Self driving around Milan and Germany from July 25 to August 7, 2015
Days: 14 days
Time: July
Per capita: 16750 yuan
With whom: parents and children
Play: free travel, humanities, self driving, petty bourgeoisie, shopping
The author went to these places
Milan
Germany
Frankfurt
Stuttgart
Actel Camino Hotel
Vilzburg
Novotel Hotel
Neuschwanstein Castle
Museum area
Doria.
Dream Hotel
Sforzesco Castle
Milan Cathedral
Cathedral
Heixinggen
Burg Hohenzollern
Mei Qinggen
hamburger
Schloss Linderhof
Iron bridge
Bavaria
Stones
Oberammergau
Munich
Royal beer house
Munich Residence
Bill
Rottenberg
New palace
Berlin
Dresden
Houses of Parliament
Nuremberg
Burg
Altes Rathaus
city hall
Residenz
Saal
Goethe's former residence
Recommended accommodation
Novotel Frankfurt City: ￥ 468, book now >
Hotel fantasy ￥ 636, book now >
Arcotel Camino ￥ 593, book now >
Doria Hotel ￥ 401, book now >
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Published on December 12, 2015 23:20
In the midsummer of 2015, the 4-month self driving journey finally started in late July. Everything seemed to come, start and end naturally, and everything was so full and unforgettable that now I can remember every bit of it.
Let's talk about the basic situation first. This trip is a combination of three big, two old and two small. After several years of traveling in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the United States and Canada, I finally decided to take a more in-depth self driving tour according to my own wishes. Why Milan and Germany? Many people have asked this question. The plot of Milan is that I went to Italy several times and missed it. The most recent one to this city was in the summer vacation of 2003 when I stayed in the suburbs of Milan for a night when I followed Trafalgar, a local travel agency, from England to Verona from Switzerland. At that time, I thought silently that there would always be an opportunity for me to visit this city by myself, But I didn't expect that this day was 12 years apart. In the past 12 years, I have been married and had children. Considering that the old people at home seldom travel and that there are fewer and fewer opportunities to go out in the future as they get older, in order to show the old people as many different pictures of the world as possible, I have planned several family trips every year since my son was two years old, from home to abroad. Because I chose to go abroad with a group tour, so when I came to Italy again in July 2012, I only went to Rome, Venice and Florence. As for Germany, it's very simple, because this country is famous for its strictness, and its public security is relatively good in Europe. We have a combination of old and small, and security must be put first.
Let's talk about the preparatory work
1 - about the itinerary - in the middle of March, it took about 7 or 8 days to repeat the actions of reading posts on the Internet and immersing oneself in the map infinitely, and finally determined the itinerary. Here, I would like to thank my colleagues for following the principle of complete decentralization, no matter what I do, and total dependence. During the process of planning the itinerary, they did not put any pressure on me and put forward the requirements that embarrassed me (in fact, they did not ask at all). It is time-consuming and laborious to reach an agreement when there are too many people waiting to make decisions. Our self driving route is basically like this (see the figure below)
2 - about air tickets - on March 20, the air tickets from Chongqing to Milan on July 25 and from Frankfurt to Chongqing on August 6 were reserved on the official website of Qatari airlines, and the round trip was to be transferred in Doha. The ticket price is RMB 7298 for adults and RMB 6138 for children. Then, the ticket for Milan Stuttgart on July 28 was reserved on easyJet's official website. The average charge for checking luggage, choosing seats and swiping credit cards was 189 RMB per person.
3 - about accommodation - from the end of March to the middle of April, we successively reserved the whole hotel online. The hotels in Italy are set on the publishing website, while the hotels in Germany are set partly through Ctrip and partly directly on the official website of the hotel. My experience is to check the hotels in the destination, read the comments and find out the favorite hotels on Baidu's official website. Most of the time, there is no room on the blog, but it can be decided on the hotel's official website, such as wenbaoer hotel in swangao Town, which is highly respected by everyone; In addition, some room types are not available on the official website of the hotel, such as arcotel Camino Stuttgart in Stuttgart, which has a two bedroom apartment (75 square meters) on the official website; Of course, the price is also a factor to be considered. For example, the Novotel Hotel we stayed in vilzburg has a lower reservation price than booking on the official website of Accor Group.
4 - about visa - our visa was applied through CIIC (Chengdu). In April, it took two weeks to notarize and authenticate the child's birth certificate. Other supporting materials were prepared according to the requirements of CIIC website. At the same time, we bought the insurance applicable to Schengen Visa (15 days, 130 / person, 260 / person over 70 years old) on Ping'an official website, and sent the application materials to CIIC on April 28, On May 5, I received the visa and passport from China and Chile. Is it too fast? There is also a 5.1 holiday in the middle. Maybe the southwest people don't go to Germany?
5- about driving license and car rental - taking into account the preferential policies at that time and providing Chinese GPS free of charge (this is too important, it turns out that the Chinese navigator provided by the car rental is quite awesome and very easy to use!) Italy's car is through the car rental（ http://www.huizuche.com ）It's hard to rent a seven seat automatic in Italy. Is it because of the World Expo, 7-seat automatic transmission 3-day basic insurance 444 euro (15% after returning to China); German cars are ordered directly after registering a member on the official website of Hertz (using the 10% discount code of CCB's credit card), 7 seats manual transmission, 7 days insurance 397 euro.
