A LITTLE-KNOWN town in Germany is home to the largest wine festival in the world.
For two weekends every year, Bad Dürkheim is transformed into a wine lover’s paradise when 36 wineries descend on the German spa town.
Bad Dürkheim Wurstmarkt has been running for 600 years, with the huge event now featuring 300 award-winning wines.
Holidaymakers looking to quench their thirst will want to head to the Wine Village, a sprawl of 16 tents that serve both wine and food.
Founded in 1992, Wine Village serves a range of plonk from full-bodied reds to sparkling white wines, there’s a glass for everyone.
While some wines are served in traditional stemmed glasses, others – like white wine spritzers – are given to punters in pint glasses.
The novelty has been praised by some on social media; however, others have questioned the choice of glassware questioning the temperature of the wine.
Freshly prepared and seasoned grub can also be purchased in the Wine Village, for those who need to line their stomach.
The Pushcart Stands are another main feature of the event because they’re a nod back to previous traditions.
They’re shaped like wheelbarrow stands that were once used by winemakers to push barrels of wine onto the festival site.
Once at the site, the wooden carts were simply turned and stored on the barrels for serving.
For younger visitors who can’t drink, there are also several rides and rollercoasters at Bad Dürkheim Wurstmarkt.
One of those is Jupiter Riesenrad, a huge Ferris Wheel.
There are other rides too like the King, Eurocoaster and a Fun House called Freddy’s Rollercoaster.
Entry is largely free – although visitors will need to pay for some ticketed events as well as the wine and food.
Bad Dürkheim Wurstmarkt is only open for one other weekend in 2024, from September 13 until September 16.
If this is too short notice, dates for next year have already been announced, with the Bad Dürkheim Wurstmarkt returning between September 12 to September 16 and September 19 and September 22, 2025.
The event welcomes around 700,000 each year – although don’t get your German drinking festivals and wear a dirndl or lederhosen, as they’re not the appropriate attire for the event.
Bad Dürkheim is a 70-minute drive from Mannheim, where direct flights operate to the UK.
Ryanair operates a direct service from London Stansted Airport to Frankfurt International Airport, with return tickets costing £31 per person.
British Airways also operates a direct service from London City Airport with return fares costing £162.
WHILE it may not seem possible, there are still places in Europe where beers cost less than £2.
Prague
Coming in highest on the list was Prague, where beer was £1.93 a pint. The country is the birthplace of Budweiser and Pilsner, which means you can find a number of brewery tours. New last year was the immersive beer experience Pilsner: The Original Beer Experience.
Valencia
Also home to cheap beers, Valencia pints can be found for as little as £1.72. It is also the birthplace of paella, as well as home to beautiful sandy beaches.
Porto
Also one of the cheapest to have pints of beer was Porto, joining Valencia with pints for £1.72. If you don’t fancy a beer, you can head to the Pink Palace in the World of Wine (WOW) building, which has themed rooms dedicated to the joys of rosé wine.
Brno
The lesser known destination of the list, Brno in Czechia also has some of the cheapest beers. Just above Porto and Valencia, pints were cheaper than Prague at around £1.71 a pint.
You can read more about European cities with cheap beers, here.
Other cheap city break destinations include Prague, Budapest and Vienna.
And we’ve found some cheap three-night European city breaks.
