Alpine break advice ?

[Emperor Fabulous]

I'm thinking of taking my elderly mum for a short break to somewhere alpine and pretty - she's always had this dream of seeing an alpine village with snow covered houses etc. I've never been anywhere alpine-ish so I'm clueless. I'm looking for somewhere that fits in with the fairytale vision as much as possible - cuteness overload. Ideally I'd like somewhere that isn't focussed on skiing, as we definitely won't be doing that !, and definitely want to avoid the apres-ski boozy crowd.

If I can, it would be good to do this around her birthday, which is the last week of May. Is there any snow around at that time anywhere ?

Any advice very gratefully received folks.

[Axe_meister]

Well, for real fairy tale villages and a proper palace. Go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen a real cookoo clock type village and then you have the beautiful Neuschwanstein castle. The castle that disney copied for it's parks.

Not far from Munich which a a fantastic town to visit (in my case grow up in)

http://allgaeu-cam.de/wetter/schloss...hwanstein.html

[JonEve]

Lauterbrunnen in Switerland.

Quiet, quaint and still snow on the tops of the hills. Maybe not so much on the houses, but on the caps. You can even take a train from Lauterbrunnen station all the way to the top of Mount Jungfrau where they have observation decks, a restaurant, husky sledging and an "Ice Cave"...It's awesome. You have to get up early to catch the train to give yourself enough time when you get to the top, but it's totally worth it. We went on the cloudiest day of the year so saw fuck all when we got to the top (and it was properly windy/cold) but was still worth it. The train takes a while to get up there, but you take in some breathtaking views.

We went in July and stayed at the Camping Jungfrau holiday park which does get a lot of backpackers but was still fairly quiet...There's a number of hotels in Lauterbrunnen village though.

One of the most picturesque places I've ever been to.

[JonEve]

Well, for real fairy tale villages and a proper palace. Go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen a real cookoo clock type village and then you have the beautiful Neuschwanstein castle. The castle that disney copied for it's parks.

Not far from Munich which a a fantastic town to visit (in my case grow up in)

http://allgaeu-cam.de/wetter/schloss...hwanstein.html

Or here, and you can go to Munich to boot! Double bonus!

[Axe_meister]

The only problem with this time of year is that it's snow melt season, unless you go really high up.
But in Garmish you're not too far away from the Zugspitze, Germanys highest mountain (3000 meters).
There is a nice train that takes you to the top and the views are stunning, but you will have to battle with hard core
skiers.

[Axe_meister]

Or here, and you can go to Munich to boot! Double bonus!

Another Munich fan?

Munich is the summer is fantastic. nowhere else can you have 10s of thousands of people sitting in a beer garden,
drinking strong Munich beer by the Liter with no trouble what so ever.

The place is full of fantastic architecture, castle palaces, etc.
Great parks (English Garden), but watch out for the nudists.
Great beer, good food (of all nationalities), and a transport system run the way it should be run and dirt cheap as well.
About an hour from the Alps and some great lakes in the South for a beach style holiday but swimming in fresh water.

[JonEve]

Another Munich fan?

Munich is the summer is fantastic. nowhere else can you have 10s of thousands of people sitting in a beer garden,
drinking strong Munich beer by the Liter with no trouble what so ever.

The place is full of fantastic architecture, castle palaces, etc.
Great parks (English Garden), but watch out for the nudists.
Great beer, good food (of all nationalities), and a transport system run the way it should be run and dirt cheap as well.
About an hour from the Alps and some great lakes in the South for a beach style holiday but swimming in fresh water.

Love Munich. My second favourite city in the world (behind Seattle)...

We visited when we travelled round Europe and were there in June(ish). It was bloody lovely.

[Emperor Fabulous]

She may prefer somewhere not in the Fatherland (don't mention ze var !). Are there any quaint snowy villages in Switzerland that have snow in late May ? I've had a quick scan on the web and can't find any decent site that advises on snow by month. I'm guessing that late May is bordering on summer, so I'm predicting snow is going to be completely off the menu ?

[JonEve]

She may prefer somewhere not in the Fatherland (don't mention ze var !). Are there any quaint snowy villages in Switzerland that have snow in late May ? I've had a quick scan on the web and can't find any decent site that advises on snow by month. I'm guessing that late May is bordering on summer, so I'm predicting snow is going to be completely off the menu ?

I would guess so, unless you head up into the mountains for a day trip etc (as per suggestions above). Still lovely scenery without snow though. Very "Sound of Music"!

[jalapeno]

Lauterbrunnen in Switerland.

Quiet, quaint and still snow on the tops of the hills. Maybe not so much on the houses, but on the caps. You can even take a train from Lauterbrunnen station all the way to the top of Mount Jungfrau where they have observation decks, a restaurant, husky sledging and an "Ice Cave"...It's awesome. You have to get up early to catch the train to give yourself enough time when you get to the top, but it's totally worth it. We went on the cloudiest day of the year so saw fuck all when we got to the top (and it was properly windy/cold) but was still worth it. The train takes a while to get up there, but you take in some breathtaking views.

We went in July and stayed at the Camping Jungfrau holiday park which does get a lot of backpackers but was still fairly quiet...There's a number of hotels in Lauterbrunnen village though.

One of the most picturesque places I've ever been to.

Grindelwald is the other side of the same mountain, also pretty, with trains up the mountain to the top (Jungfraujoch). It stops halfway up the north face of the Eiger for an observation point (behind glass thankfully).

The interchange point for all the railways up to the Jungfrau has a hotel, that is really pretty - it's where they filmed The Eiger Sanction.