First trip to Western Europe. Please advise

[Ignas]

Hi everyone. I am a 22 year old male going on a trip for 3 weeks to Europe with two friends. I have outlined my schedule below and wanted to ask for suggestions as to whether anything is worth changing and if some destinations are worth dropping, since the itinerary is rather packed. I sort of tacked on the last day in Cologne because I've heard Cologne is a nice place to visit, and is along the way back to Munich, but was alternatively thinking of spending an extra day in Munich at the beginning of the itinerary or taking a flight to Ibiza for a day when staying in Barcelona. What do you guys think? Unfortunately, my friend had already booked a roundtrip flight LAX-Munich so I guess we have to return there. We are thinking of making do with a 8 day rail pass to only use in France, Italy, Germany and Benelux. We would buy tickets for the short trips in Italy on a point-to-point basis, as I have heard they are cheap for short legs.

• May 26. Fly into Munich at 4PM. Spend night in Munich.
  
• May 27. Spend entire day in Munich, take night train to Venice (9:03PM).
  
• May 28. Arrive in Venice at 6:03AM. Spend day and night in Venice.
  
• May 29. Take train to Rome, 7:47AM-12:10PM. Spend day/night in Rome.
  
• May 30. Rome.
  
• May 31. Rome.
  
• June 1st. Train to Florence, 9:00AM -10:40AM. Spend day/night in Florence.
  
• June 2nd. Spend day in Florence or take a day trip to Siena.
  
• June 3rd. Train to Cinque Terre, 7:58AM - 9:51AM. Spend day/night in Cinque Terre.
  
• June 4th. Cinque Terre to Nice by Train, 7:01AM - 12:06PM. Spend day in Nice/ visit Monaco.
  
• June 5th. Spend day in Nice. Fly to Barcelona 11:15PM - 0:25AM.
  
• June 6th. Barcelona.
  
• June 7th. Barcelona.
  
• June 8th. Barcelona.
  
• June 9th. Fly to Paris 7:30AM - 9:10AM. Spend day/night in Paris.
  
• June 10th. Paris.
  
• June 11th. Paris.
  
• June 12th. Train Paris-Amsterdam 8:25AM - 12:36AM. Spend day/night in Amsterdam.
  
• June 13th. Amsterdam.
  
• June 14th. Train Amsterdam - Cologne 8:04AM - 10:45AM. Spend day in Cologne. Take night train to Munich (11:46PM).
  
• June 15th. Arrive at 07:16AM. Neil departs to DUS at 10:10AM.
  Ignas departs to VNO at 13:25.
  

Let me know what you think guys. ;D
;D

[madamtrashheap]

Wecome to GFE, Ingnas.

There are a few cities that warrant a little more time, but of course that would mean cutting out other sights, so it's a hard one. In particular, and depending on your interests: Rome needs another day (at present you have 2 and a half, which will allow for most sights, but not a lot for simply wandering which is often the case for Rome). Florence needs another day if you intend to see it and go to Siena, and even then you're rushing. CT needs another day, especially if you intend to stop in Pisa on the way from Florence for a few hours. Nice for one full day will be fine to just lie on the beach and maybe have lunch in the Old Town. If you want to fit Monaco in you might have to do an evening trip up the hill for a few hours and catch the last train home (IMO Monaco is best viewed at night anyway). Flying Nice-Barca is a good idea so that's covered, ditto for flying Barca to Paris. You may find that 2 and a half days in Paris only just covers enough time to see a few things, but again it depends on your interests. You might find that a train (Thalys, the fast train service) from Paris to Amsterdam is a better option as you'll spend time getting to/from each airport that would add up to the same time taking a central-central train service (3hrs). I see that you're looking at early trains from city to city, which is a good way to sneak a little more time into destination cities on the day of arrival.

Is there a reason you're travelling south again to Munich from AMS (apart from seeing Cologne) and then flying north to Vilnius? I'm sure you could all part ways when you leave AMS if necessary to save time and you could fly from AMS to VNO instead of from MUC, unless of course there is a huge difference in cost of flights.

Hopefully that gives you a little more to contemplate so you can tweak your trip to suit you perfectly.

[Ignas]

Thanks a lot for your feedback!
So would you recommend dropping Cologne in favor of more time at one of the other destinations? In particular, would you spend the extra time at CT, Rome or Paris? Is 1.5 days too much for Nice?
The trip back south to Munich is indeed unfortunate, and is the result of being too hasty and uninformed in buying the air tickets. My friend got a round trip ticket between L.A. and Munich via Dusseldorf with Air Berlin, but Air Berlin has no penalty for one way flights, so he might as well have taken a flight back from Amsterdam via Dusseldorf. My other friend David and I decided to accompany him back to Munich as he doesn't speak German, but I'm sure he would have done fine. Oh well, I don't want to pay Air Baltic the 75 euro change fee now, as that is 75% of my actual ticket price

[Eagle]

Ignas, welcome to the Boards! Your Itinerary looks reasonably well sorted, but I'd suggest a few changes (if possible). Would something like this fit with your plans:

> May 26 - Fly into Munich at 4PM. Spend night in Munich.

