77. Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany: Insider Tips to Turn Your Trip Into a Luxury Travel Experience

You all know how much I love spin class, and today I’m chatting with one of my favorite instructors, Devan Schowe! She’s got an incredible trip to Germany planned, and I couldn’t resist diving into the details with her. If you’ve ever wondered how to craft the perfect mix of adrenaline-filled activities, scenic hikes, and local culture for your adventure, then you’ll definitely want to hear what Devan has planned. Plus, I’ll be sharing my expert tips to make it a VIP experience!

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This episode was produced by The Podcast Teacher.

Transcript

Michele:
Hello, jetsetters. I am so excited today because I have one of my favorite spin instructors. You guys have all heard me talk about how much I love my local spin studio, love cycling studio. And Devin Showy is actually one of the newest people on the instructor team, but she has found her jam. She is home, and we are so lucky to have her. And she has an amazing trip planned, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for all of you to listen in on how I would help her craft this amazing vacation. So, Devin, tell us what it is that you're doing next week.

Devan:
Yes. Absolutely. So thanks so much for having me. Next week, I will be going to Munich, Germany to go to Oktoberfest. So very excited about that. Yes.

Michele:
Yay. Okay. Now, in reality, Devin actually lived in Europe for a little while. But let's just pretend for a minute that she was my spin instructor. And after a very long 45 minutes, with the oxygen, you know, not forthcoming from my brain to my mouth, Devin just says, hey, Michelle. I'm thinking about going to Germany for Oktoberfest. This is kind of what our conversation would look like. So my first question, of course, would be, awesome.

Michele:
Do you know when Oktoberfest is? Or do you know how much time you wanna spend in Oktoberfest? And at the same time, I would wanna know other parts of Germany that you want to experience while you're there. Or are you primarily looking to be in Munich the whole time?

Devan:
Okay. So I think I would just wanna spend probably the weekend in Oktoberfest because while I've heard it's, like, the largest festival in the world It is. Super fun and, like, such a cool thing to say that you've experienced. I am actually not a big drinker. I feel like I love beer, but I'm actually not a big drinker anymore. So I think really 2 days would be my max for that type of festival. And then the rest of the time, I would just love to explore around Munich maybe for, like, 1 or 2 days, and then I've heard really good things about Berlin. And then the other thing I would love is to do very outdoorsy, adventurous things.

Devan:
So I know there's mountains, and so I would love to go on hikes. I would love to go to parks. I just I love adrenaline inducing things, anything that, like, keeps me active. So, yeah, those would probably be my top things and the food.

Michele:
Always the food. Okay. So you've given me lots of clues here that I want to hone in on. So one of them that I wanna ask you is when you travel, are you loyal to a particular type of hotel chain? Or do you like to experience anything and everything? It sounds like you're really into local experiences. So would you prefer something that's more of a local brand? Or are you like, anywhere I go, I just wanna find a Marriott type of person?

Devan:
No. I'm really not that way. I have stayed at every type of place. So, like, I used to do hostels when I was a bit younger.

Michele:
Well, didn't we all? But we've all outgrown that now.

Devan:
I definitely like my privacy now. So the main things I look for now are, like, proximity to really great spots in the city center. I'm a big walker, so I wanna be able to walk to a bunch of places and, yeah, just kind of, like, have the homey comforts as I travel.

Michele:
Very nice. And in Europe, one thing that we always like to ask is how sensitive to smoke are you? Because unlike in the US, not all hotels are all smoke free. For people like me with allergies, who are like, I have to be in a completely smoke free place, what is that like for you?

Devan:
Yeah. That would be the same for me. I'm a very sensitive sleeper, very light sleeper, so I think that would also be an important thing for me to consider.

Michele:
Great. Now you also said the food. Are you familiar with German kinds of foods? And do you have some favorites that I should be on the lookout for?

Devan:
Yeah. I think maybe most famous ones I'm familiar with. So kind of like the brats and, like, sauerkraut, of course, the beer, and any kind of, like, pastry situation, I would be really excited about.

