Middle Ages Festivals question

Question

On 22nd July, 2009 Anat from Israel said:

First of all - your website is indeed great! definitely more informative than other websites i've explored, so well done! I like your enthusiasm about the attractions, it definitely adds good taste. 

Secondly - I am planning on visiting Munich for a couple of days next week, and maybe another day or two the following week. I would like to find travellers with whom i can go on day trips within and outside of Munich. is there a good website for that? where can one meet young people in Munich? (i am 27 years old). 

And one last question - i loved the idea of the middle ages festival and find it a great shame that i won't be there in time for it. Is there anything else along those lines? (i'm a sucker for castles and history). 

I appreciate your help!
and thank you for the website info. 

Answer:

SNOWY FORTRESS:  Harburg is one of Germany's
best preserved Middle-Ages castles (see below).

Hey thanks a lot Anat.

Phew, looks like I’ve gone a bit overboard researching answers to your questions, so here’s goes. 

Munich has a couple of English-language forums where people arrange to meet up (among other things) and make day-trips out of town.
Take a look around Towtown Munich .
Also, don’t forget that hostels are great places for hooking up with other travellers. 
Out of the ones I’ve slept in/partied at I can recommend Wombats , Jaeger’sand the Euro Youth Hostel (all on the same street near the Main Train Station) as very social. I can de-recommend the A&O Hostel because I found them not very friendly at all. 

Middle-Ages festivals - Enter the dragon 

Here’s what’s going on Middle-Ages-wise for the last week of July and the first weeks of August. As you can see, there are still plenty of places to party like it was 1299! 

You’re in luck as far as Middle-Ages festivals go. There’s a medieval festival up in the tiny town of Furth im Wald which even features daily dragon slaying. 
Called the Further Drachenstich, it runs from August 6 to 17. It’s one of the oldest (if not the oldest) folk festivals in Bavaria. The climax is an arena show where the brave knight Udo battles a 20-metre dragon with a lance. There are also Middle-Ages concerts, sword fights and archery competitions, a spot of jousting, a Middle-Ages market and a traditional Bavarian beerfest. 
Wow, the more I read about this the better it sounds! On Sunday, August 9 at 2pm there’s a street parade with over 1400 performers. 

Sadly there's not much info in English about this festival. But you can use the translator. See the official website here Further Drachenstich. 

Directions

Furth im Wald is north-east of Munich, very close to the Czech border. If you decide to go by train, and you get a faster connection, it should take about three hours from Munich. To check connections go to the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) website and put in Muenchen Hbf into the first line and Furth im Wald Bahnhof into the second. 

Also remember if you’re making day trips around Bavaria the cheapest ticket is the Bayern Ticket, see my page on Public Transport for more info on that. Here's a Google map of where the event takes place (Address: Stadtplatz 4).

A great Middle-Ages castle

If you’re after a great medieval castle near Munich, I can wholeheartedly recommend Harburg. 
It dates back over 800 years, and is so cool Michael Jackson even tried to buy it. 
It’s picture perfect with turrets and high walls and and sits up on a hill above Harburg village. 
There are regular tours (closed Mondays though) but you might want to call (+49 09 08 09 68 60) or email schloesser@fuerst-wallerstein.de to check times if you're after a tour in English. 
There are "open-air events" at the castle at the end of July and in August. 

Harburg is about two hours north of Munich, on the Romantic Road tourist trail. To check connections on the Deutsche Bahn website, type in Harburg (Schwab) into the "destination" line. 

CASTLE HILL: Schloss Harburg in spring.

Medieval markets 

There are a couple of other small town Middle-Ages festivals / markets(including entertainment like sword fights and concerts) on the weekend of August 1 and 2. 
One is at Schloss Staufeneck in the village of Piding down near Salzburg. 
The other is in Neunburg vorm Wald, which is up near (dragons’ den) Furth. 
It’s at the Neunburger Stadtpark. 
Both events start around 11am and go till 10pm or 11pm.

Middle-Ages dining

Hungry for the Middle-Ages? There’s a pair of medieval "theme restaurants" in Munich and the city of Augsburg about 60kms north-west of Munich. 
They’re called the Welser-Kuche (Welser-Kitchen), named after one of Augsburg’s famously rich families of that era. 
They use centuries-old recipes but nothing with potato, they weren’t in Europe back then.
You eat with a dagger, drink mead straight out of the horn and are supposed to throw your left-over bones in the corner.There’s also Middle-Ages entertainment, lyre-playing and such. 
You have to reserve seats, a minimum of two, and if there aren’t enough of you to fill up a table you get placed with other diners, who you have to constantly toast with. 
It comes at the steep price of around €45 per person. Here’s a PDF brochure in English with contact info. 

Hope this gives you a few good ideas, enjoy your trip to Bavaria!