Do you need information about how to get to Munich from the airport? I'd recommend the S-8 train, as there's a station right at the airport. Be sure to get in the habit of using 24-hour time, as that's what the rail systems in Europe use. Are you staying close to Munich rail station? You'll probably have time for a quick walkabout that day, but you'll be ready to "crash" about 21:00 or so.

> May 27 - Spend entire day in Munich, take night train to Venice (9:03PM).

What sights are you planning to see that day? There's lots to see in Munich, so you may not want to venture far. Be sure to have a look at the "unusual appliance" in the Men's Washroom in the Hofbrauhaus - it's on the right side as you enter. If you did want to take a day tour, book a trip to either Neuschwanstein or Dachau - book with www.radiustours.com/, as they have an office right in the Munich rail station. You've specified a precise time of 21:03 for your train to Venice, so I'm assuming you've researched your rail trips? NOTE: Your trip to Venice will pass through Austria, so if your Rail Pass doesn't include Austria you'll have to pay separately for that portion of the trip. You'll also have to pay separately for compulsory reservation fees and Couchette if desired. You can make all the arrangements at the Munich Rail station when you validate your Rail Passes. If you have any questions, pay a visit to the www.euraide.de/munich.html in the Munich station and speak to the agents, all of whom speak English.

> May 28 - Arrive in Venice at 6:03AM. Spend day and night in Venice.

Be sure to research the Vaporetto you'll be using from Venezia S.L. station to the area of your Hotel. If you had a good sleep on the train, you'll be ready for a full day of touring; if not, you may need a short nap. I'd strongly recommend packing a Guidebook along, as it will be very useful for reference during your travels.

At this point, I'd suggest some changes.....

> May 29 - Train to Florence. Spend day/night in Florence.

Be sure to allow lots of time to get to Venezia S.L. station via Vaporetto. There's a train departing Venezia S.L. at 08:43, arriving Firenze SMN at 11:23, time 2H40M, no changes, reservations compulsory. If you're planning to tour the Uffizi or Accademia, reservations are strongly advised!

> May 30 - Coach to Siena - spend day touring or possibly stay one night?

I'd suggest using Coach for this leg of the trip. The Coach station (SITA as I recall) is right next to Firenze SMN rail station. Use the Corse Rapide Bus if you're in a hurry. The trip is very pleasant and doesn't take much longer than the train. The big advantage is that the Bus will drop you right in town, rather than at the bottom of the hill where the train station is located. You might want to stay in Siena one night, as storing your luggage when you're wandering around might be a problem? Hopefully one of the others can comment on that. When leaving Siena take a Taxi to the station and take the train to Roma Termini.

> May 31 - Take train to Rome. Check into Hotel and tour Rome.

There will be at least one change, depending on which train you choose. There's a train departing Siena at 10:04, arriving Roma Termini at 13:16, time 3H:12M, one change at Chiusi-Chianciano Terme, reservations compulsory.

> June 1 - Rome

> June 2 - Rome

> June 3 - Train to Cinque Terre. Spend day/night in Cinque Terre.

Using the direct train listed below to La Spezia, the trip is 4H:16M. The train departs Roma Termini at 07:35, arriving La Spezia Centrale at 11:51. Have you decided which of the five villages you'll be staying in? From La Spezia the smaller local train travels to the villages often during the day.

> June 4 - Cinque Terre to Nice by Train, 7:01AM - 12:06PM. Spend day in Nice/ visit Monaco.

> June 5th - Spend day in Nice. Fly to Barcelona 11:15PM - 0:25AM.

Which airline are you using from Nice to Barcelona? If you need information on places to tour in Barcelona, herrbert will have some excellent tips for you.

> June 6th - Barcelona.

> June 7th - Barcelona.

> June 8th - Barcelona.

> June 9th. Fly to Paris 7:30AM - 9:10AM. Spend day/night in Paris.

If you're planning on visiting any of the major Museums in Paris, a Paris Museum Pass would be a really good idea, perhaps the 2-day version. It will help you to avoid wasting time in queues. Check www.parismuseumpass.com/en/pass_presentation.php for the details.

> June 10th. Paris.

> June 11th. Paris.

> June 12th. Train Paris-Amsterdam 8:25AM - 12:36AM. Spend day/night in Amsterdam.

> June 13th. Amsterdam.

