On September 30 Ashley and I set out for the airport to do something we had talked about doing for a while, we showed up to the airport without a destination!
I am fortunate to have the ability to fly standby with my job. Standby is a way for us to get discounted tickets if an airplane has empty seats. This typically can lead to some stressful travel situations if you miss a flight you were hoping to make, but Ashley and I decided to turn it into an adventure. Instead of planning a trip for a specific destination, we decided we would just get on the first European flight that had two open seats. So we packed our bags (not knowing what weather or environment we would end up in) and headed to the airport!
Our adventure started at the Blue Grass Airport in Lexington which is the most convenient for us. We were hoping to catch the afternoon Delta flight from Lexington to Atlanta but unfortunately the flight ended up being completely full. After looking at our other options that night, we decided to hop back in the car and drive to the Cincinnati airport that had a United flight showing empty seats. Luckily once we made it to Cincinnati we were able to get on a brand new (less than 1 month old) Boeing 737 and took off for Chicago.
We landed in Chicago a little after 6pm and started looking at our Europe flight options. The next flight departing Chicago to Europe was bound for Barcelona but we arrived at the gate just as they completed boarding. The next option we had was a flight to Munich that was scheduled to depart just after 9PM. We booked our standby tickets and grabbed a quick bite to eat while we waited to see if there would be space for us on the flight.
After enjoying some wings, we headed to the gate to check in for the flight. We were surprised to find the gate agents went ahead and assigned us seats. We were headed to Germany!
While waiting to board the plane, we started planning our visit to Munich. We wanted to get a hotel booked before we took off but were surprised when we saw the prices, then we realized we were heading to Munich during Oktoberfest. We decided to hold off on booking to see if there would be free in-flight Wi-Fi that would allow us to plan at 30k feet but the Wi-Fi ended up being $20 a device so we just enjoyed the flight.
After an 8 hour and 30 minute flight we touched down in Munich, Germany. Fortunately we had been saving up our Hilton points and were able to book 3 nights at the Hilton Garden Inn – Munich City Centre West while in the airport terminal.
After speaking with a help desk, we downloaded the Deutsche Bahn app to purchase train tickets to travel to our hotel. It was a 58 minute train ride from the airport to our hotel.
We arrived at the hotel just before our check-in time. Once our room was ready we decided to take a quick nap before heading out to explore the city.
After resting up a bit we ventured out to explore Marienplatz which has been the center of Munich since the city was founded in 1158. The focal point of the town square is the New Town Hall which features a Glockenspiel that consists of bells and figures that dance and chime at specific times throughout the day.
We also spent some time exploring the side streets and admiring the old buildings and architecture. We grabbed a quick dinner at Ruff’s Burger before heading back to the hotel to plan our next day and get some rest.
Since we ended up in Munich during Oktoberfest, we decided to wake up early and visit the festival when it opened to avoid some of the crowds. There isn’t any charge to enter.
On the way to Oktoberfest we stopped at an ATM as most vendors are cash only. We arrived just before they opened the gates, so we got in line and were able to be one of the first to enter once the party started.
Many people arrive early to claim tables in the massive beer tents for their friends who will arrive later in the day. Fortunately, arriving early allowed us to walk in and out several tents to check out how they work. Even though we arrived at 9AM, beer was already being served in the 1-liter steins which is the only size option!
We spent a few hours walking around the festival grounds. There are lots of food options as well as rides similar to fairs and carnivals in the US. Before leaving we made sure to sample a bratwurst and pretzel!
We then explored the English Gardens which is a 910 acre park in the middle of Munich. This is one of the largest parks in the world, larger even than Central Park in New York City. The park is known for the waves of the Eisbach river at the entrance of the garden that creates a location for river surfing. It was really neat to watch people take turns having a go at riding the wave before falling into the water and floating down the river.
After exploring the area around the English Gardens, we got back on the train and headed north-west towards the Am Riesnfeld district to visit BMW and the Olympic Park.
We started by visiting the BMW campus that includes the BMW Factory, BMW Welt, and BMW Museum. We started by visiting the BMW Museum which displays a variety of cars, engines, and motorcycles from over 100 years of BMW design. It would be easy for any car enthusiast to spend a full day exploring the museum alone!
Across the street is BMW Welt which is housed in a large building with a modern design. This building showcases more modern BMW vehicles and also serves as a delivery location for those wanting to pick up their automobile at the factory.
The BMW campus is situated across from the Olympiapark where the 1972 Summer Olympics were held.
Ashley and I grabbed a quick dinner from a food truck and ended up warming up by taking a break inside the pool building that is now open to the public to use.
After a long day of exploring we decided to head back to the hotel. We ended up booking a day trip from Munich to Salzburg, Austria for the following day. You can check out our visit to Austria HERE.
We started our last full day in Germany by picking up a rental car at the Munich airport and making a 3 hour drive to the town of Fussen. Fussen is a small city in the countryside of Germany, located less than a mile from the Austrian border, and is well known for its proximity to the Neuschwanstein castle.
Once arriving in Fussen we checked into Hotel Sonne. This turned out to be a great find as it was situated right in the middle of the town and was very nice for the price! After dropping off our bags we headed to visit the castle.
Neuschwanstein Castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II and construction began in 1869. Ludwig lived in the castle until his death in 1886 and then the doors were opened to the public. More than 1.3 million people visit the castle annually and it served as the inspiration for Walt Disney’s design of Disneyland’s Sleeping Beauty Castle.
To get a better view of the castle we hiked the Neuschwanstein Loop trail to the Marienbrucke bridge. This location offers a great vantage point of the castle and we had to wait in a line before we could cross it. The capacity was limited to 200 people at a time and while there was an attendant there monitoring traffic, they also had a fancy screen that was tracking the in and out traffic.
The view was worth the wait, especially with the fall foliage. The hike down also offered some spectacular views of the Alps.
We spent the afternoon exploring the town of Fussen. We really enjoyed wandering the old streets and checking out the local shops. We ended our day with dinner at the hotel and tried a Schneeball pastry from a local shop for dessert.
We had to leave the hotel around 7:30AM the next day to make it back to Munich in time to catch our flight out. We made sure to sign the parking garage wall before leaving!
Luckily we made it on the first flight out of Munich on a United flight to Chicago. This was our first flight on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner and we really enjoyed the dimmable windows as we tried to catch some sleep.
After landing in Chicago we tried to hurry to catch the 2:50 PM flight from Chicago to Cincinnati but due to landing in the international terminal, we had a VERY long walk to customs. We had our Mobile Passport Control (MPC) ready to hopefully allow us to quickly get through customs but we were told that they had just stopped utilizing MPC at Chicago O’Hare the day before. At this point we accepted we wouldn’t make the next flight out and we planned to catch the next flight that left at 5:56 PM.
After a full day of travel we touched down at the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky airport just after 8 PM.
Final Notes
This turned out to be a really fun trip. Not knowing where we would end up added some additional excitement and Germany turned out to be a great destination. We look forward to taking another spontaneous trip to somewhere unknown again in the future!
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