The German oath translation of driver's license is done on a certain treasure. The Italian Consulate certification is a little bit of a discount. Omnipotent netizens have provided information on how to legally drive in Italy with a Chinese driver's license. For us, we have to take the road of Italian Consulate certification. Thanks to the wise decision of the Italians, Chongqing, which is located in the southwest of China, has a consulate general, and has provided certification services since 2015. Because the Consulate does not provide Italian translation, this problem can only be solved on a universal treasure. After consulting the information I need to carry by telephone, I went to the Italian Consulate General in WFC (World Financial Center) in the center of the city within the processing time stipulated by the Consulate (only 10:00-12:00 a.m. on 1, 3 and 5 a.m. every week). Only when I arrived did I know that the only Chinese speaking secretary of the consular office was on leave. Only the head of the Department of the consular office?, An elegant Italian lady personally received me, and then I felt the free, romantic and unrestrained thinking of Italy once again. Most of the information that Miss secretary asked for on the phone before was not asked by the supervisor, but the rental order that Miss Secretary didn't mention must be asked by the supervisor (I wonder if I can't get the legal driving qualification before renting a car?), Fortunately, the mobile 4G network played a role in the critical moment. I sent the car rental order in my mailbox to the consular office and asked them to help print it out. Finally, the supervisor told me very seriously that I applied for a visa from the German Consulate. If I want to apply for a driver's license certification next time, I should apply for a visa from the Italian Consulate. I said that although I entered Schengen country in Italy, the whole trip was mainly in Germany. According to the requirements of your Embassy website, I should apply for a German Visa. The director replied clearly, "that doesn't matter. Just apply directly from us.". So after paying 65rmb, I was asked to pick it up again at 1pm.
6 - other preparations: in mid April, I made an online appointment to visit "the last supper" at 8:45 a.m. on July 28, and in May, I made an online appointment to visit New Swan Castle at 9:15 a.m. on July 31. As for how to make an appointment with Baidu, there is a good answer.
The navigator is provided free of charge by huizuche (huizuche. Com) (because he rented a car through his home, other agencies also provided the service, such as renting a car and Ctrip, but huizuche had cash back activities at that time, so he chose this one); Children's car cushion, WiFi and Internet card are all purchased from a certain treasure (for double insurance, we rent the WiFi of European general and buy the mobile phone card of European roaming).
Print out the itinerary manual, draw up the list of items, set up the driving destination, parking place in the navigator and mobile phone (you must do your homework in advance to save a lot of time), and get ready to start after walking around the place!
This is a printed itinerary
The division of roles of the party:
Adult a -- chief planner and leader (myself)
Adult B --- driver (my husband)
Adult C --- nanny (my sister)
Old man d + old man e --- tourist (my father-in-law and mother-in-law)
Child f (10 years old) + child g (7 years old) - soy sauce and amateur posing model (my sister's son and I)
Day 1 July 25 (Saturday)
Today is flying from Chongqing to Milan. I plan to pick up the car at 3 p.m. and then go to the place outlets first. But the ideal is plump and the reality is very tough. On the first day of the trip, the plot didn't perform as planned. Arrived at Avis pick-up point of terminal T2 of Malpensa airport at 3:00 p.m. (originally it was budget, the two worked together, and the contract was also Avis). The only staff member told us that there were too many people renting cars recently. We didn't have the 7-seat automatic car we ordered, so they could only provide two 5-seat automatic cars as a substitute (no extra money). We all shook our heads and only prepared one driver's license. How dare we drive two? What's more, I only have one set of navigation. I'm the only one who can guide the way.... Direct refusal. Then, there's only one choice. At 5:45 p.m., the seven seat automatic transmission can be in place. I didn't give up. Did you have a 7-seat or 9-seat manual transmission? Answer: Yes, but since you asked for the change, you can only place a new order with the original order of cancel. As for the price, it's 150 euro more expensive than the original automatic. I had already paid 444 euro in full by the time I made the car reservation, and the road was obviously blocked.
It's a bad start. The place's Gucci special line tour must be in vain today. A group of people can only find a place to sit and wait for more than two hours. After some hesitation, when we finally met Citroen C4 Picasso, it was almost 7 o'clock in the evening. Why toss? At 5:30, I went to Avis again. To make matters worse, I found that I had just arrived at a flight, and there were four or five groups of people waiting at the counter. Avis still had only one staff member, and each group of people could not finish in less than 10 minutes from oral communication to contract signing. Secretly sum up: next time you encounter this kind of situation, at least half an hour in advance to line up. After 6 o'clock, all the people in front of us are gone. It's our turn, and no one is queuing up behind us. Finally, the world is quiet (of course, our luck is not generally good)! Take out the order, was told that the advance payment does not include the airport surcharge, including tax is 80 euro, plus we want all risks, 3 days of total rent has 586 Euro!!
Well, any problem that can be solved with money is not a problem. Keep up your spirit and continue to overcome the difficulties. Although this is a new car that has only run 6000 km, can someone tell me how to put down the second row seat and move forward? I give up when I touch it. It's not my strong point. Fortunately, there was a driver and a nanny, and they succeeded with a little research. It seems that a team needs different types of people to complement each other in order to have combat effectiveness. The next test is how to put five big, two small and several big boxes into this seven seater car that looks like five seats. After a variety of combinations, we finally gave up the children's car cushion, the second row sat 2 big and 2 small, the third row sat 1 person + a number of luggage, all done.
Airport - hotel almost the whole high-speed, 137 km, took 1.5 hours. Although it's already 8 p.m., the sunshine in Italy is still bright, and the rosy clouds in the sky set off the straight highway, so my mood becomes very good all of a sudden. The navigation provided by the ex gratia car is very easy to use (it seems that it is suspected of advertising, but it must be praised. Search star is very fast, positioning is accurate, and route re planning is also quick). The hotel is very beautiful and the room is very spacious. Is this the so-called happy ending?
Scenery on the way
Our hotel
Day 2 July 26 (Sunday)
I got up in the morning and strolled around. I really felt that this former aristocratic country house had a lot of connotation. Even the guestbook prepared for the guests was full of handmade paintings. It was quiet all around, and the vineyards were arranged neatly in the sun, which made me calm.
