I spent nearly a month exploring Germany and Austria. Here are the 6 most overrated things I did that I'd skip next time.
My husband and I spent nearly a month exploring castles and mountains in Germany and Austria.
There was so much we loved about our adventures, but we found some experiences to be overrated.
We wouldn't return to Triberg or Hallstatt, and we'd change up our Berlin itinerary.
My husband and I spent almost a month exploring castles, biergartens, mountains, and cities across Germany and Austria.
Although we loved every second of the trip, some experiences were more worth the time, effort, and money than others. Not surprisingly, some of the most touristy spots were our least favorite.
Here are some of the experiences in Germany and Austria we'd skip if we ever returned.
We'd skip the trip to Hallstatt, too.
Hallstatt has become a major tourist destination in Austria ever since influencers began posting iconic photos of the town that sits nestled beneath a mountain on a stunning Alpine lake.
It truly is beautiful — but the problem is so many people know about it now.
What you don't see in all those Instagram photos is how horribly crowded Hallstatt can get. We arrived early in the morning and were among the first in the town, but it didn't take long for the tour buses to catch up with us.
It broke my heart to see mobs of tourists ignoring signs posted on private homes that asked visitors to be respectful and quiet. We even saw tourists trespass on private property to pose for pictures in front of the charming houses.
To escape the shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, my husband and I rented a motorized boat and got a view of Hallstatt from the lake.
This was much more relaxing — but I still would've rather visited one of the other small fairy-tale towns nearby, such as St. Gilgen, St. Wolfgang, or Bad Gastein, which are not as popular with tourists.
My husband and I spent only half the time we'd allotted to Hallstatt because we were quickly over the crowds (and eager to find better food than what was offered in the town square).
I'm glad we did because it allowed us to spend more time exploring the beautiful lake, waterfalls, and swamps of the nearby Lake Gosau region.
Next time, we wouldn't venture to Berlin's Tiergarten.
Much like Central Park in New York City, Berlin has a large park for urbanites to experience some nature: Tiergarten.
The massive park is great for walking, biking, renting a boat, and even grabbing a liter of beer.
If we'd spent most of our trip in big cities, we probably would've loved Tiergarten. Instead, most of our month in Germany and Austria was spent hiking the Black Forest and the Alps and spending time at the lake.
For us, Tiergarten could not hold a candle to Germany's true wilderness escapes.
We also wouldn't treat Berlin like a checklist.
Berlin is a huge city with a lot to see and do. Unfortunately, a lot of those things are on everyone else's list, too.
We found ourselves walking (or taking public transportation) from one major site to the next — statues, memorials, churches, repeat.
Some of what we saw was moving, like the Memorial to the Murdered Jews; others felt like we were simply there because it was on every generic "top things to do in Berlin" list we found online.
The biggest letdown might've been Checkpoint Charlie.
We barely had time to take it in and educate ourselves about this spot — a famous symbol of the Cold War — before we were shoved out of the way by tourists brandishing selfie sticks, trying to get a picture with it.
We found Mozart's Birthplace to be underwhelming.
In Salzburg, we spent one morning touring the impressive Salzburg Fortress, which is on the hillside overlooking the town. Visiting Mozart's Birthplace, a popular museum, was underwhelming compared to the fortress experience that preceded it.
Although it was neat to learn more about the famous composer, I thought the museum felt dated, with very little interactivity and not a lot to see for the price point.
I also thought the exhibit consisted of too much reading while looking at replicas of artifacts, not the artifacts themselves.
If you're looking for a cool Mozart experience in Salzburg, I highly recommend going to a concert at Mirabell Palace. Performances take place in the stunning Marble Hall, and it's a unique way to experience the local culture.
Though I love beer, we found Hofbräuhaus in Munich to feel crowded and underwhelming.
Don't get me wrong: I love Hofbräuhaus. I live in Cincinnati, and we have a location right across the river in Kentucky. You can get huge beers and great German food here while listening to authentic German music.
The original Hofbräuhaus is in Munich, and it was at the top of my must-visit list in the city. When we got to the beer hall, however, it was swarming with people, and the roar of everyone's conversations was so loud that we couldn't even hear the live music while we ate.
It was cool to say I've been to the original, but biergartens we visited elsewhere throughout the country felt more like how the locals enjoy biergartens — in part because Hofbräuhaus is chain we could visit back in the US.
I'm also a little biased because the next day, we went to Munich's Oktoberfest and spent hours experiencing German food and beer across multiple tents. It was way more enjoyable than our trip to Hofbräuhaus.
Read the original article on Business Insider
