november_moon

My husband and I are taking a trip to Germany next summer for his 40th birthday. He said he wants to turn 40 while sitting in a beer garden in Munich, so that's what we are going to do. I know I am starting the planning process way early, but we have our plane tickets (used FF miles) so I guess that means the planning can officially commence.

We arrive in Frankfurt on the morning of Day 1 and depart from Frankfurt in the afternoon of day 15. The theme for this trip will be beer, so we are going to Bamberg, Munich, and Prague - plus Frankfurt, which is our arrival and departure airport. Of those, Munich is the only place we've been. We chose round trip from Frankfurt rather than an open jaw because we could get non-stops from Frankfurt to SFO - with a connection, it makes the trip a lot longer.

For travel style, we like to base ourselves in a few different places to see that area and do day trips rather than stay in a lot of different places. Given the time we have and the places we want to visit, I am thinking of an itinerary like this:

Day 1 (Saturday): Arrive Frankfurt, travel to Bamberg
Day 2-3 (Sunday - Monday): Bamberg
Day 4 (Tuesday): Travel to Munich
Days 5-7 (Wednesday - Friday): Munich (DH's birthday is Day 6)
Day 8 (Saturday): Travel to Prague
Days 9-12 (Sunday - Wednesday): Prague
Day 13 (Thursday): Travel to Frankfurt, stop in Nuremburg
Day 14 (Friday): Frankfurt
Day 15 (Saturday): Home

What do you all think?

I know it probably makes more sense to switch Munich and Prague so that we are making more of a circle rather than cris-crossing, but DH wants to be IN Munich for his birthday. I floated the idea of going to Prague and then Munich and got NO response. But if there is a really compelling reason to go to Prague first, let me know.

lindy27

I think it looks like a great trip.

Do you have things you want to see in Frankfurt? We spent a day in Nuremburg and would have enjoyed more time so if you have nothing specific planned in Frankfurt I would recommend staying in Nuremburg. We did see Frankfurt but enjoyed Nuremburg more. You could see Frankfurt the day you arrive and then head onto Bamberg in the evening.

LittleA

Looks good. Are you driving or taking the train? Train looks like the best for this city to city itinerary. It's about 6 hours between Munich and Prague and between Prague and Frankfurt via train - kind of long.

As an alternative you could fly to Frankfurt, train to a small medieval town near Heidelberg called Bad Wimpfen (a good welcome to Europe sort of place), then Munich, then Bamberg. This is more of a circle route and offers much shorter train rides, but of course it eliminates Prague. However, with Munich and Bamberg, you will have been to two of Europes beer capitals. Either way, it will be fun - I turned 40 last year too, but in Munich on the Willamette (Portland, Oregon)!

Aramis

This order is just fine - give the man Muenchen on his Geburtstag!

I would also suggest staying other than in Frankfurt for the last two nights unless there is something specific you want to see.

I believe that the main rail route from Prague passes through Regensburg, which could also be an option for a stop on the way back. You could stay there the night of the 13th, then stop in Nurnberg on day 14 on your way back to Frankfurt to overnight before your flight back. That lets you have two places on the way back

kfusto

Consider staying in Weurzburg for the last 2 nights. It is a delighful small city and there is a direct train to FRA.

Heidelberg is another option, only 50 minuets by airport bus.

november_moon

Thanks for the feedback.

We will travel by train - we both really like train travel and we like car-less trips when possible, so for trips to Europe, we like to take advantage of the availability of trains. We don't mind the longish trips between Munich, Prague, and Frankfurt. It's nice to watch the scenery go by, plus it is an opportunity to read, write, etc.

We don't have anything specific to see in Frankfurt, but figured that since we would be there, we should see some stuff. I like the idea of staying in a town outside of or on the way to Frankfurt though. I will look into that.

I am glad that the order of cities is ok - I can stop worrying about that and my husband will be a happy man.

tomboy

I suggest your husband identify what he likes in a beer, so that beer afficionados can guide him as to WHICH German, and WHICH Czech beers, to order. Of course, after the fifth beer, it doesn't matter.

Then he should learn how to order what he wants. If he just says, "beer", he'll get something ordinary.

I recommend Krusovice beer in the Czech Rep. I consider it extremely better than Pilsner Urquell, or Budvar.

november_moon

Tomboy - Research into Czech beer will definitely be part of our planning process. Czech beer is completely new to us, so I appreciate your recommendations. I was already suspicious of Pilsner Urquell when I saw it comes in a green bottle. We take beer very seriously in our family and would never dream of every ordering "beer" and taking whatever swill is handed to us On our last camping trip (Northern California), we visited 4 breweries in 5 days and last year we went to Belgium for the express purpose of trying their beer (we did some sightseeing along the way). That gives you an idea of our interests.

We haven't started our Czech beer research yet, but are really interested to learn more about it. Our motivation for going to Bamberg is the Rauchbier. We had some when we were in Nuremburg a few years ago and decided right then and there that our next trip to Germany would include Bamberg. Turns out it is an UNESCO world heritage site - so much the better!

When we were in Munich, we really enjoyed the Andechs beer. We also liked Augustiner and Hacker-Pschor (sp?). Tried Trucher but didn't care for it all that much. Of course, we had some Hofbrauhaus beer as well, which was decent.

In Belgium, we really enjoyed the Bruges Zot, Chimay, and the Westmalle. Leffe Bruin seemed to be a good, go-to beer that went well with meals - drank a fair amount of that too. My husband fell in love with the Rochfurt.

