kla

Hello everyone!

I am quite excited about my upcoming trip , starting in me May (5 weeks -ish in Europe, 2 months in Turkey/Syria/Lebanon) . However, planning an itinerary for the Europe part of the trip by train is driving me insane! I am a student, and can't spend too much, but I will pay a few more euros to save 2 hours if necessary.

I am flying into Munich and flying to Turkey from Budapest.
My flexible and troubled itinerary
I would like to spend 3 nights in Munich, with a day trip to Dachua
I want to spend a night or two in Fussen, to visit the Hohenschwangua/Neuschwanstein castles nearby
(maybe spend a day in Innsbruck in between Fussen and Salzburg, depending on what makes more sense train-wise)
Spend 5 nights in Salzburg and go to Bad Ischl and Hallstat as day trips
Go to Prague for 5 nights
Go to Vienna, 5 nights
Go to Budapest, 5 nights
fly out of Budapest.


Is my order messed up? Will it be possible to go from Fussen to Salzburg (and maybe Innsbruck if it is easy to get there and to go from Innsbruck to Salzburg) by train or otherwise easily? Does it make more sense to visit Prague between Salzburg and Vienna or at another point in my trip?
What kind of Eurail pass or tickets should I get? I was thinking of getting the Austria/Czech flexipass because it is a lot cheaper than the Austria-Germany one, and I will not to be traveling that much in Budapest.
However, what will be the best way to travel around Bavaria and Salzburg (including day trips to Hallstat+Bad Ichsl )? I have heard of the Bayern ticket, but that is good for one day at a time, right? Are point-to-point tickets very expensive? Will I need bus tickets too? Are buses Fussen to the castles I mentioned expensive?

If I should skip anywhere I mentioned, what would it be? If I missed anything?

Thanks so much, my brain is exploding!

PalenQ

marking for later comment

JeremyinFrance

It sounds okay to me - to check out your train times, go to www.db.de Buy your tickets well in advance. A Bayern ticket costs 21 euros a day so check out the ticket prices for your daily trips. If you buy your tickets a few months in advance you can get some excelent rates.
Bon voyage!

kla

Thanks
I'm thinking of visiting Possenhofen, either as a day trip from Munich or on the way to Fussen, what do you think? I was a HUGE Sissi fan as a child and would like to see the museum in the train station and the castle/residence.

Do I really have to buy train tickets in advance, from North America? I can't just walk in to train stations?

PalenQ

However, planning an itinerary for the Europe part of the trip by train is driving me insane! I am a student>

For lots of great info on planning such a rail trip I always point out these fantastic IMO sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. And for train schedules for all of Europe check out the Wunderbar German Rail web site - www.bahn.de - click on the British flag at top for English version.

And if you are under 26 check out the bargain IMO Youth Eurailpass, which would cover all your trains Munich, around Bavaria and Austria, Hungary and Romania.

PalenQ

Castle of Possenhofen Germany, Monuments Germany
At Possenhofen, the former castle where the Empress of Austria (Sissi) lived her young Bavarian years is located in the heart of the woods in the Starnberg ...
http://www.easyvoyage.co.uk/germany/...ossenhofen-121

kla - having never heard of Possenhofen I had to look it up - seems you cannot tour the castle, which has been converted to flats - so it would not take long to see the station museum and have a look at the exterior of the castle, all that visitors can do apparently.

But I would book a tour time at Neuschwangau as early as you could get there and then have a look see at Possenhofen on the way back - if it were on the same train line - otherwise it seems a very short distance from Munich and can be incorporated perhaps with a day in Munich - seeing that there is not much really for tourists to do once there.