Five countries in 15 days? As the math would indicate, that's 2 days per country - max! - plus a day to travel between each of them.

You start by getting a good map of Europe and charting the distances between places, to get a realistic idea of what's possible. Then you read guidebooks and websites. Then you figure out your transportation. And only then do accommodations become relevant.

Yes you can visit all these countries in 15 days but you won't have time to sight see. If your goal is to drive or take trains through these countries then you're fine. If your goal is to see particular towns/cities or sights then 15 days is too little.

<< We want to stay in a castle, monastery and B&B's No chain hotels for us. >>

The choices in Europe are far more than those four things you mention. I've never stayed in a castle or monastery and have never stayed in a chain hotel. There are lots of other options.

Since you know your priorities are where you plan to stay, start researching these. That will determine your itinerary. Sorry I don't know any castles or monasteries to recommend in these countries. In Italy a B&B would more likely be called a pension; in France a chambre d'hote so don't limit yourself to lodgings that are named B&B - this term is most often used in the UK and Ireland.

<< We are having a hard time knowing where to start >>

Start with your priorities - Auschwitz and lodgings. Work around them.

<< Can anyone out there assist us newbie European travelers? >>

My advice is to limit the amount of traveling around you do in 15 days and drop some of these countries/portions of countries since you have way too much to cover.

Look at a map and google distances. Krakow to Nice is 15 hours driving. That does not account for stopping or traffic problems. That's 2 days of your 15 and you won't even cover Germany on that route. You're covering a huge distance.

Auschwitz is near Krakow. You should fly into Krakow since trains leaving from there take forever to get anywhere else.

It's too bad that you don't want to see Krakow which is a jewel of a small city.

Given your broad question, you might wnat to start by reading Rick Steves' The Best of Europe.

Start with the one thing/place you most want to see. Sit down with your sister. Each of you separately write out a list of two countries or four places you have dreamed of seeing. Then compare lists. If there are any overlaps, say you both have dreamed of Provence, put that as a starting point. Look at each of your first choices and see how those two places would fit with the place you both dream of, etc.

You say you want small towns, so choose 2 - 3 base areas (at most), stay in a small town and tour from there.

Example: To see Southern France and Northern Italy: Tuscany - 5 nts, Venice area - 4 nts, fly/train Milan to S France, Provence - 6 nts. Only you can decide what is most important to you. You can see anything you want, but not everything you want.

Avoid one nt stays. Get a map. Get an idea of how long it takes to get from one place to another. You will start to see what is practical. The more places/things you can group together to see, the less time you will waste moving about. You don't want to spend more time traveling around on trains, planes & buses than you do actually sightseeing and enjoying the culture. Travel from place to place also eats up a lot of money as well as time.

I would go in late September for the best weather.

There are lots of small, family owned hotels in Europe, so you never have to stay in a chain hotel there.

A couple of notes:

Do earlier in the year. By November the weather will be quite chilly, the days short and some sights on limited hours.

To really get a feel for any of these places stick to 3 hotels (not countries - but hotels). That way you can see some of a city and the surrounding countryside. You won't find castle hotels there - but there are convents in many cities - as well as small local and family hotels in the towns. No need to stay in chain hotels anywhere.

For train info look at bahn.de - its has reliable train info for all of europe.

You have laid down a very broad itinerary that would be a challenge to cover in 15 days. An example that includes your selected regions is;

Krakow 2
Munich 2
Venice 2
Genoa 2
Provence 3
Lauterbrunnen 3
Zurich 1 (just to depart the next day)

but you would have to fly in and out of Krakow and Zurich and would have at least a half day travel (or an overnight train) eating up some of the time between each destination. I think this would be a difficult itinerary to plan and execute.

Your itinerary is very unusual for a first time traveler to Western Eurole. As others have advised, it is unrealistic to hope to cover all of your wish list in 15 days.

Do a little more research and agree on two countries with three or four stops total. That way you can spend time seeing and doing things instead of spending time in the inside of train stations and trains.

Given your interests, would choose Poland and Germany; Germany and Switzerland or Northern Italy and Southern France. I have been to all of your destinations except Auschwitz and have enjoyed all. But if I were taking a first trip to Europe, I would consider spending my time in Italy (Venice, Florence, the Tuscan countryside and Rome) or in Paris and Provence. You see how hard it is to advise someone else on their itinerary as we all have different ideas.

