30 Days Europe Travel Help
Sep 8th, 2015, 10:46 PM
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30 Days Europe Travel Help
Hello, I am a first time Europe traveler and I am in need of help with my travel plans. I plan on traveling to Europe for 30 days in October 2017 with my wife for our honeymoon. We have a budget of $15000. My plan as of now is to go Amsterdam to cologne to Munich to Salzburg to Venice to Florence, to Interlaken to Paris. I would like to know if this is reasonable within the amount of time (30 days) and budget. Are there any places I should add/remove or replace with other places. How much time should I allow for each place? Any advice would be helpful. Thanks!!
Sep 9th, 2015, 02:57 AM
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It's all a question of taste, but Cologne (Köln) could be a little bit disappointing, and personally I find Munich (München) somewhat underwhelming (although it has some nice palaces around). I have no experience with places on the Rhine, but instead of München I could recommend Nürnberg. Nice in itself, and a good base for beautiful and agreeable Bamberg and Regensburg.
In Austria Salzburg is good for one or two days, but Vienna (Wien) is much more interesting (and not only for Schönbrunn!). From Germany first to Vienna, then to Salzburg would be a good order. After Salzburg you can have one night in Innsbruck, before moving on to Venice (better rail connection).
I would not limit myself to the cities themselves, how wonderful they can be. It's great fun and rewarding to have some daytrips to smaller places around. From Amsterdam, for example, you can easily go to nice historical cities like Haarlem (less than 20 minutes by train) or Dordrecht (1h30), from where you can visit the famous windmill complex of Kinderdijk by taking the half-hourly bus or ferry. Public transport in the countries on your list is well-organized and frequent (buses less so in weekends).
All travelling can be done by train. Use the pan-European train planner of the German rail http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml for your finetuning. Booking is done by the respective national railways, and advance booking can save you huge amounts of money (often less than half the normal tariff). But that's a worry for 2017!
In Austria Salzburg is good for one or two days, but Vienna (Wien) is much more interesting (and not only for Schönbrunn!). From Germany first to Vienna, then to Salzburg would be a good order. After Salzburg you can have one night in Innsbruck, before moving on to Venice (better rail connection).
I would not limit myself to the cities themselves, how wonderful they can be. It's great fun and rewarding to have some daytrips to smaller places around. From Amsterdam, for example, you can easily go to nice historical cities like Haarlem (less than 20 minutes by train) or Dordrecht (1h30), from where you can visit the famous windmill complex of Kinderdijk by taking the half-hourly bus or ferry. Public transport in the countries on your list is well-organized and frequent (buses less so in weekends).
All travelling can be done by train. Use the pan-European train planner of the German rail http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml for your finetuning. Booking is done by the respective national railways, and advance booking can save you huge amounts of money (often less than half the normal tariff). But that's a worry for 2017!
Sep 9th, 2015, 04:47 AM
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Agree that Koln is the outlier - not a lot going on except the Dom.
And I would consider moving in on direction as opposed to a circle - as long as it doesn't make a nonsense of your air trips versus what you have. And do be prepared that Oct can be quite pleasant - cool, sunny and brisk - or at the end can get into cold, rainy an starting to be winterish - so make sure your wardrobe is appropriate for the weather.
For instance, in Nov I found my leather jacket (not a thin blazer) to be fine for the weather even at night - but you will need more than a thin jacket. And sturdy waterproofed waking shoes or booties are important as is a sturdy folding umbrella.
And I would consider moving in on direction as opposed to a circle - as long as it doesn't make a nonsense of your air trips versus what you have. And do be prepared that Oct can be quite pleasant - cool, sunny and brisk - or at the end can get into cold, rainy an starting to be winterish - so make sure your wardrobe is appropriate for the weather.
For instance, in Nov I found my leather jacket (not a thin blazer) to be fine for the weather even at night - but you will need more than a thin jacket. And sturdy waterproofed waking shoes or booties are important as is a sturdy folding umbrella.
Sep 9th, 2015, 06:28 AM
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Hi
Amsterdam deserves 2-3 days
Koeln is one of my favourite cities, but partly because I spent 6 months in the neighbourhood. I'd recommend other places too, either Aachen (smaller but nicer) or on the Rhine close to Koblenz for example and take a small cruise on the Rhine (Lorelei is very beautiful.
