10 DAYS ROAD TRIP - THE ULTIMATE ITINERARY FOR FALL IN EUROPE
- 🏁 BAVARIA - GERMANY
- 🏁 TYROL - AUSTRIA
- 🏁 HALLSTATT - AUSTRIA
- 🏁 DOLOMITES - ITALY
DAY 1 - 2
🇦🇹 Innsbrück ⮕ 🇩🇪 Bavaria
⛽ 114km
Where to stay ?
We chose this hotel because it is very close to the German border which made it ideal to explore Bavaria on a day trip while avoiding the crowds, overbooked hotels and expensive rates of that region of Germany. Austria is a cheaper destination than Germany and we particularly appreciated their service and kindness. My Tirol is situated 30 min away from Eibsee - 40 min from Neuschwanstein in Bavaria.
What to do ?
🏰 Neuschwanstein Castle
⚠️ Prior to drive all the way there check:
- ⏰ that you can at least arrive 3h prior to the sunset,
- ☁️ that the weather is not foggy or you won’t see much.
- 🚧 Verify on google that the bridge Mariensbrücke is open for you to see the Castle.
If you don’t have these conditions I don’t recommend going your experience will be very disappointing. For more info on the Castle check out my blog post for a successful visit to Neuschwanstein
🚘 Our flight on arrival was in the early afternoon which gave us plenty of time to arrive in Germany with the best light to take pictures. We drove 40 min from the hotel.
💶 On arrival the parking is 8€ for the whole day they only accept cash (as of 2020 it might have changed).
🥾 Take the direction of Marienbrücke (Queen Mary’s bridge). The hike isn’t particularly difficult I would still recommend you to bring :
- Snacks / water
- Warm Clothes (you will be back after the sunset)
- A flashlight / Enough battery on your phone to come back down
Cross the bridge and continue on the other side of the cliff to get the best view of the castle. Keep hiking up until you get satisfied with the view.
🏔 Eibsee
🚘 It is much easier to drive to Eibsee from Austria than from Neuschwanstein / Füßen because the mountain road is long and spinning on that side. The access is much shorter from Austria it took us only 30 mins from the hotel to arrive.
💶 The car park cost is 4,5€ and they accept cash/card payments.
🥾 Hike along the lake from the car park. The iconic view is from the second fjord that you access through the small paths in the forest. Check the weather forecast for a sunny day / not foggy or you won’t see the mountain over the lake. The closer to winter you visit Eibsee the more you need to prepare for the cold. In winter the sun only shows up over the mountain after 1pm and everything is frozen until then.
🏔 To go up on the mountain Zugspitze, it is 49,5€ / per person. You will need to take the cable cars to the top.
☁️ Make sure the sky is clear to enjoy view.
Where to eat ?
- 🇩🇪 If you decide to eat dinner in Germany you have to book 1 day ahead or in the morning. We personally never succeeded to have a pleasant experience there so we usually drive back to Austria.
- 🇦🇹 If you decide to eat in Austria I would recommend eating either at the hotel you stay to get a nice restaurant with correct prices. I also recommend going to Golfino Restaurant
DAY 3
📍 Tyrol
⛽ 100km
Enjoy the lakes in Austria in the region of Tyrol around the hotel
- Sebeensee is right next to the hotel and is a really pretty lake to visit.
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Plansee : stop along the lake to take pictures as the view gets nice. It’s far less crowded but absolutely gorgeous !
🌧 However the rain can come faster there so be prepared, it’s a mountain weather so it can change up quickly.
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Oetz has a wonderful view and his so easy to access. There is a very small free car park you might not get a spot in high season. Take this very pretty stroll with the sound of the bells on the cattle and 100m later you reach the view point on the entrance.
⛅️ The morning is cloudy most of the time so I wouldn’t recommend visiting before mid-day check well the weather forecast before going or you will be in the clouds.
DAY 4-6
Tyrol ⮕ Hallstatt
⛽ 273km - 4h
On the way to Hallstatt you will drive through Germany again you can decide to make a stop at Königsee and take a boat trip on the mountain lake.
🚣♀️ Kömigsee
If you organise yourself ahead you can spend some time at Königsee the beautiful German lake. We failed going there so this is how you can make it successful :
- 🚫 🇬🇧 It is very very touristic and they almost don’t speak English, expect a rude service. They don’t give you a friendly welcoming as they expect you to know how it works.
