I'm traveling (on a small budget) to Dublin, London, Paris, Munich, and Prague (in that order) Sep 15-Oct5. Should be 2 nights in Dublin, 3-4 nights each in the other cities. Oktoberfest is cornerstone of the trip. Need tips on everything from booking flights, hotel, and trains to things to do in each city.
Thanks!
If you haven't booked accomodations in Munich yet, do it sooner than later. Places fill up fast, and you will probably only end up paying more the longer you wait. Also, for hostels (not sure if this goes for hotels), instead of only making a small deposit and the rest when you check in, the entire stay will be charged immediately at booking and is non-refundable for stays during Oktoberfest.
With the route you chose, you definitely want to fly "open jaw" (i.e. into Dublin, out of Prague) instead of in & out of the same city. Depending on your age (under 26), you could find cheap flights on STA Travel.
It sounds like you needn't bother with a rail pass, since it does not cover the UK or the Eurostar (which I presume you might take London-Paris). Look at sites like bahn.de to look up point-to-point tickets for Paris > Munich, and Munich > Prague.
Probably fly a budget airline like Ryanair or easyJet for Dublin > London.
Hello Dave. I recommend : read many parts of the book "Rick Steves' Europe Through The Back Door, 2010."
Dave,
As this is your first trip, I'd also highly recommend pre-reading Europe Through The Back Door as it will provide a lot of important information for planning your trip. Pay special attention to the "Rail Skills" chapter.
Due to flight times and time zone changes, you'll arrive in Europe the day AFTER you depart, and the last day will be spent on the trip home. Be sure to factor that into your planning.
One other important point is to allow for adequate travel times between cities. Your travel times will include checking out of the Hotel, getting to transportation, the actual trip and then getting to your new Hotel and checking in. That all takes time. For example:
Dublin to London - at least half a day, even by budget air
London to Paris - again about half a day. Depending on where you're staying in London, you'll have to get to St. Pancras station. You'll arrive in Paris at Gare du Nord, so it will take some time to get from there to whichever area you're staying.
Paris to Munich - that trip will be about 6H:09M by TGV and other fast trains (depending on which train you select).
Munich to Prague - that trip will be about 5H:06M (again, depending on which train you select).
As someone else mentioned, it's a bit late to be booking accommodations for Oktoberfest. You may have to stay in a nearby community, perhaps Augsburg.
I assume you're using open-jaw flights, inbound Dublin and outbound Prague?
Good luck with your planning!
Hi Dave,
As others have pointed out, logistics of traveling between cities can be time consuming and more expensive. For this trip, you might consider dropping Dublin from your itinerary and concentrating on the other cities.
Unless you are flying into Dublin because you are getting a cheap fare on AerLingus from Chicago, I'd agree with previous poster and drop it to spend the extra time in London or Paris. Or if you don't want to extend your time in those 2 cities, squeeze in a couple nights instead in Belgium as you start to work your way towards Germany. Save Ireland for a separate trip
