Two flights, six driving legs, thirteen nights and five bases: three nights in a Franconian
brewing village, one in Plzeň, two with Budvar, three in the Alps and four in Munich.
16 days, 13 nights, two brewing countries and three Alpine days
The route through Franconia, Bohemia & the Alps
Numbered in visit order, from Frankfurt through Franconia and Bohemia to the Alps and
back up to Munich. Porto Alegre is the flight and sits outside this frame.
FranconiaBohemiaAlps & SalzburgMunich
🏆 Per-City Brewery & Bar Rankings
27 venues across 6 stops, ranked 1..n per city, with what to
order at each one — the beer worth the detour, not just the closest bar.
🇩🇪 Merkendorf 3 nights · Stop #3
The village of Brauerei Wagner, eight kilometres from Bamberg.
🍻 Famous for: Village Franconian beer, brewed since 1797
1
🇩🇪 Merkendorf · #1 of 3
Brauerei Wagner
Family brewery in Merkendorf since 1797, Pointstraße 1 — Franconian lagers poured in the brewery tap a few steps from the kettle.
🍺 Order this: Wagner Lagerbier and the dark, in the tap with the regulars
Four beer regions in sixteen days: Franconian smoke and village lagers, the Bohemian
pilsner tradition from Plzeň to Budějovice, the Berchtesgadener Land and Salzburg, and Munich.
Region
Styles to look for
Franconia
Rauchbier · Ungespundetes / Kellerbier · Pils · Bock
Family brewery in Merkendorf since 1797, Pointstraße 1 — Franconian lagers poured in the brewery tap a few steps from th
Bamberg (day trip)
Schlenkerla, Bamberg
beechwood smoke, oak barrels, a vaulted cellar.
Plzeň
Pilsner Urquell (Prazdroj)
The brewery that defined pilsner in 1842; the tour ends with an unfiltered pour in the cellars.
České Budějovice
Budweiser Budvar
70–80 minute tours through the brewhouse and the cellars, tasting at the end.
Bad Reichenhall
Bürgerbräu Bad Reichenhall
Private Alpine brewery since 1494, Waaggasse 1–3 — the town's own beer, with a Brauereigasthof.
Munich
Kloster Andechs
Benedictine monastery brewery above the Ammersee (45 km) — Doppelbock Dunkel and a terrace over the valley.
Drive times
Every distance below is OSRM car routing. The two flights are great-circle distances;
the times are in the air, not door to door.
1,406 kmdriving
15 h 41behind the wheel
21,331 kmflying
8legs
Mode
From
To
km
time
✈️ flight
Porto Alegre
Frankfurt Airport
10,665
13 h 33
🚗 drive
Frankfurt Airport
Merkendorf
227
2 h 22
🚗 drive
Merkendorf
Plzeň
260
2 h 38
🚗 drive
Plzeň
České Budějovice
136
2 h 11
🚗 drive
České Budějovice
Bad Reichenhall
244
2 h 57
🚗 drive
Bad Reichenhall
Munich
135
1 h 34
🚗 drive
Munich
Frankfurt Airport
404
3 h 59
✈️ flight
Frankfurt Airport
Porto Alegre
10,665
13 h 33
Distance matrix
Car kilometres between every pair of land stops, from matrix.pairs.
From \ To
Merkendorf
Plzeň
České Budějovice
Bad Reichenhall
Munich
Merkendorf
—
260
392
372
237
Plzeň
260
—
136
424
288
České Budějovice
392
136
—
244
336
Bad Reichenhall
372
424
244
—
135
Munich
237
288
336
135
—
Day trips from the bases
Every detour of the trip, measured from the base it started at: Bamberg and Memmelsdorf
from Merkendorf, Berchtesgaden and Salzburg from Bad Reichenhall, Andechs and Dachau from Munich.
From
Detour
km
time
Merkendorf
Bamberg (Schlenkerla)
11.5
0 h 18
Merkendorf
Memmelsdorf (Drei Kronen)
11.0
0 h 11
Bad Reichenhall
Berchtesgaden
18.3
0 h 24
Bad Reichenhall
Salzburg (Mülln)
23.0
0 h 25
Munich
Kloster Andechs
44.8
0 h 46
Munich
Dachau
20.1
0 h 31
What this trip taught us
Late February is the quiet season: the brewery taps are open, the tourists are not, and the Alpine roads are empty.
Merkendorf is the deep end of Franconia: Wagner since 1797, a butcher who brews, and Bamberg eleven kilometres away.
Bad Reichenhall is the right base for three days of Alpine beer — Berchtesgaden is 18 km and Salzburg 23 km, so the car stays parked.
Two nights at Budvar beats one: the second morning is for the tour you could not get into the first day.
The 404 km Munich → Frankfurt leg on departure day is the longest of the trip; leave after breakfast and it is an easy afternoon.