Tag Archives: Germany

Hilton Hotel, Nuremberg, Germany

12 Friday Oct 2018

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Our stay at the Hilton Nuremberg was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The Hilton Nuremberg is one those classic out-of-the-centre, middle-of-nowhere, Hiltons – ideal when you are driving as the car park was large and parking free.

Let’s start by saying that this hotel shouldn’t be a Hilton – maybe a Hilton Garden Inn at best. If it had a twin, then it would be the Hilton Watford, England. However, the rates are very cheap – you can get around 75 € per night. For HHonors Gold/Diamond members, a snack, a drink and breakfast are free, making that 75 € good value.

The hotel is walking distance to the old rally grounds and what is called ‘The Documentation Centre’, but is 20 minutes by bus from the city centre.

Next door was a local football stadium and I could see their pitch from the windows at the rear of the hotel.

The check-in desk staff were friendly, helpful and spoke English. They gave us vouchers to redeem at the bar and the help-yourself snack bar. The snack bar was almost empty, with hardly anything left from the menu to choose from.

Our ‘upgraded'(!) bedroom was okay for one night. The bathroom was hot, tiny, drains a bit smelly with a noisy extractor fan.

The hotel bar/restaurant was mostly empty. The bar staff really inattentive – obviously bored to be there, but not bored enough to serve customers.

We ate at the nearby Valzner Weiher Restaurant. There’s also a Burger King (turn right out of the hotel to the next traffic junction) which is housed in an old generator building used to power the floodlights at the nearby rally grounds.

Breakfast was better, with fresh orange juice, sparkling wine, all the usual pastries and hot food, including local sausages. For those whose rate didn’t include breakfast, the price was 24 € – at that price, you’d be better walking to Burger King.

There is no direct bus connection from the hotel to the Documentation Centre – you’d need to head back into the centre and then back out again. It’s about 30 minutes walk, but halfway there you can see the old rally grounds and then walk around a nice lake.

If you are on driving to Nuremberg and your main focus is to visit the Documentation Centre then this hotel will be okay – otherwise choose something in the city centre.

HILTON NUREMBERG HOTEL
VALZNERWEIHERSTRASSE 200,
90480, NUREMBERG,
GERMANY

TEL: +49-911-4029 0

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/bavaria/hilton-nuremberg-hotel-NUEHIHI/index.html

Lake Königssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany

10 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to Eagle’s Nest was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Situated within the Berchtesgaden Alps, the Königssee lake is 7.7 km (4.8 mi) long and 1.7 km (1 mi) across at its widest point. The lake is similar to a fjord, being surrounded by the steeply-rising flanks of mountains. The lake is noted for its clear water and is advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. For this reason, only electric-powered passenger ships, rowing, and pedal boats have been permitted on the lake since 1909.

We visited the local town of Schönau am Königssee at the Northern end of the lake. We needed to leave and drive to Nuremberg, so we didn’t have time to take the boat trip. There was also a cable car that we had to skip. Maybe next time.

The whole place is picturesque, although there were still plenty of wasps around (August 2018) doing their best to ruin things. I’d certainly recommend a visit, even if, like us, you only have time to stroll around.

Lake Königssee, Berchtesgaden, Germany

https://www.berchtesgaden.de/en/nature/lake-koenigssee

 

Eagle’s Nest (Kehlsteinhaus) Berchtesgaden, Germany

09 Tuesday Oct 2018

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Our visit to Eagle’s Nest was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The Kehlsteinhaus (known as the Eagle’s Nest) is a Third Reich-era building erected atop the summit of the Kehlstein (1,834 m (6,017 ft) a sub-peak of the Hoher Göll that rises above the town of Berchtesgaden. Eagle’s Nest was visited on 14 documented instances by Adolf Hitler – he didn’t live there, instead had a house down the mountain near the Hotel zum Türken. Today, Eagle’s Nest is open mid-May to mid-October as a restaurant, beer garden and tourist site.

