poku
Junior Travel Member
Posts: 2
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Post by poku on Jan 17, 2007 22:24:52 GMT -5
Hey everyone, I've been following this site for over a year while I mulled over a trip, and now that it looks like I'll have a chance to go for about 18 days this May. I thought I'd share what I've come up with so far, and I'd really appreciate anyone's responses and ideas.
I have tried to keep things leisurely, but now I'm wondering if it's not too slow.
1-4 Madrid, day trip to Toledo or Segovia
Train to:
4-7 Barcelona
Ferry to:
7-9 Mallorca
Fly and train (?) to:
9-13 Bernese Oberland, Switzerland (Interlaken? Grindelwald? Murren?)
Train to:
13-18 Munich, day trips to Bavarian alps, possible overnight excursion to Salzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Prague, etc.
I am still debating, of course. Should I go to Seville and Grenada or Lisbon instead of Mallorca? Should I shorten my stay in Munich and add another city? Is the Bernese Oberland the best place for hiking and mountain biking?
Again, I'd really appreciate anyone's feedback. There's so much to do I literally do not know where to start!
(PS: There is no France or Italy on the itinerary because my fiancee and I are planning to do Paris-Provence-Lake Como-Tuscany-Rome for our honeymoon next year.)
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jan 17, 2007 23:21:42 GMT -5
poku, welcome to the boards! Great that you're getting the chance to plan your first trip, hopefully we can help with suggestions. For Spain, I'll wait for Herrbert or David to chime in as they always have good suggestions for here. I will, however, put forward Seville as a possible city to visit. Mallorca in May will be warm enough for the beach, but Seville might interest you more. To get to Switzerland, definitely look at flying as the train is a v long haul from there. Look at sites like Air Berlin www.airberlin.com/site/index.php?page=start.php&LANG=eng&all=1 or Iberian Air www.iberia.com . A new one called Fly Baboo ( www.flybaboo.com/ ) flies Valencia to Geneva, just to add to your choices. In Switzerland, the Bernese Oberland is a great choice. No doubt you've seen how popular Gimmelwald is on these boards, but Grindelwald, Murren or Lauterbrunnen are also worth considering. Hiking is definitely the best in this area and mountain biking is a favourite passtime here too. The train from Switzerland to Munich will take a good part of the day (around 5hrs on average), so consider flying on this route as well, say from Zurich with Swiss Air. Not cheap, but have a look for flights and work out the best solution. Once you're in Munich, 3 days will be plenty and will allow for a day trip to the castles (Neuschwanstein, etc) or you could stay in that region (Fuessen) for a night if you wanted. Day/overnight trips to the places you've listed aren't really feasible due to distance from Munich. OK, maybe to Salzburg wouldn't be bad, but it's worth spending a night then, then continuing on to Vienna for at least 2 full days (3 nights), and then Prague for 3 days. Berlin by train from Prague is about 4hr30mins, but from Munich is more like 5h45mins, so rules out a day trip from Munich. Berlin warrants at least 2 full days of sightseeing too. You might have to narrow down the cities on your list for this section due to time constraints. Have a play with the days and cities and see what else everyone comes up with. Also, consider open-jaw tickets if you haven't already as they'll make the route easier to plan. Your honeymoon in France and Italy sounds like it will be perfect, let us know if you need suggestions on that one too - we're a romantic bunch on GFE (sometimes!). 
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Post by me on Jan 18, 2007 11:56:56 GMT -5
hi, Poku,
will your bride-to-be go on this trip with you? travel together is a good way to discover how well you get along, you'd be together for an extended time.
as for Munich: a good day trip might be a visit to Füssen, to see Mad King Ludwig's castles. Salzburg is another daytrip option. so is Prien (a town at lake Chiemsee, more castles there. or, do castles interest you?)
depending how well you do with consecutive short nights, there's a 6 hour 10 min night train to Vienna. 6½ hour return night train. [depart Munich one night, spend the next day in Vienna, depart for Munich that night, getting there the next morning.]
with Prague, the nights wouldn't be so short: these night trains are 10+ hours each. Berlin has night trains to and from Munich that are 8½ hours each.
but, with all these excursions, you'd have no time for Munich itself! there's much to see/experience there.
- d
btw, Swiss mountains still get chilly at night in May. it was odd being so cold on the night train from Innsbruck to Zürich, mid-May 2004, yet finding sunbathers in bikinis by Zürich lake the next day!
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Post by herrbert on Jan 18, 2007 12:31:50 GMT -5
I wouldn't go to Vienna, for such a short period of time, unless it is a re-visit. If you are going there for the first time, you need 4 days. I would save it for another trip. And do Neuschwanstein Castle and Salzburg instead.
If you have to choose between Toledo and Segovia, my choice would be Toledo. But try to do both.
