Monday 28 July 2008

Colorado Byways and Beer Tour-Itinerary


Please have a look at the itinerary for our new Colorado tours, we think it looks awesome, we hope you do as well!
Tours start and end in Denver and we meet up the night before tours in our hotel.

Day 1
Into the Rockies & Goldmining Country
Today we leave our hotel in Denver and drive south along the I25 with our first stop of the tour at the USAF Academy. We then go onto the Garden of the Gods where we can visit the open air museum as well as the Trading Post. We then have the option of driving up Pikes Peak or going onwards to Cripple Creek where we can have a look at the Mollie Kathleen Goldmine before checking into our hotel for the night. We have the evening to have a bite to eat and a look around this old gold mining town.
Overnight– Carr Manor, Cripple Creek

Day 2 Scenic Byway & the Royal Gorge
We head off straight along the Gold Belt Byway, a scenic 50km/30mile drive to Canon City where we will park up and catch the train up the Royal Gorge Route, a scenic round trip along the Royal Gorge, amazing! Lunch should also be aboard the train. We then have a one hour drive onto Salida where we overnight and get ourselves to the Amicas Brewpub for the evening. Overnight– Woodland Motel, Salida

Day 3 Great Sand Dunes & Southern Colorado
We hit the road early today to see the dunes of the Great Sand Dunes National Park, after which we travel through Colorado‘s border area with New Mexico stopping for lunch in Pagosa Springs at Pagosa Brewpub. A further hour‘s drive takes us to Durango and our overnight stop at one of Durango‘s most historical hotels. We then get out to a couple of Durango 4 breweries!
Overnight– General Palmer, Durango

Day 4 San Juan Skyway Byway & Gunnison County
Today we travel some of Colorado‘s most scenic country (and you thought it couldn‘t get better!) when we drive along the San Juan Skyway Scenic Byway and into Gunnison County and Crested Butte in the heart of the Rockies. Tonight we stay in Crested Butte at another historic hotel from the late 1800s. After checking in we can eat at the Crested Butte Brewery & Grill. Cheers.
Overnight– Forest Queen Hotel, Crested Butte

Day 5
West Elk Loop Byway & Ski Country
Another great drive takes us from along the West Elk Loop Byway and onwards through Glenwood Springs, Vail and onwards to Frisco, our stop for the night. Later we can go to Backcountry Brewery for some food and great mountain beer.
Overnight– Alpine Inn, Fisco

Day 6 Rocky Mountains National Park & Fort Collins Brewpubs
The amazing Rocky Mountains National Park scenic drive is followed by an evening out in Fort Collins, maybe hit the Coopersmith‘s Pub and Brewery and some of the other Fort Collins brew-pubs.
Overnight– Armstrong Hotel, Fort Collins

Day 7
Breweries, Beer and Brewpubs!
We start today with a look around one of Colorado‘s most eco-friendly breweries New Belgium Brewing. We then go onto Boulder where we have the rest of the afternoon to look around. See you later for some food and beer in Walnut Brewery, after which we can then have a brewpub walk around Boulder!
Overnight-Golden Buff Lodge, Boulder

Day 8
Coors Brewery & Buffalo Bill
Today starts with a tour of America‘s largest single plant brewery, Coors brewery followed by a visit to William Cody‘s Buffalo Bills Museum & Grave. We can have some lunch here and pretend we are Indains by admiring the view of the Great Plains from Lookout Mountain!
Unfortunately all good things come to and end and we finish the tour at our hotel in Denver. Hope you had a fantastic time!

Optional Extras
Extend tour by 1-day (9-day tour)
See Mesa Verde (west of Durango) and/or travel the Durango-Silveton Narrow Gauge Railway.
Day 9, Day 10
Denver Optional extra sightseeing & brewery tours in the Denver area. These are NOT part of the tour and will be priced as separate trips ‘outside the tour‘.

Cheers!

Colorado Mountains Scenic Byways and Beer Tour

This brand new Colorado Mountains Scenic Byways and Beer Tour combines Colorado's incredible scenery and cultural heritage along with its brewpubs and beer culture!
On this unique 8 day tour we take you on a 1000 mile clockwise loop of the Rocky Mountains, a truly epic backcountry tour starting and ending in Colorado‘s mile -high city, Denver.
Over the course of the 8 days we will visit a gold mine, travel along scenic byways and through National Parks, take a railway journey along a breathtaking gorge and last but not least, visit some of North America‘s finest breweries and brewpubs. Oh, and we also travel across North America‘s Continental Divide, twice! As with our European tours, we travel in small groups and where possible overnight at ‘Mom and Pop‘ hotels and motels, usually within walking distance from the evening‘s brewpub !

