An enchanting little village where we wish we’d spent more time…
We visited Ramsau bei Berchtesgaden on a rainy evening. We’d just spent the day at nearby Königssee and wanted to visit Ramsau before heading back to Salzburg, which was our base for our week-long German Austrian road trip.
It was early spring and the clouds were lurking around and we knew it was going to pour. Through the entire day at Königssee, we fortunately escaped the rain. But, as we parked our car at Ramsau, it started raining and didn’t stop for the entire hour we were there. It was just relentless!
That didn’t stop us from getting out and exploring though. We got out our umbrellas, put on our hoodies, huddled closer and walked to the bridge near the Ramsau church where thousands of photographers have tried to capture the famous postcard view of this idyllic little village.
Ramsau is surrounded by incredible beauty. It is set amidst the Alps and on a clear day, you can see the massive Alps right behind the little church making the view even more remarkable. Despite the heavy downpour, you can still get a small peek at a snow-covered mountain in the pic above.
With the stream by its side, the Alps behind it, and green hills with flocks of sheep surrounding it, this is the most picturesque church we’ve ever seen!
The church is also adorned by the prettiest cemetery we’d ever seen. It was a wonderful sight of love and peace.
Cemeteries like these around the local church appeared to be customary in this region. Many of them have intricate and unique gravestones that are surrounded by figurines and photos. These evoke a feeling of comfort and peace rather than the usual melancholy associated with cemeteries.
The interior of the Ramsau church is quite simple but lovingly decorated.
Although we spent less than an hour in this little German village and had barely seen all that it had to offer, we left Ramsau with lovely memories knowing we’ll be back soon.
Berchtesgaden and its surrounding area is extraordinarily beautiful. It should top your list of places to see in Germany. It is our most loved place in all of Germany and we cannot wait to head back there someday soon.
Sometimes the most unplanned trips turn out to be the best trips.
We’d had Regensburg on our bucket list of German cities to visit but hadn’t gotten around to it. As fate would have it, we had to plan a trip to the city for a work-related visit. So we set off on a lovely sunny evening with blue skies. It’s a short drive to Regensburg from Ulm and we made it there while the sun was still shining bright.
First order of business was food. There’s a TON of options for delicious food in Regensburg. Our restaurant selections are generally driven by the beer variety. And, we were so pleased to discover that Regensburg has a ton of spots for good beer as well, including some very cool craft beer bars.
While you are in Regensburg, you should definitely visit the Wurstkuchl, the oldest sausage kitchen in the world.
The smell of grilled sausages wafting through the air will have you drooling instantlyAdd a pint of the delicious Jacob’s Weissbier and you’ll be transported to heaven
If you prefer a quick bite, they have a takeaway corner outside. There’s usually a long line but don’t be deterred as it moves quickly and we promise you the sausages are worth the wait! Wurstkuchl was established in the 12th century as a small canteen of sorts primarily for dockers and masons working on the city’s renowned Stone Bridge.
This is just a view of half of the Stone bridge, the other half is currently under rennovation
This old Stone Bridge over the Danube river was built in the 12th century and is one of the oldest bridges in Germany. Although the Steinerne Brücke goes thru regular renovation and restoration, much of the old stones are still holding up the bridge. The bridge is always packed with locals just trying to get to the other side of the city and tourists flocking to admire the old bridge and to get the best views of the city.
A view of the old town area from the Stone BridgeColorful buildings at the Stadtamhof, on the other side of the Stone Bridge
The river banks are usually crowded with people picnicking with friends and family. Some get their hookahs and beers and enjoy the views of the beautiful Danube flowing thru the city. It was such a pleasant sight to watch children running around, people basking in the sunshine and enjoying a little siesta.
Regensburg is situated at the confluence of three rivers – Danube, Regen (possibly what the city was named after, joins the Danube from the north) and Naab (joins the Danube from the northwest). It’s amazing to see this confluence and the Danube splitting into little streams through the city and then merging back to flow as one mighty river. The best way to experience the beauty of Regensburg is to take a boat ride.
You have a whole range of options to tour the gorgeous waters of the Danube. We took the Strudelrundfahrt, a one-hour boat ride along the Danube where you can enjoy the sights of the old town and the pristine scenery of Regensburg.
The towering spires of the Regensburg Cathedral in the distanceA little castle in the old town areaThe Danube keeps splitting like this and rejoiningYou also have the option to hop on one of these cruise boats that take you on a longer tour over the Danube lasting a few days
The Danube cruises are world-renowned and is a very popular activity with tourists looking to explore Germany and its neighboring countries. It definitely seems like a fun, relaxing mode of travel if you’re not someone who gets sick on the water. Most rooms have a lovely little sit-out and the rooms and the inside of the boat itself seem quite cozy and comfortable. One of our family members did the Danube cruise which started from Passau (which by the way is a lot like Regensburg with a confluence of three rivers as well) and traveled through Austria and Eastern Europe.
