Honeymoon in Germany

If you are traveling south to Munich, I would suggest stopping to visit Bamberg along the way. It is historically well-preserved, it's very easy to get around (we have never brought a car when visiting), and has plenty of great food to offer. Also, you won't have to walk far to visit a wide variety of breweries, as I believe the city still has around 10 breweries in operation. Not to mention, it is the home of Rauchbier, a very distinctive style.

Prepare for some cold weather, though. My wife and I took a trip to Germany for our honeymoon last year at the very beginning of March, and some of the days were quite cold for walking. Either way, it is still well worth the trip.

 

If you're hitting up Weihenstephan (Freising), you're already in the Munich metro area. There are plenty of great stops in and around Munich that are just as good if not arguably even better.
I'd start with Kloster Andechs, which is in Herrsching. That's accessible via the normal Munich S-Bahn and is only about an hour away.
In Munich proper, you owe it to yourself to hit up the Augustiner Keller and the Hofbrauhaus if you've never been before.
Aying is another easy trip to make and you're likely familiar with their beers, too. They're also straight off the S-Bahn.
A side trip worth making is Forshungsbrauerei, a small brewery (again) off the S-Bahn with a year-round blonde bock and hoppy export. It's off of Perlach and is a good back-to-back stop before or after Aying.

 

Hey there... Yes, I did suggest the trip. We will not be near Munich. The plan is to fly into Hannover and visit places within 1.5 hours one way travel. Though I think Munich would be great I would like to explore more North. We might fly to Oslo for the last few days of our honeymoon. Thanks ahead for any help.

 

PS - I recommended visiting Warsteiner not Weihenstephaner.

 

If you want to splurge, go to Amberg (NNE of München, a bit ESE of Nürnberg). There you'll find the "wedding house": http://www.ehehaeusl.de/index3.html

It's pricey, but way cool!! Amberg is a small, walled village which also has a number of small brewpubs. Been to Amberg a few times, though never stayed at the Ehe Häusl....

Prosit!!

 

Amberg is an independent city of some 45000 people... Not what any local would consider a village...

 

t's been a while since I've been here but I would highly recommend:

Kloster Kreuzberg a chaming location and a some wonderful beer!

http://www.kreuzbergbier.de/

http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=Kloster+Kreuzberg,Kloster+Kreuzberg,Bischofsheim%2FRh%C3%B6n,DE,976 53

 

That's like visiting Coors over Russian River !!!

 

Congrats on the nuptials! I see you have Marriage Communication down pat. Depending how flexible you are with the hour and a half travel thing, you could go to Berlin (1:40), and visit the Weihenstephaner Restaurant in the Hackesher Markt (marital compromise ftw!). Berlin is more of a Destination destination than a Beer destination, and you'll probably want more than one day, but one day is better than none. Exactly the opposite is Düsseldorf, which is a great Beer destination and not much of a Destination destination. That's between 2 and 3 hours each way by train, but truly a great time out in a great beer town.

 

Oi! I can buy Weihenstephaner at my local supermarket, but if I want a Warsteiner I have to go to Oktoberfest in Massachusetts. I guess you can call it a bit of nostalgia for us. And Warsteiner is in the correct region for our trip. If you have any recommendations for "gut bier" in Lower Saxony region or nearby please tell me.

Ooo, tell me more! I think we will be using Hannover as our base for the trip since going to Wolfsburg (1 hour) and Warstein (2 hours) for a day will not be too painful of a drive. Berlin and Düsseldorf (3 hours) are almost the same drive time away.

 

Bah!! I'm using American standards!!! We think BIG!!! Amberg is a village!!! Or, would "town" suffice?


;-)


Prosit!!!

 

Lower Saxony is not an area I have travelled in extensively, 3 or 4 times largely passing through.

Goslar is well worth a stop, lovely historic town - UNESCO from memory

Popped in here a couple of times - excellent Gose

http://www.brauhaus-goslar.de/

Other than that I've been to a few brauhauses in Bremen and Hannover

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6652/?view=beerfly

in Bremen - actually got round to reviewing this one!

