Happiness Is Being On The Road Again

Happiness is being on the road again. Roads that weave through beautiful countryside where cows with huge bells graze in the fields. Picturesque mountains covered in thick forests and storybook villages where you see men in lederhosen and women in traditional dresses. Yes, we are on the road again.

The strong desire to travel had been in the back of my mind for the last year but Covid and personal health issues kept it from becoming a reality. I really thought that my husband and I might not get to make another trip to Europe. However, it only took a couple of days after being cleared by all my doctors that it would be safe for me to travel, that my husband and I started planning a last minute trip to Germany and Austria.

In three short weeks, I made reservations with wellness and spa hotels located in beautiful regions such as the Black Forest, Bavaria and the Tirol that we love so much. We will be visiting two highly rated German hotels that we have never stayed at before as well as six of our all time favorites. We plan to make use of the wonderful facilities that each of the award winning hotels are known for. It will be good to erase the stress of this past year and relax and reinvigorate both body and mind. Beautiful surroundings, wonderful spas and delicious food…happiness really is being back on the road again.

Wellness and spa hotels are popular destinations for travelers in Europe, especially in Germany and Austria. The hotels offer travelers a little time out from their everyday lives, where they can be pampered and enjoy a large range of wellness activities. However, they are not just about spas and massages. You can play golf, go for a bike ride, horseback or carriage ride, or take a guided hike through forests or trek up a mountain path. You can relax in a whirlpool or enjoy a hot stone massage in the morning and enjoy coffee and cake on a lovely terrace in the afternoon. Then in the evening, you head to the hotel’s restaurant to enjoy multi course dinners created with top quality, regional and seasonal ingredients along with a good bottle of wine. If you are still up for it, many of the hotels offer cocktails and live music after dinner.

A wellness holiday lets you take a deep breath of fresh air and relax and that is just what my husband and I need. Join me over the weeks ahead, as we travel once again to Germany and Austria. We will be driving the back roads past rolling hills planted in grape vines and fruit trees and around the high peaks of the alps. The air will be crip, the leaves will be turning golden and crops will be harvested. There will be small towns filled with beautifully painted buildings and half timbered chalets with window boxes overflowing with flowers and perhaps even a fairytale castle high on a hill.

Of course you know that there will also be photos of the excellent gourmet cooking of a top chef or two paired with wines of the region. There will also be regional dishes that we enjoy all served with some of the best bread and pastries imaginable. What is nice, you won’t gain an ounce as you follow along.

I hope you will enjoy this spur of the moment trip along some of the prettiest back roads of Europe.

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There are thousands of spa hotels in Germany and Austria and we will be visiting eight that are located in Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Germany and the Tirol region of Austria. If you are wondering how we discovered the wellness hotels, we use the Relax Guide. Just as I have relied on the Red Michelin Guides to find great restaurants in Europe, the Relax Guide is the ultimate resource for these award winning hotels. The guides are very honest and have been very helpful in planning our trips. They can be found on the internet but they are written in German. They can however, easily be translated through Google or Bing.