The old town area of Regensburg is filled with a whole bunch of historical sights, and pretty little cafes and biergartens tucked into cobblestoned alleys. There are a number of churches as well. Of course, the most visited one is the Regensburger Dom.
The Regensburger Dom or St. Peter’s Cathedral is possibly one of the most visited sights in the city. Built in the 13th century, its imposing twin towers and gothic style is simply remarkable.
The front view is similar to that of the Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)And this side view where the two towers merge to look like one makes the cathedral look a lot like the Ulm cathedral, the tallest church in the world
With the Danube flowing through the city and its medieval cathedral, Regensburg reminded us of Ulm in so many ways. It is just a bigger Bavarian Ulm with a lot more restaurants, cool bars, and a stronger craft beer presence.
The craft beer culture in Regensburg is simply impressive! They have an annual craft beer festivalthat happens sometime around May. We were just lucky that the dates of the beer fest coincided with the dates of our visit. It was just an amazing stroke of beerluck! If you are a beer enthusiast visiting Regensburg around spring/early summer, plan your visit around the craft beer fest dates – you won’t be disappointed! Click here to read about our adventures in the craft beer festival and our recommendations for great beer haunts in Regensburg.
There’s a ton of things to do in Regensburg but we were there for a short couple of days and spent a lot of our time at the craft beer festival. When we were not at the beer fest, we were walking through the little lanes of the Altstdadt or old town area. It’s such a gorgeous little city with plenty of beautiful old buildings. You will find remnants of its rich history all around the old town.
Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall) – popular for its torture chamber Cosy little lanes with colorful old buildings adorn the AltstadtThe Goliathhaus has stood strong since the 13 century! What you see here is remains of the Roman fortress, Portra Praetoria / Castra Regina dating back to 179 AD !
One of the other impressive churches in the old town area is the Alte Kapelle or Old Chapel. The exterior of this church is quite simple and unimpressive compared to its rich, stunning interiors.
This ancient little town with its 2000 year old history has much to offer. It wasn’t so surprising when we found out that it was the first capital of Bavaria.
Regensburg is one of Bavaria’s most beautiful cities and is well worth a visit if you are traveling through south Germany. We’re absolutely thrilled to have visited this city and will fondly cherish our memories of this place and the amazing people we met here.
Sometimes, the smallest of things pack in the largest of wonders.
Memmingen is a quaint little Bavarian town, popularly known as the gateway to the Allgäu (a region across Germany and Austria that stretches across the Alps). Most tourists use Memmingen as a base when traveling to the Bavarian Alps or the Neuschwanstein (sleeping beauty) castle as this little town has an airport and it’s quicker to access the Alps from here rather than from Munich or Stuttgart.
Oh, but, this dreamy little town is more than just a gateway to the Alpine region. It is a charming, vibrant little town with colorful townhouses and cobblestoned alleys which was thankfully left unscathed by the World War II destruction that left most of Germany in shambles.
One of the prettiest market squares we’ve seen
We visited Memmigen on a sudden whim; decided to make the slight detour on our way back home from Füssen. So, with no list of things to do and places to see, we decided to just walk around this medieval town for a few hours and see what little surprises were in store. And, we were not disappointed! At every corner, we ran into one wondrous thing or the other – a historic building, a brightly painted house, a pretty stream, an interesting sculpture, a beautiful little chapel… we were simply delighted at every turn.
We started at the Marktplatz, the city centre, which is generally the best place to start at in any town. But this market place was unlike any others we’d seen. Colorful buildings adorn this little square and most of this little town. You’ll see these brightly painted buildings all around town.
We just fell in love with them
This intricately painted building you see in the pictures below is Memmingen’s Steuerhaus (tax house). It takes up most of the market square.
It was a bright sunny day and we basked in the warm spring sunshine
Right next to the Steuerhaus is the Rathaus (town hall).
We quite liked the dome design of the Rathaus, especially the centre dome with its shuttered windows
We continued walking towards the other end of the square.. just next to the Steuerhaus is the St. Johann church.
A closer look at the artwork on this church
And just around the corner from here, is the Blaue Saul, the blue (corner) column.
We walked on straight ahead from the blue column, toward the Sankt Martinskirche (St. Martin’s church).
The church was unfortunately closed.. so we walked back down the street, toward the little stream that we’d seen opposite the blue column. The Stadtbach (town brook)runs through most of this little town making the little place all the more magical.