> June 14th. Train Amsterdam - Cologne 8:04AM - 10:45AM. Spend day in Cologne.
Take night train to Munich (11:46PM).

> June 15th. Arrive at 07:16AM. Neil departs to DUS at 10:10AM. Ignas departs to VNO at 13:25.

One other point to mention is that I'd consider dropping one day from Barcelona and adding to Rome or Paris (whichever one interests you more).

Hope this helps. It's late so hopefully I haven't made any glaring mistakes. ;D

Good luck with your planning and happy travels!

[Ignas]

Thanks a lot for your advice, Eagle. It's amazing how many helpful and knowledgeable people there are on this forum, I'm really glad I joined.

I haven't booked my hostel in Munich yet, in fact I was considering looking for a hotel to get a better first night's sleep, as I have heard some hostels get rather loud.

With only a day in Munich, I suppose I just wanted to see as much as I could of the city in general, and of course spend some time in the afternoon at a beer garden I would definitely want to see BMW World as well, but don't know if a day will be enough time. I am still pondering adding on another day to see Dachau or some of the castles.

Thanks for the heads up on the rail pass for Austria, I did not know that, I thought a pass for the departure and destination countries was enough. Maybe I'll have to take a look into a point-to-point ticket for the Munich-Venice leg. What do you think? I was hoping to make do with a 4-country, 8 -day pass.

I see you suggest switching the order of Florence and Rome. This is the way I initially had it, as it seemed to make more sense geographically, but changed it so I would be in Rome on Friday and Saturday, as I assume it has much better nightlife on those nights than Florence or Venice. The added advantage of that was that the train to La Spezia arrived much earlier in the day from Florence, leaving more time to explore Cinque Terre. I was thinking in staying in a hostel in Vernazza.
Thanks for the transportations recommendations to Siena. Would you recommend making this day trip, or would you spend another full day in Florence?

I am intending to fly with Vueling from Nice to Barcelona, and Iberia from Barcelona to Paris.

I would love some tips on what to see in Barcelona.

I will definitely consider dropping one day from it and dedicating it to Paris or Rome. Do you think Cologne is worth keeping, or is it better to devote that day to an existing stop in my itinerary as well?

Thanks! ;D

[herrbert]

Vueling (see www.vueling.com) is flying the route Nice - Barcelona. And also Iberia has this route now. So that's some good news for people wanting to avoid the long trainride, or the need to first go to Marseille for a flight.

It's a late flight (arriving just before midnight), so check you connections in Barcelona. If you stay in the center it shouldn't be a problem, but inform your hostel/hotel that you'll be arriving at a late hour.

[madamtrashheap]

Iganas, as you've paid for your MUC-VNO ticket and the cost to change isn't worth it, why not stick with the original plan to stop in Cologne? It's on the way and your plan of a nighttrain still fits in.

Eagle's points about dropping a day from Barca is valid, and as I've also noted, you need to consider adding another day in Rome (and Paris if you can). Barca is a great city, but you should be able to cover a fair bit in 2 and a half days (if you alter the schedule). Things to see and do include: Park Güell (home to Casa-Museu Gaudí and colourful mosaics, dwarf houses and raised walkways; allow half a day to visit the gardens), Picasso Museum - Museu Picasso, located in the Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic), Sagrada Família (Gaudi's unfinished Cathedral that is slowing being completed), Las Ramblas (pedistrian area between Placa de Catalunya and the habour; good for people watching and sourvenirs, but watch the pickpockets), Gothic Quarter (Barri Gotic which is home to the Santa Creu Gothic Cathedral, great lanes for wandering and lots of little tapas bars and cafes) Plaça de Catalunya (large square in the centre of the city, Statue of Christopher Columbus (at the end of Las Ramblas, can be climbed for more views of the city and habour), Placa d’España and specifically the fountains in the square between it and the National Palace (on the hill) are some of the best in Europe; in Summer on Saturday evenings and some Sundays around 20.30-21.00hrs the water is lit with 1,200 coloured lights and the fountains sequenced to music for a dancing water performance, Olympic Stadium, Montjuïc (great views from the fortress), The Face of Barcelona (on the harbour at the end of the Gothic Quarter - piece by artist Joan Miró to commemorate all elements of the city, he also has a museum near Olympic Stadium).

The Plaça del Sol in Barcelona is a student area and has some good bars and tapas places, but make sure you also get into the Clubs (aka "Discos" in Europe) to check out are: Up & Down, Port Olimpic (has a large complex with different clubs and great in Summer when the terrace bar sections are open), Moog, Razzmatazz and there's also a Pascha club here too (surprise!).