Nurnberg is quite nice too, medieval, 1-2 days maybe ?
Muenchen is imho a must, I love this city. 2 days at least.
Salzburg, went there last when I was 10, no memories.
Vienna arguably is much better (according to my wife and daughter who went there, but again, not me). 2 days at least from what they told me)
Venice obviously is a must - 2-3 days at least.
Firenze is splendid - 2-3 days too, from there you can go to a lot of small nice cities : San Gimignano, Siena, Lucca etc. 2 more days to cover this at least.
Interlaken : never been, and I'm not a fan of Switzerland, so no good advice from me there.
I'd spend some days in cote d'azur instead, so that you ahve a few days on the beach. (Nice, Antibes).
Paris, of course, count 4-5 days, some gorgeous daytrips (Versailles, senlis, Chartres, vaux le vicomte, etc - browse on the forum, French Mystique has a fabulous list of daytrips).
So around 20 days + travel time.
You may want to travel by train for such non big legs of journey, much more confortable than plane imho.
Everybody sets his limits where he wants to, but I do without problem 4-5 hours of train instead of flying.
No security check (hence Kalashinkov on Thalys trains ...) and station to station, in center of cities, so no taxi from airports, wait for luggage etc.
And congrats for your honeymoon !
Amsterdam deserves 2-3 days
Koeln is one of my favourite cities, but partly because I spent 6 months in the neighbourhood. I'd recommend other places too, either Aachen (smaller but nicer) or on the Rhine close to Koblenz for example and take a small cruise on the Rhine (Lorelei is very beautiful.
Nurnberg is quite nice too, medieval, 1-2 days maybe ?
Muenchen is imho a must, I love this city. 2 days at least.
Salzburg, went there last when I was 10, no memories.
Vienna arguably is much better (according to my wife and daughter who went there, but again, not me). 2 days at least from what they told me)
Venice obviously is a must - 2-3 days at least.
Firenze is splendid - 2-3 days too, from there you can go to a lot of small nice cities : San Gimignano, Siena, Lucca etc. 2 more days to cover this at least.
Interlaken : never been, and I'm not a fan of Switzerland, so no good advice from me there.
I'd spend some days in cote d'azur instead, so that you ahve a few days on the beach. (Nice, Antibes).
Paris, of course, count 4-5 days, some gorgeous daytrips (Versailles, senlis, Chartres, vaux le vicomte, etc - browse on the forum, French Mystique has a fabulous list of daytrips).
So around 20 days + travel time.
You may want to travel by train for such non big legs of journey, much more confortable than plane imho.
Everybody sets his limits where he wants to, but I do without problem 4-5 hours of train instead of flying.
No security check (hence Kalashinkov on Thalys trains ...) and station to station, in center of cities, so no taxi from airports, wait for luggage etc.
And congrats for your honeymoon !
Sep 10th, 2015, 11:21 AM
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Bsmith---
I think your budget is O.K., but a lot depends on what the Euro will do v the dollar in the next couple of years, and of course where you stay, where you eat, what you do.
If you stick to moderately priced hotels (E200 to E300), stay out of the high end restaurants (except for one or two honeymoon splurges), etc., you should be fine.
Re your itinerary: we liked Munich, Vienna, Salzburg--a lot. Never been to Cologne or Interlaken, but, like a couple of the others, think you might enjoy Provence and the Cote d'Azur on your honeymoon. That would be my preference, anyway. The suggestion of Innsbruck is a good one--beautiful area and easily reached from Salzburg or Munich.
Also, as noted above, try to get out of the cities some. Tuscany, the Veneto, the small cities and towns in Provence, the northern bank of the Danube River between Vienna and Salzburg, the Isle de' France around Paris and even a little further afield--southern Picardy, northeastern Normandy. All offer lots of very beautiful places and will in general be less expensive than the nearby cities.
!Best wishes for your marriage and bon voyage!
I think your budget is O.K., but a lot depends on what the Euro will do v the dollar in the next couple of years, and of course where you stay, where you eat, what you do.
If you stick to moderately priced hotels (E200 to E300), stay out of the high end restaurants (except for one or two honeymoon splurges), etc., you should be fine.
