kja

So ... only 1+ day in Amsterdam, 2+ days in Berlin, 2+ days in Prague (plus one day dedicated to a day trip), 1+ day in Vienna (plus 2 days trips to see Salzburg and the Alps from there)?

BYH. I would hate this trip, and I travel hard! I can't imagine spending that much time in transit to see so little of what these great cities afford. JMO. If you were to cut your destinations in half, I might (just maybe might) be able to understand the trip.

But if it meets your needs and interests, hey, its your trip.

Good luck!

ericjonolsen

@KJA - I appreciate the honesty! This is information I need to know. Quite honestly, I'm starting to get overwhelmed with all there is to see and do.

I suppose the more I think about it, my "must haves" really are:

Rotheburg Ob Deb Tauer
Salzburg/Villach (Alps)
Prague
Vienna

Bonus City would be a day trip to Bratislava.

Would that be more reasonable?

kja

Yes - MUCH more reasonable! And I'm glad that you appreciated my honesty.

Fly into one city and out of another ("open jaw") -- I think Prague and Vienna would work as your anchors, but you should play with some options before committing. Be sure to give your self a little extra time in your arrival city to deal with jet lag.

And get yourselves, or consult, some good guidebooks. The cost will be nugatory in comparison to the cost of your trip -- or you can see them at your local library.

Enjoy!

bilboburgler

bratislava is not that great. Still nor is Pilsen but at least you can taste lagared beer rather than the modern stuff.

PalenQ

I did Bratislava as a day trip from Vienna and for a day I loved it- nicely restored old town center on the Danube. But everyone has a subjective opinion but Bratislava surprised me from what I had been expecting in former Soviet-bloc countries.

PalenQ

I think your itinerary is fine until the 26th

Mat 27 - Day trip to Salzburg (3h11m each way). Mozart’s birthplace and The Sound of Music!
May 28 - Day trip - the Alps! (Vienna-Villach-Salzburg-Vienna)

These are incredibly long day trips -OK if like riding trains thru nice scenery but why not stay in Salzburg 2 nights and take the train to Munich in less than 2 hours to fly out?

Vienna -Salzburg via Villach is much more scenic but a lot longer I think- especially for a day trip.

ericjonolsen

KJA/PalenQ/BilboBurgler (heh, cool name),

Thanks for your comments!

I probably should mention the intent of this trip, besides seeing Central Europe, was to use the rail system, as that is something neither of us have done in Europe outside of the People Mover for me in Venice (whee, a whole 5 minute ride).

I thought the day trips to Salzburg and then via Villach would be pretty and the understanding was we'd be on the train for awhile.

My day trip ideas are coming from the book Europe by Eurail.

As for guidebooks, I wish I could attach pics to these forums - I have 8 different guidebooks - some specifically for Vienna, others for rail, and even more for Central Europe. Plus about 20 tabs open on my browser.

I'm fine with negating Amsterdam. It's not like Europe is going to up-and-move and go anywhere.

PalenQ: I like the idea of staying in Salzburg for 2 nights.

So would this be a better itinerary?

May 14th: Fly from our respective cities to Nuremberg. Settle into hotel. Grab a drink and explore depending on time.
May 15th: Explore Nuremberg
May 16th: Day trip to Rothenberg ob der Tauber
May 17th: Day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle?!
May 18th: Train to Prague. Check into hotel. Explore
May 19th: Prague
May 20th: Prague
May 21st: Prague (day trip somewhere - any ideas?)
May 22nd: Train to Vienna
May 23rd: Explore Viena
May 24th: Explore Vienna
May 25th: Train to Salzburg - Check into hotel
May 26th: The hills are alive with the Sound of Music!! (And Mozart)
May 27th: More Alps!
May 28th: Train to Munich
May 29th: Depart Munich

kja

Without knowing what YOU want to see or experience, I must say that I think you might be giving too little time to Prague, Vienna, and Munich. I wanted nearly double the time you are giving each of these fascinating cities. JMO —your call, of course.

annhig

Hi eric,

I think that it's far too far from Nuremberg to do Neuschwanstein in a day trip - it's about 3 hours each way, whether by train to car.