Michele:
Bavarian pastry. Very good. I do have to put a plug in for schnitzel. German schnitzel is, I think, maybe my favorite entree anywhere. I love German schnitzel. Okay. So we know Oktoberfest is a big thing, and there's definitely lots of pubs that are gonna be out in the sunny center that we can get you to. But you also mentioned some of the other sites like Berlin.

Michele:
So Berlin is actually one of the most unique cities in the world. It's got a lot of history to it, as does Munich. How interested in history are you? Or are you more interested in the adrenaline inducing experiences?

Devan:
I would say maybe, like, 70% adrenaline, pretty sights, and then 30% history because I do think anywhere you go, learning the history is really an important part to really, like, getting the full experience of the place. So I would definitely be interested in some tours that maybe like a walking tour that could give me the history and then also some museums. So just based on the area, I think learning about, like, World War 2 would be really important. So those would definitely be things I'd be interested in.

Michele:
There is a great walking tour that I did in Munich. I've also done the Jewish history tour in Berlin. But in Munich, we did a walking tour that wasn't Jewish history. It was actually World War 2 history. Munich walking tour was a half day. I don't know if it would go with a trip to Oktoberfest necessarily because it's depressing to literally walk by where the ghosts of Nazis are. But it does exist, and it is very historical. I mean, the whole country is very historical.

Michele:
Getting out of both of those city centers, though, there's amazing castles, and there are some adrenaline inducing activities like ziplining and things like that. So when you say you like adrenaline activities, is that what you're talking about? That you, like, love to zipline kind of thing?

Devan:
Yeah. I honestly, there's very few things that I would, like, say no to unless it felt, like, genuinely unsafe. Yeah. I actually also funny enough that we started the conversation with how we met, which is at Love Cycling Studio. Because one of the things I also had on my list was to see if I could find a cycle studio there because I think it'd be amazing to take a cycle class in German if they would do that. Wow. So do you have anything really that keeps me active and is, like, exciting and new? Just anything that falls under that umbrella.

Michele:
Well, of course, you're a fitness instructor, so we know you love hikes. And there are, of course, beautiful places to hike in the German countryside. So we know the weekend, you do definitely wanna do Oktoberfest. But you told me a week. So does that week mean you're traveling and then you have 4 days and then traveling, or do you have a whole week to spend in Germany?

Devan:
Yeah. I pretty much have, like, 5 full days in Germany. So I will fly starting on this Sunday, actually, and then I get there Monday morning. And then I'm basically there until the following Monday.

Michele:
Lots of time. We would definitely wanna be looking at getting you, like, a Eurail pass or a German train pass so that you can get from city to city without having to run a car or do anything like that. I love European trains. And who are you going with? That's another great question. Like, anyone else who might not be as into adrenaline things that we would have to find other activities for?

Devan:
Yeah. It's funny that you say that. My boyfriend was actually gonna come with me initially, and he is not as about those activities as I am. He's a little more, like, even keeled, like, doesn't really want to do as many of those things. But he actually couldn't make it with me this year, but I am meeting up with friends from college for Oktoberfest because it is my best friend from college. They are getting married in October, and so it's like their joint bachelor, bachelorette party. They decided to have it in January

Michele:
and Cool.

Devan:
Yeah. For Oktoberfest. So that's, like, the ultimate point of this trip, but they're only staying for the long weekend. And I was like, well, I'm not gonna go all the way to Germany and only spend 4 days there. So I'm spending the full week.

Michele:
Very good. So another thing that I wanna take a look at then is safety. As a single woman traveling by herself, that's always something that I take into consideration. And so making sure that even though you wanna be right in the sunny center and you wanna take the trains and you wanna be free to do activities such as hiking and ziplining and maybe a museum or 2. We have to make sure that you're doing those things that when it's nighttime, you feel safe getting back to your hotel and all of those types of things. So that would be sort of enough to get me going, and then I would start setting up an itinerary. So tell me, how did I do, Devon, and asking you the appropriate questions? And tell me what your trip is really gonna look like.