My husband's beer tastes run toward the dark and delicious, my tastes are all over the map, although I have never met an IPA that I thought was palatable and I generally don't go in for the Stouts and Porters. In Germany, I have tended toward the hefeweisens, including dunkleweisens, which I think is probably the best style ever brewed.

Anyway - that got longer than I originally intended, but it gives some idea about our beer tastes. I'll probably start a seperate thread about Czech beer once we've done a little research and have a basis for discussion.

Delaine

I haven't been to Nuremburg, but like the suggestion of visiting it instead of Frankfurt. There were several museums that I specifically wanted to visit in Frankfurt since I was there. However, the "historic" section of town is very small since most/a good part of the city was rebuilt in modern fashion after the war. In an afternoon I had traveled in from the airport visited the museums (Städel Gallery and Leibighaus)as well as the Römerburg.

Aramis

You have excellent taste in beer.

The force is strong in you, moon!

You should have your Rauchbier at Schlenkerla - I recommend that you have it with a Bamberger Zwiebel - a stuffed roasted onion specialty that makes me want to cry when I think about it. Every time I hit Bamberg it is straight - and I mean straight, we don't even talk about it - to Schlenkerla for a Rauchbier and a Zwiebel

november_moon

Delaine - The more I think about it, the more that Nuremburg or Wurzburg sounds better than Frankfurt at the end of our trip. Esspecially since we will have just been to Munich and Prague (larger cities). A smaller place might be nice for balance.

Aramis - Thank-you for the compliment and the tip about the Bamberger Zweibel. Schlenkerla is the Rauchbier that we tried in Nuremberg and fell in love with - we've found it at home in a couple places (like BevMo) but bottled it just isn't the same. So that is definitely on our list of places to go.

tomboy

Andechs beer....Augustiner...Hacker-Pschor ...Chimay

I'm not anywhere near the beer conniseur (sp?) you are, but I've tried the above and liked them, so I'm pretty sure you'll like Krusovice.

Pivo = beer

kfusto

We MUCH preferred Weurzburg to Nuremberg and visited both for the first time last year. Weurzburg is just lovely and has a charming ambiance and for us, we did not find Nurember nearly as enjoyable. It is not a place we would choose to spend a few nights.

november_moon

kfusto - We visited Nuremburg on our last trip to Germany and really enjoyed our time there. We spent 4 nights and used it as a base for day trips. I agree that it isn't as charming as some other towns, but in exchange, there is more going on at night. Just depends on what people are looking for. We haven't been to Wurzburg, but it is on the itinerary this trip - either as a day trip from Bamberg or for a night or two on the way from Prague to Frankfurt.

kfusto

" Just depends on what people are looking for."

I agree! We found Nuremberg to be almost seedy in spots, at least by our standards, and it is just not a place that we enjoyed.

Aramis

Hey moon - it looks like you have just been pointed out as someone who likes to visit "almost seedy" places.

wobbers

yup if you like seedy places you can find them everywhere!specially in munich and prague

kfusto

Glad I chose the teflon jacket this morning...

We quite like Munich and have been there a half dozen times; have not been to Prague so cannot comment.

One man's trash is another man's treasure after all.

november_moon

Not to worry - no flame throwing from me. I don't mind being labeled as someone who likes "almost seedy places" I'll take it as a compliment. I do generally prefer places that are a little rough around the edges.

And Nuremburg does have it's seedy side - no need to beat around the bush. The red light district is right in the Altstadt and there are quite a few strip clubs there as well. That stuff doesn't bother me though and I find that if a town is too proper, then you are probably going to be hard pressed to find any good live music in the bars and clubs. In Nuremburg, I liked the juxtaposition of the old quaint neighborhoods, the castle, etc. with the modern shopping district and then the seedy areas - all jumbled together like real life generally is. I also liked how in the summertime about 10pm, loads of people come out to stroll near the river and eat ice cream.

PalenQ

We will travel by train - we both really like train travel and we like car-less trips when possible, so for trips to Europe, we like to take advantage of the availability of trains. We don't mind the longish trips between Munich, Prague, and Frankfurt. It's nice to watch the scenery go by, plus it is an opportunity to read, write, etc>

As you are taking some longish trips as you say you may want to investigate the Germany Railpass, which after the base 3 days (in one month - flexipass) extra days are about $20 a day p.p. or about 13 euros or so - cheaper even than the Bavaria Pass at that point and you can hop any train - for a few trips it makes sense to book SPAR fares at www.bahn.de far in advance - if your itinerary is in cement. But the beauty of a railpass in Germany (i've used dozens and dozens there) is that you can virtually hop on any train anytime - let serendipity dictate your train schedule - loads of trains going everywhere. And such fully flexible tickets as you can see on www.bahn.de can cost an arm and a leg.

For lots of great info on trains in Germany I always spotlight these great sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. For schedules the www.bahn.de site is really easy to use once you fool around with it a bit and then you can compare fares to railpass prices.

There is also a Germany-Czech pass but i'm not sure how much more it may be priced than the Germany only pass - travel from German border to Prague and back can be really cheap - and there is a bus going between Nurnberg and Prague (railpasses are valid on it) - anyway for arriving by plane it is nice to have a pass as you can hop on the very next train you can make - doing the online SPAR discounts you will or should have to leave plenty of fudge time for planes to be late, etc as those tickets i believe are not changeable not refundable and then a full fare ticket if missed the SPAR thing can cost about as much as half the pass price or more alone.