Franconia & Bamberg Special (SB)

Annafest 2010 & Franconia Special

Contact andy@bier-mania.com

Phone +49-(0)2157 810558 (Germany)

Mobile +49-(0)177 7095599

Tour Outline

These year round upbeat Franconia beer tours cover the Franconia, Oberpfalz regions of Germany as well as visiting Pilsen in the Czech Republic.

The tour has an incredible array of contrasts and takes in the whole of the Franken region introducing you to the complete spectrum of breweries and beer culture that exist there, from the Brauereigasthofs (brewery guest houses), the village breweries, the Kloster (monastery) breweries as well as of course the town breweries of Forchheim and Bamberg.

Tours are ’nomad’ style starting in Regensburg and then zig-zag through Franconia ending up in Bamberg for 2 nights with our final night in Bad Windsheim.

During our July tours we also visit the Annafest in Forchheim, a truly remarkable Volksfest (peoples’ festival) resembling Munich’s Oktoberfest 100 years ago! Oh, it also has the added bonus of 23 Biergarten (beer gardens) in the Kellerwald (cellar forest), can’t beat that! The tour is typically 10-days in duration.

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Tour Itinerary From €2150.00 pp/10-days

Day 1-Regensburg, the Danube, Weizenbier and Brauereigasthof

After we pick you up from Frankfurt airport, we head down the Autobahn and our first stop of the tour in the village of Schlüsselfeld where we can have some breakfast and our first beer of the tour, a smoked beer at the Sternbräu (Scheubel) brewery. We should have the chance to meet the brewer as well, nice guy!

We then head into the Altmühltal region of Bavaria and the Main-Danube canal, a gorgeous nature area, where we can stop in Berching- a gorgeous walled medieval town nestled on the Main-Donau canal for some lunch and a beer at Winkler brewery guesthouse. We then have the evening to have some excellent Bavarian food, some beer brewed on the premises by Josef Schneider himself and maybe a walk around this quaint village. Sleep well!

Overnight– Brauereigasthof Schneider, Essing

Day 2-Regensburg, the Danube, Weizenbier and the Bavarian Forest

After breakfast and maybe a quick look at Josef’s brewery, we then drive to Kelheim on the Danube river where we should also have the chance for a tour of the Schneider Weisse brewery.

After Kelheim we then head to Regensburg, a UNESCO accredited town on the River Danube where we have the chance for some sightseeing as well as then walking over the Steinbrücke, Regensburg‘s stone bridge dating from 1135. The original ‘canteen‘ for the workers, the Wurstküche, can also be seen built into the still standing original town wall! Probably the oldest hot-dog stand in the world! After some great food and beer at Spital Brewery -if it is good weather then the beer garden is a great spot, we should have time for a quick beer in Kneitinger Brewery Pub before heading out of town and onto the Autobahn and towards the Bavarian Forest.

We should arrive in Eck at around 4pm where we can check in and have a look around the excellent Böbrach Schnapps Museum. If the weather is good then we can sit out in the beer garden, take in the fresh Bavarian Forest air over a beer or 2! Or maybe you want to have a typical German sauna!

We then have the evening to have some excellent Bavarian food, some beer brewed on the premises by Mike himself and maybe a walk around this quaint hamlet. Sleep well!

Overnight– Brauereigasthof Eck, Böbrach

Day 3-The Original Pils and Zoigl Land!

We start the day with a pleasant 30 minute drive through the mountains and onto the Czech Czech Republic and the famous Pzeňský Prazdroj Pivovar in Plzeň (Pilsen).

We can have a spot of lunch and some unfiltered Pilsner at the Na Parkánu pub/brewery museum, the brewery tap of the brewery after which we have a tour of the brewery.

We then join the Czech motorway network and then cross German/Czech Border at Rosvadov/Waldhaus where we can get a quick photo. Yep, we’re back in Germany.

After an early check-in at our guesthouse in Windischechenbach we park up the van and get ourselves out.

Today is Zoigl day, we have around 15 pubs located nearby! We then have a Zoigl Crawl where we look for which Zoigl houses still have this unfiltered beer on, normally served directly from the lagering tanks in the cellar! This is an amazing opportunity to savour the beers from another of the world’s most unique brewing region.

Enjoy the evening, we will eat at one of the Zoigl houses, great food!

