IndianDubai

Friends, we are a family of 3. Me, wife and 6 year old daughter. We live in Dubai and are planning a holiday in Europe in the first week of July, 2016.

The fixed parts of the itinerary:

1. We will enter Europe thru Budapest because we got cheap tickets from Dubai on a low-cost airline.
2. We land midnight of 30th June at Budapest and exit at noon on 9 July. So we have 8 nights and 8 full days for sightseeing.
3. We have to use a an old railway ticket from Munich to Budapest, so we have to end our trip at Munich Railway Station on the night of 8 July and take a train to Budapest to catch our flight to Dubai on the 9 of July.

As you can see, since we have tickets from Munich to Budapest, Bavaria is a must do for us and we will do the same during the latter part of our trip.

We love history, heritage and the outdoors. Our interests lie in going to places which are rich in culture and history and also in places which have magnificent vistas/the great outdoors.

We are torn between what to do in the first part of our trip (since second part is already Bavaria, Germany).

Our options are - No.1

Netherlands+Germany
30-Jun Thu Arr. Budapest@0035 hrs Budapest
01-Jul Fri Dep@0900 for Rotterdam The Hague. Tour Rotterdam The HAgue
02-Jul Sat Amsterdam City Tour
03-Jul Sun Zaanse Schans Windmills, Marken and Volendam Half-Day Trip. Night Train to Munich@2100 hr
04-Jul Mon Arr. Munich@0630,Munich City Tour
05-Jul Tue Hire a car and drive to Neuschwanstein Castle, Zugspitze. Stay the night at
06-Jul Wed Drive on German Alpine Road. Arr Berchtesgaden. Hikes etc. Sleep a Berchtesgaden/Ramsau
07-Jul Thu Konigsee Lake, Hikes around Berchtesgaden. Sleep at Berchtesgaden/Ramsau
08-Jul Fri Hikes around Berchtesgaden. Drive to Munich. Catch train to Budapest@2330 hrs from Munich
09-Jul Sat Arr Budapest@0930 Flight to Dubai@1230

Our options are - No.2
Italy+Germany
30 Jun Thu Arr. Budapest@0035 hrs
01-Jul Fri Dep for Rome@0940. Arr Rome@1140. City Tour. Sleep in Rome.
02-Jul Sat Rome City Tour. Tour. Sleep in Rome.
03-Jul Sun Rome City Tour. Take Evening Train to Florence. Sleep in Florence
04-Jul Mon Florence City Tour. Sleep in Florence.
05-Jul Tue Dep@0815 Dest of Tuscany tour - Siena, Wineyard Lunch, San Gimignano & Pisa. Return to Florence Station@2030. Dep@2200 for Munich
06-Jul Wed Arr. Munich@0630,Munich City Tour. Sleep in Munich.
07-Jul Thu Hire a car and drive to Neuschwanstein Castle, Zugspitze, Sleep in Garmish Partenkirchen
08-Jul Fri Hikes around Garmish Partenkirchen Catch train to Budapest@2330 hrs from Munich
09-Jul Sat Arrive Budapest@0930 Depart@1230 to Dubai

We want to do Italy and Germany but are really really worried about the heat. Research says that Itay in July and Aug is HOT. We can manage temperatures of 32-33 Degrees Celcius but more than that with a 6 year old kid will not be tolerable.

Holland+Germany itinerary is cool. We are excited about spending time in the wilderness and hiking though the wonderful Alpine scenery. But are we overdoing Germany?

Really confused. Any help would be welcome.

traveller1959

>> Holland+Germany itinerary is cool. << Yes, for sure.

>> But are we overdoing Germany? << No, you can spend six weeks there and still have seen a fraction of the country.

You have put together a wonderful itinerary and it seems to meet your preferences. So why do you put it into question?

Here my comments:

1 July: Rotterdam and The Hague would not be my favourites in the Netherlands. I rather prefer the beautiful historic city of Utrecht. Also, Amsterdam might deserve a bit more time.

2 July: Amsterdam belongs to Europe's most beautiful cities, because it has retained its medieval structure, never been turned into a prince's residential city.

3 July: Good idea to see a bit of the countryside. Think twice about the night train. I would fly from Amsterdam to München. But maybe you will try this experience which will be memorable for sure, even if your sleep will not be good.