As for accommodations, there are many small independent inns, hotels and b&b's in Europe. No need to stay in chain hotels.

I think you need to think about this a lot. There is no way in the world you are going to get to know the local culture in small towns if you are staying in an entire country only a couple days. That's a romantic idea, anyway, the idea about how you are going to be part of local culture when you have never been there and don't speak the language and don't even have any particular interest in one place to choose where to go. There aren't that many monasteries renting out rooms to tourists, either.

Poland and Germany could be a good trip. I agree with others, just figure out maybe a couple countries you want to do. IN some cases, you could add a third if they were very close and small (ie, Amsterdam, Belgium and France). I often combine two countries (eg, Switzerland and France or Spain and France) but haven't done more except for England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, which I guess is 4. And that Wales was just a driveby during the day getting from one to another. I know you don't have interest in these places, just an example of a case where you could combine several countries without too much trouble. Italy and Switzerland would probably work, and maybe France with that.

newbie European travelers may want to hop on Europe's fantastic train system rather than driving - especially if covering the distances previewed - trains go up to nearly 200 mph and there are a plethora of overnight trains that allow you to quickly relocated across Europe if you want at night - saving the cost of a hotel to book - anyway for lots of great info on planning a European rail trip and also on railpasses that could be a boon if you travel as much as previews I always spotlight these IMO fab sites - www.seat62.com; wwwbudgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com

I suggest you choose three or, at most, four towns. Four is really pushing it, though. You need time to get from one place to another.

Think about what it take to move from one town to another: you get up, have breakfast, pack, check out, get to the train or airport (for first-time travelers I dn't recommend driving, for many reasons). Then you wait for your train, etc, then travel between cities (probably most of a day on your itinerary) then find your way to your next accommodation, check in, unpack, walk around to get your bearings, and a day is gone. So a two-day stop is more like one or 1 1/2. Then you are off again. Not good. DO get a good travel book for the places you want to go. Look in the library to start with, then buy or download the books you really need. If you don't want to carry lots of books, tear out the pages for the places you are going and leave the rest at home.

you can look for convent or monastery stays on the Internet. if you stay in one place three or more days you could also rent an apartment in some places, and you can get a tiny glimpse of the local scene that you want. When you settle on your three towns, post questions here about finding accommodations.

I know the feeling of wanting to see more!! But actually, with your itinerary you will see less, except for the train stations or airports. Is that what you are going for? I don't think so.

Don't do it!

3 countries absolute maximum imo...and if you want my frank suggestion, I'd say only ONE country. And I'd go even further and say only one area of one country. Eg North half of Italy.

However if you want to do all those countries just so you can say "I've been there" to everyone, well that's a diferent story. Just be aware that you might be coming up blank if the person you're talking to asks "Really, wow so what were some cool experiences?" - or as someone before suggested, you might be responding "Well such and such train station was nice."

PS: My first ever overseas trip was a 28 day contiki in Europe "visiting" 12 or so countries...it was ridiculous.

Actually, the idea of a tour is not a bad one, because they pack a great deal in, more than you can do on your own - just that with your selection of stops there wouldn't be many tours offering the exact same routing. Had you thought about exploring tours for even part of your itinerary?

I would also get a good map and a guidebook - you need the map to get a good feel for the relationship of your stops to each other (and to stick pins into and/or draw on), and the guidebook so you can read up on what to keep, what to eliminate. Let's Go Europe is good if you're under 30, otherwise I quite like the Rough Guide books, Fodor's, Dorling Kindersley (Eyewitness Guides, nice glossy images and interesting snippets) and Michelin (the latter if you aren't interested in photos but want to do a country in some detail). There are also some guidebooks that give suggested routings. I have for example an AA guidebook with Germany's best drives that has some excellent ideas, and that is the kind of thing that might fire up your imagination and give you some perspective on how long to devote to certain destinations.

Finally, Via Michelin (www.viamichelin.com) will give you timings by road, Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.com) will give you timings by rail (for all Europe, not just Germany). Make yourself a mock plan and enter names of stops or research overnight trains. Then come back and ask us to refine your plan. Good luck!

Lavandula

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