Each year Messina Hof Wine Cellars, Inc offers travel to a wine region. Paul and Merrill Bonarrigo lead these travel tours. This year our Messina Hof Travel was on Amawaterways from Budapest to Bucharest. This was an unexplored wine region for wine and food.
Tip for Travel: If you are traveling abroad for a guided tour, try to go early before the tour and/or stay after to explore other areas. Make the most of your time there to do as much as possible. Airfare and 9 hours of flight time are investments.
This was a great trip and we wanted to share our favorite finds and some tips along the way.
Tips for all destinations:
- If you are traveling by train, book your hotel near the train station or tram stop that runs from the train station. It makes movement around the city and to other destinations much easier.
- On the first day we either take the sightseeing Hop on Hop off bus to learn more about the city or we jump on the local buses and trams to see every part of the city. This allows us to identify areas we want to explore more. We usually go to the local Tourist Information office to get maps and points of interest.
- We use the bus and metro to move around the cities. Most towns offer one and two day passes for all local modes of transportation.
Zurich, Switzerland – Innsbruck to Zurich by train offers beautiful scenery. Reserve a window seat!
Hotel: Hotel Alexander
Niederdorfstrasse 40, CH-8001 Zurich
+41 44 251 82 03
Hotel Alexander is in Old Town and walking distance from most attractions, train and water. Strolling the old town streets and visiting antique shops were our favorites.
Interlaken, Switzerland – We were in Interlaken 15 years ago. It is 3 hours of mountainous beauty by train from Salzburg. Reserve a window seat!
Kursaal Park is a pleasant stroll and features a statue of Bollywood film producer Yash Chopra who filmed many scenes in this region and at the Casino located here.
One of our favorite spots was sitting in the central park and watching the many parachutes descend from the surrounding mountains. It is a tourism magnet.
Ristorante e Pizzeria Sapori in the Grand Hotel was a delightful find. Elegant surroundings and great service matched the delicious food.