Hello
We are planning a two-week trip to Germany in late June. This is the first time ever going to Germany and we%26#39;ve heard that Bavaria and southern germany are the places to go.
We%26#39;re all young, just out of college and I think Munich would be a great city. I have a few questions:
We have super cheap flights into Frankfurt. I%26#39;m guessing there are frequent trains between these two large cities, how much does a trip from Frankfurt to Munich cost?
What are some highlights of Munich? Beer breweries and tours and what not. What about night life? And hostels/hotels?
We have exactly two weeks (might be able to get in a few extra days depending on air fare). I%26#39;ve been told to go to Munich, Stuggart, Gramisch (?), and I%26#39;d love to visit my friend who will be studying in Frieburg.
Is this too much? Any ideas or suggestions or money related issues are welcome :)
Thanks
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Late June? Are you aware of the FIFA World Cup 9. June - 9. July 2006 in Germany.
fifaworldcup.yahoo.com/06/en/index.html
Munich and Stuttgart are both venue cities.
There are direct trains from Frankfurt Airport to Munich
ICE highspeed train 3:39 EUR 75,00 pp
local trains 6,5-7,5 h Sa,Su EUR 30,00 (2-5 persons)
local trains 6,5-7,5 h Sa,Su EUR 6,25 pp + EUR 25,00 (2-5 persons)
DB timetable
www.rmv.de/auskunft/bin/jp/query.exe/en
From: FRA Airport
To: Munich
Munich Tourism
www.muenchen.de/Tourismus/6942/index.html
Bavarian Alps
http://www.garmisch-partenkirchen.de
www.zugspitze.de/zugspitze/rundreise_en.php
http://www.mittenwald.de/
http://www.neuschwanstein.de/
http://www.fuessen.de/
http://www.berchtesgadener-land.info/
Stuttgart
http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/
esslingen-tourist.de/english/Sehenswert.htm
Freiburg + Black Forest
http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/
http://www.freiburg.de/6/6/604/index.php
Good deals for a small group are the
Happy Weekend Ticket (EUR 30,00)
bahn.de/p/…price_tourist.shtml
Bavaria Ticket (EUR 25,00)
Baden-Württemberg Ticket (EUR 24,00)
bahn.de/p/…laender_tickets.shtml
The latter two cover nearly all local public transport in the states Bavara or Baden-Württemberg. E.g. also U-Bahn, trams, buses in Munich or Stuttgart.
For travelling between Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg Ulm and Lindau are ideal places, as they can be reached on both tickets. Both by the way also worth a visit
http://tourismus.ulm.de/index_e.dpx?lang=_e
http://www.lindau-tourismus.de/en/
If you plan going during the World Cup book your accommodation soon.
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Super info from “abalada” and yes, accommodations will be scarce and expensive during the World Cup schedule. You might consider postponing your visit until after July 9th. A quick summary of locations and dates is as follows:
Frankfurt matches on June 10, 13, 17 and July 1 [Quarter Finals]
Münich matches on June 9, 14, 18, 24 and July 5 [Semi Finals]
Stuttgart matches on June 16, 19, 22, and July 8th [3rd place game]
Public transportation in Münich operates on an Honor System. There are no turn styles that you have to run a ticket through before boarding but there is a hefty 40 € fine if you cannot produce a ticket when asked. For 8 € [16 € all tariff zones], you should purchase the Partner-Day ticket [Partner-Tageskarte] which is valid for travel of up to 5 people.
One brewery tour could be to Erdinger Weißbräu in the city of Erding. To travel to Erding you would need the 16 € Partner-Day ticket. www.erdinger.com/index1.php?bereich1=erdinger
For information about beer gardens ect. there is a website called the Beer Drinker Guide to Münich. http://www.beerdrinkersguide.com/
For hotel reservations during or after the World Cup, you might look at http://web2.hrs.de/se/wm2006-002?lang=EN
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You can look at some of my recent posts for Stuttgart. During the entire time of the World Cup, Stuttgart will have a special Weindorf (Wine Village), the usual being in early September, where local wines and food are showcased. There will also be extensive entertainment in the Schlossplatz area and bars will be open 24 hours a day.