4 July: München would also deserve more time than a day. But you will catch an impression of this city.

5 July: Two superlatives in one day: the most romantic castle and the highest mountain.

6 July: You will love the Königssee and Berchtesgaden!

hetismij2

I assume you would be flying into Rotterdam the Hague airport? Hence the touring of those two cities? Much as I personally like both cities, and the Hague in particular has several interesting places to visit, given your short time in the Netherlands I would head straight to Amsterdam on arrival and give that more of your attention. Your child may enjoy NEMO for instance, and possibly the ship museum too.

Whathello

I much perfer Italy than NL but since you have a problem with heat than go to Netherlands. Your itin is fine.

I'm quite surprise about your heat problem - I had well above 40C when in India and when we are in holiday with kids of all ages, 33C is quite bearable even for us notherners - you may be overcautious.

traveller1959

I understand that many people from Arabian countries want to escape the summer heat by vacationing in Europe.

Then, southern Italy might not be the best choice, since summer temperatures will get almost as equally high - and in Rome and Tuscany still many places have no A/C.

So, you will find middle Europe more agreeable (you may catch a heatwave there, too, but odds are much lower, and if there is a heatwave in Europe, temps in the north are still lower than in the south). Especially the Alps will be nice and cool.

bvlenci

Italy is a mountainous country, so the heat depends on your elevation. At our summer house, we sleep under wool blankets even in August. If you spent some time in the Italian Alps, you would find it cool indeed.

It's true that Rome can be quite hot, but it's near the sea, and in my experience it's actually cooler than Florence, Bologna, Milan and other cities that are further north but inland and near sea level.

For a family with a child, a vacation between Lake Garda, Verona, and Venice might be ideal. Venice is sometimes hot, but, again, it's near the sea.

Sue_xx_yy

You posted this twice, so I have copied and pasted my response to your other thread.

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Hi IndianDubai

I suggest you take a look at bahn.de (it has lots of other language options, not just German). This is the German railway site and is a great source of railway timetable information.

You don't mention how you are getting from Budapest to Rotterdam/the Hague but I hope it isn't by rail because according to bahn.de, the journey takes 15 hours. You would, for example, leave at 07:40 and not get in until 22:25!!

On the other hand you can fly from Budapest to Amsterdam on KLM in about 2 hours. The cheaper flights that I am seeing tend to be cheaper to book roundtrip, than one way.

I would spend all your Holland time in Amsterdam. There is lots to do! If you want, you can do a daytrip to the Hague, or Delft - you can decide while you are in Amsterdam.

From Amsterdam to Munich the fare is shown as starting at around Euro 79 and the journey takes 7 hours, or you suggest going overnight. I don't know if this will be cheaper than flying or not. Consider flying. It might be cheaper to forget about using that old railway ticket and just 'close the loop' and fly Budapest-Amsterdam-Munich-Budapest. It would certainly be simpler.

For the driving part from Munich, check out google street maps. I would arrive in Munich and pick up the car at once. Put your Munich tour at the end of your stay in Munich, i.e. the day before your flight/train to Budapest.

Please be very careful about your timing from Munich to Budapest. I see that at present you want to get in to Budapest at 9:30 and then fly to Dubai at 12:30. I do NOT recommend this!!! I am almost certain you don't have enough time to get from the station to the airport and make the minimum check-in time for an international flight, and that is if there are no delays. Please time your arrival back in Budapest for the night before your flight, at the very least; that is, spend your last night in Budapest. Missing your flight home would be an expensive mistake, to say nothing of the stress.

Have fun planning.

Sofi40

If you plan to stay in Berchtesgaden then think about Salzburg which is a half an hour drive from there and if you love culture it is a must for you! And of course the lakes: Mondsee and Wolfgangsee shouldn't be missed.
And yes, the trip back to Budapest can be a risk for you flight time. I live in Budapest and the train station in the city is far away from the airport and the bigger problem that trains can have delays.... Well, yes: better to arrive the day before. Actually if you love history and culture I am sure you would love this city ��

nytraveler

In July both Rome and florence are very likely to be more than 33 degrees (which is the average high temp for the month) and humid on top of it. No guarantee of course but Germany and NL will almost surely be considerably cooler.

IndianDubai

Thank you all for your kind replies....

We have already spent 2 nights in Salzburg and loved the city.

Will skip ROtterdam and spend all time in Amsterdam.

Wil also rexamine the train timings...

Heimdall

Why aren't you spending some time in Budapest? Have you been there before?