By Car, Train, or Bus to Bavaria’s Passion Play Town

Getting to Oberammergau at the Bavarian Alps in Germany is easy by car, train, or bus. Trains run to Munich while local buses go to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ettal.

photo credit: DanieVDM

Transportation to Oberammergau is easy both by car and by public transportation. Depending on the point of origin, trains, buses or a combination of trains and buses provide the easiest access to Oberammergau. Local trains and buses can be very cheap if the Bayern Ticket savings fare of the German Railways is used.

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Buying Tickets Only & Hotel Packages for Individuals for the Passionsspiele

Tickets only for the Passion Play (Passionsspiele) 2010 in Oberammergau in Bavaria, Germany and hotel package deals for individual travelers are now sold via DER Reisebüro.

Passion Play in Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany - Photo / Bild: Oberammergau Tourismus

Buying tickets for the Passion Play (Passionsspiele) 2010 in Oberammergau in Germany is surprisingly complicated. The easiest way to see the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2010 is to book a tour of Germany or Europe that include the Passionsspiele in its itinerary. However, group tours are not for everyone and individuals can also buy Passion Play tickets in combination with hotel reservations through DER Reisebüro in Oberammergau. It is also possible to buy tickets for the Passion Play performance only and make own hotel and transport arrangements but the number of tickets are limited and the Passion Play ticket reservation process somewhat complicated.

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Large Special Collection of Impressionist Paintings in the Kunstmuseum, Switzerland

Vincent van Gogh’s Landscapes Paintings Special Exhibition in the Kunstmuseum, Basel will be one of the greatest temporary art gallery shows in Europe 2009.

Blumenbeete in Holland, Vincent van Gogh April 1883, © National Gallery of Art Washington

The Vincent van Gogh – Between Earth and Heaven: the Landscapes will be one of the best temporary art collections in Europe in 2009. The Kunstmuseum Basel (Art Museum) will host the Vincent van Gogh – Zwischen Erde und Himmel: Die Landschaften exhibition from April 26 to September 27, 2009. On display will be 70 Vincent van Gogh landscape paintings as well as more landscape paintings by Van Gogh’s contemporaries including French Impressionist and Fauvist painters.

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Aschaffenburg, Schloss Mespelbrunn, Miltenberg, Amorbach, Wertheim

Top sights in the Bavarian Spessart-Main-Odenwald Region include Aschaffenburg, Schloss Mespelbrunn, Miltenberg, Amorbach, and Wertheim.

The German Spessart-Main-Odenwald region is in the far northwest of Bavaria and borders similarly named areas in the state of Hessen. In contrast to most other parts of Franken (Franconia) that have traditionally been governed by the bishops of Würzburg and Bamberg, most of this area was under the control of the very powerful archbishop of Mainz. He used much of the Spessart as his private hunting ground and as a result, the area has been sparsely populated.

Even today, the area has a relatively low population density despite its central location close to the geographical center of Germany. The only large town in the area is Aschaffenburg (70,000 inhabitants).

Two hundred years after the Spessart became Bavarian during the Napoleonic wars, the local accent is still more Hessian than Bavarian. It should not be too surprising, as Aschaffenburg is only half an hour’s drive from Frankfurt am Main and many locals commute daily to work in the Main metropolis.

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Sleeping and Eating in Aschaffenburg, Miltenberg, Amorbach, and Wertheim

Hotels and restaurants in Spessart towns such as Aschaffenburg, Miltenberg, Amorbach, and Wertheim are reasonably priced and cheaper than more popular German vacation and business centers.

Hotels in the Spessart-Main-Odenwald region are pleasantly cheap compared to more popular vacation regions in Bavaria. Most visitors speed through to larger centers such as Frankfurt am Main and Würzburg even though local hotels offer good value for money. Restaurants are plentiful to cater for the high number of day visitors from larger cities touring the area especially over weekends.

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Walking, Hiking, Cycling, Parachuting, Boating, and Wine Festivals

The lovely nature of the Spessart encourages outdoor activities such as hiking, cycling, parachuting, and boating to balance cultural sightseeing and wine sampling.

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Historic Old Town, Castle Ruins, and Factory Shops at the Main and Tauber Rivers

Wertheim’s historic old town with romantic castle ruins towering over the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers mixes comfortably with cheap factory outlet shopping malls nearby.

photo credit: *kaetzchen

Wertheim’s medieval old town core with traditional half-timbered houses and church spires is on a narrow triangle of land between the confluence of the Main and Tauber Rivers. Wertheim’s castle ruins look down on the old town to complete Wertheim’s romantic panorama. Wertheim Village Outlet Shopping Mall is a premier destination in Germany for cheap discount brand-name fashion factory shops.

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A Medieval Town along the Main River in Bavaria, Germany

Miltenberg along the Main River has some of the best half-timbered buildings – many now hotels, shops, and restaurants – in Bavaria, Germany.

Miltenberg is a wonderfully beautiful little town that never suffered major war damage or town fires. Despite its lovely setting along a curve in the Main River, the main attractions are the wonderful half-timbered houses along its Haupstraße (Main Street) and the Mildenburg Castle ruins that towers over the old town. The half-timbered buildings of the Marktplatz (Market Square) form one of the most romantic settings in Germany.

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See the Benedikinerabteikirche St Maria (Benedictine Abbey Church)

Baroque churches, the Templer half-timbered house, and the Mutter Museums with teapots and the Sammlung Berger are the main attractions of Amorbach in Bavaria.

Amorbach in the Bavarian Spessart is famous for its marvelous Baroque churches and the odd Mutter Museum with its eclectic collection of teapots, modern art (Berger Collection), and coffins. The interior of the former Benedikinerabteikirche St Maria (Benedictine Abbey Church) is a Rococo masterpiece and the Stumm organ is the largest Baroque organ in existence. The Templarhaus is the oldest half-timbered house in Bavaria.

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An Easy Day Trip from Frankfurt am Main to a Jewel in the Spessart

Schloss Mespelbrunn in the Bavarian Spessart is an impossibly romantic castle surrounded by a wet moat. It is a popular day trip from Frankfurt am Main and easily reached by car.

Schloss Mespelbrunn is a true jewel in the heart of the Spessart. It is a Wasserschloss – a castle surrounded by a water-filled moat. Due to its hidden location in a quiet valley, it has never suffered any war damage. It is small but its location is impossibly romantic making it a great day-trip destination or a brief stop for drivers traveling along the Autobahn A3 between Frankfurt and Würzburg.

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