Overnight- Zum Weisen Schwanne, Windischeschenbach

Day 4-Country Breweries of Franconia, Annafest and Kellerwald

First stop is the monastery of Weisenhohe, another great church and a rustic Stuberln (=cosy, wood lined room designed for merriment!) where we can sample the excellent beers they brew. By now you will be seeing the link between religion and beer....

After a quick stop in Kanone in Schnaiitach, we then head onto Frau Hofmann‘s brewery and restaurant to have some lunch and some of her excellent Lagerbier, some of the best beer in Germany!

After checking into our hotel in Forchheim, we can then head out down town, 4 breweries await us in the very centre of this gorgeous town, well known for its annual Annafest festival as well as having the largest Advent calendar in the world! During our July tours we visit this awesome festival.

Overnight– Hotel Schweizergrom, Forchheim

Day 5-Fränkische Schweiz (Swiss Franconia) & Country Breweries

Today is brewery crawl day when we get into an area which has a brewery in nearly every village! After visiting the breweries in Levi Strauss‘ birth place in Buttenheim, we stop at those breweries that take our fancy having some lunch in the amazing Kathi Bräu brewery pub in the village of Heckenhof. Before we check into our hotel in Pottenstein, we have a quick stop at Burg Rabenstein for an excellent view of the valley. After maybe some beers or free time at Huffeissen Brauereigasthof and Mager Brauereigasthof we meet up later for some food at Gasthof Goldene Krone.

Overnight– Gasthof Goldene Krone, Pottenstein

Day 6-Bayreuth and Brewery Guesthouse

First stop today is the largest brewery museum in the world, the Maisel‘s Brewery and Cooperage Museum in Wagner‘s home town of Bayreuth. An amazing tour of this 1880s steam brewery, the efforts our forefathers went to produce beer may... The tour ends with a couple of glasses of the world class Maisel‘s Weizen, lovely!

We have some lunch in Kulmbach then travel onto Huppendorf for the night and the excellent Grasser Brewery Gusthouse, we should be able to have a look around the brewery as well.

Later we meet for dinner and a few a beers!

Overnight– Grasser Brewery Guesthouse, Huppendorf

Day 7-Vierzehnheiligen and Baroque Bamberg

We head to Will brewery in the village of Schederndorf in the heart of the Oberfranken (Upper Franconia) farming community. Maybe have some cold meats and bread, along with of course the excellent Landbier, a Dunkle Lagerbier brewed with the freshest ingedients! (Thirsty reading this?).

After the visiting the monastery at Vierzehheiligen and of course maybe a beer, we then head onto Bamerg where we will be slending the next 2 nights.

Later we can take a trip up to maybe Greifenklau or one of the other beer gardens up on Stephansberg, depending on the weather!

Overnight– Hotel Europa*** , Bamberg

Day 8-Smokin Baroque Bamberg

Today we get straight out into Bamberg and get ourselves up to Michaelsberg for a great view and ‚maybe‘ a well earned beer!

We then have some lunch in maybe Klosterbräu, and then you can either stay with us or go off on your own! We will be going to Bamberg’s other brewery pubs, Schlenkerla, Spezial, Fässla and maybe Ambräusianum. So we can say we have had the beer from all of Bamberg’s breweries, we can have a Kaiserdom beer later in the evening when we have a ’typical’ Bavarian meal at Swarg Indian restaurant! After 5 days of schnitzel you will be surprised how good an Indian tastes!

Overnight– Hotel Europa*** , Bamberg

Day 9-Bierstrasse & Bad Windsheim

Today we follow the River Aisch and the Bierstrasse to Bad Windsheim. Along the way there are around 7 breweries at which to stop for lunch and some liquid refreshment! Em!!

We can also visit the Kreuzberg, an area on top of a hill similar to the Kellerwald, have a beer at one of the beer gardens.

Once we get to Bad Windsheim, we check in and maybe you want to walk around on your own in town or visit the excellent Freilandmuseum (open air museum) which shows also has a ‘Kommune’ brewery!

We will meet up later for a meal together and to talk about the trip, tomorrow we leave Franconia!

Overnight– Gasthof Zum Birnbaum, Bad Windsheim

Day 10
End tour, Frankfurt

Unfortunately for you the tour has come to end and we drop you off at Frankfurt airport (or designated drop-off). Hope to see you soon!