Villas in the morning
Under the grape trellis
The Novi Ligure region where the hotel is located is an important grape growing area in Piedmont, rich in top Italian wines. The hotel also has its own vineyard. We originally wanted to book the hotel to visit the vineyard and the wine making process. The front desk told us that the grapes are usually ripe and picked at the end of August, so this tour is only available at that time. Well, leave a reason for coming back to Italy next time.
Today, there are only two tours: the new street of Genoa and the palace system of Raleigh, and the famous outlets Center of Sierra Valle. Le sTrade Nuove and palazzi Dei rolli in Genoa show the development process of urban planning and Construction organized by the government of the Republic of Genoa after the Renaissance. They are the development models of western cities and became the world cultural heritage in 2006. The site includes Renaissance theatrical troupes and baroque palaces on both sides of the new street. The majestic palace was inhabited by aristocratic families at that time. The floor was not high, but the decoration was gorgeous, and it was facing the large balcony of the garden. It is also known as the most beautiful street in Europe. These magnificent palace style houses were built in Xinjie street at the end of the 16th century, where a quarter of the nobles lived. Here, you can feel the luxurious life of ancient nobles and savor these magnificent buildings. Xinjie Museum area is an art gallery group composed of Palazzo Rosso, Palazzo Bianco and Palazzo Doria tursi. However, for us who have no art connotation, we can only be regarded as a tour here.
The view of the White House Roof
A famous painting I've seen before
This is my second time to Genoa. I went to a local Chinese restaurant and had lunch. I had a buffet for 10 euro and one person. I was very satisfied. Celavale outlets Center is only two kilometers away from our hotel (the hotel provides discount cards for the center), which is said to be the largest outlets in Europe. We have more than 200 top luxury and famous brand stores and 180 brands, but we were disappointed after we went there. It's very hot and crowded. I feel that the shopping environment is very noisy. Big name shops like Gucci have to restrict the flow of people. There is a long line at the door. Although most of us and other tourists leave Gucci and Prada, which we will visit at 7 o'clock, we have no desire to shop at all. We just buy a Bulgari's wallet.
Day 3 July 27 (Monday)
The breakfast in the hotel is very rich and delicious. Due to the bad experience in outlets yesterday, we decided to go to the place outlet on the first day because we couldn't wait for the bus. Anyway, it's on the way. This is really a wise decision. Although the outlets is rather partial, gucci did not disappoint us. We are probably the first guests to the store. The open hall is filled with all kinds of gucci bags, men's clothes, women's clothes, sunglasses and shoes, waiting for selection quietly. There are many styles, low discounts and good environment. It is highly recommended!
At noon, with a pile of booty, I drove to another world heritage site, Alta Saint Julio, 80 kilometers away. Sacro Monte (Italian: sacro Monte) is a kind of Christian religious facilities. Many buildings are built in the mountains, and the stories in the Bible are reproduced in order in the form of painting or sculpture. The believers' faith is enhanced by visiting the holy mountain. It was mainly built in the 15th to 16th centuries. Piedmont and Lombardy's holy mountains include nine holy mountains, one of which is Santa Julio Alta, dedicated to St. Francis. As there is no research on the Bible, I am ashamed to say that I don't understand it very much. I just think the paintings are very beautiful. These churches are built in places with beautiful scenery, at least the people who built them were very devout at that time. Another problem is that there are too many world cultural heritages in Italy. We don't know if it's because there are so many world cultural heritages in Italy that we don't accept tickets here. We are used to charging tickets for any scenic spot in China.
Overlooking Lake Alta from holy mountain
Due to the discovery of the beautiful lake Alta and the small town by the lake on the holy mountain, the hard-working drivers proposed to visit the town. After barely accompanying the two sisters to two outlets in two days, the driver finally tried to correct the departure route and continue our journey of experiencing culture and integrating into nature. So I went down the mountain, stopped the car, walked around the lake, and walked through the small town (or village?) where only tourists live (local people don't live here anymore), I chose a restaurant by the lake for lunch.
Town center square
Lakeside Restaurant
Maybe the quiet time always goes very fast. We stayed in this temporarily added scenic spot for three hours. When we left for majiaolei lake on the other side of the mountain, it was already past 4 p.m. I bought the ticket to Bella island at 5:00 in a hurry. When I got to the island, I learned that Palazzo Borromeo and the garden were closed. Well, next time I come to Italy, I will leave two days for Lake Maggiore. The children were very dissatisfied because they didn't see the legendary white peacock. However, under the attack of ice cream, they happily accepted the reality for a moment. It's really hard to give up.
Lago Maggiore is located at the junction of Lombardy, piedmont and Switzerland in northern Italy. The lake is 66 km long and its northern end is located in Switzerland. It is the second largest lake in Italy, second only to Lake Garda. Borromee island is composed of three idyllic islands, I Ola Bella, I Ola Pescatori and I Ola Madre, which are surrounded by the waters of Lake majiore. All three islands are related to the borromee family. The borromee family has always been a beacon on Lake Maggiore. Even today, they still own all the islands in the lake area and their fishing rights (which have lasted for about 500 years).
It's almost 8:00 p.m. when I leave stressa and arrive in Milan. The advantage is that when I enter the ZTL area of Milan at more than 7:30 p.m., I don't need to buy a 5 Euro entrance fee.
Bella Island
The hotel in Milan is in the center of the city. Dreams Hotel Residenza Corso magenta is a chain hotel. Corso magenta is a self-service Apartment Hotel newly opened in July 2015. The hotel has elevators, air conditioners and washing machines, excluding breakfast. Each apartment is equipped with stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and kitchen utensils. At the end of March, I just saw the hotel on the Internet at the end of March. All the rooms were on sale, so Hao did not hesitate to book a two bedroom apartment (110 square meters) and a one bedroom apartment (40 square meters), a total of 378 euro. The rooms in the hotel are very new and spacious. The most praiseworthy thing is that the location is very good. July and August are the peak tourist season. Plus the World Expo, I am satisfied to book at this price. The only inconvenience is that because it's a self-service apartment, the front desk's off-duty time is 8 p.m., and the check in time will be limited. We rush to get there at 7:50. When other people stop to pick up their luggage and I run to check in, my whole body is soaked with sweat. The lady at the front desk was very kind and gently told me that she would wait for us even if we didn't arrive before 8 o'clock. Who said that the people of Milan were cold and arrogant?
