Germany, Austria & Switzerland 2025

My husband, Sam and I ventured to Europe last fall. He had been all over the world in the Marine Corps, but had never been able to visit Europe so we made it happen! This was my second time visiting Germany & Austria and first time visiting Switzerland. We jam-packed a ton into our trip and visited Munich, St. Gilgen, Hallstatt, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Füssen, Lucerne, Wengen, Mürren and Lauterbrunnen… in 11 days. The only thing I would change? I’d pay extra to fly home from Switzerland to avoid the extensive train ride back to Munich from Wengen. I spent hours and hours online planning the itinerary and it was so helpful for my type A self 🤣 If anyone needs advice, I still have the itinerary and am happy to share! I learned all about navigating trains in all countries (Switzerland is hardcore), driving a car across Germany (we rented the European version of a Ford Escape called a Kuga - it was one of the coolest SUVs and we got to drive on the autobahn), and all things Europe. I even slipped in some handy dandy Rick Steves videos before leaving to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

We traveled outside of peak season and it was 100% worth it. While we did run into some rainy weather, we got many days of nice weather to follow with gorgeous fall colors & amazing visibility in Switzerland (which is not guaranteed, so I was so relieved). We visited Switzerland during “shoulder season”, which is the time between summer peak and skiiers, so lots of stuff was closed (i.e. some restaurants and attractions), but there were not a ton of people and we got to enjoy the beauty without super long lines!

This trip was such a gift from the Lord and I am so grateful for the opportunity. You just can’t beat the history, architecture and landcape combined!

P.S. you may recognize the scene with the horse statues from the von Trapp family’s backyard in “The Sound of Music” 🎵