It was difficult to find information about the buses that take visitors up the mountain. If you search for Eagle’s Nest, you’ll mostly likely find https://www.kehlsteinhaus.de/english/ but this is a tour company selling tickets for 24.50 € and a minimum of 20 people. What you need is the website for the RVO-Bus company http://www.rvo-bus.de/oberbayernbus/view/freizeittipps/ausflugsbusse/eagles-nest.shtml – a return ticket is 16.60 € and that includes an elevator to the top.

We used Salzbergstraße 41, 83471 Berchtesgaden for the sat nav and parked in the Documentation Centre car park. It was just a few minutes walk to the bus station. There wasn’t a queue (August 2018) and we purchased tickets for the next bus.

 

The bus takes the 6.8km winding road to a bus parking lot. The views from ether side of the bus are impressive; right-side has the first views, then left-side has higher views.

When you arrive at the upper bus parking lot, you need to choose a return time and get a ticket for the bus you want. I’d say you need at least an hour and at least two hours if you plan to eat – that not including any wait time for the elevator (there wasn’t a wait when we were there).

Then you walk through a 124m tunnel.

That takes you to a lobby and elevator entrance.

The overly-ornate, mirrored, elevator then takes you 124m to Eagle’s Nest. Yes that’s me trying to take a photo in a mirrored room.

The views from the top were spectacular. There was plenty of snow up there.

A path lead to the summit.

But as I only had a pair of trainers and a sweater (I’d worn shorts and a t-shirt in Berlin just a few days before), I skipped that walk and headed into the restaurant.

The restaurant is busy. Many tables are allocated to pre-booked groups. It took about 15 minutes before I spotted a group leaving and I immediately grabbed the table – a complete mess of half-eaten food and beer glasses. It took a while before the table was cleared. I wouldn’t say the wait staff were rude, more coldly-efficient, dealing with a sea of visitors, none of whom likely to return – it’s amazing the service and food quality isn’t terrible. As it was, we had a decent beer and snack that wasn’t expensive considering the location.

There are other areas to wander around, including some information boards with some history. Then we took the lift down and the tunnel back to the bus.

Even if you have some misgivings about the Nazi connection, I’d definitely recommend a visit to Eagle’s Nest.

We used Salzbergstraße 41, 83471 Berchtesgaden, Germany to find the bus station.

Return tickets to cost 16,60 € for adults and 9,60 € for children younger than 14 years. The elevator ride is included.

Buses run mid-May to mid-October. The first bus runs at 07:40 am and the last one leaves the Eagle’s Nest at 4:00 pm.

Mount Everest Indian Restaurant, Berchtesgaden, Germany

05 Friday Oct 2018

Posted by in Restaurants and Bars

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Our visit to the Mount Everest Indian Restaurant was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

We were staying at the Hotel AlpinaRos – Demming which didn’t have any food available in the evening. Despite the pouring rain, we left the hotel and walked up a hill to what could be called the High Street in Berchtesgaden.

There wasn’t much available, although we did almost go for a Greek Restaurant http://www.akropolis-berchtesgaden.de/ and now I wish we had!

The entrance to Mount Everest looked inviting with tables set in open-air corridor.

The interior was okay.

Beer was 3.50 € a bottle – the menu showed the bottles as being 0.5l but only the dark beer came as a 0.5l, the regular was something like 0.4l. I just ordered dark beer as my second beer. We also ordered a 0.7l bottle of water.

Papadums were 2.50 € each – we ordered three and they came with some pickles. Sadly the papadums weren’t good – really oily and we hardly ate any. We told the friendly, middle-aged German waitress about the papadums but they remained on our bill.

The chicken curry 14.90 € wasn’t bad – but really nothing special.

We paid the bill, which seemed a little high – I later realised why. The 0.7l bottle of water had been changed at an outrageous 6.90 €. I really hate it when restaurants inflate the prices of items that customers order without thinking. Even if the papadums had been okay, I’d never return here because of that sneaky rip off.

If you find yourself in Berchtesgaden, don’t climb this mountain ‘just because it’s there’!

