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If you are new to travel, you may not be thinking about it, but food and dining is an essential part of your travel experience. It may be the meal, the atmosphere or both. Either way, it's about the experience and creating memories.
When we travel, we try to include at least one or more Special Meals on every trip. We look for special places to dine, either for the food or the atmosphere. A special meal does not always mean you will be spending a lot of money at an expensive restaurant, but you should plan on spending a little more than you normally would for a typical meal.
We have listed a few meals and locations below as examples.
Liebenstein Castle Hotel - Rhine Valley Germany
Not only is this one of our favorite places to stay, their special meal for two is one of our favorites. The castle is an
authentic medieval castle, along with all the decorations and has wonderful views of the Rhine River. The candlelight meal is actually reasonably priced. The meal costs no more than what you would expect to pay at a nice restaurant. Staying at the castle with dinner was one of the highlights of a trip we took
through Germany's Rhine and Mosel River Valleys.
Glengarry Castle Hotel - Scotland
The castle is located in the country on the shores of Loch Oich, which lies between Loch Ness and Loch Lochy at the heart of the Great Glen in the Highlands of Scotland. In addition to the castle, the ruins of Invergarry Castle lies within the hotel grounds, just a short walk away.
At this stop on our trip through Scotland, we stayed at the castle for 1 night and our room included breakfast. We also decided to make dinner reservations at the castle as well. Both meals were exceptional and absolutely delicious. If you stay, we recommend doing both. The hotel grounds are large, next to the Loch with several hiking trails. Another highlight was hearing an elusive cuckoo somewhere in the forest as we were out wondering around.
Altfraenkischen Weinstube - Rothenburg Germany
We have been to Rothenburg on several occasions and try to stay at the Altfraenkischen Weinstube Hotel which also serves dinner. The hotel is old and nicely decorated, much nicer than a modern chain hotel. Even if you do not stay at the hotel, you can still make reservations for dinner. If you plan to dine there, make your reservations well in advance as they are always booked up.
We have two favorite restaurants in Rothenburg and this is one of them. The other is the Zur Holl (Hell) Restaurant located close to the Kriminal Museum. In fact, the Night Watchman told us to go to Hell when we asked if to recommend a place for dinner. He later arrived and had dinner there as well. We have told others about the restaurant who were going to Rothenburg on vacation and when they returned, they told us that this was probably the best meal they had on their entire trip.
Eiffel Tower Dinner - Paris France
We booked dinner at the 58 Tour Eiffel Restaurant on the first level of the tower. There are a few different restaurants and bars located within the tower and they can be quite expensive. This was a special dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary, so more of a once in a lifetime dinner. Although now that is has been over a year, looking back, we may do it again someday.
We paid a little more to guarantee a window seat with a view of the Trocadero right next to a window. If we do it again, we would probably not pay the extra amount for a window seat, as any seat in the restaurant is absolutely fine. With our reservation, we also purchased a round trip elevator ride up to the first level giving us a priority ride on an elevator dedicated to the restaurant; different than the crowded tourist elevators.
Overall the experience was very nice and the food was excellent, definitely worth the price. After dinner, we walked the steps up to the second level of the tower for the views and to check out the shops. We have been to the top a few times via elevator but on this trip, only walked part way up to the top.
Harder Kulm Restaurant & Lookout - Interlaken Switzerland
From the town of Internalen, a funicular railway takes you up the mountain to Harder Kulm in about ten minutes. At 1,322 meters above sea level you will find the Panorama Restaurant and sky bridge with great views of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains as well as the lake and Interlaken below.
Here, the atmosphere and views are wonderful. The food was good, but not really that of a high-end restaurant, but you are here for the experience. It's well worth the trip, riding the funicular (although you can hike up on the trail, but expect to spend a couple hours for the hike), the views and atmosphere in the restaurant with musicians playing alpine horns and other instruments.
Casa Vlad Dracul - Sighisoara Romania (Transylvania)
The Vlad Dracula House is located in the Citadel Square, close to the Clock Tower in the town of Sighisoara Romania. This yellowish colored house is the place where Vlad Dracul (the father of Vlad the Impaler) once lived and where Vlad the Impaler was born. Vlad Dracul was a knight of the Order of the Dragon (hence his name - Dracul means Devil in Romanian). Today the house serves as a restaurant.
We had specifically planned this trip to stay Halloween night in Sighisoara and have dinner at the Casa Vlad Dracul.
We arrived on Halloween in the early evening and were able to walk in and make reservations. Even though it was Halloween (maybe not a big holiday in Romania), and as it was off-tourist season, we did not have any problems making reservations for later in the evening. We had tried to make them ahead of time, but never had any luck corresponding with the restaurant through email.
The restaurant had a special Dracula menu and were serving special meals for Halloween. The restaurant staff were dressed as vampires as were we, with our capes and vampire teeth. This was a fun meal; one we will never forget and the food was excellent. Not only the food, but it was atmosphere of the restaurant and the town that made it so special. After our meal, adding to the experience, we strolled around the town on this slightly foggy night with a near full moon.
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Casa Vlad Dracul - Sighisoara Romania |
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