Mines and the lake. I was thinking Eagle's Nest on the afternoon I arrive, Lake the next morning and then the mines after that, but it sounds like that might not quite fit in in that order. I'm going to be alone though by that point so perhaps I won't be spending as much time in some of the places.

If you pace yourself a little then it's def possible. there are two options on the boat ride as far as the lake goes. The full boat ride to the end of the lake is 60 minutes each way. The other option is 40min each way but only goes half way. No motorized boats allowed there that's why it takes so long. Regardless of what you pick, in my opinion you have to do the boat ride to appreciate the views. The lake is geographically oriented in such a way that at the entrance you can't see much.

Oh and just make sure you check what time the last bus is from the eagle's nest. In May it was around 4 or 5pm i think so they were not open that late. Same with the lake, the last boat was at 5pm i beleive in May.

 

[gsrthomas]

Awesome report!

I also want to go to Aqua Dome. What time of year did you go, is that snow on the ground I see?

I want to go in the beginning of October and I am not sure if there will be snow there during this time? Any feedback appreciated!

 

[turpiwa]

Yes my wife has already told me the Aquadome is a must for our next ED in the future.

Sadly I still have not gotten the Car back. Dropped off in Munich on May 27th. Car went to VPC on June 28th and has been there still and i can't seem to find out why. Maybe they are replacing the windshield as i did have a small rock chip or maybe there was some other damage during transport. BMW genius basically say they can't find out.

That sucks. I am sure I'll be in the same boat very soon. Mine is supposed to land in Brunswick on the 28th July but I have a scratch on the lower bumper so I am expecting to be a delay. Hopefully not too much though! I get home on the 10th and head back here (Egypt) on the 5th Sept so want some time with it!