Mary_Fran

We are in the beginning stages of planning our May 2006 trip to central and eastern Europe and would appreciate your input. We'll have 25 days on the ground.

We love the travel between cities, in addition to the sightseeing within the cities, and our style is to cover a number of cities, rather than hunkering down in fewer cities and doing day trips.

We definitely want to include some driving between destinations, as well as taking advantage of trains and planes when that method is faster or cheaper.

We visited a number of small towns and cities in southern Germany in 2003. Now we want to do a "big-city" trip, focusing north and east.

Here's our current wish list, with the number of days for each city:

Munich, 4
Berlin, 4
Vienna, 3
Krakow, 3
Prague, 3
Cesky Krumlov, 2
Copenhagen, 3
Aarhus, 3

I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts as to how you suggest organizing this itinerary. Are there any cities you'd knock off the list? Any you'd add instead? Should we ditch the Danes (Aarhus and Copenhagen) and plug in a couple of other cities, maybe Leipzig and/or Dresden?

Do you have any suggestions for the best means of travel between towns, keeping in mind that we like driving but are open to plane and train? Suggested routes for a manageable driving itinerary between some of the towns, such as Munich to Vienna to Cesky Krumlov, etc.?

P.S. Aarhus and Copenhagen are well off the beaten path, but I'd like to fit them in if possible, because our grandparents emigrated to the US from Aarhus, so I want to be sure to get at least a brief introduction to Denmark on this trip, if possible, because I may not get a chance to go back later, as my income becomes more limited in retirement.

harzer

I would give Vienna a miss to make way for DK. It's long drive out there and back, and th0se three days can be used to fill in some of the detail between your other destinations like Dresden and maybe Bratislava, and little gems like Gorlitz and Passau.

Harzer

Bird

Your itinerary sounds fine. Many people will advise you to consolidate your time to fewer cities, but it sounds like this fits your style. You might consider Budapest rather than Vienna. I would add more days to Copenhagen and less to Aarhus.

tomboy

We did a 21 day Central Europe trip this May. I would deduct a day each from Vienna, Prague and Krakow to enable 2 days in Budapest. Personally, I'd ditch Denmark, but you have a personal interest that overrides. Passau is between Munich & Vienna--nice organ concert on Saturday AM (you haven't expressed your interests or disinterests). Telc is nice, enroute from Vienna/Budapest to Prague. I'd also clip at least a day from Munich and Berlin, as I find the small towns more interesting (even tho I was born in Detroit [when it was twice as big]).

Mary_Fran

It's so nice of you all to respond!

Denmark: We're thinking that we will scratch Copenhaben and Aarhus this trip. They're just too far out of the way this time.

Vienna: This is a must see on my sister's list. She's been to Vienna before, loves it, and is really anxious for me to see it.

Budapest: I had this on my list initially but scrapped it because it's off the beated track. Would you mind telling my why you favor it? Perhaps we should reconsider it.

For interests, we love music, scenery, architecture, art, churches, and history. I have terrible feet and so am not much into hiking.

About the only thing we're not interested in is shopping.

Thank you all for your input! We'll be b-a-a-a-k!

PeterB

don't lower your days in Krakow - even if you are a very quick site visitor - there is so much very near Krakow which you can definitly enjoy. I would agree with others and drop Vienna to expand on other sites and anything around those. I also think Budapest be a nice instead of Vienna - but that maybe bit out of your way if the whole trip be driving. Munich ... hmmm not sure if you need so much for just that city - BUT there is a lot around it ... esppecially in Alps area ... when in Munich area you could also visit Salzburg http://www.muenchen.de/Rathaus/touri.../Salzburg.html
on the way to Salzburg - Koenigssee Lake and area is also a very vice stop over http://www.muenchen.de/Rathaus/touri...oenigssee.html - Neuschwanstein Castle around Fussen maybe bit far out of a way ... But if you are doing Berlin then it depands which way you would drive down (maybe taking a little loop using romantic road and Würzburg) or Go thru Dresden and other gems around Elbe River.

I would also suggest to book bus city tours i cities like Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen and Krakow (with Krakow try to get a tour that will also take you outside of Krakow - ie. Wieliczka) - which not only will save you a lot of time but also will give you much more info then guidebooks provide - with quick tour you can then decide where maybe to go back to for longer visit.