Mount Everest
Kälbersteinstraße 4
83471 Berchtesgaden

Phone: 08652/65 77506

Monday: Closed
Tuesday Sunday: 11: 30-14: 30 • 17: 30-22: 30
In October and November 2017 open only in the evening.

http://www.mounteverest-restaurant.de/

Hotel AlpinaRos – Demming, Berchtesgaden, Germany

03 Wednesday Oct 2018

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Our stay at the Hotel AlpinaRos – Demming was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Hotels in Berchtesgaden are expensive compared to the other German cities that we visited. The best hotel is the Kempinski but you’ll need to pay at least 200 € without breakfast to stay there.

The AlpinaRos – Demming looked like the next best place for our one night stay. Two rooms (one double and one single) with breakfast cost us 250 €.

We arrived on a rainy afternoon in Berchtesgaden, having driven straight from our visit to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. We managed to find a parking space – there are only a few spaces and I’d recommend paying an extra 5 € for one of the hotel garage spaces.

The man at reception spoke English and, sort of, guided us to our rooms. I say, sort of, as he pointed to the stairs and said our room was on the top floor. It was only later, having carried our bags up, that I discovered that there was an elevator!

The room was okay.

The bathroom was small but modern.

There was a small terrace, with views of Berchtesgaden. Despite the cold weather and pouring rain, a wasp buzzed me while I took these pictures.

There was also a small garden.

The hotel didn’t seem to have any food nor drink, although there was an unattended bar. We were also told that reception closed at 8pm and we’d need to use a key for the rear door to return. So it was that later that evening, still with rain pouring down, we found our way back inside after a pretty poor dinner in the local Mount Everest Indian Restaurant.

Check out was a ridiculous 10am. The breakfast was pretty basic – some cold cuts, scrambled eggs and sausages.

I didn’t hate this hotel, but I only stayed one night. I realise that small hotels have limited staff, but this has 80 rooms. For that many guests, I’d expect at least a hotel bar, a reception open later than 8pm and a later check out time. I got the feeling that the place was run more for the benefit of the staff/owners rather than the guests.

Nonetheless, I expect the other hotels in Berchtesgaden are similar – just book whatever price suits you, as you’ll be out all day sightseeing anyway.

AlpinaRos Demming
Sunklergässchen 2
83471 Berchtesgaden
Germany

Phone: +49 (0) 8652 9610

E-Mail: info@alpinaros.de

https://www.alpina-hotels.de/demming/

Mercedes Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Germany

21 Friday Sep 2018

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Our visit to the Mercedes Benz Museum was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited). We stayed at the nearby Hilton Garden Inn and you could walk from there to the museum.

From the museum website:
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is the only museum in the world that can document in a single continuous timeline over 130 years of auto industry history from its very beginnings to the present day. On nine levels and covering a floor space of 16,500 square metres, the museum presents 160 vehicles and over 1,500 exhibits.

That’s a pretty accurate description. On arrival, we took a futuristic elevator to the top floor.

The self-guided tour starts with the oldest first.

We then worked our way down a wide sloping spiral, surrounded by historical events and cars. I’ll post a series of pictures at the end of this review.

My favourite car – the 300SL with gull-wing doors.

My favourite movie vehicle from Jurassic Park – Lost World.

My least favourite exhibit – a Mercedes hand painted by some famous rapper presented as a ‘work of art’. If I were Mercedes, I would have banned the guy from purchasing a Mercedes for life for ruining a good car.

The ground floor has a showroom of all the latest Mercedes models.

We visited the ground floor restaurant. It was pretty sad compared to the excellent restaurant at the Porsche Museum. It wasn’t clear how to obtain food and we first queued at the nearby snack bar, only to be told there was waiter service.

The menu was unexciting and expensive. So if there was one thing I would change about the Mercedes Museum, it would be the restaurant.

We really enjoyed our visit and I’d recommend the Mercedes Benz Museum. If you’re planning to visit the Porsche Museum on the same day, then plan to eat there.

Mercedes Benz Museum
Mercedesstraße 100,
70372 Stuttgart, Germany

+49 711-17 30 000
e-mail: classic@daimler.com

Tickets.
Day ticket regular: 10 €, reduced: 5 €

If you have a Porsche Museum ticket, you receive 25% off admission and vice versa.

