• About 55 miles separate Munich's famous beer festival, Oktoberfest, and the Oberammergau Passion play. But in 2010 they come together. Several tour operators are offering a trip to Bavaria, Germany, to combine the two as 2010 marks the 200th annual Oktoberfest and the 41st staging of the decennial (every 10 years) passion play. The play runs all summer and ends on October 3. Oktoberfest starts on September 18, giving a two-week window when tourists can see both.
  
  

Reformation

• California-based Adoration Tours offers the Reformation Tour. This begins with a September 16 flight from the U.S. to Berlin, and centers around The Reformation and Martin Luther. (See References 1) The 12 day/10 night tour includes Wittenberg, the Buchenwald Concentration Camp memorial and several of Luther's haunts. It includes a Rhine Cruise, and will visit parts of Switzerland (Zurich), Lichtenstein and Austria (Innsbruck) before the Oberammergau Passion Play on day 9 and Munich on days 10 and 11. The tour leaves for the U.S. from Munich on September 27. Adoration Tours' president, Adeline Castiglione, says she does not publish prices on the Internet and invites personal inquiries for more information.
  
  

Five-night

• Ludus Tours has five-night package tour options for what it calls a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do both" and invites intending participants to send an email to check availability. (See References 2) Tours start from Munich on September 15, 17, 22, 24 and 29, 2010. There is a two-night stay in Oberammergau and three in Munich. Passion play performances are Tuesday and Thursdays. Ludus fits in a visit to the nearby Neuschwanstein Castle and a Munich City bike tour. Prices range from 1,695 euro to 1,895 euro per person, including passion play tickets.
  
  

Deluxe

• Vacations to Go also recognizes the link between the secular and spiritual events. A deluxe eight-day Maupintour starts with a flight from the U.S. to Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg, Austria. Highlights are the Salzburg Marionetten Theater, a visit to Innsbruck then two nights at Murnau, Bavaria, for the passion play's penultimate performance on October 2. The drive to Munich takes in Neuschwanstein Castle. Two nights in Munich include the Oktoberfest for tours that leave the U.S. on and after September 25. The price is $4,429 per person, including the passion play ticket.
  
  

Optional

• InterTrav Corporation offers a "Germany and Austria Adventure" from Chicago for $2,165 which does not include an optional ticket to the passion play ($340). The week-long tour departs from Chicago on September 23 for an overnight flight to Zurich, Switzerland. Rather than constant travel, InterTrav offers five of the seven tour nights at Seefield, 50 miles north of Vienna in the Tyrolean Alps, and excursions to Oberammergau, Salzburg and the Oktoberfest. It returns to Chicago from Munich on October 1.