PeterB

Mary_Fran: you said: "I have terrible feet and so am not much into hiking." - Note that many places have lifts in Koenigssee Lake there is this lif which will take you really high up onto one of the Alps peaks - for some really great views of the area - so no hiking necessary (although same peak can be reached by foot) Similar is in Zakopane (around Krakow) Gobalowka and Kasprowy Wierch both offer lifts to top for some great views - etc etc ... Leaving Denmark off your trip this time maybe a good idea ... this will allow you to spend some extra time in smaller cities and sites on your way between the large cities.

walkinaround

i agree with your scrapping of denmark in favour of concentrating on central europe.

it would be nice to do a proper visit to denmark later (or do it now and visit central europe later). Summer is the best time and i suggest a visit up to skagen. this way, you can focus on the making the family connection rather than shoe-horning it into an already packed itinerary.

tomboy

Hi again. If you like art, you'd like Vienna. I'm very un-art-able; can't even draw a stick figure. My first 60 years, I did not appreciate art. After getting exposure over the last 5-10 years, tho, I have changed. Two years ago, wife got me to go to Kunsthistoriche Museum in Vienna; this year I told her let's go back. It's VERY good! Not anywhere near as big as Louvre, but every bit as good on an art/per square foot basis.
Budapest: Lots of "music, scenery, architecture, art, churches, and history". Pretty city, with Danube running smack between two scenic shores of the river. Very nice architecture, of various eras. Good food. Lots of history. My wife describes it as being the best of Prague and Vienna.
Personally, I didn't care so much for Salzburg, so my suggestion would be to stop in Passau on the way from Munich to Vienna, then drive along south shore of Donau to Melk/Krems area before hopping on autobahn for Wien. Budapest is maybe 1-1/2 hr east of Wien by autobahn. A writer above suggests Bratislava; I would NOT. Another writer above suggest Wieliczka
; while we found it interesting, your scope to me would obviate a trip to the salt mine. Your interests parallel ours, so your itinerary sounds good. Some will say it's too much driving, but if you're like us, that's how you get a flavor of the land. To us, a big city like Berlin is not very dissimilar from Chicago. Budapest, Prague, Krakow haven't become homogenized yet, and still retain some original flavor. Re CEsky Krumlov: i found it very interesting; we arrived about 1 PM, toured castle, then town, stayed overnight, left next morning---ample time. If push comes to shove, I suspect you could eliminate that stay if you went to Prague castle and its cathedral. Better to eliminate it if it otherwise meant eliminating Budapest

Ingo

I definitely think you should include Dresden in your list. It is right on the route between Berlin and Prague. You might consider spending two nights there plus maybe another night for a visit in the National Park southeast on the Czech border (called "Saxon Switzerland&quot. Or stay the additional night (or two) right in the National Park (or in one of the picturesque towns/villages).

Just an idea since you also mentioned you are interested in scenery. Don't worry about too much walking/hiking, there are buses which take you to the viewing places (or drive).

It would be a shame to rush through Dresden and not spending a bit of time there.

jeg

Too bad about Aarhus. We went there two years ago (Copenhagen, too) and really enjoyed it. I agree with earlier poster about not cutting days from Krakow. We went there this summer and loved it.

Mary_Fran

Thank you so much for your thoughtful replies.

I think we've reworked our itinerary in a way that takes into account some of our suggestions.

However, the process my sister and I isn't pretty. Reminds me of that famous quote attributed to Otto von Bismark, "To retain respect for sausages and laws, one must not watch them in the making."

We're now looking at the following selection of cities:

3 days Munich
2 days Budapest
2 days Copenhagen
2 days Aarhus
3 days Berlin
2 days Lubbenau/Spreewald (1 night)
3 days Krakow
3 days Prague
1 day Cesky Krumlov
3 days Vienna
1 day Munich before return home

Following is more detail about our tentative travel plans:

May 08 - Munich - Arrive from Seattle at 8:00 a.m.
May 09 - Munich
May 10 - Munich
May 11 - Budapest, Air Berlin 6:40 am to 9:55 am from Munich
May 12 - Budapest
May 13 - Copenhagen, Sky Europe Budapest to Copenhagen, 10:55 am to 12:45
May 14 - Copenhagen
May 15 - Aarhus, drive from Copenhagen, 3.5 hours
May 16 - Aarhus
May 17 - Berlin - Drive from Aarhus to Copenhagen for 5:50 pm flight to Berlin
May 18 - Berlin
May 19 - Berlin
May 20 - Spreewald/Lubbenau - rent car in Berlin, drive to Spreewald
May 21 - Spreewald, with evening return to Berlin for morning flight to Krakow
May 22 - Krakow, after EasyJet 11:40 am flight from Berlin, arrive 12:55 pm
May 23 - Krakow
May 24 - Krakow during the day, then 10:50 pm overnight train to Prague
May 25 - Cesky Krumlov, arrive in Prague from Krakow at 7:25 am, pick up rental
car and 3.5 hr. drive to Cesky Krumlov
May 26 - Day in Cesky Krumlov, late afternoon drive to Prague
May 27 - Prague
May 28 - Prague
May 29 - Vienna, train from Prague, 8:00 am - 12:28 pm
May 30 - Vienna
May 31 - Vienna
Jun 01 - Munich, train from Vienna, 1:30 pm to 6:34 pm
Jun 02 - Fly home

I would appreciate your comments and suggestions.


