First family trip to Europe in a decade. Our daughter’s first.
The plan took shape over months. We prioritized the outdoors and made some tough decisions to drop Vienna & Prague. Vacation planning perfection lies in striking a delicate balance of activity and tranquility. Getting to that sweet spot is the holy grail. Every moment invested is worthwhile: finding beautiful places to stay, unique modes of transportation, great food, local events, historical context and no research is complete without a few good deals! All this while cutting through clutter of sponsored content, paid advertising & influencer marketing. After all that planning, rain forecasts came close to influencing the vacation, but thank God things fell in place to the plan.
| Autumn in the Alps |
| Vacation Planning 2 days in Salzburg, Austria 1 day in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany 500km drive to Plitvice National Park, Croatia 5 days in Triglav National Park & Julian Alps, Slovenia 2 unplanned hours in Italy 2 days in Ljubljana, Slovenia 2 days in Munich, Germany |
Season
The common notion, Summers are the best time to visit Europe, is for people from cold countries. Not for people from South India living in a tropical country where all the seasons start and end with ‘hot’. For us, Autumn is the most preferred season for the fall colors followed by Spring. This trip was from 7-Oct to 20-Oct, just in time before some places start closing down. The most startling came from the lady at Restavracija Kramar at Lake Bohinj in the Trilav National Park in the Julian Alps, Slovenia. We asked for something from the menu. Her response: We are out of stock because we are closing soon. Tomorrow the weather looks sunny, we close after that and may open during Christmas. She points us to a framed photo on the rustic wooden wall. The restaurant was submerged in the lake waters!
Transportation
Functional:
- Direct flights to Munich from Singapore & return
- Train from Munich airport to Salzburg through Munich Ost/East station
- Bayern ticket: great deal for groups > 1 pax
- Salzburg to Muninch Ost/East on the return
- Rental car: Pickup from and return next to Salzburg train station
- Public buses in Salzburg, Ljubljana & local train/trams in Munich
Fun:
- Cable car & ferry in Berchtesgaden National Park
- Funicular in Ljubljana to the castle
- Car train (yes, car on the train!) in Triglav National Park
Stay
Levy’s Rooms & Breakfast, Salzburg, 3 nights: First intuition was to stay in the old town area. But the ROI did not look good + the hassle of riding a taxi from the station to the hotel and back (with the baggage meaning a large taxi or 2 regular sized). Levy’s is a chic hotel with a delicious breakfast. Short walk on flat terrain from the Salzburg train station, ~200mts. Some of the google reviews complain about a large construction site in the front. To the contrary we enjoyed watching the cranes operating! We were also lucky to find a free car park right in front of the hotel, saving ~10euros.
Guesthouse Bor, Plitvice National Park, Croatia, 1 night: Plenty of reasonably priced homestays and BnBs around the park. It was a short stay of about 14 hours. We reached at 6pm and packed up at 8am the next day to head the park. The pizzeria next door was delicious. A small grocery store in a community of park employees was handy to pickup breakfast breads for the next day. The Apple tree in front of the guesthouse was a delight.
Penzion Kaps, Lake Bled, Slovenia, 5 nights: Being the longest stay of our trip, we wanted this one to be special. 2 large rooms, equally large bathroom and a cozy sit-out for the morning coffee and tea. Breakfast was top class with eggs made to order. Penzion means guesthouse or small hotel. It is extensively used in this part of the world.
EMMI Home, Ljubljana, 2 nights: Corner apartment at a town square, it is designed to enhance the Ljubljana’s old town experience. A couple of quirks but they can be overlooked for the fun of walking people walk by, useful kitchen supplies, a nice coffee maker, cookies & a bottle of Slovenian red wine.
Residence Inn Munich Ost, Germany, 2 nights: Short walk from Munich East station. It was convenient because the train from Salzburg & the return train to the airport are from this station. Least exciting of all the hotels in the trip. The kitchenette was useful & tapping a button on an ipad for Orange juice was the only breakfast highlight!
Itinerary
- 2 days in Salzburg, Austria
- 1 day in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany
- 500km drive to Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia
- 5 days in Triglav National Park & Julian Alps, Slovenia
- 2 unplanned hours in Italy
- 2 days in Ljubljana, Slovenia
- 2 days in Munich, Germany
Detailed itinerary is here. The pre-trip itinerary was pretty open and broad. This is the updated version after the trip.
Conclusion
The theme was to maximize time outdoors, enjoy the vibrant autumn colors & open our minds to new cultures. I must admit that crossing many borders (no borders controls but we were stopped for routine checks in Croatia-Slovenia and Slovenia-Italy borders) was fun & exciting. Further more, we had some great conversations along the way.