Germany works hard but plays even harder—time your trip right, and you can hit a festival in every town you visit. Themes range from the humble (local produce) to the lofty (high culture) to the downright gratuitous (sex, drugs, techno, and pancakes). A few even claim international renown: Munich’s Oktoberfest (Sept. 20-Oct. 5, 2009) began as a wedding celebration centuries ago and continues to fill the city with reveling beer drinkers every year. Catch the infamous techno-wild Love Parade as it makes a 5-year tour around the Ruhr Region (Next stop: Bochum). In the early spring, Cologne hosts the yearly Karneval celebration (Feb. 19-25, 2009), where extravagantly costumed fools traipse in parades and generate revelry for the final week before Lent. During Advent, traditional Christmas Markets spring up all over Germany, serving Glühwein and other holiday spirits. Nuremberg’s Christkindlmarkt with its glorious Lebkuchen (gingerbread) is the most famous. Finally, for film fanatics, Berlin hosts the young but prestigious Berlinale Film Festival (Feb. 5-15, 2009) every year.
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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