Euro Worlds II 2019 – European Vacation

[Shadow 14]

If you want to book for the European Vacation tour, please check here:
/viewt ... 25&t=72150

More and more people are asking about next year’s World Championships in Europe, and i fit is possible to combine this with a vacation. The answer is “yes” and every-ones favorite Euro Emperor would take a week vacation and organize a tour, if that is something of interest for you. Let me walk you through some ideas.

Euro Worlds II in Bochum

Tentative Date: 20-22nd September 2019 (Friday – Sunday)

This means team tourney on Friday evening, main event Saturday and Top 8 on Sunday.

Very good connections to the following cities:
Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Wuppertal, Cologne, Bonn, Duisburg
If you can find a flight to any of these airports for Thursday (or Friday), then you could book these.
They all have bus/train connections to Bochum for cheap money and relative good time (few hours max.).

Okay connections to the following cities:
Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Hannover and cities with similar distance.
It takes you about 3 hours for max. 50 Euro to get from there to Bochum. We also usually have players in these cities who can take some people to the tournament location.

Travelling with Families:
Ok, let’s admit it: Bochum sucks! (Sorry, Angelo!) Well, they have a decent “Mining Museum” close to the tourney location and hotel. That’s good for half a day or so.
The cities Cologne and Düsseldorf are both easy to reach by train and have beautiful sightseeing and shopping opportunities to offer. I intentionally did not include them in the following travel plan, so that your families can see something nice, while you guys see the only thing that matters: Star Wars cards all day and happy families in the evening.

Oktoberfest in Munich

Date: 21st September – 6th October 2019

Official Website (only German for now): http://www.oktoberfest2019.com/
FAQs Website (for 2018!): https://www.oktoberfest.de/en/

The Oktoberfest actually starts in September and goes to early October. The idea is to hold Worlds before it, so that the weather is still decent. Plus, we can fight each other on the battlefield first, and then enjoy a vacation together. I believe it’s more relaxed that way around.


One Week Vacation Plan Suggestion

Date: 23-29th September 2019 (Monday – Friday)

Most players who contacted me wanted to go to Oktoberfest, while in Germany. Some said they wanted to bring their families or spouses, and that’s pretty much all I had to work with. So, the following suggestion is my suggestion of what nice things are to see around and between Bochum – Munich. This is my no means something you have to do. In the end it’s totally up to you guys! If you guys want to scrap Munich and do a trip to Berlin and want me to organize that, then I’m totally up for that.

The route I suggested is taking you through 4 countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, France and Germany) and has some very beautiful landscapes on the way (Mosel river, castles, nice old towns and of course Oktoberfest).

Suggested Route – Google Maps:
https://goo.gl/maps/979tHXsp3V42


Suggested Route – Day by Day:

Monday: Brussels
Leaving the Monday after worlds in a 3 hour drive to Brussels, where you get to see the European parliament, the Atomium (big impressive statue from an old Expo in Brussels) and the city itself.
Continue driving in the evening to stop shortly before Luxembourg.

Tuesday: Luxembourg, Strasbourg and Freiburg
Taking half a day to see small, but beautiful country Luxembourg, and then keep driving through France to arrive in the afternoon in Strasbourg with its famous cathedral. In the evening we could arrive in Freiburg, which has a beautiful old town.

Wednesday: Castle Neuschwanstein
One of the most famous sightseeing spots in Germany is Castle Neuschwanstein, which is located in the middle of the Black Forest (good for cake, bad for witches). To actually being able to enter the castle one has to arrive super early and even then might only get tickets for the afternoon. That makes it a full day trip. Tickets are around 17 Euro.

Thursday: Munich and Oktoberfest
It depends a bit on the group we will have. Either we spend half the day in Munich to explore the city and go to Oktoberfest in the evening, or we can already start around noon (and probably not do much else in the evening). I would try to get tickets for the big tents (you can actually sit there for a few hours), but these have to be booked in early 2019. The table reservation is pretty expansive. I would have to dig deeper, but so far I have seen 200+ Euro per seat at a table. Alternately, we can just visit the Oktoberfest and drink outside, and look for a “cheaper” no-name variant in some nearby village. Same fun, but cheaper. Again, I would handle this according to group preferences.

Friday: Munich to Stuttgart to Frankfurt
We would basically go from “near Munich” to “near Frankfurt that day. Taking a few hour break in Stuttgart, which was almost destroyed in Avengers I by Loki. Palace garden, Opera house and Mercedes Benz museum are some possible sightseeing stops. Staying close to Frankfurt would give some of you the option to “return to the US” from there. Either by train to wherever you landed (it should take 2-5 hours by train to any of the cities mentioned above) or flying back directly from Frankfurt. This is a little back-up plan, if some-one has to be back before Monday.

Saturday: Mosel River with Lorelei Rock and Koblenz
This is one of the most beautiful areas of Germany. I would try to get a mini trip on the river for that day. Maybe we could drive till Cologne in the evening to enjoy the old town there.

Sunday: Return to Bochum
Early return to Bochum to allow you guys to catch your planes. Maybe we could actually drop you off at the nearby airports.


Suggested Route – Transportation:
The idea is to actually charter a bus with driver that takes us to all these (or any other) spots within one week. Going by train or multiple cars can be cheaper, but you normally spend 30% of the time coordinating stuff, travelling with all your luggage to hotels, parking, etc. If we can get 20 or so people together, then I’d definitely try to get us a bus. I did something similar in the US recently and you can just see much more in the same amount of time. Any Europeans are of course also welcome to take a trip with our US Star Wars buddies. The cost for the complete transportation for 1 week would be approx. 250-350 Euro per person.


