Travel Agents - Part One and other Bavaria, Germany Warning Or Danger Tips

If you are planning a trip with a travel agent, it may be a good thing to find one that has travelled to the area. We picked our travel agent on a recommendation from a friend and we ended up regretting our choice.

She had never travelled around Germany like we planned to. When she was booking our hotels, she was unsure of how close they were to the places that we wanted to visit. I have two very good examples of how this can become a mistake for you as you are in the middle of travelling.

We wanted to stay in Berchtesgaden so that we could go to the Eagles Nest and see the mountains. Because our travel agent works with an affiliation with two hotel organizations (Best Western and Minotel), she was not willing to look at smaller hotels for us. The Best Western branch in Berchtesgaden was booked for the night that we needed to stay there. Her list told her that the next closest hotel was in Bad Reichenhall and that the distance from there to Berchtesgaden was minimal. When you are travelling only by train, a small distance can see quite large. Plus, Bad Reichenhall wasn't the sort of place where Americans stayed. It was a German tourist town, we were totally out of place there. The hotel was a long distance from the train station and we had to take a cab up to it (it was on a mountain). It turned out okay, but I will never forget the feeling of sticking out like a sore thumb in Bad Reichenhall.

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My second story involves a similar scenario. We wanted to stay in Fussen, the closest town to Neuschwanstein. However, both the Minotel and Best Western hotels there were booked. The travel agent was told that the nearest hotel was in Nesselwang. Actually, the hotel was listed as Nesselwang/Fussen. This couldn't be further from the truth for us. When we got off of the train in Nesselwang, we were greeted by a deserted train station and a sleepy mountain town. There was still snow on the cobblestone streets and we had luggage with wheels! We had to hitch a ride up to our hotel with some VERY friendly townspeople because the town was so small that there were no cabs!

To make my long story short, either book your trip yourself, or make sure that your agent knows the area and can make wise changes if the hotels you want are booked. Plus, do your research, don't trust that your agent knows exactly what they are doing! Being more informed yourself will make your trip much more relaxing and fun!

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