After that, we found a Chinese restaurant near the hotel. Cantonese food was very authentic. We asked for five bottles of mineral water. The wind swept away the clouds and soothed the stomach from China. My sister's children didn't have to ask for instant noodles. Writing here, I once again sigh that Milan is a metropolis with Chinese food and delicious food. It's so late that I don't close. Walking on the stone paved old city road in the dim night, I can still feel the feeling of crossing the middle ages.
Day 4 July 28 (Tuesday)
Today, we have a full day walking tour. At 8:45, we visit the last supper in Santa Maria's Thanksgiving Church. Our hotel is only 200 meters away from Santa Maria's Thanksgiving Church, which is very convenient. Then visit Sforzesco castle and Milan Cathedral. Feeling a little excited, I finally got to the top of the cathedral I had been longing for for for a long time. Sforzesco castle is also very shocking. This castle was built by the count of Sforza in the 14th century and later became the residence of the Sforza family. It is square and flat with a large park and high walls around it. There are many works of high artistic and historical value in the Castle Museum. There are 1500 manuscripts in the library, and there are more than 500 sculptures in the sculpture museum? The works of finch and Michelangelo. Leonardo da Vinci is also said to have been involved in the construction of the castle. Imagine that the people of this family lived in such a castle. How many roads did they have to walk every day? If you use today's pedometer, you don't have to take more than 20000 steps a day? It's very easy for their children to hide and seek. Do they have to add a meal to supplement their energy?
Santa Maria delle Grazie
Sforzesco Castle
The roof of Milan Cathedral
At two o'clock in the afternoon, I paid 33 Euro parking fee (the price level is really not low). I rushed to T2 parking lot of Malpensa airport and successfully returned the car. The three-day journey mileage is 621 km, which is almost the same as expected. At 4:30, tuolaodai boarded the plane to Stuttgart, Germany, ending all the journey in Italy.
In the dusk of the hotel, I'm so kind that I'm about to cry (actually, I'm too tired).
This four-star hotel, arcotel Camino Stuttgart, was very satisfactory. It was quiet, well-equipped, of high quality, and the breakfast was so rich that we stayed in the restaurant for half an hour. The room in the picture is a two bedroom apartment (75 square meters), with a living room and kitchen, free drinks and snacks from mini bar, complete family room. Each bedroom has an independent bathroom and shower room, which doesn't disturb each other. The price of breakfast is 280 euro, and the cost performance is quite high. Of course, this room is not available on the website of advertising and other agents. I made a reservation on its official website.
Continue with Germany. It has to be said that writing travel notes is also physical work. Of course, if I can provide some useful information for other small partners, no matter how hard it is, after all, I collected a lot of useful information through reading posts before I set out. Only in this way can I have a smooth self driving trip. Although I have prepared a 36 page itinerary manual, it has proved to be really useful, especially when there is no professional guide. The introduction of each scenic spot in the manual gives full play to the role of the Chinese guide. Moreover, I am familiar with every place (scenic spot, hotel and parking lot) where we will stay through the street view mode of Google. When the images I once saw on the computer correspond to each other one by one and become real scenes, the pride of deja vu and a little sense of achievement can only be experienced.
Day 5 July 29 (Wednesday)
Although it takes only one hour to fly from Milan to Stuttgart, the temperature has dropped from 37 degrees to about 20 degrees. On the way from the airport to the hotel yesterday, we have deeply felt the friendship and enthusiasm of the German people. First of all, I bought light rail tickets at the airport. Although I had checked the route and price in advance, I was still puzzled when I bought a single ticket or a 5-person-day ticket for the first time. After thinking for a while on the screen of the self-service ticket vending machine, we could have more than one combination of buying tickets. Although it's only one ride, it seems that the 5-person-day ticket is more cost-effective... A little hesitation, next to a German boy immediately came to help. Asked the destination, swipe a few tickets out. When we arrived at the central railway station in Stuttgart, before we had time to enjoy it, we just looked around. A middle-aged German lady who seemed to have just finished work and was ready to go home directly asked us where we were going. Let's go with her. The connection is so natural and quick that it's faster than connecting to the ground. For a moment, I fell in love with the Germanic people. Most of the time, our evaluation of a place or a country comes from our own experience. It is precisely because we feel so much goodwill and beauty in Germany that this country is already my favorite European country.
Stuttgart Palace Square
After visiting the Palace Square in the morning, I went to the Hertz pick-up point of the railway station. Because when I placed an order on the official website, I didn't have a 7-seat or more automatic transmission and a 9-seat manual transmission to choose from. I ordered a 7-seat manual ford-s-max train set. The price is 397 euro for 7 days of all risks insurance. It's really cost-effective. Considering the large amount of luggage, when we picked up the car, we upgraded the 7-seater to a Ford 9-seater, or did we only have manual transmission (it seems that it is quite difficult to rent a 7-seater / 9-seater car with automatic transmission in Europe, of course, it may also be the problem of RP). The upgrade price is 100 euro, 119 euro after the tax increase, and the total price in the last seven days is 516 euro.
