Beer, beer, beer at Oktoberfest!

After yesterday’s enthralling yet exhausting trip to Europa Park, any hopes I had of a relaxing day were dashed as Oktoberfest was on the menu. The world-famous Bavarian tradition was in town, and was not to be missed.

Set in Theresienwiese in the center of Munich, Oktoberfest is a homage to the Bavarian tradition of beer and celebration, with hearty German meals on offer that are traditionally washed down with Oktoberfest beer supplied in always-packed beer tents. Both men and women dress up in traditional Bavarian dress, with the men donning lederhosen and the women sporting dirndi.

Not exactly lederhosen (Bavarian traditional attire for men) but an example of the garb seen adorning the fellas at Oktoberfest

Traditional Bavarian hat (Tirolerhüte) with tufts of chamois hair (gamsbart)

But Oktoberfest isn’t just about alcohol – it’s also host to a large variety of rides, games and Bavarian food (nuts, sausages, sweets, drinks and lollies) that make it otherwise a family-friendly event. It was a unique experience simply wandering the packed grounds (I went on October 2nd, which was a public holiday in Munich) and seeing everything in action. The ride I went on had five upside down loops, yet another scary and exciting memory for the archives!

Sweeeeeeets

We all scream for ice cream!

Traditional German gingerbread is on offer at Oktoberfest – it’s a couple gift for a guy to buy and give to his special lady. Apparently it’s not meant to be eaten but hung up in the house.

No day is complete without a sky high drop!

After seeing the sights on the ground, it was time to move into one of the tents to try out the local brew. That’s where part of the challenge lies in Oktoberfest – tents are in high demand, with a limited number of seats available for the food and drink on offer. Companies (who frequently use Oktoberfest as a team building/celebration activity) and large groups have been known to reserve tables at Oktoberfest more than 6 months in advance to secure a spot. Luckily, with our group of two, we found a seat in one of the tents within 15 minutes.

Joining two groups of locals at our table, we promptly ordered a 1L each of the beer. I looked on in avid interest at the groups of German folk indulging in German food and drink as German music and drinking songs pulsated around us. I even spotted a man dance for five minutes on top of a table!

Being not much of a drinker, it took me a good while to finish off the 1L beer. Beer still isn’t really my thing but it was worth it for the Oktoberfest experience, even though I didn’t understand much of what was said or the music playing from the stage.

The infamous Oktoberfest 1L beer

Attraction details – Oktoberfest

Directions: Oktoberfest be easily reached by U-Bahn, S-Bahn and bus as it takes place within the centre of Munich. For detailed transport information, consult the Deutsche Bahn website.

Admission: Admission is free, so you only pay for the rides, food and beer you consume. Note that the infamous Oktoberfest beer is only available in 1L quantities and is charged at 10 euros each. A bit steep for a beer, but you’re paying for the brand and the atmosphere as well as the beer.

Rating: 4/5 – a great experience for any first-time traveler to Munich. I only downgraded it slightly as I don’t really buy into the heavy drinking culture promoted by Oktoberfest.

Traveler tips:

• Oktoberfest beer is stronger than normal beer, so keep this in mind to pace yourself as you drink. Plenty of inebriated people can be spotted leaving Oktoberfest, having misjudged their capacity for grog.
• Eat your food and take the rides you want to before you consume any beer to avoid unexpected surprises later
• If you want to get a table without a reservation, be prepared to wait. The smaller your group, the greater your chance of getting a table. In any case, arrive early to secure a spot.
• If you aren’t a fan the full strength beer, you can order a radler which is beer mixed with lemonade and is slightly cheaper too.

Have you been to Oktoberfest? What was your experience like?

 

Europe sized fun at Europa Park

For my first day in Munich, a friend suggested we take advantage of the extensive regional train network and journey to Europa Park, a massive theme park that, like its name suggests, is designed according to the different countries of the European Union.

