Our "Best of Bavaria" tour offers the excitement of Munich and its world famous Oktoberfest plus the beautiful regions of Berchtesgaden, Füssen, Bamberg, Nuremberg, and Regensburg. 2 Reserved Seatings at Oktoberfest, Ludwig II"s storybook castles, the Eagle's Nest, and much more! Book Early - 2011 was sold out on March 7!

See also our "Grand Tour" which includes Prague - Munich - Rothenburg and Stuttgart (Canstatter Wasen) 9/17 - 9/29.

Make your own flight arrangements and depart North America from the airport of your choice. Flights cross the Atlantic in the evening We will meet you in Munich on Sunday morning before 11:00 AM. Be sure to get some sleep on the plane - the fun begins as soon as you touch down in Munich!

Note: If you would like to arrive in Munich a day early, we have rooms blocked at our Munich Hotel for 180 Euro per room, including breakfast.

Arrive in Munich, clear customs, and meet the group by 11:00 AM. From the airport we will board the Munich S-Bahn for the 40 minute ride to downtown Munich. Your luggage will be transferred from here to the hotel.

First, we'll stop off at an authentic Munich beer garden for lunch. Sit in the sun, enjoy your first Munich beer, and soak in the atmosphere. After lunch, we'll walk through part of Munich's old town before boarding the tram to our hotel in the exclusive suburb of Grünwald. The Alter Wirt, a family run establishment, was Munich's first organic hotel. This small Bavarian Inn is rich in atmosphere and offers a peaceful night's rest.

In the evening, we have a limited number of extra tickets to Oktoberfest. Sign up early and secure your place in the balcony of the Augustiner tent during the evening. Otherwise, enjoy a fabulous dinner at the Alter Wirt.

After breakfast we'll depart around 9:00 AM and take you straight to the Oktoberfest grounds: Theresienwiese. We'll stroll past the many rides and stands before Oktoberfest really gets humming. At 11:30 we take our tables in Box 3 in the Augustiner tent. This is the friendliest tent and the best beer at the Wiesn. Bertha and her team will take great care of us for the afternoon.

After our visit, feel free to venture into one of the other tents and soak up the Oktoberfest atmosphere. It's a great time!

After a hearty organic breakfast, we head southeast to the Alps of the Berchtesgadener Land. Our first stop is actually inside the mountain at the Salzbergwerk. A small mining train will take us deep into the moutain - enjoy two slides and the beauty of an underground salt lake. Afterwards we visit the oldest Schnapps distillery in the world - Grassl

After sampling the schnapps, we stop for dinner at the Scharitzkehlalm at the foot of the Höher Göll - a massive wall of granite reaching to the sky.

After dinner, we check into our hotel at the end of the Königsee (King's Lake) in the National Park. Surrounded by natural beauty, you'll look forward to waking in the morning

After breakfast, we travel just a few miles to the Obersalzberg. This mountainside once swarmed with Nazi officials and now serves as the base to visit the famous Eagle's Nest - now refered to as the Kehlsteinhaus. We ride to the top and visit this famous site and then return to poke thorugh the Documentation canters and part of the Nazi bunker complex.  

After this heavy dose of WWII history, we ride to the nearby Austrian city of Salzburg. We'll explore the city of Mozart's birth with a local guide. For dinner, we'll enjoy a wonderful beer hall, the Augustiner Bräustübl zu Mülln - grab a stein off the shelf, rinse it out yourself and have it filled with fresh beer - an authentic experience!

This morning we take to the lake - Königsee. We board an electric boat for about 40 minutes out to St. Bartholomä. This church, combined with the majestic Watzmann mountain, is the symbol of Berchtesgadener Land.

After visiting the church, you'll have several options (weather dependant). Ride the Jennerbahn gondola to the top of the moutain for  a panoramic view of the mountain. Or, ride up half-way and do a bit of hiking with Scott. If the weather doesn't cooperate opt for shopping with Vonia or hit the Spa/Sauna with Scott in downtown Berchtesgaden.

Dinner is planned at the Jenner Kaser - a small hut at the foot of the Jenner Mountain, walking distance from our hotel.

We're up early and headed back to Munich's Oktoberfest. We're scheduled for lunch at noon at the Ochsenbraterei. This tent features Spaten beer and a full sized Ox that is roasted on a giant spit. Order yourself a tasty steak. Here you'll feel like Oktoberfest royalty from our balcony perch.

