tostaky

HI !

We (my wife and I ) are looking forward our next summer trip and the idea of making a road trip grom Berlin To Budapest have make is way into our mind.

we hve something like 3 weeks to one month of travelling time (and budget). We have two kids (7 and 3) that, of course, are going to be with us. We are living In Montréal.

10 years ago we've been around Poland and Czech Republic so we don't nedd (don't want in fact) to go there this time.

We have thought that renting a car can be more practical with the kids. So here whart we thought our trip could be:

1) arriving in berlin (3 nights). rent a car after that.
2) exploring eastern germany for something like 10 days (Dresden, Munich, Neuchwanstein Castle)
3) 3-4 days in Austria (Salzbourg and Vienna)
4) 3-4 days in Budapest.

What do you think of this ?

Our main concerne is where flight to and from, and when get the car and when (and where) drop it. Maybe we could do some railroad.

Thanks !

Michael

There are steep cross-border drop-off charges on rental cars. On the other hand, you might find them acceptable for the convenience of not having to change modes of transportation.

Unless you absolutely want to see Munich and Neuschwanstein, I would stick to visiting Brandenburg, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt, ending the trip in Dresden and taking a train from there to Vienna. There is a lot to see in that area.

I would drop Budapest and perhaps organize a car tour of Austria starting and ending in Vienna.

Browsing through these pictures might give you some ideas of what there is to see:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...926792957/show

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7623099783809/


You might want to take a look at my trip report from a couple of years ago; click on my name to find it.

bilboburgler

Well I agree that Berlin, Leipsig, Dresden etc are worth visiting. Trains are good for this but you could drive.

Viena to Budapest is a good train journey though again you could drive. Nice little places all along the Danube.

You could ride a bike along either and with the kids Tag-alongs are easy.

tostaky

Thanks for those answers !

Droping Budapest is not something we want to do for now. I'll take a look at the pictures you have posted Michael.

I Know I could drive or take the train. What i'm looking for is what will be more convenient and/or less expensive.

Dukey1

For cars: insurance if you choose to get it; parking charges; fuel charges; possible drop off charges; somebody HAS to do the driving.

Personally, I would probably drop Dresden; train from Berlin to Munich UNLESS you feel the need to stop in other cities on the way; train Munich to Salzburg takes less than two hours; train to Vienna is 2.5 hours or less from Salzburg.

You do NOT need or even want a car in Munich or Salzburg.

bilboburgler

Taking the train is always the easiest. I would travel first class on the Hungarian leg. But it does depend on you and the kids, how much gear do you need to carry? How well behaved, calm etc the kids are?

Then you need to think about the kids themselves, are you just going city to city or are you having a kids-break of a couple of days in the country with a pool etc, in the summer I would.

tostaky

Thanks once again !

Driving is not a problem for me, i've got experience and i'v drive in many place around the world without any major problem. I live in Montréal which it could a hellish place to drive so no worry there !

My wife and I love historical cities so dropping Dresden would be hard to do. We also love to take the time to go in smaller place, to take a bit of the pulse of the population.

For now we don't really want to do a city to city trip. renting a place (the pool isn't necessary !) for 4-5 days from which we can do daytrips is something that can be cool and that would give us somem relaxing times.

Is anyone got somem suggestion about where that kind of place could (or should) be ?

bilboburgler

A few thoughts, you could stay on the peninsula that sticks out into Lake Balaton, reasonably low key lake side resort.

You could look at Magdeburg which is a real blossoming city after the communists left power but with some very local colour

Even in Austria along the border on the Danube are some lovely little country villages with good access to say Bratislava etc

Similar to all this are village around Neusiedel See.

bilboburgler

There is a line of spas (very much a Hungarian thing) along the north edge of the country. You can saty in some of these places. I've stayed in a few, all different but you need to search out your own

Ingo

You could easily spend all the 10 days in the area around Dresden and not get bored. But I guess you want to split these days between Dresden and Munich areas.

For Dresden I recommend looking into the National Park "Saxon Switzerland" region south of Dresden. Nature wonderland with bizarre sandstone formations, canyons, endless walking/hiking/cycling options, castles and picturesque small towns/villages. You can easily take the commuter trains to Dresden - max. 40 minutes (from Bad Schandau, which is a very good base/hub). Or the paddle steamer in one direction.

Other very nice villages/small towns would be Stadt Wehlen, Kurort Rathen, Gohrisch (more rural/off the beaten path, car necessary). There are public baths/pools in Pirna, Wehlen, Bad Schandau e.g. and spas in Bad Schandau and Rathen e.g.

