Traveling the world has been a dream of mine ever since I can remember. Thirteen years ago I retired from teaching and began my journey to destinations I never imagined I would see. My husband, Justin, and I decided we wanted to explore smaller ships. That's when we found Viking River & Viking Ocean. We do enjoy our road trips and you'll find those adventures featured here as well. Enjoy the road less traveled and adventure onward!
ZamsZanyTravels.com is sailing the Danube today in a stretch between Krems and Melk known as the Wachau. We passed ruined castles and medieval towns that were lined with terraced vineyards. The Wachau was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. It’s interesting to see “how the human settlements and the agricultural use of the land have evolved organically and harmoniously over time.”
Viking River Cruises, soon to be just “Viking,” has a great itinerary for the Oberammergau. We are traveling on the Oberammergau with Salzburg itinerary and will be joining the boat in Passau and traveling on the Danube to Budapest.
Oberammergau is a small city of about 3000 people. They run a very tight ship there and be prepared to go through security. Here are some tips that might be helpful.
1) There is a security check. They will inspect your bag and do a brief pat down. There is a line to the left for men and two lanes to the right for women. These are gender based lines. Get in the right one.
2) Small handbags are allowed. Backpacks are not. No umbrellas either. As well as shopping bags, although we saw a few come in during the second segment of the show.
3) Restrooms are easily accessible from inside the theater and out.
4) The show is broken up into two segments. Each is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours in length. The seats are somewhat tight, but there is a slight cushion on the seat. Your bum will no doubt be tested.
5) It’s all in German and Viking provided an English text to follow along which was very helpful. Bring a flashlight for the second segment as it will be dark.
6) You are in a protected area. Ventilation depends on the breeze. There are no fans. If you have a small handheld battery operated fan may be very beneficial during the warmer summer months.
7) There is a dinner provided during the 3 hour intermission. We had a 3 course meal in a banquet hall. Viking provided us with private tables so we weren’t in a big mix of people. Keep in mind, our group was only 6 people. We really lucked out taking the trip at this time. The meal was a smoked trout starter which was as good. And then you had a choice of Prime Rib or Salmon. Desert was a chocolate dish. We also had lunch with Viking prior to the show at the Wolf restaurant.
8) After the show was over we walked several blocks to our bus.
All in all, the show was spectacular! It was very dramatic and you will be enthralled by the number of people on the stage! It was an epic event for sure. Live animals, tabloids..watch for those. The choir was sensational as well as the 57 piece orchestra. All of the talent in the show had to either be born in Oberammergau or have lived here for 20 years. The actors are not paid and do it as a tribute to the sparing of the village hundreds of years ago from the plague.
Our journey continues with our stay in Salzburg, Austria. We are traveling with Viking River Cruise - Oberammergau with Salzburg itinerary. Today for lunch after the Salzburg walking tour, we dined at the Imlauer Sky Rooftop restaurant. The views were impressive and the food delicious. It’s the best meal I think I’ve had so far! Enjoy then view!
ZamsZanyTravels to Munich and was awarded with a big surprise! We were supposed to stay at the Marriott Hotel, but instead our small group of just four were housed in Hyatt’s high end hotel…the Andaz! We were definitely the lucky ones on this hotel. The breakfast buffet and the suite lodgings has by far been the very best. Enjoy the view!
We departed Munich mid-morning and headed toward Salzburg. On the way we stopped for a lovely lunch at a Herrenchiemsee lakeside restaurant. We’ve had a lot of Bavarian dishes on our trip so far and it’s been delicious.
After lunch we boarded a ferry at 1:15 p.m. Very few riders which was lovely. We had the top deck nearly to ourselves. The day was bright and sunny and it looked like we would escape the rain for a second day.
The ferry ride was about 15 minutes to the Herrenchiemsee island where the Palace and Monastery reside. That was our destination for the afternoon. There were just 6 in our Viking group. We have been blessed by such a small group and have really enjoyed our tour director, Annick. She is extremely knowledgeable and has been doing this for 30 years.
On the island, Justin and I chose to view the Monastery and rose gardens. Others in the group took the horse drawn carriage to the Palace. Otherwise it would have been a 25 minute walk.
The Monastery has been transformed into a museum. And the rose garden was quite beautiful. No pictures were allowed inside.
We really lucked out on the excursion. As we were returning on the ferry, a storm was getting ready to kick up and we got off the island just in time. The ferries had to shut down until the storm had passed. It was raining cats and dogs and the bus nearly had to pull over until the storm had passed. Luckily it was quickly over and we were able to travel safely.
Onward to Salzburg where we checked in later at the Wyndham Grand Hotel. This hotel is definitely not of the caliber the Andaz was in Munich. That has been our best hotel to date from Viking.
Our trip has begun with Viking River Cruises! Oberammergau with Salzburg is our itinerary this time. During our pre-extension we stayed one night in Munich at a very posh hotel which I’ll share in another video. This video shares images of our trip to Marienplatz and lunch at the Rathskeller on our own. Marienplatz is a bustling place with many stores and interesting sites, including a visit to two churches, one of which was St. Peter’s. It was a lovely day and outing.