Re your itinerary: we liked Munich, Vienna, Salzburg--a lot. Never been to Cologne or Interlaken, but, like a couple of the others, think you might enjoy Provence and the Cote d'Azur on your honeymoon. That would be my preference, anyway. The suggestion of Innsbruck is a good one--beautiful area and easily reached from Salzburg or Munich.
Also, as noted above, try to get out of the cities some. Tuscany, the Veneto, the small cities and towns in Provence, the northern bank of the Danube River between Vienna and Salzburg, the Isle de' France around Paris and even a little further afield--southern Picardy, northeastern Normandy. All offer lots of very beautiful places and will in general be less expensive than the nearby cities.
!Best wishes for your marriage and bon voyage!
Sep 10th, 2015, 02:10 PM
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If going to all those places by train - IMO easily done in a month - be sure to investigate some kind of railpass - like the Eurail Select Saver Pass - valid in any 4 countries of your choice. and in Switzerland if there just a few days and taking several train rides like in an around Interlaken then a Swiss Pass can be surprisingly cost-effective - anyway for lots of great info on European trains check: www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
Switzerland I would gravitate on the Jungfrau Region just south of Interlaken and enscone yourselves in a cozy mountain village like Wengen or Grindelwald where you are practically eyeball to eyeball with soaring majestic glacier-girdled Alps - toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas going off in all directions - then maybe take the Golden Pass scenic train from Interlaken to Montreux, on Lake Geneva for a few days and a short TGV train ride from Paris (from Geneva or Lausanne). www.swisstravelsystem.com has loads of goodies on Swiss trains and specialty scenic trains like the Golden Pass.
The fantastic Jungfrua Region - to me and many the absolute highlight of the dreamy Alpine Switzerland perhaps etched in your minds'eyes:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...=1600&bih=1099
Switzerland I would gravitate on the Jungfrau Region just south of Interlaken and enscone yourselves in a cozy mountain village like Wengen or Grindelwald where you are practically eyeball to eyeball with soaring majestic glacier-girdled Alps - toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas going off in all directions - then maybe take the Golden Pass scenic train from Interlaken to Montreux, on Lake Geneva for a few days and a short TGV train ride from Paris (from Geneva or Lausanne). www.swisstravelsystem.com has loads of goodies on Swiss trains and specialty scenic trains like the Golden Pass.
The fantastic Jungfrua Region - to me and many the absolute highlight of the dreamy Alpine Switzerland perhaps etched in your minds'eyes:
https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...=1600&bih=1099
Sep 10th, 2015, 04:25 PM
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Hi there,
What I'll do is list all the places you mentioned with a suggested number of days strictly for that city/region. Once I'm done, I'll tally them up and see how many extra days we have to work with (if any). I'll assume that since you're on a honeymoon, you're looking to relax a little and not spend the bare minimum time in each place. At the same time, you want to see a lot of places, so I don't expect you will be spending tons of time getting to know cities intimately. I'll also include travel days, understanding that you will in most cases have an afternoon/evening left for touring your destination. Here goes...
Amsterdam - 4 days (includes time for day trip as to smaller Dutch town)
Cologne - 1 day (treating this as a stopover)
Munich - 3 days (may want to visit Nuschwanstein Castle as a day trip)
Salzburg - 2 days
Venice - 3 days
Florence - 3 days
Interlaken - 4 days (could stay in mountain village in Berner Oberland)
Paris - 5 days
So that's 25 days. You could easily use the extra 5 days by a) tacking them on to some cities on your list, b) adding a big city, or c) adding a few stopover cities. Also, I personally found Cologne and Munich underwhelming, so those could be candidates to be shortened.
a) If you want to add more time to cities you are already visiting, I would say Paris, Florence and Amsterdam are the top candidates. From Florence, you can do a day trip to Pisa or Siena.
b) If you want to add a major city, Rome is probably your best option. There's so much to see, it can eat up 4-5 days.
c) Other cities I suggest:
- Vienna (2 days before/after Salzburg)
- Innsbruck (stopover between Salzburg and Venice)
- Cinque Terre (2-3 days after Florence - it's 5 small picturesque towns along the coast which you can hike between)
- Lucerne (2 days before Interlaken)
I can't really speak to the budget, as I have visited these places as a backpacker. But for reference, as a very rough estimate, I would budget $4000 for this trip as a hosteller.
