Escape Plan to Munich December 2011

A brief summary on the itinerary

Escape Plan to Munich 2011:

Total duration 4D3N
Singapore is 6hrs ahead of Munich.
Flight time is 12hrs on Lufthansa from Singapore to Munich.

Morning flight is on Lufthansa on 17th December at 11.59pm and arrival in Munich at 6:05am.
Return flight is on Lufthansa on the 20th December at 7:05pm and arrival in Frankfurt at 8:15pm and  transfer to 10:05pm flight and arrival at 4:55pm in Singapore on the 21st December.

Day 1 – Arrival at Munich, Erding, Neuschwanstein Castle and Hofbrauhaus
Day 2 – Xmas markets in Munich and dinner with the awesome folks of Erdinger
Day 3 – Erdinger factory tour, Erding Xmas market and Home Sweet home

This escape plan was a free trip that I won over a Facebook contest jointly held by Erdinger and Lufthansa. A trip to Erding a couple of days before Xmas to get the Xmasy feel with snow and a drive to Munich and Neuschwanstein was a perfect end to a great year of escapes.

Budget nature: Affordable in this particular escape.

With the tickets and accommodation already taken care of, its just some of the beers that we would need to pay for.

Complexity: Easy to get around with public transportation and driving on the Autobahn.

It was very simple to get from Erding to Munich using the train and driving on the Autobahn even during snow was not difficult, though it was a first. Of course, we had free transfer to and from the airport.

Manchester 2011 Day 14 – Day trip to Manchester for a Manchester United soccer match

Athens 2011 Day 13 – Explore the ruins in Athens

A little market we walked past as we began the day.

A short distance walk we arrived at the Ancient Agora.

Then we walked to another area where the Temple of Olympian Zeus was.

Then we continued to walk taking Lisikratous street towards the Roman Forum

Later we decided to travel to Kerameikos

That marks the end of the Athens exploration

Kalambaka 2011 Day 12 – 2nd round of visit to the monasteries before heading back to Athens

The weather was much better on the 2nd day of Kalambaka. We were out on our own and so we rented a scooter to go around.
View en-route to Varlaam Monastery.
This was the entrance to the last of the 6 monasteries, Varlaam Monastery.
Another panorama from the main building, a view of Roussanou Monastery.

Kalambaka 2011 Day 11 – From Athens to Kalambaka, visit the monasteries

But the view was amazing
We booked a tour guide to visit the temples. This is a view of the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron while we were on our way to our first temple.
A panorama of the 3 monasteries in Meteora Valley

The monasteries were not opened everyday but with a schedule. For this day, we were going to 3 of them which was opened. First one was to Holy Trinity Monastery.

And another one. We could get onto that flat rock at the foreground for an epic shot!

After visiting 3 monasteries, there weren’t any more time left as the rest have closed. The tour guide then brought us to the City Center where we bade farewell. We then went to get some dinner.

Delphi 2011 Day 10 – Day trip to Delphi

On this day, we were visiting Delphi on day trip but public transport. Setting off from the Omonia Station on M1 to the Aghios Nikolaos just 3 stations north. From there, we walked towards the bus station with the traditional map in hand. We hit the Liosion main road, turn right, walked until we see the Liossion Service stop and turn right onto Gousiou road and arrived at the KTEL station.

Delphi site was located before the town so we backtracked until we see the Archaeological museum of Delphi which we paid a visit first.

Athens 2011 Day 9 – Return to Athens and explore Athens

Panoramic sunrise at Oia

The rest of the evening was probably spent at dinner and back at hotel resting for an early day out to Delphi.

Santorini 2011 Day 8 – Oia in Santorini

A panoramic view from Thira on our 2nd day in Santorini

Then we returned to the hotel to move to another one in the beautiful town of Oia.

Panoramic view from the balcony
Panoramic view of the houses
A panoramic sunset

Santorini 2011 Day 7 – Roam around Santorini and visit Fira

Mykonos 2011 Day 6 – Delos and ferry to Santorini

We were supposed to leave for Santorini on the Flying Cat 4 of the Hellenic Seaways that got cancelled. So we went back to Athens first before boarding the next available ferry to Santorini the next morning.