This is the e-receipt that Hertz sent to the mailbox after the car was returned in Frankfurt
The car that accompanied us for 7 days was very new. When we picked up the car, we only ran 9235 km
When I picked up the car, something very interesting happened. Originally, with more than 20 years of driving experience, the driver thought it was a piece of cake to drive the manual transmission. However, when I got on the car, I was stunned and couldn't catch fire. But I had to get out of the car and go to move the rescue soldiers. After a walk in the huge parking lot, I finally met two young people. I sincerely asked for advice before I knew that the car had to step on the clutch to start. Until the helper left, I kept recalling what I learned in the driving test. It seems that I didn't ask for this? There is a pillar in front of our car. If we want to drive away, we have to step back and push it into reverse gear. As soon as we release the brake, the car rushes forward. They are so scared that they sweat and stare at each other! As an assistant, I got out of the car again to look for someone. I turned around and met the two rescuers just now. Don't you worry that we haven't gone far? Or too predestined? After the demonstration, we finally understand that there is a trick to push the reverse gear. It's OK to push the other gear. When pushing the reverse gear, we have to press it down, otherwise we can't reach it. The two masters left with worried faces. They must be wondering if these two Chinese friends can get the car out of the garage today. Fortunately, after several stops and starts, the driver's confidence has returned. The problem that this car gives us is still how to put down the seats in the second row and push them forward for easy access. There was no solution to this problem that day. After consulting several local drivers passing by, there was still no solution. One of the drivers studied it carefully for 10 minutes and finally said: that's a good question, but I don't know the answer.
At noon, I visited the Mercedes Benz Automobile Museum. Compared with the BMW world I visited later, I feel that from the planning of tour routes, the accessibility of exhibits and other aspects, I would recommend Mercedes Benz.
The next destination is hohensoren castle, as famous as Neuschwanstein, Southeast of hechingen, a small town in Stuttgart. The castle, owned by the hohensoren family who once ruled Germany, was first built in the 11th century and rebuilt in the 19th century. It can be compared with the new Swan Castle in terms of construction time, scale and importance. This is the birthplace of the hohensoren family (hohensoren family is the main ruling family of Brandenburg Prussia 1415-1918 and the German Empire). The castle displays the relics of Frederick the great, the treasures and crowns of the king of Prussia, etc. The castle is still inhabited by the descendants of William II, the last Prussian emperor.
A panoramic view of the castle
A group of people endured hunger and walked 20 minutes in the cold wind to reach the gate of the castle. There were several groups of international friends who were also dragging their families. They easily surpassed us. It seems that our physical fitness is still far from the international level.
Before coming to Germany, I carefully studied the history of the lower hohensolen family. I knew that as the ruling family of the Prussian Kingdom, this family finally unified Germany and yearned for the birthplace of this family for a long time. The tawny castles are full of masculinity, as if they are telling the glorious years of fighting in the battlefield. Here is the memory of Friedrich Wilhelm IV's youth when he was 19 years old before he succeeded to the throne. There is also a tragic story of being besieged by the enemy for nine months and starving to death of the city guards. It seems that you can still feel Frederick's domineering majesty here
The big snail on the side of the road
Day 6 July 30 (Thursday)
Today is another sunny day. Early in the Qing Dynasty, we went to Lichtenstein castle, which stands alone on the top of the mountain and has few visitors. The castle is located on the steep wall of the ehaz Valley in the northwest of the schwaben mountains, with an altitude of about 817 meters. About 500 meters southeast of the castle, there are ruins of the medieval old Lichtenstein castle. The castle is considered to be one of the strongest in the late Middle Ages. It resisted all enemies. In 1687, the last Lord of Lichtenstein was killed in battle with the Turks. As no one knew that he had any descendants, the family became extinct. Today, the hall of Lichtenstein castle is decorated with the original Lichtenstein family Badge: Golden Angel Wings on a blue background.
From the window of the castle, we can see the hotel we stayed in yesterday.
At 10:30 in the morning, we arrived at meiqinggen mingpin village, which is the most important play today. Compared with the Italy's salawalai awesome, Metzingen is obviously more attractive to us, and the shopping environment is better and the goods are complete. Especially the shops of GUCCI, PRADA/MIUMIU and BURBERRY have a lot of styles and prices, and they are very expensive. They can hardly stop. By the time of 5 p.m., there are still many shops that do not go. This place is also highly recommended to visit during the discount season.
After sunset, a group of talented people are reluctant to move forward to feisen in the twilight. The originally planned hot spring is bound to collapse. The two children begin to shed tears wrongly. Once they plant grass in their hearts, it's not easy to pull it out. In fact, I really understand that shopping is the fun of adults, and children will be satisfied as long as they put it on the beach or in the hot spring. So I adjusted my schedule for the next day. After visiting New Swan Castle, I went to the hot spring. This is the flexibility of free travel.
In the evening, when I stayed in wenbaoer Hotel, which scored as high as 9.1 on the blog, I felt that it was very ordinary. The facilities were old and the breakfast was too simple. The hotel restaurant recommended by you was closed at 8 p.m. and we were late. Maybe the expectation is too high? At that time, there was no room on the shopping website. I ordered the room directly on Baidu hotel's official website. The only good thing was that it was very close to new Swan Castle.
July 31 (Friday)
Today's itinerary is very rich, including konigliche Kristall therme salt crystal hot spring, Weiss pilgrimage church, amergo, lindhoff palace, Lake Pran, eibsee hotel in mural Town, but it's not far away. It's almost half an hour's drive to the next stop.
As early as the beginning of May, I made a reservation on the official website for a 9:15 visit. The official email replied that although the reservation was for a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, the price shown on the Internet was only for a visit to Swan Castle, we could buy a 14 day palace ticket when we went, so everything went well. I want to remind you not to stop after parking at P4. First, ignore the alpsee lake and go to the place where you take the uphill bus. The uphill bus runs every 10 minutes. However, due to too many passengers, it's normal to wait for flight 1 or 2, so it's a good time. Bus uphill, carriage downhill is the most efficient choice, do not mind more walking, spend more time except.
Enjoy new Swan Castle from Marion iron bridge
After a long journey, I immersed myself in the hot spring, basking in the sun of capitalism, humming the song of socialism, and enjoying the scenery that accompanied Ludwig II!