We just followed the stream admiring the hurriedly swimming fishInteresting building art at Weber am Bach, a historic 700-year old hotelAn interesting equestrian statue of Welf VI
Welf VI was a 12th century Lord of Memmingen and Duke of Bavaria. The sculpture is quite an interesting portrayal of the Bavarian lord – you can see him riding with a globe under his horse’s hoof and his naked wife on the palm of his hand.
We continued walking around the Altstadt (old town) area. We came across an interesting historic gate. Apparently, there are ten such gates/towers and about 2 kilometers of wall around the Altstadt from several centuries ago that is still preserved.
We then arrived at the Fischerbrunnen at the Schrannenplatz.
The Fisher FountainBet there’s an interesting story behind the fisherman’s expression…
The beautiful red building in the background is the Goldener Lowe (Golden Lion), the city’s oldest wine tavern
The Schrannenplatz was brimming with locals – kids frolicking in one of the other fountains in the square, people sitting around the little cafes sipping on their evening coffees, and some others cooling off the hot day with some ice-cream.
We took a right in one of these little lanes, again just following the stream..
It was nearly 8 PM and it was still so bright outside; just love spring!The little canals and the bikes around took us briefly back to Amsterdam
It is such a picturesque, fascinating little town. We walked on at a lazy pace, reveling in the beauty that surrounded us.
Oh what we would give, to live in one of these cozy houses by the stream
Memmingen reminded us so much of Ulm (where we currently live). Little streams flow through Ulm as well and the city centres are quite similar, although more half-timbered and less colorful buildings in Ulm and definitely lesser crowds in Memmingen, even for a Saturday evening.
The Frauenkirche, Church of our Lady
Dusk was slowly settling in and flocks of birds were headed home high above the Frauenkirche. In front of the church was a cozy little park.
Frauenkirchplatz
After a short break in the park, we slowly traced our steps back to the town center, taking a different route.
This fun gang of girls excitedly posed for usWe ran into another gang of girls on our wayNot so fun though; these girls appeared to be engrossed in some serious conversation
Now, with all that walking, we had worked up a nice appetite and were ready to check out the local food and brews. We just walked around the block that had a whole bunch of restaurants and ended up at the Moritz Memmingen. It was a lovely restaurant – good food and good local beer.
When in Memmingen, drink a Memminger
We’d had the Memminger Weizen before, when we had first arrived in Ulm. It’s a delicious wheat beer!
We would have loved to spend more time in this charming little town but it was time to hit the road. We were so glad we had decided to make this impromptu stopover for a short few hours in Memmingen. We were thrilled to discover this little treasure not too far from home.
Night falls over the Kreuzherrenkloster as we say goodbye to beautiful Memmingen
The little towns of Germany continue to delight us leaving us with beautiful memories that will be lovingly cherished for a long time.
When a city is a called a ‘beer culture’ city, it of course piques our interest.
We are always on the look-out for German craft beer and it’s not too common especially in the neck of the woods where we live, in south Germany (yes, where Munich, the land of great beer and Oktoberfest is). If you are a craft beer fanatic, you’ll know what it is to crave beyond the traditional German Pils and Weizen (which is your dominating beer of choice in the Oktoberfest by the way). Anyways, during one such hunt, we chanced upon this ‘beer culture’ city called Ehingen and were thrilled to see that one of their breweries had a great craft beer collection and the city was just a 30 minute drive from Ulm (where we live). Ecstatic, we made plans to visit the place.
It’s surprising how late-risers like us can rise and shine quite early when there’s a good pint of beer beckoning. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and green fields. Spring is almost here; the temperatures are getting higher but the trees are still barren and we were pleasantly surprised to see the lush green meadows.
A crisp and clear day
We had the most wonderful short drive to Ehingen – we passed by gorgeous little forests with the Danube river playing hide and seek every few kilometers. We saw a bunch of deer running (Steve didn’t believe me and said it must have been foxes and in just a few meters we saw a sign board indicating deer in the area. Ha!). It was unexpected as we usually find plenty of cows, sheep and horses grazing but never deer, not so close to the expressways. There was also a splendid Christmas tree farm along our route and it was fun to see the teeny weeny Christmas plants sprouting.
In no time, we were in Ehingen parking our car (we parked at the Tiefgaragen Lindenplatz Parkplatz 2 – very accessible to the town square and it’s free of charge on the weekends). We walked up to the Marktplatz (city center) in just a couple of minutes (it’s a small town). It was market day in the town square and they had little stalls selling a wide variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, flowers, and some local beer and snacks too.