Your two weeks seems a reasonable amount of time. However, Germany is full of wonderful places to visit and things to see. You%26#39;ll only be able to see a little, but should have an excellent enjoyable time.
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thanks guys
yes i am aware of the world cup dates
do you think postponing the trip would make it less expensive? i thought summer (july-august) in europe was pretty expensive no matter where. im basing that off of time i spent in Greece though.
We don%26#39;t mind staying in hostels or whatever, but you think after july 9 would be better?
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I would postpone just because it will be so busy and hotels are crazy expensive- my in-laws are going right in the middle of it and paying $250E/night for the same hotel I can get for $140E the end of July. Think about it!!
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Two of the places that you mention, Munich and Stuttgart, certainly will be more expensive, that is, if you can get a room as both cities host games. World Cup visitors will also be visiting other places away from the venues as tourists as you will be doing. This could cause difficulties in getting rooms in the more popular places. Because Germany has so many great thiings to see, you should be able to find an enjoyable area not over-crowded with tourists. I personally enjoy Oberschwaben (between Ulm and the Bodensee- Lake Constance) with its multitude of wonderful baroque churches and monasteries (and the Schwaebische Alb region to its west). Except for the lake, I doubt if it would be overcrowded with tourists. The Schuetzenfest in Biberach will be at the beginning of July. Freiberg also should not be affected by the World Cup and it%26#39;s scenic and near the best parts of the Black Forest.
I imagine many tourists who have traveled half way around the world for the World Cup will stay longer to visit more of Germany and Europe, so their effect could be longer than the World Cup itself. Maybe you should time your vacation to concide with near the end of the World Cup and partake of some of its festivities and hope that accomodations will become cheaper and more avalable after it ends.
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Cool this may be a good idea
We%26#39;re flexible in our travel dates until mid July, so we can go in late May, early June, or July after the Cup.
I%26#39;ll have to look at flights and hotels.
Munich is pretty clean and safe right? Are hostels decent in Germany?
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Just a little piece of advice from my point of view when judging whether to go or not to go during the world cup: The only two cities that seem to be a real problem are Cologne and Munich IMHO. Maybe it is because they have attractive games and are quite popular with tourists.
I recently booked rooms for friends from abroad and myself in Frankfurt and Berlin during the WC without any difficulties.
Also keep one thing in mind: Some hotels might look pricey because the Organisation Comitee of the WC has bought up 46.000 rooms at 550 hotels with a total of 1.5 million nights across the country exactly to avoid massive increases by the hotels. That%26#39;s why it looks like a shortage in other reservation systems.
These rooms are on sale by the FIFA
So make sure to check the %26quot;offical%26quot; web page for hotels as well
accommodation.fifaworldcup.com/Welcome.aspx
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I tried accommodation.fifaworldcup.com/Welcome.aspx
using Stuttgart, various multiple day stays with a room for two and got few available rooms, many times none, and none which I would consider to be in Stuttgart for a visiting tourist rather than a die hard soccer fan desparately needing a room. The closest available hotel was one at the airport for 258 euros a night. The listing of %26quot;Stuttgart%26quot; hotels was amazing, Freiburg? and many fairly remote towns or villages that I have never heard of, even with my being a Stuttgart resident. The only hotels on the list which I really considered acceptable Stuttgart hotels (expensive to cheap) in which I would personally stay never came up as being available.
Therefore, as a non-world Cup visitor, I think that there will be problems with acceptable accomodations especially in and near the more desirable venue cities.
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Ok a few more questions/comments.
I decided to move the trip up to the very beginning of June (1-18th) or something... I figured these dates would be a bit cheaper and more available...
I guess I%26#39;m not looking in the right places - EVERYTHING is booked, even the rinky dink hostels. We are totally up for staying in hostels every city we go... but we can%26#39;t find any - not in Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Freiburg, Munich... nothing.
HELP. We really want to go to Munich, Freiburg and Nuremberg... what other cities offer a good mix of culture/scenery/and night life?
Any ideas are welcome!
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