Weiss pilgrimage church, located in Weiss District, steingaden Town, Bavaria, Germany, is only more than 20 kilometers away from Neuschwanstein Castle. It was designed and built from 1745 to 1754. The Church adopted the popular Rococo design at that time. It is said that the image of the Savior in the church once wept and became a holy land. It was listed as a world cultural heritage site in 1983. Religious concerts are often held in churches. May 1 is the beginning of Weiss' annual pilgrimage, and June 14 and the following Sunday are the "tears of Jesus" festival to commemorate the miracle of tears of the Savior statue and the establishment of Weiss' holy land. It is suggested that you visit the official website before you come here（ http://www.wieskirche.de/ ）Check the opening hours of that day. For example, the opening hours of our visit on July 31 are 8:00-10:00 in the morning and 12:00-14:00 at noon.
Weiss church is not big, but the interior is very beautiful.
Oberammergau, a mural Town, is located in the valley of Bavaria's southern mountainous area, on the Bank of the amber river. The biggest feature of the town is the colorful paintings on the exterior walls of the houses. Religion and fairy tales are its two major themes. Murals are painted on the external walls of every house, which is known as the mural Museum. We came here in a very sunny afternoon. The frescoes on both sides of the street are colorful and lifelike under the sunlight. People can fully experience the quiet and beautiful here. Although I didn't go to the world's largest open-air theater to enjoy the world-famous play "the pain, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus" (it's said that the next performance will wait until 2020, and the pre-sale tickets are still very popular), I'm very satisfied to enjoy the different murals of every family.
There are many small shops in the town of upper amergo selling ceramic and wood handicrafts. They are exquisite and exquisite, so you can have a good look.
Lindhoff palace is one of the three palaces of Ludwig II (Neuschwanstein Castle, lindhoff palace and lake hellenheim Palace). The palace is located under a Linder tree, hence its name. Although lindhoff palace was built later than Neuschwanstein Castle, it was the only palace completed and actually inhabited by the king in 1878. The palace is exquisitely decorated and must be visited in batches under the guidance of a guide. There are Chinese commentators. The most impressive thing is the king's unique "lift table". I don't know how afraid this versatile king is to see people?
The valley where lindhoff palace is located has pleasant scenery and fresh air. There are shade corridors composed of grape trellies around the palace. The creator has a great preference for Bavaria.
Panoramic view of lindhoff Palace
Lindhoff palace garden
In the evening, stay at eibsee Hotel, a four-star hotel located next to the cable car station of Mount Zug in Germany. The room price includes breakfast and buffet dinner. The hotel is adjacent to eibsee (Aibu Lake), with beautiful environment and pleasant scenery. The point is that both eibsee and eibsee hotel are privately owned. The hotel facilities are very good and the service is also very good. It's close to mountains and rivers. The geomantic omen should be good. I'll stay a few more days next time. It's still reserved on the official website, and the price is better than that of shopping, enjoying the "early bird discount". Moreover, the house price varies according to the number and age of the residents. For example, our combined house prices of 2 big and 1 small, 2 big and 1 big and 1 small are 185.95 euro, 155.45 euro and 139.48 Euro respectively. What needs to be added is that this price is half room and board price including breakfast and dinner. For dinner, we enjoyed the buffet of the hotel restaurant, and the taste was pretty good. The main reason was that the dining place was by the lake, and the scenery was amazing.
Day, August 1 (Saturday)
Today we challenge the so-called highest peak in Germany - Zug peak. The itinerary is as follows: take the cable car from eibsee cable station at 8:00 to Chuge peak (10-15 minutes), take the glacier cable car (5 minutes one way) to visit the glacier after the peak tour, and then take the gear train directly down the glacier (the train starts at 9:30 every hour) to return to eibsee (about 45 minutes).
The cable car overlooks Lake ibisai. By the way, all members of the group are not photography enthusiasts or enthusiasts. They have no pursuit for the effect of photos. They take photos with mobile phones throughout the whole process.
Maybe we came too early, there were few people at the top of the mountain, and the sun was half hidden all the time. We finished the prescribed procedures for this tour, and immediately switched to snowball throwing mode. The equipment purchased in meiqinggen the day before yesterday played a role in keeping out the cold for the first time.
After a cursory visit to the BMW Museum in Munich at noon, I went straight to the hotel to catch up. Until 4 p.m., I didn't feel my physical strength returned to the original position bit by bit like infusion.
The hotel is in the center of the city (next to the central railway station), convenient for visiting and shopping. VI Vadi Hotel Bayer 89, newly opened in April 2015, with 24-hour front desk, excluding breakfast. Also at the end of March, I saw the hotel go online on the blog. The room was on sale, so I reserved a family room with two bedrooms (including two independent bathrooms) and a three room room room, with a total of 297.5 euro. The price was very high on weekends in the center of Munich. The most praiseworthy is that his home's free WIFI speed is awesome.
Ten minutes' walk from the hotel to Carls square, find Lederwaren hetzenecker, a luggage agency chain that is said to be able to buy the cheapest rimowa suitcase in the world. At a glance, you can see the dumb blue salsa cabin series 22 inch universal wheel suitcase of 2014 model year, with the size of 56 * 45 * 25cm, the capacity of 52L, the price of 332 euro, the cash discount of 298.8 euro and the tax rebate of 31 euro, At that time, the exchange rate for buying euro was 6.72, which was equivalent to 1800 yuan. The selling price on the official website was 5480 yuan, and that on Taobao was about 3200 yuan. If you don't buy it, isn't it a bit unreasonable?
