I’d recommend staying one night in Colmar, explore the town during the day, have nice dinner then and next day drive to Eguishem, it’s very close. Few hours in Eguishem should be enough, it’s a small town.
After the Duomo tour we walked about 25 minutes to see The Last Supper but tickets were sold out for today. Because we wasted time going there (and back) we also missed out on La Scala tour. That what happens when you’re too spontaneous.
At least we managed to find a great place for lunch.
This small restaurant called Pasto - Laboratorio di Pasta Con Cucina makes fresh pasta daily, only 4 options on the menu range between €10-12. A glass local wine cost €4 and cup of coffee €1. The cheapest meal we had so far on this trip and one of the most memorable. The flavours were absolutely incredible, homemade pasta at it’s best!
To emphasise how popular this place is, when we were about to leave a group of 5 arrived and the owner told them sorry I don’t have enough pasta left today, please come back tomorrow.
After the late lunch we had a mandatory ice cream because when in Italy… and walked back towards Plazza Duomo passing by the statue of Leonardo.
And the famous Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II
Finished the day at Rinascente shopping centre where +1 indulged in some retail therapy or in her words The fashion here is so much better than Australia, so many things to buy…
Oh dear
I couldn’t care less about shopping so went upstairs to the balcony for a glass (or three) of local wines with Cathedral view.
Our short Italian detour finished and now it’s time to catch up with our original route which means driving all the way to Innsbruck. It’s quite a long drive to do nonstop so we decided to stop and check out St Moritz on the way.
We took the long way to the border back to Switzerland passing many small villages around Lake Como. We didn’t have the time to stop and explore any of them properly but we will definitely be back, this time with more planing and hopefully better weather.
Another unplanned stop. The original route was supposed to take us from Interlaken to Innsbruck via Lichtenstein. Instead we are driving from Lake Como to Innsbruck via St Moritz.
I knew two things about this town, that it’s a ski destination for rich people and it hosted the Winter Olympics (twice).
Ski season hasn’t started yet and the town was quiet but views were stunning nonetheless. I could see the appeal.
For lunch we found a nice place in town that’s half meat shop / half restaurant. Literally the place is divided almost 50/50 between the shop and restaurant.
Brased Roe Deer seemed interesting
Not something I’d see often on the menu back home
Paired with fantastic Italian Nebbiolo.
(The German Riesling was the aperitif)
Overall an excellent meal. The deer dish was outstanding!
We end up spending more than planned in this cute little town and before we noticed it was almost sunset. It was time to farewell Switzerland (again) and drive to our next destination, Austria
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Did most of that territory by road last month - Como via Spluga Pass to San Bernadino in one day, then 3 hrs San Bernadino to San Moritz another day, and up n down to Tirano a few times. So you must hv left yr eyeballs by the roadside carrying on to Innsbruck same day. BTW, where/how did you pay yr swiss highway tax ?
Did most of that territory by road last month - Como via Spluga Pass to San Bernadino in one day, then 3 hrs San Bernadino to San Moritz another day, and up n down to Tirano a few times. So you must hv left yr eyeballs by the roadside carrying on to Innsbruck same day. BTW, where/how did you pay yr swiss highway tax ?
At the French/Swiss border the officer who checked all cars entering pointed us to the closest petrol station and we bought the highway sticker there.
Good thing that we filled up the tank in France because petrol/diesel price was significantly higher in Switzerland, as many other things in that country.
Today we did tours at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. English tours tend to sell out early so we booked in advance. Tickets are non changeable and non refundable so it’s important to plan accordingly and get the dates right.
For some reason photos are not allowed inside but at least we could take some nice ones outside.
Neuschwanstein was built for the Bavarian king Ludwig II (1845 - 1886). it was begun in 1868 but never fully completed. The king saw his castle as a monument to the culture and concept of monarchy prevailing in the Middle Ages, which he greatly admired and wanted to recreate. Built and furnished in medieval styles but equipped with the latest technology of the day, it is the most famous historicist building in the world.
Hohenschwangau Castle was mentioned the first time in records of the 12th century.
Until the 16th century its owners were the knights of Schwangau. During the following time it changed hands a couple of times and was partially destroyed during different wars.
In 1832 the later King Maximilian II father of King Ludwig II acquired the ruin and had the castle rebuilt according to original plans. After its completion it used to be the summer and hunting residence of the Bavarian royal family.
Today we did tours at Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. English tours tend to sell out early so we booked in advance. Tickets are non changeable and non refundable so it’s important to plan accordingly and get the dates right.
For some reason photos are not allowed inside but at least we could take some nice ones outside.
Neuschwanstein was built for the Bavarian king Ludwig II (1845 - 1886). it was begun in 1868 but never fully completed. The king saw his castle as a monument to the culture and concept of monarchy prevailing in the Middle Ages, which he greatly admired and wanted to recreate. Built and furnished in medieval styles but equipped with the latest technology of the day, it is the most famous historicist building in the world.
Hohenschwangau Castle was mentioned the first time in records of the 12th century.
Until the 16th century its owners were the knights of Schwangau. During the following time it changed hands a couple of times and was partially destroyed during different wars.
In 1832 the later King Maximilian II father of King Ludwig II acquired the ruin and had the castle rebuilt according to original plans. After its completion it used to be the summer and hunting residence of the Bavarian royal family.
No doubting the picturesque setting of Neuschwanstein, but we also enjoyed near by Linderhof, which at least he managed to get finished. Really lovely gardens, but a modest palace. Enjoying following along.
Yesterday we drove to the palaces from Innsbruck, today we are back in that area but this time coming from Munich (similar driving time from both cities).
As @OATEK said, this palace is actually finished both outside and inside, unlike the more famous Neuschwanstein which is only 1/3 finished inside (because the king died).
In fact it was the only palace king Lugwig II lived to see completed. It’s not big compared to the others but it was only ever intended to be for the king who lived there by himself. He never got married and apparently a loner who was awake during the night and sleeping during the day in order to avoid seeing other people as much a possible.
Visit inside the palace is only possible by guided tours and again we were not allowed to take photos, don’t know why the Germans are so uptight about it. The centrepiece was the King’s enormous bed in his extra large bedroom. He was tall guy and clearly cared a lot about comfort.
Our next stop was the tallest mountain in Germany.
We didn’t plan to go there but after missing Jungfrau in Switzerland due to bad weather I was looking for a consolation and Zugspitze delivered big time! We had perfect sunny day and the views were magnificent
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