Hi, we will be travelling to Frankfurt, Germany in July 2014. We have plans for 7 days locally around Frankfurt. We check out of our hotel on July 21st and have until July 26th when we fly out of Paris. We want to see Dachau and Oktoberfest before we leave Germany. What city is the best place to catch a direct train to Paris? Would you recommend renting a car to travel from Frankfurt to see Dachau and Oktoberfest? How long would it take to see these two things? We want to maximize days in Paris, if possible. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
Oktoberfest happens in October and thus you will not be able to experience it in July.
You can travel between Frankfurt and München with ICE trains, and from there to Dachau on local trains.
You can travel from pretty much every major station in Germany to Paris with 1 or 2 transfers along the way. There are no non-strop trains between anywhere in Germany and Paris.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10603 posts
You won't be able to see Oktoberfest. It doesn't start until September. You don't need a car to get to Munich. Dachau is just outside Munich and can be reached by public transportation. You can see Dachau in a half of a day. If you would like to do a great tour of it, you can book one through Radius Tours. They are located at the main train station in Munich.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4088 posts
The resources that are usually recommended for train travel are www.seat61.com and www.bahn.com
Could you be a little more precise about your request? The headline says non-stop; that's not the same as direct, contained in the body of your post. (Direct may involve stopping at stations without changing trains.)
If you are as far south as Munich it will take less time and possibly less money to fly to Paris, booked well in advance. Or you maybe could fly home from Munich, probably with a connection. If it is an internal flight on the same airline as your trans-Atlantic return, booked on a multi-destination ticket, then the price might not be much and you can spend extra time in Munich.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
Oktoberfest is in late September ... probably not a lot to see in July. We spent the whole day in Dachau, but that was partly because my husband's father had spent several years there as a guest of the Third Reich. After experiencing the camp, we weren't in a mood for fun touring. Easy S-bahn ride (half hour ??) from central Munich to Dachau which is on the outskirts of the city.
Direct train from Munich hbf to Paris takes about 6 hours.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
"There are no non-strop trains between anywhere in Germany and Paris."
There are direct trains between Germany and Paris, but they stop in France to pick up/discharge passenger. I think direct is what you want. There is one direct train between Paris and Munich and a lot of trains with only one change in Stuttgart.
It's not necessary to go all the way to Munich Hbf to see Dachau. If you book a connection that includes an RE from Ingolstadt to Munich Hbf, it will stop in Dachau. There are lockers there, and the bus (726) leaves from Dachau station to the Memorial.
You don't need a third party tour to see Dachau. They have qualified guides at the Memorial. All the tours do is take you to the Memorial, which you can easily do yourself for less money.
If you are there at other times of the year and want to experience Oktoberfest, go to the Hofbräuhaus. They have live music, just like the tents in Oktoberfest. And better prices.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9220 posts
Doing a tour of Dachau can be very enlightening, and well worth the price. Quality tour companies certainly don't just take you there and drop you off. If a guide is doing a tour there, they are required to do an extensive training from the Dachau Memorial and also pass a test. The only ones who probably aren't worth the money are the "free" tours. Check the reviews on Trip Advisor to see which companies offer high quality professional tours.
My recommendation is to book a tour with Dark History Tours for the best possible experience in both Munich and Dachau.
There are lots of festivals all over Germany in the summer, with beer tents, music, great food and wine, as well as carnival rides.
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19274 posts
Sorry, I should have said "All the tours do in addition is take you to the Memorial. I say that because the Memorial provides quality guided tours of their own.
The guides provided by the Memorial have been trained (approx. one year course) and tested by the Memorial. You can take one of their 2½ hour tours for 3,00€/P. I did that a couple of years ago and the tour was great. She was very informed and spent virtually full time for 2½ hours giving us information about the Memorial. I don't know how much more information you could want.
On the other hand, commercial guides do not have to be trained by the Memorial; they only have to pass a test, which is a "test tour". The Memorial does offer a short (4-6 sessions) training course for commercial guides. It is highly recommended but not required. Since the tour company advertises guides trained by the Memorial, I suspect they are actually hiring away the Memorials own "freelance" guides.
No one has ever been able to demonstrate that the tour companies tours are any better than those given by the Memorial's own guides.
Assuming you would already be using an MVV Innenraum Tageskarte (Munich metro day ticket of the inner zone), either Single or Partner, making it an XXL Tageskarte, which includes the S-Bahn to Dachau and the bus to the Memorial (round trip) cost 2,10€ extra for a Single, 3,00€ extra for 2 to 5 people). So, in essence, you are paying 15€ more for them to escort you to the Memorial.