Devan:
Yes. I think you did a phenomenal job. I would give you an a plus gold star if we were handing out actual grades. Very helpful for sure. I love that you brought up things that I wouldn't necessarily have thought of on my own that would be good. So you're a 100% right that, like, as a female solo traveler, I do need to think about safer options for myself for this trip. So I do really appreciate that. And I love how you really leaned into, like, my adrenaline seeking itinerary wishes, so that was really great.

Devan:
I love that.

Michele:
The travelers typically fall into 2 camp. And maybe I'm might be more like your boyfriend in that. They're the foodies, the cultural, the historical, like, dig in types, and then the adrenaline junkies who, like, can't say they've really experienced the place until they've done something wild. I'm not a museum person, I would say, but I'm definitely more like I'm there for the experience. So, like, Oktoberfest to me, that's the coolest thing ever. If I were planning it for a client, I would be looking at how to make that a VIP experience. Like, are there any pubs that you need reserved seating in? Are there any outdoor places where you could sit so that you could kind of people watch? Because that's got to be huge. How many beers do we wanna be tasting? Is there, like, I get this from the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Michele:
Like, you have a list of all the Epcot countries, and you can check off the different places, things you've tasted. Like, we need a beer card for Oktoberfest. So tell me a little bit about what you're gonna be

Devan:
doing. Yeah. For sure. So I booked a lot of day trip excursions just to make sure that, like, all of the travel and everything was kind of taken care of all in one spot, and it was just easy to do. Very smart. Yes. So the 1st day, I'm doing exactly what you talked about. I'm doing a walking tour right when I get to Munich just like the really historic places.

Devan:
Like, we're going to the Marionplatz just to see all the main sites. And then that evening, I'm doing a second walking tour, but it's focused on ghosts and spirits. Love it. Yes. So that one's, like, later at night when it's already dark. So that'll be really cool.

Michele:
I hope you sleep

Devan:
all that day. Thank you. I hope so too. Hopefully, none of them are in my hotel that I'm staying in. So we'll see. The next day, I'm doing a day trip to Eagle's Nest.

Michele:
Very cool.

Devan:
So yes. So that would be really cool and really beautiful. I definitely that was, like, my thing to do in the mountains. And then the next day, I'm going to this medieval town, Rothenberg and Nordlinger Reis. I don't know how correct I'm pronouncing these.

Michele:
You're a god. You're a god.

Devan:
And so that's kinda more geared towards, like, the history of the town and shopping. Then the last thing I'm doing exactly what you said, I'm seeing one of the castles, the Neuschwanstein Castle.

Michele:
The oldest and most famous.

Devan:
Yes. Exactly. I felt like I had to do that.

Michele:
You haven't been to Germany till you've seen it. Yeah.

Devan:
Amazing. Yeah. The pictures look incredible. So I'm gonna try to go inside for that one as well. Yeah. And then the next 3 days, I'll be in Oktoberfest with my friends. And, that's pretty much it.

Michele:
So I'm gonna make a couple of suggestions for you. See if you can get a good food tour Okay. While you're in Munich. But before full on Oktoberfest or maybe even during Oktoberfest, there's good walking tours where they will do, like, an appetizer, a main course, and then a dessert. And that will get you your brat. You will get to taste my favorite schnitzel, and then you'll get your Bavarian pastry with Bavarian pastry cream, which is not to be missed. And then, if you had one more day, if you had time, I would definitely tell you. And you don't because your friends are coming in town.

Michele:
But I would definitely say, see if you can get over to Austria. Because Austria is actually one of my most favorite countries in the world right now. With that, hopefully, next time, Devin has this wonderful idea. We will work together, and we will invite lots of people to come travel. Because seriously, that sounds like the most fun experience. Now, I cannot wait to see pictures. So Devon, tell everyone if they want to well, you'll already be gone and back by the time this airs. But if people wanna learn more about you and your fascinating career, where can they follow you and look you up?

Devan:
Absolutely. So I have my personal Instagram page is just the first three letters of my first and last name. So it's dev and then s c h o is my handle. And then you can also find me on the love cycling studio account as well.

Michele:
And I will link to both of those in the show notes. Until next time, Jat Suttters. Happy traveling.