Dear Tour Travelers,
Welcome to my website!
Travel to Europe continues to change, ever so slowly. There have been steady relaxing moves on regulations and requirements governing USA travelers desiring travel to Europe. On the other side of the pond, there have been numerous changes, mostly in the areas of construction and local transportation. I've been contacting my existing social media followers directly, encouraging them to join my growing email contact list, which ensures better information flow, since social media can sometimes be hit or miss.
The most important announcement I have is that due to reduced fuel costs for US airline carriers, I have been able to reduce most of my 2025 tour prices for travelers selecting our Total Tour Price option, offering an even better value for your hard-earned dollars.
Several Stateside tour companies didn't survive the COVID pandemic, and several of those that did went through a very chaotic return to the travel industry. Some were forced to cancel tour plans and fully refund tour funds, but since their tours use 'Land Price' instead of 'Full Price', flight arrangements made by their customers remains in question. GaryToursEurope.com only schedules tours when travel status to Europe and the USA is in a stable condition.
Although the Corona Virus still exists globally, the previous travel and mask restrictions ended in the Spring of 2023. The war in Ukraine continues but has had a negligible effect on our tour schedules.
Munich changed their local transportation zones. In 2020, Zones started with Zone 1 in the downtown area, and extended to Zone 12, which included the Munich Airport and beyond, so traveling to the Airport would require a ticket for Gesamtnetz, or the entire transportation network. The recent change now has the downtown Munich area in Zone M and extending to Zone 6 which includes outlying areas beyond the Airport, so using the same example, traveling from downtown to the Munich Airport would require a ticket for Zones M+5, which is slightly less expensive. Most ticket machines and many monitors are being removed from outlying train stations and are replaced by smart phone apps that show train schedules, locations, and allow online ticket purchases. Overall rates for tickets are still similar to 2024 prices.
I monitor the travel requirements monthly for changes, and this years' tours to the Munich Strong Beer Festival and Belgium's Best Breweries, including the Zythos Beer Festival, have been cancelled due to some logistical and scheduling issues. All tours after May 2025 remain on schedule so stay tuned for status updates on the Munich Strong Beer Festival and Belgium's Zythos Beer Festival in 2026.
I know this is a lot of information to absorb, but the tour and travel business is a flexible entity, and personal safety is the most important element I consider when scheduling tours for my customers.
As always, my tour travelers, my signoff remains - - - BREW!!!