If you have a StuttCard (17 € for 24 hours) you can go free to both Porsche and Mercedes Museums plus a host of other museums and attractions.

https://www.mercedes-benz.com/en/mercedes-benz/classic/museum/

Tuesdays to Sundays 9 am to 6 pm (Box office closing time: 5 pm)
Closed on Mondays and selected public holidays.

 

Palm Beach Bar and Restaurant, Stuttgart

18 Tuesday Sep 2018

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Our visit to the Palm Beach Bar was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

We were staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Stuttgart. The hotel is in the grounds of the Mercedes Benz Arena – home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart and there aren’t many restaurants within walking distance.

The Palm Beach Bar is behind the hotel and a one minute walk away – it looked like a cheesy version of TGI Fridays. As it was the Palm Beach Bar was pretty good.

There are big screens everywhere for showing sports. We were happy to watch a great game of football, the first game of the Bundesliga season where Bayern Munich beat Hoffenheim 3-1.

We had a Thai Curry and a Pizza

Both good pub grub dishes. Service was good and prices were okay.

If you find yourselves nearby the Mercedes Arena and you’re not looking for fine-dining, then you’ll be okay at the Palm Beach Bar.

Palm Beach Bar
Mercedes street 73B
70372 Stuttgart

https://www.palmbeach-stuttgart.de/

0711/16 22 11 99

Ludwigsburg Palace, Stuttgart, Germany

13 Thursday Sep 2018

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8th October 2018 update: I’ve fixed a few mistakes thanks to the advice of the friendly staff at Ludwigsburg Palace. In some places I’d used Ludwigsberg and I now know that berg = hill and burg = palace. So if you visit a German town that ends in burg, you’re likely to find a palace!

Our visit to the Ludwigsburg Palace was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Ludwigsburg Residential Palace is one of the largest Baroque buildings in Europe to survive in its original condition. Tours are available in English. We arrived at the entrance to the gardens and found that there was an entry fee that wasn’t part of the tour. I’m not sure if you can buy a combined ticket for both gardens and tour – the Palace website only mentions the tour. 9th October update: I’ve now found details of how you can purchase entry to both gardens and palace – see the end of this review.

So we walked around the edge of the gardens to the Palace entrance.

We found the tour entrance to the right and went up some magnificent stairs. It turned out that we were the only three members of the English tour and so this turned into a private tour.

Our guide was really friendly and was able to tell us all about the Palace, without sounding like a tour guide.

The first palace on the site, the main part of the building, was constructed from 1704 onwards. It was intended as a hunting lodge for Duke Eberhard Ludwig. In 1715, when Ludwigsburg became the Duke’s principal place of residence, he sought a more fitting reflection of his power and prestige. As a result, the three-wing complex acquired a fourth wing, enclosing a square. The impressive structure was completed in 1733.

The corridors and rooms were impressive.

There were styles from Baroque to Rococo to Neoclassical.

The Hall Of Order was one of the King’s most important rooms, where he met with his hunting order and his other very important guests. It’s still used today for ceremonies or classical concerts.

The view to the gardens.

We really enjoyed a tour – it was a nice segment between our visit to the Porsche Museum earlier that day and the Mercedes Museum on the next day. You may even be lucky and find yourselves the only visitors on the tour.

Ludwigsburg Residential Palace
Schlossstraße 30
71634 Ludwigsburg, Germany
Phone +49(0)71 41.18 64 00

info@schloss-ludwigsburg.de

https://www.schloss-ludwigsburg.de/en/home/

Open every day 10:00 am – 05:00 pm but you have to take a guided tour

Guided tours in English:
15 March to 15 November:
Mon – Fri 1.15 pm, 3.15 pm
Sat and Sun and public holidays 11.15 am, 1.15 pm, 3.15 pm, 5.15 pm
16 November to 14 March:
Mon – Fri 1.15 pm, 3.15 pm
Sat and Sun and public holidays 11.15 am, 1.15 pm, 3.15 pm

Adults 7,00 €
Reduced 3,50 €
Family 17,50 €

If you have a StuttCard (17 € for 24 hours) you can go free to Ludwigsburg Palace, Porsche and Mercedes Museums plus a host of other museums and attractions.

