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Oktoberfest 2014 tour and Frankfurt travel advise

Posted by on

Hello,
my husband and I will be celebrating our honeymoon in Europe this year. We really wanted to experience Oktoberfest. Both of us have never been to Europe and the though of planning everything on our own seem very overwhelming. I thought that this tour would be good. Has anyone every used this service? What are your thoughts of the itinerary? Is there something we are missing out on that we should see?
http://www.goaheadtours.com/wwo/oktoberfest-germany-switzerland-austria?q=oktoberfest&search_type=region

Additionally, we were going to fly in to Germany early either Friday or Saturday. The tour starts on Wednesday September 24th. My husband really wants to rent a car and experience driving and the culture on our own time. Where would you recommend flying into and seeing? If we fly into Frankfurt what do you recommend that we see and drive in that area that isn't included in the agenda? Is there a place we should fly into and drive/sightsee our way to Frankfurt to pick up the tour?

I would love to hear others recommendations and thoughts.

Thanks,

Posted by
16893 posts

Another vote from driving from Frankfurt airport to the Rhine and Mosel rivers, since that's the opposite direction from the way the tour will take you and the small towns are walkable and easy to manage. (FYI, it looks like Rick Steves' Tours covering that region are already sold out/waitlisted for dates that would include Oktoberfest.)

Posted by
3696 posts

Although I am generally opposed to tours and travel most often by myself... I did jump on a last minute tour that was run by GoAhead and I did enjoy it. I was tired and did not want to deal with all the logistics, etc. myself. I did the land only part as I always want to book my own flight. This trip was Barcelona, southern France and coastal Italy (included CT) and then ended in Florence. All hotels, meals and travel were fine. We had a big group which I thought might be a negative, but actually was better because everyone broke into smaller groups and if someone was annoying we could ignore them. It was cheaper than I could have done it myself... and there was the last minute $500 discount so made it really pretty cheap.

Posted by
2 posts

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your comments. My last question is if I fly in early to Frankfurt where do you recommend staying. We were thinking about Cologne or Rothenburg ob der Tauber. I wanted to stay close to Frankfurt as that is where I have to meet up with the tour but wanted to spend a couple of days on your own seeing some additional highlights around the area that isn't part of the tour. Do you have any recommendations on cities to stay in and where to stay? Thanks.

Posted by
8942 posts

There are so many wonderful towns close to Frankfurt, so rather than go to Rothenburg, you could go to Büdingen instead. Only an hour by train from Frankfurt, this medieval walled town has never been bombed and is a real gem. Frankfurt itself has tons of things to see and do, but you need to tell us what you like. There are lovely B&B'S here in the city if you want to stay put and just travel to other towns each day. Places like the Rhine, Marburg, Idstein, Seligenstadt, Büdingen, Gelnhausen, Heidelberg, Mainz, Wiesbaden, etc. All are easy to get to by train, and the tickets are not expensive either. You can get a group day ticket for Gelnhausen and Büdingen for under 27 euro, for example. On weekends, you can do the best parts of the Rhine with a Happy Weekend ticket that only costs 44 euro and is valid for both of you all day long on the regional trains.

Have a look at my trip report, as much of it covers places near Frankfurt.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/jo-travels-thru-germany

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