We see the real ‘unchained‘ Colorado!

Tuesday 22 July 2008

Great Belgium Beer Tour ™ (22-31 May 2009) Itinerary

Great Belgium Beer Tour ™
GBBT-090522
Please see the full Example Itinerary.
Contact us for the password.

Cheers,
Andy
Bier-Mania!

Sunday 20 July 2008

Oktoberfest Tours €350.00 (tours 4 and 5)!

The following Bier-Mania! Oktoberfest 2008 tours have now been reduced to only €350.00 per person for 3-day/2-night as these tours are now unsupported tours and are in Munich only.

Dates
Tour 4 MB-081001 Wednesday 01 - Friday 03 October
Tour 5 MB-081005 Saturday 04 - Monday 06 October

Tour Itinerary

These can be downloaded at Tour Itinerary

Outline Tour Itinerary

Day 1 (Saturdays & Wednesdays)
Munich Walkabout
Check into your hotel in Munich.
We can suggest Mikes Bike Tours or a whole host of other guide companies to see Munich, maybe you just want to look around on your own.
You could have an early lunch at Hofbräuhaus in the centre of Munich, a must-do place when in Munich, the atmosphere is electric, maybe after lunch you want to have a look around Munich on your own or even have a look around the Oktoberfest grounds, choice is yours.
Overnight-Munich

Day 2 (Sundays & Thursdays)
Oktoberfest, The Big Day!
Hopefully you haven't been out too late the night before as today is the big one! You can all go down to the Wies'n together or on your own to your reserved beer tent at Hacker Festzelt (confirmed) for 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock. We have reservations at your tables for around 4 hours, after that you're free to wander around the tents, have a power nap outside on the grass bank or have a look around Munich again. Maybe you just want to call it a day!
You should go to bed with those songs reverberating aroudn your head...'Country Roads.....'
Overnight-Munich

Day 3 (Mondays & Fridays)
Oktoberfest Bye bye!
Unfortunately for you, this is your last day in Munich unless you have decided to stay longer! The tour ends when you check out and tales of yesterdays exploits!
Hopefully see you on one of our guided tours next year!
Have a good journey home. Prost!

Included

  • 2 nights accommodation
  • 2 breakfasts
  • Two days in Munich
  • Oktoberfest beer-tent reservation (includes two litres beer and chicken)An truly awesome time!
  • Advice on Munich and Bavaria
  • Final Detailed Tour Itinerary

Cheers!
andy@bier-mania.com

Friday 18 July 2008

Thursday 17 July 2008

Oktoberfest 2008 Tour Itinerary (Tour 1-3)

Please see the following Outline Itinerary for tour 1,2 and 3 of this year's Oktoberfest tours for those of you who don't have the time to wade though our comprehensive Tour Itinerary!
Any queries then give us a shout, andy@bier-mania.com or phone us.

Enjoy!

Outline Tour Itinerary

Day 1 (Fridays & Tuesdays)
Pick-up, Neuschwanstein & the Alps
After we pick you up from Munich airport, we will then drive straight to Neuschwanstein Castle where we can have a look around, take some photos and have some lunch.
Suitably refreshed we then drive into Austria and along Lake Plansee on the 'back road' back into Germany, a beautifully scenic drive with mountains either side of the road!
Time permitting,w e should have a chance to visit the monastery at Ettal for a quick beer and looka round. Oberammerammergau is then just a 10 minute drive where we will check into our Gasthofs (guesthouses) located in the centre of the beautiful village.
We then all meet up (after some free time) for a traditional Bavarian meal washed down with some fresh, cool beer!
Should be a good night and time for everyone to get to know each other and talk about how many litres they can drink in Munich!
Overnight-Oberammergau

Day 2 (Saturdays & Wednesdays)
Munich Walkabout
Today we hit the road relatively early (don't worry, you ca have a nap in the van on the way) for the 1 hour drive to Munich where we will check in and get ourselves into Munich. Time permitting, we will have a guided walkabout, we'll show you some of the places you may miss if you were on your own, we also build a thirst for our lunchtime beer!
We will then have an early lunch at around midday in Hofbräuhaus in the centre of Munich, a must-do place when in Munich, the atmosphere is electric! After lunch you can either stay with us or go have a looka roudn Munich on your own or even have a look around the Oktoberfest grounds, choice is yours.
See you tomorrow!
Overnight-Munich

Day 3 (Sundays & Thursdays)
Oktoberfest, The Big Day!
Hopefully you haven't been out too late the night before as today is the big one! We will all go down to the Wies'n together and get to our reserved beer tent at Hacker Festzelt (confirmed) for 12 o'clock or 1 o'clock. We have reservations at our tables for around 4 hours, after that you're free to wander around the tents, have a power nap outside on the grass bank or have a look around Munich again. Maybe you just want to call it a day!
You should go to bed with those songs reverberating aroudn your head...'Country Roads.....'
See you in the morning!
Overnight-Munich

Day 4 (Mondays & Fridays)
Oktoberfest Bye bye!
Unfortunately for you, this is your last days in Munich unless you have decided to stay longer! The tour ends at breakfast over coffee and tales of yesterdays exploits!
See you all again next year!
Have a good journey home. Prost!

