Edelweiss Lodge and Resort

I promise that I'm almost done with my Germany posts!

We spent most of our trip at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch. It is a military owned resort and is on the base in Garmisch. We were really glad we stayed there. It is a nice hotel and is convenient to a lot of the things we wanted to see in Bavaria. The views were beautiful and our room opened up to a large lawn area where the kids could play or run to the park that was right around the corner.

It has 3 restaurants, a snack bar, a pool, a small store and is in walking distance to the commissary and PX. Just as a note, the commissary is in walking distance, but it takes 5-10 minutes and you have to leave the base and cross the street and go onto the other side of the base, so if it's pouring down rain please take an umbrella, not just a raincoat or better yet drive. I speak from personal experience.

The restaurants are good. We actually only ate at each of them once. The dinner at Market station was good and was reasonably priced, especially when compared to other places we had eaten in Germany. The breakfast brunch buffet at the Pullman Place was excellent. They only have them on Sundays so be sure to make a reservation because it fills up fast. You can make reservations through the Open Table App. There is also Zuggy's on the Lower level. They have pizzas which were good, but most of the pizzas out in town are better. There is also a snack bar called The Point, which has a microwave you can use. This was such a blessing for us, because we discovered that the commissary had microwaveable rice and that's pretty much all our 1 year old wants to eat. We also bought some Korean Ramen at the commissary and just asked for hot water at the Point. It was awesome for nights when we didn't want anything fancy. The rooms have mini-fridges so we bought some cereal, milk, fruit and juice at the commissary so the kids could eat breakfast while we got ready in the morning. Plus it kept costs down.

The resort has different day tours that they offer. You can find a list on their website. I was so excited when I saw the list of activities they offered, but then I started to tally up the price per person and figured out that if we did all of the activities we wanted then the costs would really add up, especially since you have to pay for the kids as well. Most things in Germany are free for kids 5 and under. So, I looked into getting a rental car. I'm so glad we did! First, because having a rental car meant that we did not need to take trains for the 5 hour car ride from Ramstein to Garmisch. Second, it gave us a lot of flexibility to go where we wanted, whenever we wanted. Third, this reason:

Our youngest, who had just turned 1, was tired of traveling by planes and trains. If we had put him on tour buses, he would have been impossible. Instead, as soon as we got in the car we gave him his pacifier and blanket and he would fall asleep within 5 minutes. It was awesome. We could drive, in relative peace (we still have two other boys) and he was much more comfortable. Alpine Adventures in the lobby has flyers for their excursions, driving directions, and GPS addresses if you are driving. Also, toward the end of the trip we were expecting rain so we asked them for a list of rainy day destinations. Alpine Adventures also sells American - European outlet converters. I purchased one on Amazon before we left, that worked well, but it was more expensive than the ones at the resort. They have them for $1.25 at the resort. Also, they take dollars at the resort, so make sure you have some dollars available and not just Euros.

Renting a car for 2 weeks ended up being about the same as paying for all of the excursions through the hotel, but we were able to go to places not offered through the resort and we were able to leave whenever we wanted to. Some of our favorite spots were not available through the resort and we loved being able to drive to random little towns and exploring. We may have gotten more information through the tours, but let's be honest, we would have been wrangling children and no one else would have enjoyed it. Keep in mind that you do have to pay for tolls and a Vignette in Austria and gas, but again it ended up being about the same with a lot less hassle. We did get stuck in quite a bit of traffic going to and from Ramstein, but we just had to be patient. There were a few times when the GPS steered us wrong, the worst time being when it took us up a bike path, which can be hard to navigate in a Volvo SUV. Other than that, it worked out pretty well. Driving in Europe can be fun and exciting, especially in Lichtenstein where the roads are about as small as the country itself. Also, be careful in Austria, they have a LOT of speeding cameras. Trust me.

The other thing I appreciated about the resort was the laundry room. I bought some Tide Pods at the commissary and that saved me money from having to buy the little boxes of Tide in the laundry room. I was really grateful for the laundry room, because we were able to pack a little less and just wash clothes a few times. Waiting for clothes to dry can occasionally get a little boring, so you take selfies.

 
We were there for the 4th of July and BMW hosted a 4th of July celebration with bounce houses, different activities, face painting, food, and a really great fireworks display. It was neat to be in a foreign country, celebrating our country's independence at a resort for military servicemen and their families.

BMW also had a test drive event over the weekend. So my husband was able to take a couple of cars out by himself for a half hour each.

I will write about our favorite places to see around the resort in another post, but we really enjoyed our time there. Everyone was friendly and helpful. The kids loved the hot tub and pool area. We really didn't spend much time at the resort during the day, but we enjoyed our time there! So, if you're in the military or are related to anyone in the military then you should go! We would love to go back and really want to go for Christmas some time. I bet it's beautiful with the snow and different Christmas markets.

Hotel Rheinfels and the V8 Hotel

We stayed in 4 hotels in Germany, two of which were affiliated with the military. The other two were Hotel Rheinfels in Sankt Goar and the V8 Hotel in Stuttgart, Germany.

We headed to Sankt Goar right when we got to Germany. It takes 2 hours on trains from Ramstein to Sankt Goar, which wasn't two bad since you only have to make 2 transfers. When riding the trains with 3 kids and 5 bags, make sure you book your tickets online and look for the train car for bikes, because there is more open space for bags, strollers and things.

We stayed at Hotel Rheinfels, because it was recommended by my husband's cousin who had stayed there before. We wanted to visit Sankt Goar, because there are two castles in the area that were occupied at one point by my husband's ancestors. They are Burg Katz and Burg Rheinfels. Hotel Rheinfels was right on the river and about a 5 minute walk from the train station. We arrived there late and most things in Germany close early during the week, so we had called the owner of the hotel earlier and he had left a key for us out on the front porch. The owner and his family and other employees were very accommodating. The prices were definitely reasonable. They didn't have a large enough room for us the first night, but made sure to move us to a larger room the second night. My only complaint was that they didn't have a roll away crib. The rooms were clean and the view was fantastic!

The breakfast buffets, were included and delicious!

They set a table, including a highchair, up for us before we got down for breakfast. The showers were a little touchy and would suddenly be really hot, but I kind of noticed that as a trend in all of the hotels. It was centrally located and was directly across the street from the spot where you can pick up the ferry to the other side of the river. It is also a short walk to the small "train" that takes you up to the castle ruins.

The town is small, but fun to walk around. They have great bakeries, little shops and the world's largest cuckoo clock!

The ruins are fun to explore. They have a lot of tunnels and other fun things to explore.

After Sankt Goar we headed to Stuttgart, Germany and stayed at the V8 Hotel. My husband and my boys love cars, so we thought it would be fun. It was a little pricier than the other hotels, but it was fun for one night. Make sure you drive to the front of the hotel, because the back is nothing fancy and if you see the back first you may be worried that your husband has booked a night in a crazy hotel :) The front is much more attractive! The rooms are all decorated with cars. Ours had enough beds for all of us and had a roll away crib. The big bed, which the boys claimed, looked like a car and the rest of the room looked like a garage. There was a big window that looked into a car museum, which is included in your stay.

You can also get breakfast for 15 euros per adult. It was good, but a little pricey. It is fairly close to the Porsche museum, which was fun for the kids and of course my husband. If you go to the Porsche museum, be sure to take your parking ticket in with you and they will validate it at the ticket counter.

So, if you head to Germany check out these two hotels and let me know how you like them!