tinz

Hello everyone!

We are planning a 20 days trip to select cities of Switzerland, Austria, Czech and Germany this September-Oct. Here's our itinerary.

Would love if you glance through it and let us know if it's good enough to go by. We want to have a good mix of leisure countryside and cities. I am not sure if the number of days chosen for each city is good enough for a complete experience. Would Love to have your views! Thanks a ton.

Day 1: sep 25th: Fly from Delhi to Zurich. Reach around 8:30. All day Zurich. Sleep in Zurich. 2 nights.

Day 2: sep 26th: All day Zurich. Places of interest: lake zurich, beg level trek to mount Uetliberg, old town

Day 3: sep 27th: morning train to Lucerne. All day Lucerne. travel time: 1 hr. Sleep in Lucerne, 2 nights.

Day 4: Sep 28th: All day lucerne/Luzern

Day 5: sep 29th: Morning train- Lucerne to Munich. Travel time: 5 hrs . Evening in Munich. Sleep in Munich 3 nights.

Day 6: sep 30th: All Day Munich. old town. English Garden and Isar River. explore the city.

Day 7: oct 1: All day Munich. Hofbräuhaus, fest and more

Day 8: Oct 2: Morning train from Munich to Fussen. Travel Time: 2 hrs. Visit Ludwig Castle. Explore and hike in Hohenschwangau village. Sleep in Hohenschwangau village, 1 night.

Day 9: Oct 3: Fussen to Salzburg via Munich. Travel Time: 5 hrs. reach around 1 noon. half day Salzburg. Sleep in Salzburg, 2 nights.

Day 10: Oct 4: All day Salzburg.

Day 11ct 5: Morning train to Vienna. Travel Time: 1.5 hrs. All day Vienna. Try Viennese Sacher-Torte. Explore Naschmarkt produce market and more.

Day 12: Oct 6: Vienna. Trip to the Wachau Valley

Day 13th: Oct 7th: Vienna.

Day 14th: Oct 8th: Vienna to Prague. Time: 5 hrs. Evening in Prague. Sleep in Prague, 3 nights.

Day 15th: Oct 9th: Prague

Day 16th: Oct 10th: Prague

Day 17th: Oct 11th: Prague to Dresden. Travel Time: 2.5 hrs. All day Dresden. Sleep in Dresden. 1 Night

Day 18th: Oct 12th: Morning Train to Berlin. Travel Time: 2.5 hrs. All day Berlin. Explore the city. Sleep in Berlin, 2/3 Nights.

Day 19th. Oct 13th: Berlin

Day 20th. Oct 14th: Berlin. Evening Flight back to Delhi.

anyegr

Day 1: You're probably going to be exhausted when you arrive. Don't plan too much for that day. Will you be able to check into your hotel early or at least store your bags there?

Day 11: Is the trip this year? The market website says it's closed on Sundays.

nytraveler

Overall - you're doing an extremely tightly scheduled trip with practicaly no time to relax andjust enjoy where you are. In the time you have I would cut one destination to get a better fell for the others.

Specifically I think Zurich (a business city) is a really bad idea. Either stay in Lucern (go there right when you land takes only an hour by the train an gets to right to the mountains and cute villages that are the essence of Switch - charming old town, monuments, museum and old town walls, lake steamers to charming small villages and the opportunity to ascent Pilatus, or Rigi or Titlus - by cable car or tram.

If you want really bi mountains stay in Interlaken or in one of the villages in the foothills of the Jungfrau and ascend that - if you can get a day with clear weather at the top.

Beleive me - I have been to/through zurich quite a few times on business and this is not why most people go to Switch. Fine for meetings and uber upscale shopping. Decent museums if it rains - but not the essence of Heidi, green meadows and Heidi/cows with big bells.

You are also rushing around to so many different places that you are giving very short shrift to major cities such as Berlin and Prague. Really reconsider how much time it takes to see/do things - and if you are going to end up having spend a LOT of time an money and not remember what was where - or have any lasting memories.

PalenQ

IMO this is a very good itinerary - I do not think it is too fast. Just a note on trains - you are traveling extensively on trains - look into some kind of railpass that in all those countries just lets you show up at the station and pop onto the train.

And for adults Eurailpasses are first-class - another perk - there are significant advantages over 2nd class - bigger seats - usually lots of empty seats - easier to stow luggage as there are fewer people riding first class, etc. Fully flexible walk up tickets often cost a ton of money, especially in first class.

For lots of goodies on European trains and passes check out these info-laden sites: www.ricksteves.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.seat61.com.

adrienne

The itinerary would be a bit rushed for me but it's possible.

A note on travel times - you're only counting the time on the train but there is more to travel time than the time it takes the train to go from one location to another. You have to get to and from the train station, pack/unpack, wait at the train station as you can't get there exactly at the time the train departs, check in and out of hotels. You need to add about 1.5 to 2 hours to travel time.

The train from Salzburg to Vienna is 2.5 hours, not 1.5 hours.

Enjoy your trip.

PalenQ

Day 3: sep 27th: morning train to Lucerne. All day Lucerne. travel time: 1 hr. Sleep in Lucerne, 2 nights.

