Jcasas08

Hello, I'm kind of a newbie to this forum but I'm hoping for some help. I'm planning a ~ 2 week trip to a few Euro countries with the purpose of proposing to my current girlfriend. I want to spend 4 days in Paris, 4 days in Southern Germany, and 7 days in Northern Italy, using Venice as a starting point. Some must sees for me are Paris, Mittenwald, Neuschwanstein, Milan, and Cinqueterra. I'm planning on proposing at Neuschwanstein or possibly at the summit of Zugspitze. If anyone has any specific ideas to make the proposal better, I would greatly appreciate them. I would love to hear the must see locations or even see a few sample itineraries. Thank you all so much!

TexasAggie

Hi J,

What an exciting trip and time in your life!
Out of curiousity, are all 3 countries an absolute requirement? The reason I ask is because you have only 2 weeks. Each time you change destinations, you are likely going to lose an entire day due to traveling. That is a lot of time lost in such a short trip, you know? Especially since some of your Northern Italy destinations aren't exactly close (for example, you will lose a half day at least when you transfer between Venice and Milan, and another half day getting from Milan to the Cinque Terre).
Here are some other questions for you:

Do you want to rent a car and drive anywhere, or will you rely on public transportation?

What time of year do you plan to travel? The Cinque Terre absolutely shuts down in the off season. In the summer months of July and August, it is overrun with tourists. We have found May to be a nice time to visit although the sea is still quite cold.

As an FYI, there is a night train between Munich and Venice that you might consider. You won't lose a full day of sightseeing since you'll be traveling overnight. I took this train as a college student a few times. I think you may be able to reserve a private compartment with 2 beds (check out www.bahn.de). It's not a romantic setup, but it would prevent you from losing valuable sightseeing time.

I'll write more once you've replied with a little more information

zeppole

It is really hard to give advice without knowing what 2-week period you are talking about. Winter? August? Spring? November?

That aside, if your must see in Italy is le Cinque Terre, Venice is just about the most difficult choice you can make as a starting point to get there.

There is a flight several times a day from Munich to Genova, so you might check that out. (Pisa is also a good airport for le Cinque Terre.)

Without knowing what else you want to do in Italy other than go to le Cinque Terre and where your departure flight is it is also hard to give advice. If you yourself don't know where else you might want to be, sharing your interests -- art? motorcyles? history? music? sports? food? medicine? law? meeting other people your age? -- will help people here help you find places in italy that would really thrill you. Italy has everything (but it also has weather, so when are you planning to travel?)

mamcalice

I'd like to respond but you haven't given us enough information to help you with itinerary suggestions. For instance, it would help to know when you plan to go, what your interests are and whether you are a budget or luxury traveler. Where have you been before? Do you prefer the countryside to cities? Do you like museums and churches or beautiful vistas? Or both? Do you like to hike, drive, etc. Do you like fast paced or more relaxed travel?

As it is, you have a lot of destinations for 2 weeks, requiring a lot of moving around. Do some research, use the search function on this board to see "must sees" for your desired destinations and come back with more information for us. There are lots of experienced and enthusiastic travelers who will be happy to help.

StCirq

I'm just glad to hear you're planning to propose to your current girlfriend. Proposing to a past one might not work out so well

Agree we need a little more information. I'd be tempted to propose in either Paris or Venice, though, as they are both such romantic cities.

zeppole

Hi,

TexasAggie and I were posting at the same time. I just read her post, and want to make a few points.

I live in Italy, not far from le Cinque Terre, and there is no time of year in which it "completely shuts down." It gets tourists all through the year and as long as it is not raining heavily (or snowing!), people enjoy hiking there.

Italy is avery small country with good transporation conneections. Yes, if you try to get to from the Adriatic sea to the Mediterranean you will spend the whole day traveling, but obviously you don't have to do that, and during your 7 days in Italy you can see a great many places and if you want to switch locations, you won't lose a lot of time doing that unless you overpack.

But if you don't want to change hotels often -- and many people don't -- you shouldn't.

Jcasas08

Thanks for being so helpful and polite everyone and thanks for being the forum grammar watchdog StCirq. I noticed my wording was a bit awkward but didn't think it would matter much but I guess I was wrong Anyway, I'll attempt to provide as much info as possible for you guys.

My girlfriend and I are in our early twenties. I am a history teacher and she's finishing up school. I've traveled throughout Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Spain, and England for short periods of time (1-2 weeks). While I was in college I also lived in Italy for a quarter and studied art/architecture and history. On this trip we will be traveling with another couple in their late twenties. We all enjoy history, art, architecture, natural wonders, good food, sporting events, etc. We are also looking to enjoy metropolitan places as well as smaller, off the beaten path locales. We will be traveling in June with an average budget. We're not looking for dirt cheap hotels or hostels nor are we looking to stay in $500 a night hotels. Somewhere in between But of course, I'm willing to pay extra for that one amazing restaurant or some other amazing but expensive experience.

TexasAggie, I did see the overnight train and will probably be using it. I think we'll be relying more on public transportation since the car rental costs skyrocket when you return the car in another country.

Zeppole, Just to clarify...I was thinking about 4-5 days in Venice. Either 4 in Venice and 1 in Milan or 5 in Venice with Milan as a possible day trip? I don't know if that's possible, it was recommended by a friend. After those 5 days I was thinking of traveling to Cinque Terre for the remaining 3 days of the trip.

