What it costs, for 6
| Line | Status | USD |
|---|---|---|
| Getting there: 5 from Windsor by minicab, BA to Innsbruck and the Railjet; 1 from Rome by Frecciarossa; all 1st class | Paid | $1,214 |
| Hotel Elephant, 2 Junior Suites for 3, 3 nights, breakfast and city tax, €2,724.40 | BookedBooked, pay at the hotel | $3,188 |
| Going home: bag storage, Railjet, BA, people carrier from Gatwick, all paid; 2 taxis in Verona, about €55, not yet | PaidPaid, except the Verona taxis | $912 |
| Food, no wine: the Elephant €273 and fink €360 priced from your order; Marende €70, Brixen market €90, Meran huts €90, Pöhl €50, Bozen deli €60, train picnic €80 estimated · €1,073 | EstimateDinners to book, the rest estimated | $1,255 |
| Private guide in Brixen, 1h30 for 6, €150 cash | To bookRequested, not confirmed | $168 |
| Extras: hot chocolates, Runkelstein Castle for 4 | Estimate | $112 |
| Travel insurance for the 5 from London, Coverwise Silver Plus, £25.29 | Paid | $34 |
| Total, about $1,147 each | $183 over the $6,700 you tested; the group walk instead of the private guide saves $133 | $6,883 |
USD at $1.17 to the euro and $1.35 to the pound. Dinners are priced dish by dish from your order of 7 November; the small meals are estimates from shop and stall prices.
Hotel Elephant
2 Junior Suites next to each other, 3 in each, with the extra bed in the sitting area; king-size bed, walnut and cherry furniture, flat-screen TV, minibar, Wi-Fi; stone-vaulted pool; breakfast included. Check-in from 15:00, check-out by 11:00. €2,724.40 paid at the hotel, confirmed by Thomas on 5 November. Free cancellation to 15 days before arrival, 80% from 14 to 6 days, 100% inside 5 days.
info@hotelelephant.com · +39 0472 832750 · to ask: a table and chairs in one suite for the Wednesday supper, and whether the bar does a speck-and-cheese board
Day by day
Arrive
- People carrier, Windsor to GatwickPaid
6 seats, at Gatwick South by about 07:15
City Airport Taxis, £125 fixed · free cancellation to 24 h before
- Giulia: Frecciarossa 8506 Rome to Bozen, regional to Brixen, in at 14:32Paid
Business, the quiet carriage, regional included; changes at Bozen 13:48; waits 23 min at Brixen for the others
€91.90
- BA2620 Gatwick to Innsbruck, lands 12:30Paid
Gatwick South; a cabin case up to 56 x 45 x 25 cm and a backpack up to 40 x 30 x 15 cm each; seats allocated free at check-in
- 2 taxis to Innsbruck stationEstimate
10 minutes
about €30 for both
- Railjet over the Brenner, into Brixen 14:55Paid
1st class; coach 22, seats 42-45 round a table plus 51 across the aisle; bring photo ID
€81.70 for 5 · free cancellation to 6 Dec
- Taxi James to the hotel, 5 minutesTo book
€24 for 6; the hotel has no shuttle
confirm on WhatsApp · +39 329 323 0211 · info@taxi-james.it
- Late lunch at the Christmas market stallsEstimate
8 min walk; Tirtlan, cheese dumplings, strudel, hot drinks; about €90 for 6
- Private guide in Italian, 1h30To bookMum, Dad
The old town, the arcades, the cathedral and cloister, the Bishop's Palace courtyard and the Herrengarten as the lights come on; meet at the tourist office, Regensburger Allee 9; €150 for 6, cash
requested 5 Nov, Karin Thaler is finding a guide · +39 0472 275252 · free cancellation to 14 Dec · back-up: the tourist office's Italian walk, 16:00-17:30, from €5 each
- Hot chocolate at the hotel barMum
The bar serves 10:00 to 23:00
- Dinner at Restaurant Elephant, in the hotelTo book
Kept light after the travel day, a first course and a pudding each: Schlutzer, 2 ricotta ravioli, 2 white-truffle tagliatelle, the Taleggio buckwheat dumpling; chestnut mousse, mint parfait, strudel, Sacher; water and cover; €273 for 6, no wine
+39 0472 832750 · ask for the truffle as printed (extra is €14 a gram) · the Traubenwirt table at 19:30 stays booked until you say cancel
Meran
- Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou
17 min walk
- Train to Meran
About 1h20, free with the BrixenCard
- Meran old town
The Lauben arcades, the Kurhaus and the Passer promenade along the river
- Lunch at the Christmas market food hutsEstimate
Kurpromenade, standing at the huts, 10:00-21:00; cheese dumplings, Strauben, Glühwein; about €90 for 6
the Kallmünz booking for 6 at 12:30 stays until you say cancel · +39 0473 212917
- Cake and coffee at Konditorei PöhlEstimate
Freiheitsstraße 142, at the back on the Mühlgraben; Tue-Sat 08:30-18:00; about €50 for 6
+39 0473 234804
- Train back to Brixen