Roast pork elbow in Munich Royal beer house
Day 9 August 2 (Sunday)
Continue to visit Bavaria Royal series, Munich palace and nyingfenburg palace. They are closely related to Ludwig II, the owner of new Swan Castle. His father (Maximilian II) and grandfather (Ludwig I) were the owners of the palace. He was born in nyingfenburg palace. After the visit, I fully understood that Ludwig II's artistic temperament with super high aesthetic standards and ultimate pursuit of magnificence actually had a solid foundation.
Munich Residence
Ningfenbao palace, have you found it? The size of the windows on each floor of the palace is different from bottom to top. The first floor (not the ground floor next to the ground, which can only be reached by climbing steps) is the bedroom of the castle owner, with the largest window; The second floor is their children's bedroom with smaller windows than the first floor; The third floor is the residence of the tutor with smaller windows; The smallest window is the servant's room, on the top floor.
Ludwig II was born here on August 25, 1845
The famous "beauty Gallery" -- hanging the portraits of women loved by Ludwig I
A small town on the Romantic Road
On the wall is the famous legend of children's salvation
In the afternoon, according to the plan, visit dinkelsbill, a small town on the Romantic Road, and then arrive at Rothenberg, known as "the Pearl of the Middle Ages". Obviously, the town has more tourists than the local residents. The one family villa we ordered in advance in Ctrip is located in the west gate of rottenburg, and its owner is the 80 year old white bearded grandfather praised by netizens. The villa has four bedrooms, surrounded by lawns, gardens and views of the taubertal valley. The price is 400 euro per night.
Our villa
Street View of rottenburg
Rosenberg - buyenlai
Day 10 August 3 (Monday)
Today, I woke up naturally. On Monday when we all returned to work, I was so happy to sit in the garden and bask in the sun. Perhaps the significance of travel is that we can separate ourselves from the environment we are used to, let ourselves do something we don't do in a strange environment, experience unusual feelings, meet people we don't know, and maybe find a different self.
When I write about this, I must mention that the 14 day palace ticket bought at Neuschwanstein Castle is really a German conscience price. It's 44 euro / 2 and free for children under the age of 18, including Neuschwanstein Castle, Linderhof palace, Munich palace, nyingfenburg palace, Emperor's castle, new / old palace of Bamberg, Archbishop's palace of vilzburg, Marion's castle and lake hellenheim palace, It's worth the ticket price to visit two of them. It's worth recommending. In fact, the main line of this tour in Germany is two of the four kingdoms of the founding of the German Empire: Wurttemberg (capital Stuttgart) and Bavaria (capital Munich). The castles and palaces we visited this time are all concentrated in Bavaria. Next time I come back to Germany, I will focus on two other kingdoms: Prussia (capital Berlin) and Saxony (capital Dresden). Now the four turrets on the German parliament building in Berlin represent the four kingdoms respectively. In my opinion, understanding the history of the four kingdoms can give us a more comprehensive understanding of the whole history of Germany.
Today's tour items are cultural heritage, unnatural landscape: Nuremberg castle and the ancient city of Bamberg.
Nuremberg Castle (n ü rnbergerburg), located in the north end of the old city of Nuremberg hill. Built in the 12th century, it was also known as the imperial Castle because several Holy Roman emperors lived here. There is no special parking lot in this scenic spot. Before going abroad, I have found a public parking lot nearby through Ovi map. After GPS took us to the parking place, I found that the parking lot which looks very close to the castle on the map is actually in the middle of the mountain, while the castle is on the top of the mountain. Of course, although the mountain is steep, it is not difficult for Chongqing people to climb up the slope. When I stopped my car and bought a parking ticket, I first encountered a machine that didn't recognize euro coins. No matter which coin I used, the machine would spit it back to me. We have no choice but to turn to passers-by. Well intentioned people tell us that many machines in Germany are like this. Just rub the edge of the coin on the surface of the machine a few times and try it a few more times. If the new Swan Castle is a "literary youth", then the emperor Castle takes the "Wufu" route. I feel that the whole castle is a military defense project, with no gorgeous decoration, only the commanding power.
Bamberg is only 60 kilometers away from Nuremberg. Its old city is the largest historical city not damaged by the war in Germany. It was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list in 1993. We visited the new palace and rose garden in Bamberg, the main church and the famous old town hall. These places are not far apart, just on foot. The children are most interested in the old town hall. The Gothic style old town hall was built in 1462. There are beautiful sculptures in the entrance of the bridge and murals on the external wall (there is a little angel with her legs "out of the wall"). The structure is very strange, it is located on the river and bridge, like a ship moored. The old town hall was built on a man-made island. The reason was that the bishop was not willing to divide his territory to build a town hall for the people, so the local people built such a building in the regnitz river. The south end of the old town hall stretches out into the river, and the wooden frame structure is also used, which is very interesting.
New palace in Bamberg
Altes Rathaus
Did you find the foot sticking out of the wall?
The biggest advantage of traveling in Europe in summer is that it takes a long time in the daytime, and the day is almost dark until after 9 p.m. in this way, there will be plenty of time to visit every day, which can also reduce the chance of driving at night. Although we didn't arrive at today's place of stay until 9 p.m., we still feel that it's still too early. Praise today's Hotel - Novotel vilzburg Hotel, the service is very good, the restaurant staff intelligence is also high, easy to understand, very flexible.
Day 11 August 4 (Tuesday)
It has been almost four months since I came back from the tour. I'm a little ashamed that the creation of travel notes has not been finished. Whether I'm busy or not is not an excuse after all. The key is whether I have motivation. I'll try my best to finish it as soon as possible.
The time of this trip has begun to count down. After the end of today, we have only two days left in Frankfurt (actually only one and a half days), and there are few scenic spots to visit. Today's main arrangements are the Archbishop's palace in wiltsburg, the old bridge of Maine and Marion castle. Then we will go straight to Frankfurt. Of course, we will also visit outlets in wiltheim when we pass by.