Hopefully I provided everyone else with enough info. And thank you guys very much.

Jcasas08

Sorry TexasAggie, I'm really hoping to make it to all 3 countries. My girlfriend is a great detective and I'm sure she's thinking that I'm going to propose at the Eiffel Tower or on a gondola ride in Venice. However, I think those spots are kind of cliche and overdone so I'm choosing Neuschwanstein or Zugspitze. And yes I know that Neuschwanstein is a bit cliche but it's off of her radar so I think it will work out great.

nytraveler

Well you obviously know your girlfriend best - but I would be mortified by a pubic proposal in front of a pack of random tourists. To me a proposal is a private thing - much more appropo is the balcony of your room overlooking a moonlit lake - with a really good bottle of champagne provided by the hotel.

(That's how my most recent proposal was done - the one I finally accepted.)

Bougainvillea

Congratulations on your planned engagement. I will give you one word of advice and I strongly suggest you listen. You will have a much more pleasant trip.

Propose in the first place you visit.

The reason I say this is because I was in a similar situation knowing my boyfriend (at the time) would propose on a trip. He waited until halfway through before he popped the question. By that time I was a nervous wreck because every stinking moment I was certain it would happen and when it didn't I started unwinding.

Have a great trip but make sure you understand how us girls can get when we are waiting for something so important. I am not saying everybody is similar to me but it is good to be prepared.

Jcasas08

Congratulations first of all!!! I was planning to do it early in the morning to try to beat the crowds. If not, I know she wouldn't mind. We recently witnessed a public proposal and she thought it was really cute. And did I read correctly that you turned down your love on previous proposal attempts? Yikes!

Aramis

Okay Jcasas - hopefully you won't have to face any more offers to change your trip plans and your very personal decision of how to propose to your future wife. This place never ceases to amaze me.

Getting from Venice to CT is by far the toughest logistical element of this trip. It would be about a 5 hour drive, the closest airports (Genova and Pisa) are still about 1:30 away and airfares very steep, plus rail connections are not good. How would you want to try and get there? You might consider renting a car when you leave Venice, drive to CT and then to Milan where you can drop it and continue to Munich by train.

Flying to Munich would be easier (and it might not be as expensive as you think) than trying to fly there from Pisa, as zeppole notes, if flying becomes a possibility.

Munich to Garmisch (Zugspitze) and Fussen, Neuschwanstein, is not that difficult by train or bus, you probably don't need that much advice for those legs. If you don't plan to stay in Munich I would rent a car at the airport and drive your way around Bavaria to see all your favourites. You could return the car downtown right at the rail station and take your train to Paris.

How about this - plan the proposal for your last day in Germany, at the Zugspitze, and then drive back to Munich and take the overnight train to Paris (nudge nudge, wink wink). Nice way to spend the first night of your engagement.

Jcasas08

Aramis....I'm definitely thinking about renting a car in Bavaria and possibly for the CT trip, although I'm beginning to reconsider the CT trip based on the distance and difficulty of travel. There will always be other Italy trips ( I hope! Haha). I like the last day proposal idea but I wanted to enjoy aa week or so in Europe with her as an engaged couple. Thank you for the advice and the laughs!

TexasAggie

As she lives nearby, zeppole is much more authoritative re: the CT than I am. I've visited a few times however, and we found many things to be closed on our visit in late November including some of the hiking trails. It was rainy and chilly and my guess is that the trails were deemed unsafe due to the conditions. A lot of the enjoyment of the CT for me at least is being outdoors and soaking in the beauty of the area. Not as easily done in the winter but not impossible. Anyway, since you are going in June, hopefully you will have lovely weather. Two of our visits have been in early June and we have beautiful weather and temperatures both times.
Have fun on the overnight train between Munich and Venice! At least a few years ago, the train had compartments with 4 beds so you and your travel friends might could save money by booking one of those compartments.

TexasAggie

P.S. The area around Neuschwanstein is absolutely beautiful! There are lots of very scenic spots that would be lovely for a proposal.

Jcasas08

TexasAggie, Do you know about a bridge that is close to Neuschwanstein that would provide a beautiful view of the castle in the background?

Aramis

Jcasas;

It is called "Marienbruecke" ( Mary's Bridge) and it is well signposted (you can't miss it if you are looking for it) from Neuschwanstein - about a 10-15 minute walk.

There is a nice trail along the gorge there,t oo, which might afford you a little "quieter" spot to pop the question.

Jcasas08

Awesome! Thank you very much

TexasAggie

The Marienbrueke provides a beautiful view down over the castle and surrounds. It is often full of people taking pictures but perhaps if you got there early or late, you'd have a little more privacy. Otherwise, Aramis's advice is great - the trail to get to the bridge provides a couple scenic overlooks that might be a little more private. I've not been to the Zugsptize but perhaps other posters could tell you about potential private spots there in case you the right moment doesn't present itself at Neuschwanstein.

Something just came to mind. Linderhof, another of King Ludwig's palaces, is only about an hour (perhaps less, my memory is foggy) from Neuschwanstein. It is a beautiful, beautiful palace and has stunning grounds with the extensive palace garden and waterscapes, etc. You could definitely find a private place in the gardens for your proposal. If it sounds interesting, Google "Linderhof Palace garden" and lots of pictures will come up for you to browse

Jcasas08

Thank you TexasAggie....do you know if the castle is illuminated at night?