{"id":12813,"date":"2026-10-05T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/?p=12813"},"modified":"2026-10-05T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T07:00:00","slug":"bavaria-beyond-oktoberfest-alps-rothenburg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/bavaria-beyond-oktoberfest-alps-rothenburg\/","title":{"rendered":"Bavaria Beyond Oktoberfest: The Alps, Rothenburg and Beer Halls All Year Round"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Oktoberfest 2026 closed yesterday, on 4 October. If you didn&#8217;t make it, or went and wondered what else the region has, here&#8217;s the good news: most of Bavaria has no closing date. The beer halls pour every day, the Alps sit just south of Munich, and one of Europe&#8217;s best-preserved medieval towns is a short drive north. Let&#8217;s take them in turn.<\/p>\n<h2>Munich: the beer hall isn&#8217;t just for the festival<\/h2>\n<p>As Rick Steves puts it, you can have the Bavarian beer-hall experience in Munich any day of the year. No tents, no queues, the same music and pretzels at a far gentler pace.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Hofbr\u00e4uhaus.<\/strong> The world-famous one. Touristy and aware of it, but worth a visit even if you&#8217;re not drinking.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Viktualienmarkt.<\/strong> The open-air market in the centre, good for a quick lunch on your feet.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Englischer Garten.<\/strong> One of Europe&#8217;s biggest city parks, full of locals, bikes and, yes, even surfers.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Andechs Monastery.<\/strong> Just outside the city: a Baroque church, hearty food and a beer many rate as Bavaria&#8217;s best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a more sobering stop, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial is on the edge of the city and needs half a day.<\/p>\n<h2>The Bavarian Alps: castles, lakes and meadows<\/h2>\n<p>Roughly 90 minutes to two hours south of Munich, Germany&#8217;s most picturesque corner begins. The usual base is F\u00fcssen, a handy small town near the castles.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.<\/strong> King Ludwig&#8217;s fairy-tale castle and his boyhood home. Neuschwanstein can only be visited on a guided tour. Tickets are sold online; any left over are sold at the Hohenschwangau Ticket Center for the same day only, while they last. In short: book ahead.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mary&#8217;s Bridge (Marienbr\u00fccke).<\/strong> The spot for the castle photo everyone has seen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tegelberg.<\/strong> A cable car to a summit of about 1,700 metres, and a luge track in summer.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wieskirche.<\/strong> Germany&#8217;s greatest Rococo church, with a stunning interior.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Linderhof and Oberammergau.<\/strong> A small, exquisite &#8220;mini Versailles&#8221; and a village of painted fa\u00e7ades and woodcarving.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Zugspitze.<\/strong> Germany&#8217;s highest mountain at around 2,960 metres, reached by cable car or cogwheel train.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Coming from Greece, the contrast with our own mountains is striking: green pasture high up the slopes, cowbells and villages that look freshly painted.<\/p>\n<h2>Rothenburg: a medieval town after dark<\/h2>\n<p>Rothenburg ob der Tauber is about two hours north of Munich and the best-known stop on the Romantic Road. In the Middle Ages it was one of Germany&#8217;s largest towns, back when Munich and Berlin were barely on the map. Today it&#8217;s considered the country&#8217;s best-preserved walled town, with half-timbered houses, cobbled lanes and walls you can walk.<\/p>\n<p>The practical point: around 2 million people visit each year, but most only for a few hours. Stay one night inside the walls. Once the coaches leave and the lamps come on, the place changes completely. If you like evening walks with a story, look for the Night Watchman tour.<\/p>\n<h2>A 5\u20137 day road trip from Munich<\/h2>\n<p>The flight from Athens to Munich takes about two and a half hours. Pick up a car at the airport and drive a loop.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Day 1.<\/strong> Arrive, collect the car, evening in a beer hall.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 2.<\/strong> Munich: Viktualienmarkt, Englischer Garten, Hofbr\u00e4uhaus. Optional Dachau or Andechs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 3.<\/strong> South to Oberammergau and Linderhof, overnight in F\u00fcssen.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 4.<\/strong> Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau, Marienbr\u00fccke, and Tegelberg if the weather holds.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 5.<\/strong> Stop at the Wieskirche, then north along the Romantic Road to Rothenburg. It&#8217;s the longest drive of the trip, so start early.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 6.<\/strong> Rothenburg: the walls in the morning, a slow afternoon, an evening stroll.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Day 7.<\/strong> Back to Munich for your flight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With five days, drop the second Munich day and merge days 3 and 4. With more, add the Zugspitze.<\/p>\n<h2>When to go<\/h2>\n<p>October after the festival is a good time: the city returns to its normal rhythm and the Alps turn autumn colours. Bear in mind that the mountains get cold early and some outdoor activities are summer-only. And if you&#8217;re already thinking about next year, our Oktoberfest guide will be waiting.<\/p>\n<h2>Want us to put it together?<\/h2>\n<p>At <strong>Penguin Travels &amp; Tours<\/strong> we can build you a Bavarian road trip with flights, car hire and places to stay that make sense, from a hotel in F\u00fcssen to a night inside Rothenburg&#8217;s walls.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><strong>Is Bavaria still on your wish list?<\/strong> Stop by our office in Kalamata (Vasilissis Olgas 4) or call us at <strong>+30 27210 80701<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oktoberfest closed yesterday, but Bavaria&#8217;s beer halls, Alps and medieval towns are there all year. What to see, plus a road-trip plan starting in Munich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":12831,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_title":"Bavaria Beyond Oktoberfest: Guide & Road Trip","rank_math_description":"Oktoberfest is over, Bavaria isn't. Munich beer halls, Alpine castles, medieval Rothenburg and a 5\u20137 day road-trip plan from Munich.","rank_math_focus_keyword":"Bavaria travel guide, Bavaria road trip, Munich beer halls, Rothenburg ob der Tauber","footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-guides-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12813"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12813\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12856,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12813\/revisions\/12856"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.penguintravels.gr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}