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/3339

In the case of both - decent but nothing to set the world alight, bog standard offerings from 'start up' (in German terms I mean last 20 years or so) breweries

If you are heading to the Harz mountains, Heine Brau in Halberstadt is another one in this area I have visited. Pretty much as per the previous.

At the other end of the Harz try Ludde in Quedlinburg, again a review by yours truly

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/6675/?view=beerfly

This place had far more character and better beers than the Bremen/Hannover/Halberstadt offerings above

Enjoy wherever you land up - especially your Coors tour

 

radiantdesigner & wiresiren: Herzlichen Glückwunsch zu Ihrer Verlobung!

My wife is from the Weserbergland, just south of Hameln. Traveled over for a December/January trip in the past, future trip will be #6 for me. Always for no less than 2 weeks, preferred 3 weeks. Anyhow, beer touring in Niedersachsen is farther-in-between than in other areas of Germany, but can be done with some planning. I take it that your visit to Wolfsburg is based on seeing the The Autostadt. They are pretty impressive & plan to put in a total of 4 on the location. Have not seen it yet, on the list...

Here is a listing of all the active breweries in Niedersachsen:
http://www.brauerei-finder.de/brauerei.php?ID=5
As you can see there are about 50 spread over the entire region. Pretty rural... It ain't called the Breadbasket of Germany for nothin'.

Know that IF a brewery offers tours (some don't & my getting in was a "Privatführung"), they will be charging a fee, require a group, &/or a reservation. So know before you go.

Have toured:
~ Einbeck (good tour, nice folks)
~ Brauerei Allersheim GmbH (Privatführung)
~ Brauhaus Goslar (I would say go see to GO TO Goslar. If you can make it during their Christmas Market, it will be very memorable for that. However Brauhaus Goslar has a stand in the market where they offer a Gose based Glühbier that was very good. Brewer/ owner is not very personable, but the staff is very nice...)
~ Rupp Brau (family owned place, food & beer good/average. In a village just off the A2 in the middle of nowhere.)
~ Schaumburger Privat-Brauerei GmbH (Privatführung) (Good selection)
~ Hotel - Der Waldkater - »1. Rintelner Lokalitäten-Brauerei (avoid)

 

Over in Bremen, there are only 2 I can suggest:
~ Schüttinger Erste Bremer Gasthausbrauerei (more of a beer hall near the Marktplatz. Their tanks are actually out in the open in a closed off alleyway about 5 meters off the ground on steelwork & catwalk. My tour was a Privatführung with the brewmaster, who resides/ commutes daily by ICE from Hamburg. So if the weather was bad, he did not go to work...)
~ Borgfelder Landhaus Gasthaus Brauerei (no tour, just dinner reservations. One of the best "restaurant experiences" I have had in Europe where our server was excellent & prompt, the food outstanding & the list of beer sadly at "3" products: Helles, Dunkel, Seasonal. If in Bremen, go there...)

I can suggest a bunch of other stuff to do while over there (offline via beermail). If you are in Hannover, take the S5 to Bad Pyrmont & go to the http://www.hufeland-therme.de/

Die besten Wünsche für die Zukunft!

 

When in Rome... I live in a one brewery town of 2000 people. 45000 people (and 5 breweries) is definitely a city. Politically Amberg is a county level city which is the same rank as München or Nürnberg.

 

My wife is from Niedersachsen, and we lived in Lueneburg for a few years. It is a very picturesque town and worth a visit for that reason alone. However, it also has the Moravia Brewery which produces, IMO, one of the best Northern German pilsners. There's also this hidden gem, the Gasthausbrauerei Nolte: http://www.gasthausbrauerei-nolte.de/ All in all, about 1 hr or so from Hannover. Otherwise, as others have recommended, Goslar.

 

ICE (Inter City Express) or a Regio (Regional Line) are almost on the hour between Lueneburg & Hannover. Just be aware that if you take the ICE to stop in Wolfsburg, there is a slight chance that the Train Operator will miss the stop...
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20111003-37967.html