After the afternoon visit, we'll head south down the Allgäu Alps on the Austrian border. At Hotel Ruchti you'll be treated to a giant Wiener Schnitzel for dinner - the best in all of Bavaria!

After breakfast,  we visit the castle of Hohenschwangau, where Ludiwg II spent his childhood and dreamed of a greater castle. His castle, Neuschwanstein, is directly across the valley and we'll visit this one just before lunchtime.

In the afternoon, we'll spend some time in downtown Füssen. Visit the many shops and then take a walking tour of this beautiful small city.

In the evening, we visit a local establishment famous for it's great atmosphere - you'll have a night to remember!

Eat a very light breakfast this morning, because you are about to experience a typically Bavarian Sunday morning.

We drive about 50 minutes to the small village of Böbing. We are invited to a traditional catholic mass and will celebrate the harvest festival. After church, we partake in the greatest of Bavarian traditions: The Weisswurst Breakfast.

My friend Karl is a professional butcher and he was up early this morning preparing the Weisswurst for us. My other friend, Sepp, is a professional baker. Sepp has made fresh Preztels to go along with the Weisswurst. The skin is peeled from these boiled sausages before eating with sweet mustard, a fresh preztel and a Weissbier. I love Bavaria!

In the afternoon, we'll visit Kloster Andechs and the Wieskirche before venturing on to Nuremberg.  Once there, we'll check into our hotel and then stroll into the old town before sitting down to dinner of famous Nuremberg sausages!

Two Choices this morning:

Imperial: Tour the old town of Nuremberg with Scott and a local city guide. Learn about life here in the middle ages and how Nuremberg came to be an important city in the Holy Roman Empire. If we can, we'll also manage a vist to the old beer cellars, which were used in WWII as air raid shelters.

WWII: Vonia will take you to you to visit the giant Nazi Party Rally grounds. The Documentation Center will overwhelm you with infomation about the darkest 18 years of German history - and its aftermath.

In the late afternoon, we'll travel 60 minutes north to Bamberg. Dinner will be the famed stuffed onion coupled with the fabled smoked beer from Schlenkerla.  

We meet our guide, Erik, at 10 AM, so you have a little extra sleep this morning. Erik, known as Bamberg's Storyteller, will explain the history behind this lovely baroque city. We'll visit the cathedral, site of the Bamberg Knight and Pope Clement II's tomb, the Rose garden, the university, and many other sites in this compact town. We'll stop for lunch at the Fässla brewery. Enjoy a tour of the small brewing facilities and pop across the street for a taste at the Spezial Brewery.

In the afternoon, enjoy some free time for shopping or join Scott in a tour of the many other breweries in the city: Mahr's, Keesman, Greifenklau, Klosterbraeu, and more...

After another hearty breakfast, we'll board a bus for the small town of Kelheim. Here we board a boat for a short 40 minutes cruise down the Danube to Kloster Weltenburg - an ancient monastery and second oldest brewery in the world (1050). Enjoy a bit of free time to enjoy the church and the monk's famous dark beer before boarding our bus. In the afternoon, we visit the most beautiful brewery in all of Bavaria: Kuchlbauer. My friend, Robert, is the brew master and he'll show us his brewery and the artwork commissioned by his boss, Herr Salleck. Capping our visit with a climb in a Hundertwasser designed tower, you'll feel like you've been to Willy Wonka's.

Afterwards, we stop at the famous Weissbier brewery, Schneider und Sohn. Currently in the hands of the sixth generation, we’ll enjoy a Bier-Menü at their own restaurant. Each course is paired with a Schneider Weissbier. Wunderbar!

Finally, we’ll make it to Hotel zum fröhlichen Türken where we’ll be staying for the evening!

Plan on a later breakfast, followed by a tour of Regensburg. This city, once an important Roman outpost and later a key city in the Holy Roman Empire, declined in importance. But, this was a blessing: This beautiful city was virtually untouched by WWII and is now an UNESCO World Heritage City. After the tour, you'll get a chance to eat at the famous Wurstkuchl. Then you have a free afternoon to finish your shopping!

At dinnertime, we'll wind up at Kneitinger at Arnulfsplatz. Famous for its friendly service, you'll love the beer and the food! Manager Matthias and his team will see to it!