[phillamb168]

I need a vacation, and I've always wanted to drive on the Autobahn. Taking a trip to Bavaria provides both of these experiences. Where would you recommend? We typically like to stay in B&Bs as opposed to hotels, but not in big cities - Berlin, for example, I'd stay at a regular hotel. I always would LOVE to find a place that serves the traditional Weißwurst/Weißbier/Brezel breakfast. We're big into hiking so trails are a plus as well. Thoughts?

[euge]

Yeah I got some thoughts. But not constructive ones since jealousy is clouding my thinking.

Make several trips to get it all in if you can. First time through and I always miss a lot of things.

[corkybstewart]

We've used this website to plan both of our trips,
http://www.braugasthoefe.de/cms/core/index.php
The hotels are very modern, very clean and friendly and the prices are much lower than regular German hotels.  Each place is attached to the brewery and has a restaurant.  Specifically we've stayed at Zuzenhausen, Sulzbach-Rosenberg,Bad Worishofen and a couple others whose names I can't think of.  In Bamberg there is Speziale, we stayed across the street at Fassla but either one is great.  There are other non affiliated private brewery-guesthouses that we've stayed at, but they take a little more internet searching.

[hopfenundmalz]

Stay at a Gastehaus.  Better yet is a Gastehaus at a brewery.  They have this little association.
http://www.braugasthoefe.de/cms/core/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=43
You want zip codes 8 and 9.

The Schneider in Essing is in a Naturpark.  There would be some hiking around there, and it is in a pretty area. The food is very good at Scheider.
There are some hiking opportnities around Bamberg, but we have always been hiking around the city.

For Munich get the book - "The Beerdrinkers Guide to Munich".   That has many biergartens listed, and how to get to them using public tranportation.  Highly recommended if you want to get off the beaten tourist path.

I see others are thinking the same!

[phillamb168]

Wow, you guys are awesome, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.  Hopfenundmalz, the Schneider, do they do the weisswurst/weissbier/braetzel thing for breakfast? What beautiful photos, it's right on the river. Also 1h30 from either Bamberg or Munich. I think that's a week's worth there. How were the beds? In the US the hotel beds are almost always excellent, but even the 4&5 star hotels that I've stayed at in Europe have had super hard uncomfortable mattresses. What was your experience?

Euge, don't fret. You live in the greatest country for beer in the world, and I'm jealous of all of you for that.

[corkybstewart]

The mattresses in all of our hotels were top notch except in Zuzenhausen, and they were in the middle of a complete renovation when we were there in 2008.
One bit of advise-the cheaper rooms tend to be on the streets and they can be noisy so ask ahead for a room off the street.  This summer while we were in Bamberg the Bamberg futbol team defeated Frankfurt and the whole town drove past our window blowing horns and screaming til sunup.
As for the breakfasts at the places we've stayed it's primarily the soft boiled egg, cold cut and bread routine, some places better than others.  My wife especially loved Bad Worishofen.  We happened to be there on the weekend of their summer festival, there were 3 different bands playing in different areas of the town and there is a thermal spa at the edge of town that my wife could have spent her whole vacation in.  That's another thing to look for in Germany-towns with thermes.

[hopfenundmalz]

Wow, you guys are awesome, this is EXACTLY what I was looking for.  Hopfenundmalz, the Schneider, do they do the weisswurst/weissbier/braetzel thing for breakfast? What beautiful photos, it's right on the river. Also 1h30 from either Bamberg or Munich. I think that's a week's worth there. How were the beds? In the US the hotel beds are almost always excellent, but even the 4&5 star hotels that I've stayed at in Europe have had super hard uncomfortable mattresses. What was your experience?

Euge, don't fret. You live in the greatest country for beer in the world, and I'm jealous of all of you for that.

I think Schneider had the standard German breakfast, can't remember the weisswurst or bretzlen.
Very cool location, though you hear the low speed diesels on the canal boats all night.  Don't remember the beds, seemed to be standard German, stayed there in 1999.  If you stay there go down the Danube to this place.  The Asam bock is very malty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weltenburg_Abbey