Andy
Bier-Mania!

Oktoberfest 2008 Tours Update

This year’s Bier-Mania! Oktoberfest Special tours will take you on an unforgettable experience of not only the Oktoberfest and Munich but we also travel into the Austrian and overnight in the charming village of Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps, see the REAL Bavaria. And in only 4 days!

Included
  • Transport/leader/driver
  • Three nights accommodation
  • Three breakfasts
  • Visit Neuschwanstein Castle
  • Austrian Alps scenic drive!
  • Visit Ettal monastery
  • Overnight in Oberammergau in the Bavarian Alps
  • One traditional Bavarian dinner
  • Munich walkabout!
  • Two days in Munich
  • Oktoberfest beer-tent reservation (includes two litres beer and chicken)An truly awesome time!
  • Pick-up/drop-off Munich
FEW PLACES NOW AVAILABLE

Dates

  1. MB-080919 Friday-Monday 19-22 September
  2. MB-080923 Tuesday-Friday 23-26 September
  3. MB-080926 Friday-Monday 26-29 September
  4. MB-080930 Tuesday-Friday 30 September-03 October
  5. MB-081003 Friday-Monday 03-06 October
See our Calendar for availability.

Price

€525.00 per person

Contact andy@bier-mania.com or evi@bier-mania.com or phone +49-(0)2157 810558 (Germany) to book your place on one of these unique tours.

Monday 14 July 2008

Annafest & Franconia Beer Tour

Annafest/Franconia and Bamberg Special™
Tour 1 SB-080726
Tour 2 SB-080802

PLACES STILL AVAILABLE

Dates

Tour 1
Saturday 26-Thursday 31 July 2008
Tour 2
Saturday 02-Thursday 07 August 2008

Pick-up/drop-off is Nuremberg Airport.

Itinerary

More info.

Highlights
  • Regensburg Altstadt on the Danube
  • OR
  • Zoigl beers, 15 pubs with over-night in the Oberpfalz, Bavaria TBC NEW.
  • Annafest 2008 & 23 Cellar 'bars'!
  • Forchheim's 4 breweries, and the beer-cellars of the Kellerwald !
  • Fränkische Schweiz and Pottenstein.
  • Maisels Steam Brewery Museum, Bayreuth.
  • Historic Bamberg (UNESCO World Heritage Centre).
  • Bamberg's Smoked Beers and 10 breweries.
  • And much much more.......
All enquiries and further details contact Andy by email andy@bier-mania.com or phone us here in Germany.
Cheers!

Monday 7 July 2008

Ardennes Special (04-06 July 2008) Tour Photos


Ardennes Special Beer Tour
AS-080704
Great tour, great weather, good time!
Thanks for those of you on the tour for coming along, good to see you all.

Tour Photos
The tour photos can be seen here.

Tour Summary
Friday 04 July

Chimay & Ardennes
Chimay Trappiste-France transit-L'Estaminet/Bouillon-La Vieille Ardenne/Bouillon
Overnight-Hotel de la Poste, Bouillon
Different Be
ers-around 10

Saturday 05 July
Orval, Ardennes & Belgium Beer Night
Orval Trappiste Abbey/Orval, L'Ange Gardien/Orval, Millevertus Brasserie, Houffalize, Achouffe Brasserie, La Petite Fontaine/Achouffe, Nounou's Cafe/Achouffe, Interpol Brasserie/La Vieille Forge, Belgium Beer Night!
Laugh of the day-Pol's 'Nose Cleaner'!
Different Beers-around 32!

Sunday 06 July
High Fens, Grain d'Orge
Scenic Ardennes drive, Haute Fagnes, Signal Botrange (700 metres), Grain d'Orge Brasserie, Eupen station.
Laugh of the day-Tay making friends with a sheep!
Different Beers-around 3

Bye bye!

See you all again soon.
Cheers,
Bier-Mania!

Wednesday 2 July 2008

New Bier-Mania! Website

At long last, our new website is now online.

See www.bier-mania.com

Cheers,
Andy