Chase Haymond & Molly Pfister
September 23 – October 4, 2026 · Austin → Munich → Lucerne → Venice → Florence → Austin
| Date | Where | Travel | Hotel | Booked that day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed Sep 23 |
Austin → Munich | LH469 AUS 4:05 PM (16:05) → FRA 8:55 AM (08:55) +1 LH102 FRA 10:15 AM (10:15) T1 → MUC 11:10 AM (11:10) T2 +1 |
||
| Thu Sep 24 |
Munich | Land MUC 11:10 AM (11:10) T2 |
Le Méridien Munich | Trachten shopping |
| Fri Sep 25 |
Munich | Le Méridien Munich | 🍺 Wiesn day 8:00 AM–11:15 PM (08:00–23:15) |
|
| Sat Sep 26 |
Munich → Lucerne | ECE 192 München Hbf 12:48 PM (12:48) pl. 29 → Zürich 4:28 PM (16:28) pl. 31 Zürich 5:10 PM (17:10) → Lucerne 5:51 PM (17:51) |
Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern | 🏨 Arrive 6:00 PM (18:00) 🇨🇭 Old Swiss House 8:30 PM (20:30) 🌉 Chapel Bridge + Old Town after dinner |
| Sun Sep 27 |
Lucerne → Mt. Pilatus | Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern | 🚆 S5 12:12 PM (12:12) Luzern → Alpnachstad 12:28 PM (12:28) 🚞 Cogwheel 12:50 PM (12:50) → Pilatus Kulm 1:17 PM (13:17) · 📄 Cogwheel tickets · 💺 Seats 🪂 Meet pilot 2:30 PM (14:30), paraglide to Kriens · Flugzentrum · ZSLH-ZNRK-XRFA · 📄 Ticket 🚌 Bus #1 dir. Ebikon, Fildern · Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus → Luzern, Bahnhof 🥂 Lumières, Château Gütsch 8:00 PM (20:00) |
|
| Mon Sep 28 |
Lucerne | Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern | ⌚ Bucherer / Rolex 11:00 AM (11:00) 🛍️ Shopping + 🏘️ Old Town, afternoon 🍸 Apéro 5:00 PM (17:00) 🇨🇭 Stadtkeller folklore show 7:30 PM (19:30) |
|
| Tue Sep 29⚠ Tight day |
Lucerne → Venice | Luggage to Pier 1 by 11:02 AM (11:02) Boat 11:12 AM (11:12) → Flüelen 1:55 PM (13:55) 3093 2:09 PM (14:09) → Lugano 4:41 PM (16:41) · car. 14, 55–56 EC23 5:30 PM (17:30) → Milan 6:50 PM (18:50) · coach 8, 21–22 FR9757 7:15 PM (19:15) → Venice 9:42 PM (21:42) · coach 5, 17D/18D |
Palazzo Barocci | 🍽 Lunch aboard the Panorama Express |
| Wed Sep 30 |
Venice | Palazzo Barocci | ⛪ St. Mark's Basilica 11:00 AM (11:00) 🏛 Doge's Palace 12:00 PM (12:00) 🍷 Cicchetti — Bar All'Arco, ~2:30 PM 🛍️ Rialto + Calle Larga XXII Marzo 🍸 Aperitivo — Experimental Cocktail Club 🍽 Ristorante Riviera 6:30 PM (18:30) — duplicate at 6:00 PM |
|
| Thu Oct 1 |
Venice | Palazzo Barocci | 🧺 Rialto Market 9:30 AM (09:30) 🛍️ XXII Marzo / Frezzeria / Mercerie, 2:00 PM 🛶 Private gondola 4:00 PM (16:00) — to book 🥂 Terrazza Danieli 7:00 PM (19:00) 🌙 Piazza San Marco after dark · Bar Dandolo |
|
| Fri Oct 2 |
Venice → Florence | Leave hotel 9:45 AM (09:45) FR9413 Venice 10:26 AM (10:26) → Florence 12:39 PM (12:39) |
St. Regis Florence | 🥂 Welcome Party, Villa Cora 7:00–11:00 PM (19:00–23:00) · Cocktail |
| Sat Oct 3⚠ Tight day |
Florence | St. Regis Florence | 🚶 Morning walk from 8:00 AM (08:00) 💇 Hair & makeup, Parrucchiere Mario 12:00 PM (12:00) 💒 Wedding, Villa Cora 3:30 PM–2:00 AM (15:30–02:00) · Black tie |
|
| Sun Oct 4 |
Florence → Austin | BA521 FLR 12:20 PM (12:20) → LHR 1:45 PM (13:45) BA187 LHR 4:05 PM (16:05) → AUS 8:35 PM (20:35) |
Sept 23–24 · Austin → Frankfurt → Munich · 12h 05min, one stop · Lufthansa ref 7545JH
Sept 24–26 · Le Méridien Munich, Bayerstraße · 191st Oktoberfest (Sept 19 – Oct 4)
Hotel is across from Hauptbahnhof — shops are walkable.
Walk-in only, no reservations. Bring cash.
Full details on the Lucerne tab.
| Tent | Size & style | Friday walk-in odds | Why it's on the plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| Augustiner-Festzelt | 8,500 seats · traditional | Best odds — morning only | Munich's own favorite, and the only tent still served from wooden kegs. Friendly, unpretentious, cheapest Maß on the grounds — your anchor for the day. |
| Schottenhamel | 10,000 seats + 4,000-seat garden · traditional | Best odds — garden never takes reservations | The historic tent; opening day's keg-tapping happens here. Indoors fills like any other, but the huge garden is unreserved by rule all day — the most dependable sit-down beer of the afternoon. |
| Hacker-Festzelt | 9,300 seats · party | Tough by mid-afternoon | "Bavarian Heaven" — the painted, star-lit sky ceiling is the most photographed interior at the Wiesn. Its own beer garden is the fallback if the tent's full. |
| Hofbräu-Festzelt | 9,920 seats · party | Best odds — Stehkurve, any time | Loudest, youngest, most international crowd on the grounds. The Stehkurve is standing-only and exists purely for walk-ins — the one reliable door into a main tent on a Friday night. |
| Kufflers Weinzelt | 2,500 seats · wine tent | Tough on Friday nights | Wine and sparkling instead of beer, open until 1:00 AM. Quieter register, dressier crowd — worth a look on the way past, but no promises. |
| Käfer's Wies'n-Schänke | 2,900 seats · upscale | Near-impossible walk-in | Small, open until 1:00 AM, a genuine celebrity favorite. A table without connections is a long shot — treat any entry as a bonus, not a plan. |
Sept 26–29 · Mandarin Oriental Palace Luzern
Easy first night — nothing before dinner.
Biggest day. Out ~12:00 PM, back ~4:00 PM.
Leisurely — pack tonight for the 11:02 AM luggage drop.
Sept 29 · Boat + 3 trains · the tightest day of the trip
Sept 29 – Oct 2 · Palazzo Barocci, Grand Canal
Travel day — full detail on the Gotthard tab.
Two timed entries back to back — arrive within 15 min.
Last night in Venice — leave by 9:45 AM tomorrow.
Oct 2–4 · St. Regis Florence (Marriott Titanium status) · Wedding events at Villa Cora
~6 hours between arrival and the party.
Tight day — three timed commitments before 3:30 PM.
Short night after a 2:00 AM finish. Full detail on the Return Home tab.
Oct 4 · Florence → London Heathrow → Austin