The most famous building in the city of vilzburg is the residence of the archbishop. It is one of the most outstanding representative works of the late Baroque period in Germany. It is one of the largest and most magnificent baroque palaces in Germany. It is not only the representative building of the residence of the archbishop and Archduke in vilzburg, but also the masterpiece of European feudal monarchy. It is one of the most outstanding palaces in Europe. The dome ceiling of the palace has a unique hanging staircase and the world's largest ceiling mural. The most famous one in Bishop's palace is treppenhaus, which is the hall of steps. From the stairs to the second floor, you can see the huge ceiling painting. The four continuants, painted by Venetian fresco artist Tiepolo, is the largest whole fresco in the world on an arched dome 30 meters long and 18 meters wide. In the past, it was the leading role in the design of 50 mark banknotes in Germany. In the painting, there are the gods of Olympus and the four continents known at that time: Europe, Asia, Africa and the United States. The Europeans in the center of the world are civilized, while the people of other continents have a kind of exotic feeling. Vilzburg was almost destroyed by the Allied bombing before the end of World War II, and the Bishop's palace was not spared, but the painting miraculously escaped the destruction. The rooms that can't be missed are Weisser Saal, KAISERSAAL, Royal living room, GR ü NES prozellanzimmer and splegelsaal. We visited the front halls very smoothly, but we didn't find the legendary "mirror hall". After asking the staff, we learned that the room in the mirror hall was locked and we had to follow the guide. The English guide was at 11:00, 15:00 and 16:30 every day, and the rest of the time was in German. We went too early and didn't have the tour guide time. We were just about to give up when we saw a group of Asian faces coming. After listening carefully, we spoke Chinese. Haha, we were so lucky. Seven of us pretended to follow the Chinese tourists. Under the guidance of their guides, we entered the mirror hall smoothly. When we all entered, the staff immediately locked the door. Although the whole Archbishop's palace is extremely grand and exquisite, the mirror hall can't be missed. What we didn't expect was that although we got involved, we finally found out that this was the Guangdong Regiment (or the Hong Kong Regiment?), The tour guide speaks Cantonese. Most of us didn't understand it. We can only regret that we didn't watch more TVB series, didn't like listening to Cantonese songs, and didn't have a son-in-law from Guangdong and Guangxi.
Marion Castle - surrounded by vineyards
Looking down on vilzburg from the castle
At 3:00 p.m., we arrived at wiltheim outlets, where we had lunch at McDonald's and settled the elderly and children (equipped with drinks, power bank iPad and mobile phones with internet access function). The three backbones started the program of "relieving fatigue and restoring vitality".
Germany is a good place to shop. Compared with Metzingen, though Oteri J is not so many Chinese well-known European brands, it has its own characteristics, good shopping environment, many German brands, and many clothes for children, and the discount strength is still awesome.
I arrived at Holiday Inn Express Frankfurt City Hauptbahnhof at 9 p.m. and according to the recommendation of netizens, I went to the "Shilixiang" Chinese restaurant opposite the hotel for dinner, which was really cheap and good. We arrived late. There was no parking space near the hotel, so we had to park our car at the corner temporarily (praying silently that the German police would not patrol the streets after 9 p.m.). After dinner, we were ready to go to the parking lot nearby. When we asked the owner of the restaurant, her son took the initiative to say that they would drive away immediately, We can park their parking space. There are so many good people in the world!
Day 12 August 5 (Wednesday)
After breakfast, we went to the Hertz shop of Frankfurt central railway station to return the car. We cleaned up the car a little last night. The cleanliness of the car was pretty good, so we decided not to wash the car and return it directly. Originally, it only took 5 minutes for the hotel to drive to the railway station, but just to find the entrance of the garage where the car was returned, we walked around the railway station and stopped twice in different ground parking lots. It took more than an hour to get it done, which was totally unexpected. Fortunately, we returned the car three hours in advance. Fortunately, only two people returned the car, leaving five happy people to sleep in the hotel. The logo is too unclear. The car rental contract and the official website have no detailed description of the garage entrance of the car return location. It's too inhumane. I believe countless friends who return the car at Frankfurt central railway station have similar experiences.
It's less than 8 a.m. when we leave the hotel, the roadside parking space can be temporarily stopped, so we first drive to the road opposite the main door of the railway station to stop, and then go to the train station to find the Hertz store and ask about the garage entrance. Hertz store is very easy to find. It's on the left side of the entrance (front door). The staff (beautiful sister) told us that the car return point is nearby. There is a sign, so it's very easy to find. So we drove along the railway station to look for it. There were many ground parking lots nearby, and there were also many underground garage entrances. I looked for the sign of Hertz very seriously, but I didn't find it after several rounds. But I had to park my car in a ground parking lot and run to the Hertz store. This time, the beauty told us that the first is the underground parking lot; Second, next to the garage entrance is a hotel. Then I drove to look for it. I found that there were hotels all around the railway station. Many hotels had parking lots, but I still didn't find the sign of Hertz in the parking lot next to any hotel or the sign of other car rental companies. Extremely frustrated, I drove into the second ground parking lot and spent another 3 Euro parking fee. What sister Hertz said this time is no different from what she said last time. I insist that I can't find it. Can I draw a picture? While making the road map, the rescue soldiers appeared. An Arab young man just came to the store to hand in the car keys (I think he is responsible for checking and cleaning the returned vehicles), so I asked him to take us to return the car. I felt that the young man was very patient, so I asked him which work he was mainly responsible for. As a result, he didn't understand a word and said "English, not good" shyly. My "chatterbox" problem has been greatly alleviated in Germany. If I stay longer, I may be cured. Finally, it took us 1.5 hours and 6 euros to return the car.
The place marked in red in the figure below is the entrance of the garage. When the line of sight is lower than the horizon, you can see that there are signs of rental companies such as Hertz on the right wall of the entrance. It's really not far away. It's on the side of the road facing the right-hand side
