Germany

First time to Germany?

Germany is a pretty central, easy place to get to other places in Europe from. You would only be a few hours drive to Austria and Switzerland for example (google maps says 4 hours to Salzburg. That made me wet my pants in excitement for you). Endless walking opportunities; you don't have enough lifetimes. A couple of hours drive to the Danube-not good for walking but great for super relaxed cycle touring (its really cycle touring par excellence) (pretty easy to take up with a straightforward bike, a couple of panniers and your ultralight gear).

Western side of Czech Republic there is a great national park with good climbing and likely trails. I missed it on my way through.

Germany is an easy place to camp and stealth camp. Lots of forest everywhere. Mostly it is flat/rolling hills.

You'll have a great time :-)

The mountains are great, but make sure you get INTO the mountains. The edges of the mountains seem to be jam-packed with tourists, especially during holidays, because they can drive there.

Cheers

I was OPFOR in Hohenfels but fortunately was able to make an escape to Grafenwoehr as a staff puke. Boonie troops complain about Graf but I really loved being stationed there.

I left in '94 but here it goes…

Unless something has changed, the US Military has a hotel in Garmisch, Bavaria. The area is absolutely breathtaking and there is hiking galore. Same for Berchtesgaden, Bavaria; make sure to visit the Eagle's Nest while you're there.

To my knowledge, sleeping in a tent is prohibited but between the jaegerschnitzels and hefeweizens, you won't feel shortchanged hiking hut to hut in the Bavarian alps. I have more hiking experience near Berchtesgaden (about an hour west of town if memory serves) than Garmisch but you can't go wrong in either location.

Now for some thread drift.

Definitely cross the border and visit/do the tourist thing in Salzburg, Austria when you visit Berchtesgaden.

Prague, Czech is a doable weekend trip from Graf. This was the most beautiful city I've ever visited but I was there shortly after the cold war ended and crime was on the rise. Hopefully the city is as I remembered it.

Make sure you visit Budapest as well. Hungarians may seem harsh at times but I really enjoyed both of my visits there.

Regensburg and Nurnburg are two popular cities for GIs stationed in Graf/Hohenfels to terrorize on the weekends. I think Regensburg is the prettier of the two but I spent more time in Nuremburg since my ex-girlfriend lived there; make sure you catch Nuremburg's Kris Kindle market in the winter. Great place to buy presents and to stay warm drinking gluhwein and eating bratwurst.

Munich for sure and might as well check out Oktoberfest while you're there. We arrived before lunch and were greeted by a very drunk and very naked German who was kind enough to mumble-sing to the hundreds of attendees in that particular tent. Oktoberfest is certainly not for the prude or easily offended but otherwise is not to be missed.

Bavarian crystal is highly sought after and in the '90s, affordable. The exchange rate and currency has since changed so can't say how it is now.

While not necessarily the most high-speed of units I've ever been assigned to, my time in Germany was certainly the most enjoyable of my short career.

Thanks for the responses and especially yours, Ian. This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. I'm not too worried about the unit not being high speed. I'm planning on going to a Cavalry squadron, as an Infantryman I don't expect it to be high speed. Plus, I've lived the high tempo 82nd Airborne Division life now for almost 5 years and I'm looking to get some more personal time to train up for my future endeavors. The wife is making a list of places that she wants to visit and these suggestions will definitely be recorded.

James