October 9th update: Visit this page and choose Baroque Experience (German: Barockerlebniskarte) https://www.schloss-ludwigsburg.de/besucherinformation/preise/ you can find prices for a combined Palace Tour and Garden visit.
Adult                         18,00 €
Reduced                     10,00 €

Porsche Museum, Stuttgart, Germany

12 Wednesday Sep 2018

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Our visit to the Porsche Museum was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

The exterior of the Porsche Museum is impressive. There are also three Porsche models attached to concrete arms just across the street.

An audio tour guide is included in the admission price – I didn’t take one as I don’t really like tours, even when they are self-guided.

A long escalator takes you to a huge upper floor and you’re surrounded by Porsche models.

There’s plenty to see  – a complete selection from old to new, including some rare and icon models. Many of the displays also play a sound of the engine.

There are also the racing models.

After a few hours, we took the escalator down and visited the Boxenstopp restaurant on the ground floor.

There was a spotless open kitchen.

The food prices were pretty reasonable.

And the food was outstanding. I’d love to try the fine-dining Christophorus Restaurant as I’m sure that would be amazing.

We really enjoyed our visit and I’d recommend the Porsche Museum – don’t forget to eat there!

Porsche Museum
Porscheplatz 1
70435 Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen

0049 (0)711 – 911 20 911

info.museum@porsche.de

https://www.porsche.com/museum/en/

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The fine-dining Christophorus Restaurant is open Tuesday to Saturday until midnight.

Prices
If you have a Mercedes Museum ticket, you receive 25% off admission and vice versa.

If you have a StuttCard (17 € for 24 hours) you can go free to both Porsche and Mercedes Museums plus a host of other museums and attractions.

Parking 4 €
Adult 8 € Concessions 4 € Children under 14 are free when accompanied by an adult
Evening tickets (from 5 p.m.) Adult 4 € Concessions 2 €
Family ticket (2 adults + children up to 18) 20 €
Guided museum tour (admission not included) 60 €
Guided architectural tour (admission not included) 90 €
Open museum tour (admission not included) 4 €
Annual tickets Adults (non-transferable) 32 € Concessions 16 €

Hilton Garden Inn, Stuttgart, Germany

10 Monday Sep 2018

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Our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Stuttgart was part of our German Road trip (that page has links to all the hotels, restaurants and places visited).

Our stay at this Hilton was so we could visit the nearby Porsche Museum, Mercedes Museum and Ludwigsburg Palace. I can’t imagine that people stay here for any other reason except to attend matches at the Mercedes Benz Arena – home to German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. The hotel is directly next to the arena and so this is the view you’ll see from your window.

We were able to park directly outside, although had to move the car to the street afterwards – hotel parking is  €16.

Check in was smooth, although there was no mention of an upgrade for our two room bookings; one Diamond, one Gold HHhonors. We were also informed that the hotel restaurant was closed for refurbishment and so we’d need to go elsewhere for dinner.

On arrival at my room, it was clear this was the lowest level room. And I might have accepted that had the bed wasn’t so small.

The bathroom was okay.

I returned to reception and asked if they had any better rooms – it looked like the hotel was completely full. After several minutes, they decided to offer me an accessible room – that was fine with me. This room was much better, with an entry hall, large bed and more windows.

The bathroom was accessible – I quite like the large walk-in shower.

Breakfast was okay – what you’d expect from a Garden Inn.

If you’re planning to visit the car museums, Ludwigsburg Palace or attend a football match then the Hilton Garden Inn will suffice. Apart from that I can’t see any reason for anyone to stay here.

Hilton Garden Inn
Mercedesstrasse 75,
70372, Stuttgart
Germany

TEL: +49-711-900550

http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/baden-wurttemberg/hilton-garden-inn-stuttgart-neckarpark-STRPKGI/index.html