I decided we just had to keep the Denmark stops on our itinerary. My cousin has been there and can direct us to our mother's family's farm. I've forgotten the name of the city, but my mother used to tell me when I was a child about how her ancestors found a burial mound on their property that yielded a skeleton wearing a full suit of gold mail armor that ended up in the museum.

I was sometimes skeptical of her stories, but my cousin says it's true (not sure about the "gold" part though). My mother also told me about how when she was a young woman growing up outside Missoula, Montana, about 1920, a forest ranger with a crush on her named a mountain after her. I thought it was just a sweet myth until I saw the brown forest service sign a few years ago, outside Huson, Monthana, with an arrow pointing to "Edith Peak." I need to see for myself what they dug up from that burial mound on their farm.

Mary_Fran

Ooops! My vision isn't what it used to be. The sentence is supposed to read, &quot;However, the process my sister and <u>go through in creating and refining our itineraries</u> isn't pretty.&quot;

tomboy

Your itinerary appears like Seattle to Boston to Spokane to D.C. to Reno to Chicago to Seattle. Wouldn't Copenhagen to Berlin to Prague to Munich to Budapest to Vienna reduce your in=flight time appreciably, enabling you to see more and tire less?

Ingo

Your new itinerary sounds like a nightmare to me. Like tomboy said, too much hopping forth and back and IMO too much flying around. You might consider that the airports are always quite a distance from the cities, all the hassle with check in/out, go through security checks (Poland, Czech Rep. and Hungary are not members of the Schengen treaty!) will cost time. And - opposite to train travels or driving - you'll see nothing of the landscape.

Ingo

Mary_Fran

Thanks again for the food for thought.

Tomboy, flying openjaw into Copenhagen and out of Vienna would have increased my fare from the states by $400, based on today's prices, and at the time I made the reservation, I didn't even think of going to Denmark. That occurred to me only after the reservation was made.

The reason for the somewhat odd hops is that I wanted to fly cheap intra-Europe flights, and they don't all fly to all cities. I'm looking at time and cost rather than at distance.

Munich to Budapest, Air Berlin, 1:10 flight time, for 71 euros, and we should be at our hotel by about noon.

Budapest to Copenhagen, Sky Europe, $80, 2 hour flight.

Copenhagen to Berlin, EasyJet, 1 hour flight, $28

Berlin to Krakow, Easyjet, 1.25 hour, 19 Euros.

(The flights shown as priced in $$ were priced in Danish currency, which I converted into $$.)

I'm figuring half day of travel between each of the destinations.

We'll sure think about it, though, and I really do appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Visiting this many cities, in these locations, in this amount of time simply would not be possible if we relied solely on driving and train. However, if any of you have had bad experiences using the intra-Europe airlines, I'd be grateful if you would share.

Millie64

I have had no problems with using Easyjet except make sure you do not bring too much luggage. They charge A LOT if you are overweight, especially your carry on.

Michal

If you will visite Vienna and you love scenery, architecture, art, churches, and history so visite town Mikulov. Abot Mikulov. It is historical town and capital of Czech wine and viticulture. There is a lot of sigts. The historical Jewish Quarter, synagogue with museum of the history of Mikulov's Jewish quarter and the large Jewish Cemetery. The cemetery contains around four thousand gravestones. There is Unique Viticultural Exhibition in the Chateau Mikulov. The display also includes a remarkable vat from 1643 in the Chateau cellar. When I tell you that a craftsman and his three assistants worked on it for 38 weeks to finish it, you will not be surprised by its.noteworthy capacity - 101,400 litres. There is large picture gallery of the Dietrichsteins' portraits.

Near from Mikulov is Lednice-Valtice Area, the large-scale landscape park protected by UNESCO.

Very seductive chance is to explore viticulture and wine in small wine-cellars of mikulover wine-growers, taste local wines. The cellar of Mr. Solarik (my father) is very unusual. It is located in the limestone cave. You have my invitation to taste our wines.

Mikulov is near from Viena (70 km) and you can go by bus. More information you can finde on web-site www.mikulov.cz

Yours sincerely
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