Saturday (farmers) market in the town square
The market day happens every Saturday in every little to big German city – it is basically a farmers market. We still haven’t made it to the one in Ulm and it was good to finally see one of these.
The market square features a fountainwith some interesting characters.
Some close-up shotsChicken anyone?He was getting ready to hose them all!Care for a drink from the frog prince’s crown?
On the other side of the marktplatz is the Rathaus (town hall).
A more modern Rathaus than we expected
We then headed over to the Schwanen Brauerei, one of the 4 breweries in the city. The Berg brewery seems to be quite a reputed brewery especially in this region but if you’re into ales and craft beers, you should head over to the Schwanen brewery. These guys as well have a good collection of traditional brews but we were there just for their craft beer collection – the Schwanen guys don’t brew any craft beers themselves but have a great collection of kick-ass ales from some of the well-known German craft breweries. Our favorites include Camba, Braufactum and Riegele. We’d not had Braufactum before and we thoroughly enjoyed their hoppy pale ales. We had a mighty crate of beers hitching a ride back home with us!
If you are a craft beer drinker and you find yourself in the Baden Wurttemburg state of south Germany, you should make your way over to this brew-pub. If you’d like to explore all 4 breweries in Ehingen, check out the historical sights of the city, and don’t mind a good hike, you could opt for their Bierwanderweg (beer culture trekking). Or, if you’d rather hop on a large bike with friends or family for a short countryside tour enjoying your beer at the same time, you should check out the beer culture bike that Ehingen offers. The city is quite a popular stop for hiking and biking trips along the Danube river.
Our next stop was the St. Blasius Church. This small church is sheer beauty – the baroque style, the exceptional ceiling art, the unique paintings on its wall, the large courtyard – simply awe-inspiring. There are two other main churches (the Church of our lady and Sacred Heart church) and these three church spires dominate the Ehingen skyline.
St. Blasius also includes a lovely Grotto (cave-like shrine)
We spent the next hour exploring more of the sleepy little town. We passed by several half-timbered buildings which is a signature feature of small German towns.
Ehingen Museum
You should visit the Stadtgarten which includes a little lake called Groggensee, a lovely play area for the kids, a large walking/cycling trail and some interesting art in the midst of all of this. What we loved the most is the little Schmiech river flowing through the park making the place magical.
Our last stop was the Schloss Mochental. It is a relatively new castle featuring modern works of art.
At the castle entrance
It is 10 or so kilometers away from the Marktplaz so we got our car out and drove there. If you are traveling by public transport, note that you’ve got a bit of a hike to get to this place but we can assure you that it’s worth the trip. They have some extraordinary contemporary art works on display and a pretty rad Basen (broom) museum.
IntriguingSeemed like a popular art formTin man says helloThis one would have taken some effort to make!This was just one section of the broom museum – they had tons of all types of brooms and even an ancient vacuum cleaner on display on the other side
The views from the castle rooms are quite lovely as well – all in all it was a wonderful visit to the castle.
It was time to make our way back home. We left the little town with a big stash of beautiful memories as everlasting souvenirs.
It is sleepy little towns like Ehingen that make Germany the spectacular country that it is. Their half-timbered houses, their baroque churches, their old world charm, their fascinating culture, their little rivers and streams – this is where the magic of this beautiful country unfolds.
Belgium is possibly our most favorite country. It has so much history, culture, art and each city is so wonderfully different from the other. And, it has SO much good beer! It is the holy land of beers after all and the delicious Belgian brews was our primary motivation to go on our beer pilgrimage to Belgium over the Christmas holidays.
Even if you’re not a beer lover, you will find Belgium incredibly fascinating. The buildings, the walls, the people, the culture, the food – will fill you with unbelievable joy. The Belgians are a class apart – they are quirky, bold, friendly, fun, and artistic. You will find both contemporary and medieval art in the cities of Belgium.They have deep regard for their history and struggles and yet do not hesitate to experiment and keep up with modern times. Belgium has a unique mix of culture and culinary delights owing to its French and Dutch influences.
There is something for everyone in this wonderful country – whether it is admiring art, learning about the history of comics, taking a peaceful canal ride, climbing up the bell tower for gorgeous views, walking past medieval buildings, visiting beautiful churches, indulging in mouth-watering food, or just drinking a well-brewed ale – you simply cannot get enough of this fantastic country. And, if you are visiting Belgium during Christmas, it makes it all even more special.
We spent a short 7 days in Belgium visiting Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges. And, this made for the most remarkable, joyful holiday, and the perfect end to a great year filling us with lots of inspiration and energy to ring in the new year.
Take a look at our Belgian journey.
[Click the image or link below to see what these cities are like.]
ourhoppytravels 