Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Oktoberfest in Germany, any suggestions?

Geld geben.

I'll drink some of them foo-foo Belgium ales with the corks sometimes....

But you may be right. I didn't really appreciate Genius till I had it in the UK, and then really appreciated it at the brewery.

Spaten lager from a keg is mighty fine! I also have not had a beer from Paulaner that I did not like. Enjoy your trip!

Ayinger makes some fine brews, too. Attempting to answer the Paulaner Optimator vs. Ayinger Celebrator "which doppelbock is best?" question is always a good use of time.

My girlfriend and I were lucky enough to travel through most of continental western Europe last July. I should be able to offer a couple of suggestions, though I have found that my memory is fading fast.

Belgium
we had the most fun here, mostly because we were staying with family and not pushing ourselves too much to see everything while we were there. We did find the people to be the friendliest and most polite of any country we visited. We toured Brussel, in which most of the main city sites are within short walking distance. There are no particularily well known sites, well except for the peeing boy - Manikapis (sp?). You might also enjoy visiting the bar Delirium with the pink elephants. They own(ed) the Guiness Record for the most types of beer in one bar - 2004 (not uncoincidently in the year 2004). You have to make sure to visit a few "friturs" when you are there. The Belgians invented "frites" or what we know as French (or Freedom depending on your politics) Fries. If you happen to be a big WWI or WWII history buff there are plenty of battle sites, monuments and cemetaries scattered all over this tiny country and within short distance in neighbouring France (Ypres, Vimy, the Ardenes, Dieppe, Normandy, etc). We also enjoyed our stay at a small inn near the Abbaye de Notre Dame de Scourmont where Chimay beer is brewed.

Germany
we didn't see too much of Germany, just Berlin. There is a lot to see here and the city is well spread out. The good thing is that the transit system is very easy to use and quick too. We visited KZ Sachenhausen, which was according to stats the worst concentration camp within German borders. Sobering to say the least, but I think important for everyone to see. Sounds like you are on the right track with the beer gardens, that'll be plenty of fun.

Switzerland
also didn't see too much of this country, but did have the opportunity to visit Zermatt which was the only area of the Alps in Switzerland that was open to summer skiing (at least that I could find). We really enjoyed the town of Zermatt, even if it was a bustling little resort town, it was very relaxed. It was especially enjoyable for us considering we had just come from a week in Italy where the weather was always above 30 Celcius. The nice cool weather in the mountains was a great refresher. We had taken the train to (from Venice) and from (to Zurich) Zermatt and I'd have no problems recommending that method of travel. It's not the quickest, but the scenery is wonderful and it's pretty relaxing.

Italy
this country is hot, dirty and smelled bad. It was overcrowded and a PITA to get around in. After this is said though, i would go back in a second. With all the incredible sites you can't miss it....and that wasn't the best part. THE FOOD is unbelievable. Of course I could live on pizza and pasta. I'm sure you won't but don't miss Rome.

I'm sure both of you will have a blast. Sorry to be so long winded, hopefully some of this will come in handy for you. If either of you had any specific questions, even to the point of what train we caught to get somewhere, i'm sure i could find it in the mass of papers that we collected and brought back.

Make sure to take plenty of pics and share with us when you get back.

Cool trip. I think you'll have your hands full cruising Germany/Belgium in a week. I've been to both and there's a bit to see/do. Enjoy driving the Bahn, can be very intense, just make sure to pay attention if you're going to push it. I've done 200 KM/H in an Audi and then get high beamed by both a Porsche and a motorcycle riding my arse. That's intense.

Munich
Skip the Hofbrau Haus. Hard Rock Cafe a la Munich. You can get better beer at smaller places.

Stuttgart/Ulm
Would be cool to visit the Porsche. You're close to Lake Constance which borders Switzerland IIRC. There's a cool castle on the lake.

Rothenburg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothenburg_ob_der_Tauber)
Kindy touristy but what the heck. It's a walled town kinda like fairy tale books. Pretty cool to visit and take pix.

Heidelberg
Cool castle town. I was there for the 800th anniversary, they know how to party...

Frankfurt
So so. I personally like the smaller towns, more character.

Dusselfdorf
FANTASTIC Alt bier. It's also the fashion capital so if you're lucky and there's a fashion show, you're hotel could be full of models. Mine was...

Belgium
GREAT beer. Kinda fruity but I really like the kriek. Fantastic fries, you can't beat real Belgian fries. Found really good waffles too. It's cool (though a bit touristy) to sit in the platz, have a stein of beer, bucket of mussels sitting in butter/wine, basket of fries and just people watch. That was probably the best times I've had in a Euro city.

Den Haag (The Hague)
More closer to Amsterdam but I did drive from Belgium to Amsterdam and stopped in Den Haag. It's a beautiful town, probably one of the nicest I've seen around that area.

Any suggestions?

As my brother is fond of saying "Don't mention the war"

Bren R.

Erding is nice

Thanks for the info. While I would like to get to Rome, we aren't going to make it there this time. We have been talking for a while about doing Rome and then southern Italy from there for our 5 year anniversary, which is the end of summer next year. We'll be sticking with the Northern part for now. 1 night at lake Como, then 2 each at Milan, Florence, and Venice.

It is tough because there is so much I want to see over there. I could spend months just travelling and checking out all of the different countries. I'm looking forward to both phases of the trip. It looks like work has even built in some sightseeing time in Germany since the first week I am there for business, so that will be nice.