toofah

I'm about 6 weeks away from a trip with my wife and older kids to Europe. This is our first time to most of these places, I lived in Germany 20 years ago for 2 years. Now that I have most of my trip planned out I would love to get some feedback on what you all think. Are we biting off too much in some areas? Are we missing out on any must see area nearby where we will be traveling? Thoughts?

Here is our planned itinery:
-Fly into London, arrival is 6 am on Monday
-Rented apt is near Kings Cross
-Spend 2 days seeing the downtown sites, possibly an on\off bus tour: tower of london, big ben, london eye, harrod's, etc.
-Fly to Berlin on Wednesday morning, arrival is 11:30 am
-Rented apt near Brandenburg Gate
-Spend 2.5 days seeing: Checkpoint Charlie, East-side gallery, DDR Museum, Reichstag, TV Tower, Cathedral, etc. Possibly a day trip to Potsdam.
-My wife flies home from Berlin Saturday morning
-Saturday morning, the kids and I rent a car and head to Dessau to visit friends, then on to our next apt in downtown Dresden. Spend the evening checking out some of Dresden.
-We will be in an apt in Dresden near the Frauenkirche until Tuesday
-Easter Sunday, head to church in Groitzsch to see old friends, then to Frieberg to see the Mormon temple. Then wander around downtown Dresden.
-Monday, visit Saechsische Schweiz (Bastei Bruecke and Koenigstein)...drive across the border to Hrensko Czech Republik so that we can say that we were in the Czech Republik
-Tuesday, head to Seiffen: toy museum, alpine slide, shopping at Erzibirge Christmas shops
-Tuesday afternoon, drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber and take the Night Watchman tour at 8 pm
- Wednesday, check out Rothenburg (Walk the wall, Medieval Torture Museum, Shopping, ???)
-Wednesday evening, drive to Hohenschwangau and spend the night there
-Wednesday, tour Neuschwangstein...other sites???
-Wednesday afternoon, drive down to Liechtenstein to catch a glimpse of Austria\Switzerland\Leichtenstein
-Possibly spend the night here or head back to Munich late
-Thursday, get up early and head to Munich airport to go home

Thanks for your feedback in advance!

Gary

PalenQ

Possibly a day trip to Potsdam.>

Make this a high priority IMO - the stunning Prussian Versailles sets in a sprawling park with some follie or weird edifice as every turn - Potsdam itself is a nice town - walk back to the S-Bahn from Potsdam via Bebelberg's Park and the Wannsee for vareity.

Ingo

Let me see if I get that right.

On Easter Sunday you're heading to church in Groitzsch - there is one 30 km west of Dresden, another one near Leipzig. Even the drive to the one closer to Dresden will be about 45 minutes.

Then you're going to Freiberg, just to see the Mormon Temple. Freiberg has world-class sights, like the cathedral and the Terra Mineralia, and is a very beautiful in general, but the Mormon Temple is not something which would be on my list. So, if you have a special interest in that Mormon Temple and drive to Freiberg, please spend some more hours there and do some sightseeing.

Which does not leave much time for Dresden itself. Btw, the Easter Sunday services in the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) or Kreuzkirche (with the famous boys choir) are certainly much more rewarding than the service in Groitzsch - except that you cannot meet your old friends in this case.

You can easily drive across the border to the Czech Republic in Seiffen, too. On Easter Monday Saxon Switzerland will be crowded, the road to Hrensko will be very busy.

Are you aware that the drive from Seiffen to Rothenburg odT will take about 5 hours? Not calculated the traffic jams (it's the day after Easter holidays!)

toofah

Thanks PalenQ and Ingo!

I've hear great things about Potsdam, so it is now sounding even better.

What sorts of places, besides churches, can I expect to find open on Easter Sunday in Germany? Part of the reason to travel where we can be with old friends is because we will have no where else to go if everything is closed for a Sunday and a holiday. You mention that Easter Monday will also be busy. Is this a holiday where the locals will not be at work?

Gary

Mainhattengirl

Also consider that many places will be closed on Good Friday. Check their websites to see if they are open. That would be a good day to do a bike tour or a walking tour, to cover many of the sites you want to see. Insider Tours offers lots of different themed tours of Berlin and is the company I would recommend for the highest quality tour.

Ingo

Yes, Easter Monday is also a holiday. So Easter is a loooong weekend, with Friday and Monday off.

Shops are closed on holidays, like on Sundays. But museums, castles, churches, zoo, anything else touristy are open. Peak season for tourists!

bilboburgler

"Wednesday afternoon, drive down to Liechtenstein to catch a glimpse of Austria\Switzerland\Leichtenstein"

You know there is nothing there right? If you want to make a journey to this area I might set a more interesting target like visiting Lake Constance, maybe do a ferry trip or see the Zepplin museum

akrobat

I disagree that there's nothing to see Liechtenstein in general, though I don't think there is enough to see to make it worth the two hour drive from Neuschwangstein, especially on the tail end of a long trip with the goal of being in Munich a day or two later.

PalenQ

Leichtenstein is a bucolic Principality - I once jogged into it several miles from the Austrian border - mainly just farms and fields - the capital city is the place to go but for the novelty of adding another country (well or whatever Leichtenstein is) may be worth it if nothing else.

bilboburgler

Well the stamp museum is the best in the country. I've ridden a bike over most of it and apart from buying the most expensive sandwich I have have bought, sat in a really great bus station and walked through the high street the best thing I did was to find the 1892 border post (which would hold one man and a very small dog).

Hey it is small country made up of fields, a great software house and loads of hidden money. Interestingly it is a Grand Dukedom, one of the five that were founded way back to help the Emperor govern Germany. I've found the remnants of another one, holding a massive castle between Ulm and Lindau, though no longer holding a country. Anyone found the other three?

PalenQ

Well the stamp museum is the best in the country>

befitting a postage-stamp sized country that makews a lot of money selling postage stamps!