- 🚣 The boat tour costs 17€ per person and you can only book it online the day before.
- 🎫 You need to buy the tickets online the day before and you cannot show up and get on a boat on arrival. When you pay your tickets don’t make any mistake on the date they don’t refund anything, if your tickets don’t arrive check the spam box mine arrived there.
- ⏰ The boats leave in the morning and very rarely in the afternoon to go on a tour
- 💶 The main car park is not free.
🥨 Hallstatt
Explore the village, we got lucky and explored during the pandemic so we were alone with the locals. I can only imagine how touristic it can be. For this reason I would recommend to arrive early in the morning.
Where to stay ?
Haus Salzkammergut, the loveliest hosts ever ! We had a wonderful stay there. I would recommend you to sleep outside of the city of Hallstatt, we stayed at at this guest house for 2 days.
If you want to enjoy Hallstatt without anyone and get the city for yourself before the crowd then sleep 1 night inside Hallstatt.
🚘 The car park outside the city is mandatory,
🍴 the restaurants are very touristic and we haven’t really found a good one.
📍 Gosausee
A beautiful lake surrounded by mountains.
⛅️ It is usually very cloudy in the morning so visit in the afternoon or for the sunset
📍 Scenic route
🚘 Drive up on Loser Panoramastraße.
💶 Pay the toll at the bottom it costs 16€ for the whole day. Don’t loose your ticket you will need to scan it to enter the park.
🪂 Park on the small car park at the bottom to get the picture from the paragliding platform.
Take back your car and park all the way up to hike around Augstsee. Expect some snow so bring warm clothing
Where to eat ?
Eat lunch at Altausee you will have to park in the city center and walk.
You can walk along the lake and I would recommend to eat at Seewiese Altausee which is the best restaurant in town with a nice lake view and correct prices. Make sure you don’t stop at the first restaurant but keep walking until you reach it.
DAY 7-9
🇦🇹 Hallstatt ⮕ 🇮🇹 Dolomites
⛽ 273km - 4h10
Drive South to visit the Dolomites in Italy
Where to stay ?
$$$ Hotel Adler a very nice hotel in the heart of the Dolomites
$$ Hotel Kristall the perfect getaway with a traditionnal spa and exceptionnal view
What to do ?
- 🏔 Tre Cime and Cadini, These iconic views of the Dolomites were blocked by heavy fog and clouds so we couldn’t see anything unfortunately.
💶 The entrance is a private toll of 30€ cash and card payments are accepted but once you exit you cannot come back you would need to pay again for the entrance
- 📍 Lago di Braies
I was expecting this one to be super touristic and disappointing and to my surprise it was awesome.
🚘 Park for 6€ with card or cash.
🚣 Rent a boat on the lake, the staffs are so friendly and nice, you pay 19€ for 30 mins or 29€ for 1h.
⏰ The Entrance (it's the access to the road) is only before 9am and after 5pm by car.
🚘 Free parking at P4 for only 2h but the spots are very limited. Otherwise you need to pay 18€ cash only.
🚶♂️ Even though there is a road after the parking spots you cannot drive there it’s private roads so you walk in direction of Adler mountain lodge and you will reach the hills quite easily. It’s a 45 mins walk which is pretty flat. 
The famous view of the Dolomites. Seceda has a webcam website updated every 30 mins you can check the weather before going up.
☁️ We couldn’t visit because it was full of snow and fog.
🚠 The ticket to get up in cable cars costs 34€ per person
🚘 Funes had a parking spot right next to the church and you walk from there to explore the little village.
🚶♀️The view from above is on a private road you will need to walk there it will take around 45mins to reach that point from the parking.
🥾 To visit the Geislerham Hutt you park your car further up and you have about 1h hike up to reach it. It's a proper hike prepare it ahead with snacks and warm clothes.
📍 Geislerham / Chruch St John
📸 It is very easy to shoot it’s right next to the parking spot. You walk 50m and you have the elevated platform from where you can take photos. Drones are not allowed anymore.
💶 To come closer you need to pay by cash only 4€ per person to walk in their alley to see the church from a closer look. Entrance inside the church is closed you only see the outside of it. 
DAY 9-10
🇮🇹Dolomites ⮕ 🇦🇹 Innsbrück
⛽ 100km - 1h40
Take the road back to Austria and relax in Innsbrück for the rest of the day until your flight the next day.
All the content you will find in this blog post is edited using the Tyrol preset