Day 4: Sep 28th: All day lucerne/Luzern>

Be sure to do a boat ride on lovely Lake Lucerne - my favorite goes up to the fjord-like southern tip of the lake - to Fluelen from where you can get a train back to Lucerne.

En route get off at Vitnzau - take the mountain train up to Rigi's summit (Rigi Kulm) for some of the most celebrated views in all of Switzerland, lovingly over the lake far below and a lateral view across the rocky Alpine spine of central Switzerland.

tinz

Hey!

Thanks for a prompt reply and great advice.

@anyegr: Yup,the trip is planned for this year. I completely missed out on the point you mentioned- it's going to be exhausting the first day and we may not be able to check in that early. Thanks for bringing that up! As for accommodation, we are planning to book appartment via airbnb. any suggestions?

@nytraveler: Oh! really. I took it for a pretty relaxed itinerary, given the professional ones by rick steves and others.

Thanks for your insight on Zurich. I am now thinking of picking up only one city for our switzerland trip- but confused which one to. Which one do you think is an epitome of swiss beauty, also considering the weather in September-end?

As for cities like Berlin and Prague, How many days do you think are sufficient? we have 3 days for each. Not good enough?

@PalenQ: Thanks for the info on train travel. We are planning to take regional passes in Germany and point to point tickets elsewhere. And, great itinerary for Luzern. Is it worth picking up Luzern as the only Switzerland destination for visit on our trip? Any other suggestions?

@adrienne: Hey, Thanks for your insight. Will sure count the extra time in and plan accordingly.

PalenQ

Is it worth picking up Luzern as the only Switzerland destination for visit on our trip? Any other suggestions?>

Lucerne is neat but the essence of the Alpine Wonderland - the dreamy picture perhaps etched in your minds' eyes of rugged Alps soaring thousands of feet above lush cow-dotted meadows - glacier-girdled peaks - toylike trains and thrilling aerial cable ways going off in all directions - walking/hiking paths for all energies - hotel balconies in places like Grindelwald from which you can ogle the ice-bound Jungfrau Massif, etc head for what to me and many others is the absolute high point of Switzerland for first-timers -

the fantastic awesome Jungfrau Region around Interlaken - a short enough train ride from Lucerne or Zurich.

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...w=1455&bih=977

Now Lucerne and its lake are neat- really neat but it in no way is an Alpine Wonderland like the Jungfrau is - I would try to spend a few days in both and get the essence of Switzerland - the dreamy one in peoples' minds.

If I had to chose I'd chose the Jungfrau over Lucerne as the one place in Switzerland that will awe folks the most.

adrienne

<< @nytraveler: Oh! really. I took it for a pretty relaxed itinerary, given the professional ones by rick steves and others. >>

You can't compare an organized tour where the bus driver knows how to get from place to place quickly and many sights have assigned times for groups. When you're on your own you have to figure things out and learning how to get around a city takes some time.

<< As for cities like Berlin and Prague, How many days do you think are sufficient? we have 3 days for each. Not good enough? >>

It looks like you only have 2 full days in Prague. You can see some of the main sights such as Castle are, Jewish Quarter (synagogues), wander around looking at the architecture, Charles Bridge. I enjoyed the Mucha Museum and Municipal House.

For Berlin, choose your sights. Most of the main sights are located fairly close to each other but you'll only scratch the surface of Berlin in 3 days. I know this because I'm planning my 8 day Berlin trip and have to decide what to leave out.

kja

This trip sounds very rushed to me. I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

fourfortravel

tinz, you may want to give additional consideration to the Vienna portion of your holiday. The Naschmarkt will be closed on 5 October (that is a Sunday and most of Austria, save for some museums and restaurants, is closed).

Do thoroughly investigate how you will spend one day in the Wachau Valley, especially if you are traveling by train or cruise boat, as well. The three most common destinations are Melk (for its abbey), Durnstein (for its ruins) and Krems. Having recently spent a day in the Wachau with visiting friends, and with benefit of private vehicle, they discovered quickly that enjoying the villages consumed more time than they anticipated.

nytraveler

For an individual to try to travel at the warp speed of guided tours it means that they have to do a huge amount of work in advance so they are - in effect - their own tour guide and bus driver. Tours can go so fast since every minute is planned out in advance and the bus drivers knows every street and corner and deals with everyone's luggage for them, knows exactly where every hotel and every site are and have a massive amount of detail at their fingertips.

I don't know how it is possible for any individual who hasn't been to places previously multiple times to do it - and would consider taking twice as long as a tour to cover specific areas to be a fast-paced individual trip.

Naturally you are free to organize whatever itinerary you want - but do consider what you will be taking on.

Johnangiulo

some thoughts:

Shorten the time in Zurich to 2 days (add one if you want to recover from the flight) can really do the main sights in Zurich in long full day. Very expensive town.

Lucerne--One to two (1.5) days should do it. Compact and very walkable center.

Skip Salzburg unless you REALLY love Mozart Tourism and/or the Sound of Music, after than not much to see.

Add time to Vienna. One of my favorite places in Europe. Enough to do there for a week.

See the Abbey in Melk when you do the river cruise out of Vienna (speaking to the obvious here).

Plan some down time with nothing to do but wander around, get lost and experience the city you are in. No need to have every moment planned.

Enjoyh