Return With Us and Enjoy !
Welcome to our journey
(and treasured moments) |
Hint: Look for the fun and games peppered throughout the picture pages. The games add a new perspective and are fun!
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The People We Meet
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Life is about the people we meet and the memories we make with them. These are the special people we were privileged to travel with and now consider extended family.
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Families traveling the world together
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Tribute to our guides - Rolinka and John (thank you)
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Friends just wanna have fun !
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"Buddies" keep an eye on each other
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Why Rick Steves ?
Rick prepares you for your trip ! There is a wealth of information on the Rick Steves Website to provide you with ideas to maximize your experience. The TV episodes are what lured us in to see what Rick Steve had to offer. After reviewing the travel articles and audio tours we knew that the Rick Steves Tours was a good match for us. To top it all off, each tour has a guidebook that follows your travel itinerary giving you the option to read ahead and learn before you go! Preparing and reading ahead was right up my alley! |
About this Section
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This section was created to replicate a spreadsheet that we pulled together as we planned for our trip. We collected nuggets of information from various sources including the trip itinerary, the Germany, Austria and Switzerland guide book as well as the Rick Steves' website including the scrapbook contest archives. There was a lot of helpful information and insightful hints as we navigated through the sites. Organizing the information helped us make informed decisions, especially around places to eat and how to use our free time. Since we had most of this put together, we thought it would be helpful to share what we consolidated so others may benefit from our efforts.
The printable version of the information below can be found here: Printable Grid |
Day 1-2 Trier Germany - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 1: Trier guided orientation walking tour including Roman and Germany history lessons walking past
Visit to Burg Eltz (Rick Steves' favorite castle) |
Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 2-4 hours after returning from Burg Eltz in the very late afternoon. Consider these options:
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Meals |
Lunch:
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Other Notes |
Day 1: No bus ride Day 2: 4 Hour bus ride (breaks every 2 hours) Rick Steves' References
Hints
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Trier page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Rick Steves' Tours are geared at teaching you how to be a traveler instead of a tourist. Our guide, Rolinka provided us with secrets for safe and smart travel including tips on how to navigate small and large cities. Each stop's first activity was a guided orientation walking tour rain or shine. What a brilliant idea ! Now we know where we are and what we can do ! |
Day 3- Baden Baden - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Baden-Baden Casino Tour Baden-Baden guided orientation walking tour including
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 4-6 hours starting in the afternoon after the orientation walking tour Consider the following options:
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Meals |
Breakfast: Hotel Residenz am Zuckerberg Lunch Options: (on your own)
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Other Notes |
Bus Ride: 4 hour bus ride to Baden-Baden with breaks every 2 hours. Rick Steves' References
Hints
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Baden Baden page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Rick Steves' Tours are geared at teaching you how to be a traveler instead of a tourist. Our guide provided us with the secrets of safe and smart travel including tips on how to orient yourself in the cities. Each stop's first activity was a guided orientation walking tour rain or shine. What a brilliant idea ! Now we know where we are and what we can do ! |
Day 4-6 Murren - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 4 - Travel to Murren, Switzerland
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: All day on day 6 with the option to join a coordinated visit to Schilthorn and a coordinated hike. 6-8 hours on day seven after the visit to Trummelbach Falls. Consider these free time options:
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Meals |
Breakfast: Hotel Heliopark Bad zum Hirsch / Hotel Jungfrau Lunch Options (on your own)
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Other Notes |
Bus Ride: 6 hour bus ride with breaks every 2 hours (Day 3 drive to Murren) Rick Steves' References
Hints:
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Murren page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Small group tours provide opportunities to sleep, dine and tour places that tours with larger groups cannot accommodate. For example, Hotel Jungfrau is located in Murren, Switzerland which is not accessible by a public road. We were required to travel by gondola with luggage in hand and then walk a short distance to the hotel. |
Day 7-8 Munich - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 7 - Travel to Munich
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 6 hours on Day 8 after the local guide walking tour. Consider these options in Munich:
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Meals |
Breakfast: Hotel Jungfrau / Hotel am Viktualienmarkt Lunch Options (on your own)
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Other Notes |
Bus Ride: 7 hour bus ride with breaks every 2 hours (Day 7 drive to Munich) Rick Steves' References
Hints:
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Munich page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Rick Steves' Tours balance planned activities with free time. The planned activities suit those that are in true vacation mode where the ideal is to go with the flow and then take a break during free time and people watch in a local cafe. For those more adventurous, the tour provides enough time to visit a personal point of interest. There is never enough time to do it all which is why having a list of activities available to select from ahead of time makes the decision more enjoyable. |
Day 9-10 Salzburg - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 9 - Travel to Salzburg
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 6-8 hours after the walking tour finishes. Consider the following options in Salzburg
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Meals |
Breakfast: Hotel am Viktualienmarkt / Cityhotel Trumer Stube Lunch Options
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Other Notes |
Bus Ride: 4 hour bus ride with breaks every 2 hours (Day 9 drive to Salzburg after a visit to Neuschwanstein) Rick Steves' References
Hints
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Salzburg page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Rick prides himself in the quality of his tour guides and expects that they not only have passion for history, they need to know how to teach it in a way that resonates with his tour guests. These guides are an extension of Rick himself and his expectations are high. This expectation extends to the local guides that he contracts with as well. The local guides need to be the best that the city has to offer in terms of knowledge and passion for their city. Our guide Rolinka has over 22 years of experience and was polished, professional and would have made Rick very proud. |
Day 11- Hallstatt - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 11 - Travel to Hallstatt
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 6 hours after the boat ride Consider the following options around Hallstatt
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Meals |
Breakfast: Cityhotel Trumer Stube Lunch Options -
Dinner: Hotel Gruner Baum (included) |
Other |
Bus Ride: 2 hour bus ride with breaks every 2 hours (Day 11 drive to Hallstatt) Rick Steves' References Hints
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Hallstatt page) |
Why Rick Steves ?
Dollar for dollar, the cost of Rick Steve tours may look higher, but unlike other tour companies ALL tips are included in the price. Additionally, you cannot put a price on the value of the small group experience. Being able stay in hotels in the center of town saves both time and money as seeing a sight or having a nightcap is a simple walk out the door. Rick also empowers his guides to make decisions for how to best use the funds budgeted for the trip to maximize the experience of the group. This adds a personal touch! Remember the old adage that you get what you pay for, so don't let the dollar figure be your judge and jury. |
Day 12-13- Vienna - Sleep / Eat / Tour Highlights |
Fun Tour Facts Please
Tour Highlights |
Day 12 - Travel to Vienna
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Tour On Your Own Options |
Free Time: 4-6 hours on day 13 Explore the many options in Vienna including:
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Meals |
Breakfast: Hotel Gruner Baum / Hotel Savoy Lunch Options
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Other |
Bus Ride: 5 hour bus ride with breaks every 2 hours (Day 11 drive to Vienna) Rick Steves' References
Hints
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Picture Preview
(click on button to open Vienna page) |
Final Thoughts: Putting together the web pages was a lot of fun as it gave us the opportunity to relive the vacation in slow motion as we looked at the pictures to select the perfect ones to include and recall the stories we were told. As we looked at the pictures we reflect not only on the beautiful sites but also on the beautiful people we met! We had such a wonderful time!
Where to Next ? You Pick