TRAVEL OPTIONS

Flights with Lufthansa from London or Manchester to Munich are included in the price. Or you can choose to make your own arrangements for travel to and from the festival, for which there is a price reduction.

Actual flight schedules for July/ August 2024 are not yet available. These are the most likely times (they rarely change) but they will be updated as soon as the times for next summer are released.

THE ‘NO GROUP TRAVEL’ OPTION

You can choose not to take any of our flight options and to make your own arrangements for joining and leaving the ship. You are welcome to join our airport coach transfers if your flights or trains coincide with any of the options above.

Price reduction for ‘no flights’: £220.

Festival Flight Options

OPTION 1: Heathrow, lunch at Landshut

Sunday 28 July: Heathrow to Munich (LH 2471) departing at 09.00 and arriving at 11.50. Break the drive to Passau with lunch at Landshut, a former capital of Bavaria. There are two hours here; it should be possible to see the main street with its Renaissance and Baroque house fronts, the great Gothic church of St Martin or the precociously Italianate Renaissance ducal palace.

Sunday 4 August: Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2476) departing at 14.45 and arriving at 15.45.

OPTION 2 : Heathrow, free time in Munich

Sunday 28 July: London Heathrow to Munich (LH 2473) departing at 10.50 and arriving at 13.40. Drive directly from the airport to the ship at Passau, a journey of under two hours.

Sunday 4 August: Munich to London Heathrow (LH 2480) departing at 18.40 and arriving at 19.40. Coaches take you first to the centre of Munich, where you have about four hours of free time.

OPTION 3: Manchester

Sunday 28 July: Manchester to Munich (LH 2501) departing at 10.45 and arriving at 13.40. Drive directly from the airport to the ship at Passau, a journey of under two hours.

Sunday 4 August: Munich to Manchester (LH 2502) departing at 15.55 and arriving at 17.00. Coaches take you first to the centre of Munich, where you have about two hours of free time.

Rail

It is possible to travel by train from London to Passau, c. 18 hours (with an overnight in Brussels), departing Saturday evening (27th July) and arriving Sunday afternoon (28th July). The return journey takes c. 11 hours via Cologne and Brussels. We are able to advise on but not book individual train tickets. Contact us for more information and recommendations for booking agents.

POST-FESTIVAL TOUR

The price for post-festival tour King Ludwig II includes the option of a return flight – out at the start of the festival, and back at the end of the tour.

All post-festival tour participants depart from the UK on festival flight option 2.

We charge for flights, if you are taking them, as part of your post-festival tour booking. You therefore pay the ‘no flights’ price for the festival.

Details of the post-festival tour to be announced shortly – please contact us to register your interest.

Fitness for the festival

Quite a lot of walking is necessary to reach the concert venues and to get around the towns visited. The ship has a lift, but some of the venues do not. Participants need to be averagely fit, sure-footed and able to manage everyday walking and stairclimbing without difficulty.

We ask that you take the simple fitness tests described on page 22 before booking.

If you have a medical condition or a disability which may affect your holiday or necessitate special arrangements being made for you, please discuss these with us before booking – or, if the condition develops or changes subsequently, as soon as possible before departure.

A higher fitness level is required for Walking the Danube. This is a walking tour, graded ‘moderate’. It is essential for participants to have appropriate walking footwear, be in good physical condition and to be used to country walking with uphill and downhill content. There are a few moderately steep climbs, but no walk is more than 6 miles or 3 hours. There is not always the opportunity to return to the hotel to freshen up before every concert or dinner. (Please see www. martinrandall.com/about-us for our walking tour grading system).

Illustration: Vienna, Josefsplatz, engraving c. 1810.