Having arrived at Munich Hauptbahnhof (HBF – Munich Central Station) from Paris two hours later than I intended (after sitting in the wrong position on the 9:30pm train arriving into Munich, which landed me in Strasbourg), I was told that in order to reach Europa Park by its 9am opening time we had to get to the train station at around 3am! As I had only arrived at my friend’s place at around 12:30am and needed time to unpack and have something to eat, I was understandably exhausted and not looking forward to the prospect of even more travel. To throw a spanner into the works, we had missed our bus to the Munich HBF from where our train would depart, forcing us to take a cab instead. Despite the crazy ride, my friend assured me it was worth it, so off we went with no sleep to one of the largest amusement parks in Europe…

The journey there was very disjointed, involving five changes of trains and seven trains in total (Munich to Stuttgart HBF, Stuttgart HBF to Karlsruhe HBF, Karlsruhe HBF to Ringsheim on the way there; Ringsheim to Offenburg, Offenburg to Karlsruhe HBF, Karlsruhe HBF to Sturttgart HBF and Stuttgart HBF to Munchen HBF on the return leg). Added to that, there was another bus we needed to take from Ringsheim to the Europa Park itself. The hop on-hop off journey gave me little opportunity to sleep continuously, leaving me feeling ready to collapse. So much drama before I’d even set foot inside the Park! The kick in the face came when I found out Europa Park is actually 30km away from Strasbourg…meaning I’d basically traveled from Strasbourg to Munich three times in one day, and could have traveled directly to the Park without going all the way to Munich and back.

Forgive the pun, but I was in for one hell of a ride at Europa Park! Traveling through the different countries of the theme park, I was treated to over eight hours of fun through jaw-drop inducing rollercoasters, water rides, shoot-em-ups, cart rides, train rides and any other ride you can think of! The multicultural design of the park lends itself to a multitude of European food options, with Greek, Italian, French, German, Finnish and various others available. The park was also decorated in a fun, bright and engaging manner, with Halloween being the theme during our visit in the first week of October.

The ‘France’ region of Europa Park

The Halloween theme in action at Europa Park

Clogs of Europe!

My favourite rides were ‘Blue Fire’ and ‘Silver Star’, both of which were thrilling, unbelievably high and fast rollercoasters that made me laugh, scream and smile seemingly all at once. I even went on the Silver Star twice at my friend’s bequest!

Attraction details – Europa Park

Directions: Europa Park can be reached by regional train. Consult the Deutsche Bahn website for detailed train and transport information.

Admission: All inclusive admission (entry and access to rides) for adults during the summer season is normally 42.50 euros, but as my friend is a journalist, he was able to obtain a complementary press pass for two. This made it exceptional value for me combined with my rail pass, which provided all day transport to Europa Park and back. Compared to other theme parks such as Tivoli which charge both an exorbitant entry fee and a fee per ride, Europa Park hits the sweet spot of being both affordable and interesting to a broad range of audience groups, with its Europe theme and plentiful options for food and rides.

Rating: 5/5. My friend was right – Europa Park is seriously the real deal. A must-do if you are in the vicinity.

Traveler’s tips:

• Pack some food and drink to avoid the overpriced food options at the Park.
• Get there at opening time to maximise your experience. Also try and go on a weekday to avoid the rush on weekends or public holidays.
• If you’re not the biggest fan of rides, consider taking an extreme ride followed by a gentle ride and then repeating this until you have done all the rides you are interested in
• Upon entering the Park, proceed to the middle or back of the Park to avoid the often congested lines at the front areas. There are signs clearly indicating the expected wait time for each ride.
• As you get more tired throughout the day, consider taking the provided intra-Park train service. The train departs from a central location and stops at several key ‘countries’ in the Park.

What has your experience been at Europa Park? What are your favourite theme parks inside and outside Europe?

Pretty as a postcard in Versailles

Undoubtedly, there is plenty to do in Paris, the infamous City of Love. However, one of the best attractions to do in France isn’t in the ‘city’ of Paris at all but in fact in the regional area of Versailles. It was here that was to be my first experience in the land of the red, blue and white.

The Palace of Versailles

I joined the queue to get in (having thankfully pre-purchased my ticket online and thus avoiding the additionally long queues to buy tickets) and was inside within 10-15 minutes. There are separate entrance points to the Palace, and the Gardens (from which point Marie-Antoinette’s Chateau and the Grand Trianon can be accessed; the Chateau is a thirty minute walk from the Palace and the Grand Trianon a further walk from the Chateau). I decided on entering the Palace first, which seemed to be the prime attraction from the main entrance.