- The special night: finkTo book
Vaults from 1450, Kleine Lauben 4, 5 min walk; the kitchen with 5 vegetarian mains. Your order: the vegetable étagère for 2, 2 autumn salads, a pumpkin soup, the speck aperitif for you; monastery ravioli, chestnut raviolo, 3 Rösti, your schnitzel; 6 desserts, water, cover; €360 for 6, no wine
+39 0472 834883 · open daily 11:00-21:00 · the Kutscherhof table stays booked until you say cancel
Bozen and the Renon
- Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou
- Train to Bozen
30 min, free with the BrixenCard
- Renon cable car and the Christmas market train
The train runs 10:00-18:00 today; snow likely up there; back down for about noon
- Lunch from Pur Südtirol, Mustergasse 3aEstimate
The regional producers' market, 5 min from Waltherplatz; filled rolls, focaccia and salads to take away, speck and cheese cut to order; about €60 for 6
+39 0471 095651 · listed Mon-Fri 09:00-18:30 · seating and 23 Dec hours to confirm
- Runkelstein CastleEstimateThe culture half
14th-century frescoes, the biggest secular cycle to survive anywhere; 2 km north of the centre; last entry 16:30; €10
- Franziskaner Bäckerei, then the arcadesEveryone else
A bakery on Franziskanergasse; Zelten and Christmas biscuits; Bozen's shopping street under 800-year-old arches; the Waltherplatz market if you want it
- Victory MonumentYou
The BZ '18-'45 exhibition underneath: Piacentini's monument, Piffrader's relief of Mussolini on horseback, and how the regime rebuilt Bozen in the 1920s
a guided tour needs at least 6 people
- Train back to Brixen
The others from 16:30, whenever they've had enough
- Ice skating at the EishalleTo bookThe women
The indoor rink on Fischzuchtweg, free with the guest pass during public skating; Christmas hours not out yet
ring in early December · +39 0472 837697
- Marende supper in the suiteEstimate
The South Tyrol cold board bought on the way back from the station at Pur Südtirol on Kreuzgasse (to 18:30) or the Siebenförcher butcher: speck and Kaminwurzen for you, mountain cheeses, Schüttelbrot, rye bread, apples, a strudel; about €70 for 6; eaten in the sitting area, then the film
the Decantei table at 19:45 stays booked until you say cancel · +39 0472 674270 · alternative: supper from the Brixen stalls, about €90
- Film night at the hotel
A Norman Wisdom film or a Christmas classic, blankets and hot chocolate; download it before the trip and bring a laptop
Christmas Eve, home
- Pull-ups, Franco ParkYou
- Long breakfast
Check-out by 11:00; the hotel shuts at 12:00
- The pool
Open until 11:00 today, so out by 10:30 to change; the sauna and steam room are shut on the 24th
- Check out, bags to storagePaidYou, Dad
The hotel can't keep bags; Radical Storage by the station, 10 min walk, 3 suitcases each, 11:00-15:00
€41.94 for 6 bags · Via Vittorio Veneto 31B · open 08:30-19:30 on 24 Dec
- River walk
Meet at the Adlerbrücke, through the Rappanlagen gardens to where the Rienz meets the Eisack, back along the Eisack; flat, about 45 min
- Buy the train picnic at Pur Südtirol, Kreuzgasse 11bEstimateMum
Rye rolls, cheeses, a little speck, apples, a strudel, biscuits, water; about €80 for 6
+39 0472 055530 · Christmas Eve hours and ready-made rolls to confirm · back-up: Profanter rolls (Altenmarktgasse, from 08:00) and Siebenförcher speck and cheese
- A last go at the Christmas market
Domplatz, open until 16:00 on Christmas Eve
- Collect the suitcases
Radical Storage by the station
- Railjet 85 to Verona Porta Nuova, in 16:58Paid
2nd class, a closed 6-seat compartment: 3 facing 3, a full-length table, sliding door; coach 27, seats 141-146; bring photo ID
€101.40 for 6 · free cancellation to 9 Dec · if cancelled: regional 3845 at 15:55, Verona 18:14, then a taxi
- Picnic in the compartment
The valley going by
- Taxi to Verona airportEstimate
15 minutes; a 6-seat monovolume with card payment, or 2 cabs from the rank; at the airport by about 17:25
WhatsApp Radio Taxi Verona from the platform at 16:58 · +39 045 532666 · about €25-29 a cab
- BA2593 to Gatwick, landing 20:40Paid
Direct, 2 hours; the same cabin case and backpack each; seats allocated free at check-in
- People carrier home to WindsorPaid
Gatwick South arrivals, tracks the flight; no trains that late on Christmas Eve; home by about 22:15
City Airport Taxis, £125 fixed
Town photos: Brixen tourist board. Hotel photos: Hotel Elephant. Venue photos: Google Maps, for your own planning. Railjet compartment: ÖBB.