Hope this helps!
What I'll do is list all the places you mentioned with a suggested number of days strictly for that city/region. Once I'm done, I'll tally them up and see how many extra days we have to work with (if any). I'll assume that since you're on a honeymoon, you're looking to relax a little and not spend the bare minimum time in each place. At the same time, you want to see a lot of places, so I don't expect you will be spending tons of time getting to know cities intimately. I'll also include travel days, understanding that you will in most cases have an afternoon/evening left for touring your destination. Here goes...
Amsterdam - 4 days (includes time for day trip as to smaller Dutch town)
Cologne - 1 day (treating this as a stopover)
Munich - 3 days (may want to visit Nuschwanstein Castle as a day trip)
Salzburg - 2 days
Venice - 3 days
Florence - 3 days
Interlaken - 4 days (could stay in mountain village in Berner Oberland)
Paris - 5 days
So that's 25 days. You could easily use the extra 5 days by a) tacking them on to some cities on your list, b) adding a big city, or c) adding a few stopover cities. Also, I personally found Cologne and Munich underwhelming, so those could be candidates to be shortened.
a) If you want to add more time to cities you are already visiting, I would say Paris, Florence and Amsterdam are the top candidates. From Florence, you can do a day trip to Pisa or Siena.
b) If you want to add a major city, Rome is probably your best option. There's so much to see, it can eat up 4-5 days.
c) Other cities I suggest:
- Vienna (2 days before/after Salzburg)
- Innsbruck (stopover between Salzburg and Venice)
- Cinque Terre (2-3 days after Florence - it's 5 small picturesque towns along the coast which you can hike between)
- Lucerne (2 days before Interlaken)
I can't really speak to the budget, as I have visited these places as a backpacker. But for reference, as a very rough estimate, I would budget $4000 for this trip as a hosteller.
Hope this helps!
Sep 11th, 2015, 03:41 AM
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I love globe travelers itinerary - one tweak:
Cologne - 1 day (treating this as a stopover)- I would make that a two-hour stopover en route to Munich (or maybe the fantastic Rhine-Mosel area for some of those extra five days) - put bags in a station locker and see the world-famous Gothic cathedral smack plump next door to the main train station and walk around the church and area and get back on the train - lots more romantic places to stay than this large modern city IMO.
Cologne - 1 day (treating this as a stopover)- I would make that a two-hour stopover en route to Munich (or maybe the fantastic Rhine-Mosel area for some of those extra five days) - put bags in a station locker and see the world-famous Gothic cathedral smack plump next door to the main train station and walk around the church and area and get back on the train - lots more romantic places to stay than this large modern city IMO.
Sep 11th, 2015, 06:17 AM
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Hostels are getting more expensive - $30-35 routine now I hear in tourist meccas but still way cheaper than cheap hotels. and as couples will just not feel comfy in hostels - expect to spend well over $100 a day for even low-end hotels though in October you can get cheaper places than in peak periods.
Sep 11th, 2015, 09:01 AM
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Yes Paris has some big conventions like the Paris Fashion Show that causes high-emnd hotels to often be full but low-end ones not as much I hear. But book early as it is peak season, weird as that may be - not peak season at museums just nice hotels I think.
Sep 11th, 2015, 07:48 PM
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I agree with PalenQ. If it's feasible to get in and out of Cologne in the same day, do it. It makes for a long day of train travel, but at least you're in your next city in the evening and don't need to pack up again.
Sep 14th, 2015, 10:16 AM
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The Rhine IMO makes the best day cruise with frequent K-D boat services between Rudesheim and Koblenz being the classic few-hour cruise with commentary en route in English and other tongues.
https://www.k-d.com/en/home/
No advance tickets required - just show up at dock and buy tickets.
https://www.k-d.com/en/home/
No advance tickets required - just show up at dock and buy tickets.
Sep 14th, 2015, 10:48 AM
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I don't understand the attitude to Köln. I quite liked the city. I visited it with a woman who had lived there for many years in her youth, so maybe that made a difference. There was an excellent archaeological museum focusing on the Roman city, Colonia Agrippina. It was a Roman colony, which explains its name.