After passing through security and baggage checks, I finally entered the Palace. The Palace is a series of rooms (the Grand Apartments) set up in the style of the olden days of France. It is filled with beautiful furniture, paintings, art, chandeliers and architecture from days gone by. The style is very decadent and it is obvious the occupants of the Palace lived in luxury. The Hall of Mirrors is a highlight of the Palace, with magnificent chandeliers and wallpaper highlighting the Palace’s immense beauty. T he only downsides are that the supporting information in the rooms is in French and the available space is generally dominated by tourists, which makes it sometimes cramped and pushy when moving around.

The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

After touring Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen, I thought I had seen it all when it came to gardens and natural scenery. However, the Garden of Versailles has an uncanny ability of dwarfing the gardens in all of these places easily. Seemingly never-ending, the garden stretches for miles and miles and features a brilliant array of flowers, trees and many postcard-perfect photo opportunities.

The garden of Versailles

It takes a good few hours to explore the Gardens, Marie-Antoinette’s House, the Grand Trianon, their interiors (featuring further artwork and paintings) and surrounding buildings. It’s not really a naturally preserved feature of wonder like those in Scandinavia (it has been obviously tended to and shaped into a more commercial tourist attraction) but it is hugely impressive nonetheless. In addition, near the end of the gardens on your way out, there is a huge lake that you can use to rent a boat to row across (a favourite for the many couples in the area) or you can simply relax on the many surrounding grassy patches.

The lake at Versailles – a favourite spot for couples to row across

The Palace of Versailles

Attraction details

Name: Palace of Versailles

Directions: Versailles can be reached by using the regional train network RER. You need to take the RERB to reach Versailles. I got onto the RERB at the Invalides station, and the journey to Versailles took approximately 40 minutes each way. The station you need to get off at is Versailles Rive-Gauche (not Versailles ……) so pay attention to the stations out the window. In any case, Versailles Rive-Gauche is the last stop so you can’t really miss out. From the station, Versailles is a short 10 minute walk from the station in a north-westerly direction. We simply followed the literal hoard of tourists and sure enough, we ended up at Versailles. So you can go with your nose or follow the crowd – up to you.

Admission fee: There are different ticket types available. I purchased the Versailles Passport, which offers entry to the Palace, the Gardens, the Grand Trianon and Marie-Antoinette’s Estate for 18 euros. Entry to only the Palace is 13 euros, however the stunning gardens are free (except on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from April to October; free admission from November to March) if you don’t want to see anything else. Tickets are more expensive on these days (around 25 euros) on Tuesdays and Sundays due to a music concert that is included in the ticket price on these days so go on another day if you want to avoid getting stung. A full listing of the fare types is found here.

Rating: 5/5. Home to the beautiful Palace of Versailles, a tremendous garden, Marie-Antoinette’s Chateau and the Grand Trianon (a building of paintings, sculptures, art and more), Versailles is an essential stop for anyone visiting Paris.

Traveller’s tips:

• Arrive early to beat the crowds to get in – the Palace and Gardens open at different times, with the former opening at 9am and the latter at 8am. So if you arrive early, you can get a head start on the garden and enter the palace when everyone else is arriving, which is generally lunchtime.

• Prepurchase your ticket to avoid the line to buy the ticket – This is pretty self-explanatory. The ticket is the same price if you buy online or in person at the ticket office so there’s no excuse not to buy in advance.

• Buy your food outside Versailles: There is of course a café/restaurant in Versailles but it is overpriced and caters to unsuspecting tourists. I went instead to a cheap bakery nearby which sold an Italian style baguette for around 5 euros.
• Bring some sunscreen for a sunny day: When I went, it was a warm, sunny day of around 23-25C. I forgot my sunscreen so I walked around feeling slightly burnt all day.
• Allow the most part of a day to do Versailles – We arrived around 12pm due to getting up late and got through everything in around five and a half hours, however if we arrived earlier we probably would have had more time to savour the sights and enjoy the experience more. Inclusive of transport on the RERB each way, you should allow at least 8 hours for the whole trip. Don’t plan to do anything major afterwards as you will be tired and your legs will be sore!

Have you been to Versailles and if so, what was your experience like? Do you have other favourite palaces or gardens in Europe or elsewhere to recommend?