The region has lots of picturesque small towns with long history - Pirna, Meissen, Freiberg, Bautzen for example. Castles, gardens etc. to see are Königstein, Stolpen, Weesenstein, Lauenstein, Pillnitz ...

You really wouldn't need a car here. The commuter trains run every 30 minutes, there are buses to the smaller towns and hiking trails, even a tram from Bad Schandau into the National Park. And there are boats - historic paddle steamers, which your kids would probably like a lot.

PalenQ

Train travel can be cheap if you book discounted tickets far in advance and won't need to change or refund them or if wanting full flexibility check out the Germany-Austria Railpass - then buy the cheap Vienna to Budapest ticket once there.

The pass is especially good value in first class and IME on trains in those countries, especially Germany, is that 2nd class can often be rather full - first class often has lots of empty seats - bigger seats, less people in smae-size train car means more places to stow luggage, etc.

For loads of great info on trains in those countries I always spotlight these IMO superb sources: www.seat61.com (great info on discounted tickets); www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ

1) arriving in berlin (3 nights). rent a car after that.
2) exploring eastern Germany for something like 10 days (Dresden, Munich, Neuchwanstein Castle)
3) 3-4 days in Austria (Salzbourg and Vienna)
4) 3-4 days in Budapest.

What do you think of this ?>

Pretty nice except Berlin - when you land that day may not mean much and there is so so much to see and do it Berlin and Berlin is so so huge - take a day trip out to the Prussian Versailles - Sans Soucci Palace in a sprawling gorgeous park in Potsdam - there are other things to see there to.

I'd add a day or two to Berlin and take a few car days away.

Lutherstadt-Wittemberg is a wonderful old city with lots of Martin Luthe related places like the church door he allegedly nailed those demands to.

Don't miss the bevy of nice old DDR cities in the Leipzig area - Naumburg - a real small town charmer - Erfurt a big town charmer - Weimar - has park-like setting for the home of the Bauhaus movement and Eisenach - a gritty town but the room where Luther holed up in an old castle when hiding is still there with ink stains from his ink spot when he threw it at the Devil ("the Devil made me do it as the ink stains still visible on the tiny room's walls.

Dresden is a must and Meissen is right next door - plenty of Meissen ceramics in the old work house cranking them out and a nice old town and huge church on a hill in the town center.

South of Dresden is lovely Saxon Switzerland - one of the most gorgeous river valleys in Europe - featuring red sandstone cliffs topped by fortresses like the Basteii or old castles, etc.

then perhaps over the to Romantic Road - Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl et all - the Romantic Road winds all the way to Fussen via Augsburg - a big city with a nice character.

tostaky

Thanks once agin that's a lot of usefull information ! A lots of google search awaits me !

tostaky

>> then buy the cheap Vienna to Budapest ticket once there.<<
>>f wanting full flexibility check out the Germany-Austria Railpass<<


Those not look very cheap (especially the flexipass). I guess car could be cheaper than that.

annhig

Even in 3-4 weeks you might struggle to fit in Berlin, Dresden, Saxony, the Romantic Road, Munich, the german alps, Salzburg, Vienna and Budapest.

Only you know how good your kids are at travelling - ours were much happier when we stayed longer in fewer places, which was a bit of a culture shock for us as we had nearly always toured round before we had children. so we changed our travel style and came to see the benefits, so long as you choose the right hub.

with kids of this age, I might decide not even to stay in Berlin, but to stay in Potsdam [lovely parks and quite a lot to see there] and do a day trip into Berlin to see the Zoo. Then to go to Bad Schandau and use that as a base as Ingo suggests, again doing a day trip into Dresden. you could then go to Nuremberg [a 3 hour drive] and head down towards Munich/Salzburg, and thence to Vienna and Budapest. I think that I would want a maximum of 4-5 long stays, perhaps interspersed with the odd 1-2 night stay eg in Nuremberg.

if you were going to drive from Germany into Hungary, you would need to check that the car hire company allowed this, leaving aside the fees. It might be better to return the car in Vienna [if that's where you go] and get the train or a boat down the Danube to Budapest.

maxima

while researching renting a car in Germany etc., be sure to find out the types of child car seats you will need and what the cost of the rental of the seat will be.

PalenQ

Those not look very cheap (especially the flexipass). I guess car could be cheaper than that.>

Yes I was thinking if drop-off charges are too steep for returning car in another country other than in which you rented it so was giving options as all those towns could easily be done by train - but with two young kids I would definitely rent a car - you may want to return it - if drop-off fees are staggering high - drop it off in Passau, Germany and go over either rent a car in nearby Austria or take the train from there - those trains would be so cheap no pass would be viable - only if you were doing it all by rail, which again with two tykes certainly IMO is the way to go - especially since you are hitting smaller cities a lot.