[Ignas]

I decided to go with your advice and shorten my stay in Barcelona to two days. Booked a ticket from Barcelona to Paris on Jun 8th, 10:00-11:25, for only $42 a person! ;D

On the downside, it seems almost impossible to book the Vueling flight as I have tried 4 different credit cards and they have all gotten rejected. Maybe it's something about U.S. credit cards?

[Mikul]

Feb 20, 2009 1:58:51 GMT -5 Ignas said:

On the downside, it seems almost impossible to book the Vueling flight as I have tried 4 different credit cards and they have all gotten rejected. Maybe it's something about U.S. credit cards?

I too have had problems purchasing airline tickets online. I tried to purchase my ticket from the British Airways website, but all of my banks kept declining them. I tried American Express and FIA. Eventually, one of my credit union credit cards worked. However, all of the banks did contact me within a couple hours notifying me of "unusual" activity.

[Eagle]

Ignas, a few additional comments....

I'd probably stay in a Hotel on the first night in Munich, partly for the reasons you mentioned. You'll undoubtedly get a better sleep. You might have a look at www.hotel-uhland.de/enwelcome.html. I usually stay there on visits to Munich, and would highly recommend it. It's not a long walk from the rail station, but as you'll be tired you may want to take a Taxi. One tip though, don't sleep through breakfast - the breakfasts there are awesome, so you wouldn't want to sleep through breakfast!

There's a Sofitel Hotel right next to the rail station, but it's a bit on the expensive side so may be over your budget.

Regarding the Rail pass and the Munich-Venice trip, a second class ticket for the Austria portion will cost about $40. The Rail Guide suggests that it's "worthwhile to add Austria to your pass".

One final note on Rail Passes - you can purchase them from this web site at the same cost as elsewhere (and it supports our efforts here). Check the link on the main page of this site.

Cheers!

[Ignas]

Hey everyone,
So I was mulling over how I might not have another free summer for a long time as I am starting work in the fall, and you know those pesky 10 day U.S. vacation allowances. As such, I decided to budget more for the trip and spend an extra week travelling.
I am not sure, however, where to spend that extra week. I will be in Cologne on June 14th and have to decide where to go from there. I will cancel my flight from Munich.
I am considering just spending the week seeing more of Germany. I'd like to explore Berlin for 3 days and also spend a few extra days in Munich to take day trips to Dachau, the BMW museum, and the castles or Salzburg.
An alternate and equally appealing trip seems taking the train to Berlin, spending a few days there, and then flying to Athens for 4-5 days on Easyjet (cheeeeeap tix =]).
Others on the agenda are Switzerland - Interlaken and Gimmelwald, Bern would be only a 5 hour train ride from Koln.
I've heard Prague is nice too.
In other words, I'm completely at a loss of where to go.
What do you guys think?

[Ignas]

P.S. In the poll it should say train to BERN, not Berlin.

[madamtrashheap]

Ignas, I'd be inclined to suggest that with your extra week you spend an extra day in Munich (as previously suggested) at the start and then from Cologne go to Berlin then on to Prague via Dresden (stop for a few hours or overnight) by train.

That's not to say Switzerland isn't gorgeous and worth a visit or that Greece at the start of Summer (ie June) isn't worth spending a week in, but from the other cities already on your list, I think you'd enjoy Berlin, Dresden and Prague the most.

Have you booked any other tickets other than the Barca-Paris leg? I ask because you might have been able to adjust your itinerary, but simplying adding those cities at the end will be doable if you don't want to start altering things too much.

[Ignas]

Thank you so much for your excellent advice, MTH, it has truly been instrumental in the planning and formation of my European trip itinerary.
My friend has already booked a lot of the lodgings for the first 3 weeks, so we decided to fly from Cologne to Prague on June 15th for 4 days on Germanwings (really cheap), and then from Cologne make our way down to Munich, from where my flight leaves. My flight is on Monday, so I will have from Thursday afternoon until Monday afternoon to go down to Munich. I was wondering whether it was worthwhile spending a day/night in Rothenburg, or any other city not too far away from the Koln-Munich route for that matter? We were definitely looking to allocate at least one day to Dachau once in Munich. Another thought was to make a day trip to Austria to either Salzburg or Innsbruck. What are your ideas on this? Thanks a bunch!

[herrbert]

I love Austria, and a visit to Salzburg, would also make it possible to make the daytrip to Werfen (to the ice caves, and the castle). I must have suggested it so much, people might start to think I work for the tourist board in Werfen, but I am not. From Salzburg you can also get to Hallstatt pretty easy, and there are also some other pretty sites in this area.

Innsbruck also is a pretty town, and you should at least take one day to see the town, and after that another one in the mountains. (there is a cablecar going up the hafelekar, from the center of Innsbruck, and it will give you some great views.)

From both places it's pretty easy to return to Munich.

That said, I also like Madam's suggestion.