Suggested Route – Hotels:
I would probably try to get 2 classes of hotels for the trip.
The first: “As cheap as possible”. Hostels, multiple people per room, etc.
The second: “I bring my wife, so you better not book me in a super crappy hostel, Menzel!”. So, I’d try to get some “normal” hotels for around 80 Euro per double room or so.
Please note that it’s often not allowed to share rooms with 4 people or so, like we do in the US.
Anyway, I’d also try to get us some apartments, if they are reasonably priced.


Price Update 6th March 2019

I got some detailed prices for the tour now.

The (maximum) cost per person should be as follows:

Hotels: 360 €

Entry Fees: 160 €

Transport: 250 €

Total for 7 days: 770 €

That includes basically everything except for food/drinks, and whatever you want to do on your own.
Hotel, bus, Oktoberfest, Neuschwanstein, River ride, etc. is in there.


That would be the price, if I booked all this today. I am now trying to get the cost down a bit.
Getting more people for the tour. Checking for alternate hotel options, etc.

I will have to book some of the things soon, especially Oktoberfest tickets, so I need some kind of feedback and commitment soonish.

Any-one interested in joining us, or still thinking about flying to Germany... talk to me!

[arebelspy]

I would have so much fun doing some traveling with star wars friends for a bit after worlds! Add me to the very interested list. :D

(As for your questions, probably 2 adults 2 kids.. we're super flexible, so anything on the rest is good with us.)

[Shadow 14]

Awesome! A start has been made!

[The Honky Tonk Man]

I'm real excited for you guys. Good luck with everything!

[Shadow 14]

No real interest so far, though.

I was kinda expecting a few people to say they are trying to make it.

[quickdraw3457]

I am 100% committed to going, probably with my wife, but we are probably going to tie it in with a vacation of our own to see other friends in Germany.

[spideyguy0]

I'm trying to make it, but it's a bit too early to plan right now. I'm still trying to plan my vacation days for September-October of 2018. I don't realistically expect to start planning this until next spring at the earliest.

[WiseMarsellus]

i would really like to go also. but yeah no way i'll be able to plan that far in advance

[gogolen]

Eating PB & J for lunch for the next year to try to make this event, but probably will not be doing the group tour.

If we go the mrs really wants to spend a few days in paris.

[Kessling]

I fully expect to be there but can't commit to if Jen will join me again and what our pre/post travel plans will be.

[JimmyFrench]

Eating PB & J for lunch for the next year to try to make this event, but probably will not be doing the group tour.

If we go the mrs really wants to spend a few days in paris.

You are more than welcome Chris. In that case, crash in Paris and we will go till Bochum together and I will bring U back.

I can also have a look for U for accommodation and prepare a short trip in Paris for U & Mrs.

Jimmy

[gogolen]

Eating PB & J for lunch for the next year to try to make this event, but probably will not be doing the group tour.

If we go the mrs really wants to spend a few days in paris.

You are more than welcome Chris. In that case, crash in Paris and we will go till Bochum together and I will bring U back.

I can also have a look for U for accommodation and prepare a short trip in Paris for U & Mrs.

Jimmy

Appreciate the offer, will let you know in about 6 months - she is going to be changing careers soon so have to wait and see how that all works out first.

[Shadow 14]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I assumed that people were holding back, because it's still early, but it's good to know that there is some interest.

From what I can see most of you are planning trips to sepearate European regions yourselves, which is of course also fine. Local players are also very helpful and friendly, as you can see with Jimmy, so don't be afraid to ask.

[SolaGratia]

Thanks for posting/organizing and in general all you do Chris!!!

I am exploring options to possibly attend the event but I'd probably be doubling a family trip to England so wouldn't be able to take advantage of what you are organizing here.

[quickdraw3457]

Was just talking to my wife about this and I am only now realizing this is in September, not August. I'm still all in, but my wife is a teacher and can't go. How set in stone is the September range? Is August still possible?

I still am probably just going to visit friends in northern Germany during my extra stay but just wondering for planning purposes.

[Shadow 14]

The date is pretty much set in stone.
Flights are twice as much in August, that was the main reason for not doing it then.

[quickdraw3457]

The date is pretty much set in stone.
Flights are twice as much in August, that was the main reason for not doing it then.

Sounds good to me -- hopefully I can save enough money on the flight to afford the vacation my wife wants next year too

[DDM]

I'd like to add that for people (max a couple) who want to go sightseeing Italy, me and my partner are more than willing to host you guys (or husband/wife) to our flat in Italy (Milano).
We do this quite often, for friends abroad (and they all loved it), and this will mean 2-3 days of great sightseeing and (especially) eating. And if you want to stay more and go also around Milano (Florence for example, or Venice) it's not far at all, and our house will always be a place to stay.

Then, we would all travel by car to Bochum (and go back, unless you have other plans).

Oh, and since me and my partner all speak English, and watch english movies / series on our videoprojector, there is this too in case

[arebelspy]

I can vouch for DDM and his significant other being awesome and such giving hosts! My wife and I spent a few days there in late 2015 and still talk about how nice it was and how generous they were.

Also DELICIOUS pizza in Milan. Super thick cheese pizza.

Picture of it here: http://www.adventuringalong.com/2015/12 ... b-croatia/

[shawnd1984]

I can vouch for DDM and his significant other being awesome and such giving hosts! My wife and I spent a few days there in late 2015 and still talk about how nice it was and how generous they were.

Also DELICIOUS pizza in Milan. Super thick cheese pizza.

Picture of it here: http://www.adventuringalong.com/2015/12 ... b-croatia/

My wife is obsessed with travel blogs so expect some more web traffic tonight.