avee

Hello all,
My husband, my 1 year old and I are going to Europe in June. The husband has a meeting in Madrid so we are planning to fly to and from Madrid and we want to do a trip around central europe in this time, visiting 1(or maybe 2) cities each in 3-4 countries. We will spend some time in Madrid and Barcelona (3 days each?) and we have always wanted to visit Prague and Vienna and we want to include at least one of Budapest/Zurich/Munich/Zagreb. This would give us 2-3 days in Prague, Vienna and the last city. I realize I am probably being too ambitious here. We intend to do a day or two of sightseeing and spend one day just walking around and taking it in.
Could you guys please offer some thoughts on the trip and also ideas on how to travel between these places. It seems unwise to take a Eurail pass since we only intend to visit one city in each of these countries, am I right? Also any ideas on what places I should include/drop would be nice.
Thanks a lot.
Cheers

nytraveler

First- you will need to slow down with a baby - everything will take longer.

Second - you are not leaving yourself time to trvel between cities - each is 1/2 to a full day - that comes out of your total.

I wold fly to one destination in Central europe, train to another there, then fly back to Madrid. IMHO that is really all you have time for.

Of those cities the ones with the most to see/do are IMHO Vienna an Prague. And since the trip between the two is only about 5 hours by train that's what I would do.

In 15 days 4 cities is really the most you can reasonably do - esp with an infant and having to circle back to Madrid to return home (you should plan on arriving there the night before your flight).

BigRuss

<<I realize I am probably being too ambitious here.>>

You bet you are. Good gosh. That will be difficult because the baby is a toddler and past the potted plant stage (6-9 mos). Personally, I think 4 cities in 15 days will be very difficult. The suggestion to "fly to one destination in Central europe, train to another there, then fly back to Madrid" is probably about as much as you could reasonably do. Five days in a city with a hobbit is equivalent to MAXIMUM of 3 days by yourself.

avee

Thanks a lot BigRuss and nytraveler. I think we will fly to Madrid and then visit Barcelona, Prague and Vienna. These are a must for me and I am going to choose to not do justice to one city in order to be fair to the 3 others
Thanks again.

MaloBalo

Well, as the other guys mentioned, it's waaay too ambitious. If you had the perfect connections flying in in the morning, departing late at night, and you'd be travelling as an ambitious couple, making some cuts here and there, I'd say four cities COULD be managable. I also assume, it's your first time to Madrid.

Madrid:
If you want to enjoy Madrid with all it has to offer - and it has to offer tons of interesting things - four days is a minimum, five my recommendation. I've been shown around Madrid by my girlfriend who studied there. I'd never expect it to have so many beautiful places that are worth staying. Afair, I spent a total of four days there, touring around all of the days...and believe me, I was not even close to seeing it all. Having a toddler with you won't make things easier for sure.

Barcelona:
It's less comfortable for tourists with a toddler. The walking distance between metro stations and where they actually pretend to have brought you may be considerably further. Going by bus requires some time to figure stuff out. If you stay in the Centre, it'll definately benefit you, but still you'll need to invest more time. If you feel like skipping some sights, three days might work out, but I'd rather go with four to five.

Say, you spent 9.5 days including the transfer to Barcelona, and had 6 days left, I'd personally recommend to either fly to Mallorca/Menorca and relax some time, or if you still feel like city trips is the way to go, fly to Rome or Prag and spend the rest of the days in either of the cities. Including the time you need for travelling, you certainly won't make Prag and Vienna in six days, unless you really don't mind skipping mayor parts of the cities.

I've been to all of your desired destinations. All of them are great cities with their respective pros and cons. The one standing out in my opinion is Rome. And six days with a toddler is about what you need to have a great time there. If you end up having to decide between Prag and Vienna, Vienna is surely more comfortable with regard to your kid. Prag, however, is far more impressive.

bobthenavigator

Not a good plan---stay in Spain.
It takes 5 trips just for Spain. Save central Europe for another trip.

PalenQ

. It seems unwise to take a Eurail pass since we only intend to visit one city in each of these countries, am I right?>

Well if you actually did move between those countries a Eurail Pass could well be a great deal but I agree with others than in 15 days you would basically be moving every other day or so and again if so a Eurailpass may be a great deal - either 15-straight days or a Select Pass - but I think that in reality if you do do both you should fly between Spain and say Vienna - anyway for lots of great info on European trains check out these IMo fantastic sources - www.seat61.com (for Eurailpass prices click on this site's commercial link to RailEurope) and www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.