Mallorca has some beautiful places, and it's not just about beaches. It has some beautiful buildings, and pretty scenery. I can understand that you also consider Sevilla, Granada and Lisbon. All these options have their own good points. It is all about your own preferences. Choose Sevilla and Granada for History, and Mallorca to relax a little bit more, but don't forget to get inland (rent a car)
If you would do Sevilla and Granada, I would do 2 day each, and take off one day in Munich. You could do Madrid - the AVE (Spanish TGV) to Sevilla, train to Granada and fly (Vueling airlines) to Barcelona. (from here you can fly Barcelona - Geneva, with Easyjet)
Air Berlin flies Palma de Mallorca - Zurich. (btw. I would also choose flying to Mallorca to save time, check Vueling airlines).
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poku
Junior Travel Member
Posts: 2
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Post by poku on Jan 20, 2007 14:16:28 GMT -5
Thanks for your suggestions everyone! I'm still considering Mallorca vs. Sevilla/Granada, (I'm leaning toward the former, since I'll be alone and my fiancee wants to see southern Spain) and whether I should do those day trips outside of Munich or cut it down and do another city.
I guessed it was a long trip Munich and other cities, but after looking at the schedules I agree that Prague, Vienna, Berlin, Budapest, etc. need to be a separate destination or postponed for a future trip.
I'd love to hear anyone's opinions on Mallorca vs. southern Spain, and what some of the best day trips out of Munich would be. Thanks for your advice!
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Post by madamtrashheap on Jan 21, 2007 23:43:42 GMT -5
David and Herrbert will be able to give you ideas on Mallorca vs southern Spain (I've only been on the east coast as far south as Valencia). As for day trips from Munich, definitely look at a trip to cover the southern part of the Romantic Road and castles (Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee, etc). You could also do a trip out to Dachau (half-day is good) and there's a monastery in a town called Andechs ( www.andechs.de/ ) that's not far from Munich and apart from being historically interesting there is also a brewery attached, but that's only if you have covered everything else. Salzburg or Innsbruck are also possible as all day trips, but make sure you put aside time to explore Munich too as it has many points of interest other than the Hofbräuhaus  , such as Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church), climb the dome of St Peter's (the other St Peter's) for great views, have lunch in the Viktualenmarkt (market in centre of city), stroll the shopping street Kaufingerstrasse (literally named "shopping street"), visit the Englischer Garten (English Garden) if the weather is decent and sit in the beer garden to watch the world go by, visit the Nymphenburg Palace and gardens, sneak a look at the Residenz, if you're into science the Deutsches Museum might be of interest, otherwise stand with the crowds in Marienplatz (main square) at 11am or 5pm and watch the cheesey-but-cool show that is the Glockenspiel. If you stick with the 4 days in Munich as per your first post, that will be plenty of time to fit in Neuschwanstein, Munich proper and Salzburg/Innsbruck as day trips/sightseeing, again depending on your own interests. The only other way I would suggest is perhaps having 2-3 full days in Munich and spending 1-2 nights in Innsbruck/Salzburg, but it depends again on you and your interests. Hope that gives you some more ideas for your trip.
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Post by herrbert on Jan 22, 2007 10:10:21 GMT -5
I find it difficult to choose, because you have to choose between places that will give you a whole different 'feel'. It's History vs feeling relaxed. (I leave out the good food and sun, because you can find that in both places).
Personaly I would choose Sevilla and Granada. That is because I like the history of the places. Also considering that you will be relaxing a little bit in Switzerland (or at least getting out of the cities), would make me go to Sevilla/Granada.
But don't forget Mallorca, when planning a next trip, because this place also had it's own qualities.
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Post by me on Jan 22, 2007 12:36:18 GMT -5
as i've never been to the balearic islands, i really can't compare these two. but, i really enjoyed Andalucia! Algarve, too. - d David and Herrbert will be able to give you ideas on Mallorca vs southern Spain (I've only been on the east coast as far south as Valencia). |
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, such as Frauenkirche (Our Lady's Church), climb the dome of St Peter's (the other St Peter's) for great views, have lunch in the Viktualenmarkt (market in centre of city), stroll the shopping street Kaufingerstrasse (literally named "shopping street"), visit the Englischer Garten (English Garden) if the weather is decent and sit in the beer garden to watch the world go by, visit the Nymphenburg Palace and gardens, sneak a look at the Residenz, if you're into science the Deutsches Museum might be of interest, otherwise stand with the crowds in Marienplatz (main square) at 11am or 5pm and watch the cheesey-but-cool show that is the Glockenspiel. If you stick with the 4 days in Munich as per your first post, that will be plenty of time to fit in Neuschwanstein, Munich proper and Salzburg/Innsbruck as day trips/sightseeing, again depending on your own interests. The only other way I would suggest is perhaps having 2-3 full days in Munich and spending 1-2 nights in Innsbruck/Salzburg, but it depends again on you and your interests.