Much better to take a night away from Nuremberg and add it to Munich, which is less than 2 hours from Neuschwanstein; you may decide in the end that there are other things you would prefer to do whilst in Munich but if you want to go there, you'll be a lot closer.

PalenQ

May 18th: Train to Prague. Check into hotel. Explore>

the best way is by bus Nurnberg to Prague - book at www.bahn.de/en

27th maybe do the Neuschwanstein day trip from Munich instead?

Yes better.

ericjonolsen

Happy to be making progress!!!

So a little history of the trip and why we are looking where we are looking. I've done Northern Europe and the Mediterranean on cruises and was loooking to do something different - something inland. My friend has only been to Paris and when I asked what she would like she recommended Prague and Vienna.

I thought Rothenburg on dear Tauber would be nice as it is a gorgeous town from the pictures I've seen, and thought it would be nice to do some of the "smaller" towns to get that classic European feel, away from the big anchors like Vienna and Prague.

We have 12 days really of sightseeing available. I suppose I could do 4 days in Vienna, 4 days in Prague and then a few days in Salzburg, but then we lose Rothenburg. Of course, if there are other similar cities closer to Prague/Vienna which have that same "charm", I'm ok with that.

Salzburg is pretty much a non-negotiable. I'd hate to be so close to the Alps and miss them.

KJA and PalenQ - thanks for your willingness to help a total stranger.

thursdaysd

I suppose Salzburg is on the edge of the Alps, but if I want a city in the Alps in Austria I go to Innsbruck.

StCirq

It still looks like a forced march to me, but I have my own way of traveling slowly now that I live in Europe and can go all over at little cost whenever I want, so I appreciate the different perspective.

Personally, I loathe Austria and the Austrians, so I wouldn't ever go there again (4 times was more than enough), but I get that it holds a lot of appeal for Americans. I'm really glad they didn't vote in their far-right guy today, but it's still an uptight racist anti-semite country as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't negate their beautiful countryside and cities, of course, but as long as I can pick and choose where I go, they're off the map for me. It's like being in Trump Country when you're on vacation - not even remotely what I want when traveling. I would guess that an American traveler's experience would be completely different, just enjoying the scenery and the horrid Sachertortes.

By contrast, we were absolutely enthralled with our 2 nights in the old center of Bratislava a few weeks ago. What a beautiful, artful, commodious place! Now, there's a place that got over all the WWII stuff and division of country stuff and made the best of it and incorporated the best of the Old World with the New and just carried on and made a new, vibrant life. There's a place that embraced a service economy. There's a place that embraced learning how to cook good food after the communist regime had squashed that. There's a place that wants to be pretty and makes it happen. There's a place that makes you KNOW that most of the world's major musicians studied and played there. There's a place that wants you to come into its churches and places of worship and hear impromptu gorgeous music. We were mesmerised by Bratislava. Its recent emergence on the world globe makes it much more fascinating to me than Vienna, which to me is just an old, old boring used-to-be-famous glam European venue with distinctly unpleasant occupants.

I'm probably of no help at all to you in your vacation plans. I'm just trying to give some "local" perspective, FWIW.

ericjonolsen

StCirq - Interesting perspective, but I leave politics out of things when I visit. It's easy to get wrapped up in that, but at the end of the day, people are people, and a country should not be viewed by its government but by the people which make it up.

You will always find someone you don't agree with no matter where you go. Our choice, as travelers is to look for the good in everyone no matter where we go.

Same reason I want to go to Cuba; to explore, to open my eyes. But I digress.

PalenQ

It's like being in Trump Country when you're on vacation - not even remotely what I want when traveling.>

Guess you can only go to the two coasts if visiting the States?

PalenQ

Vienna has lots to see and do but you may consider one day trip to the lovely Wachau Valley - take train to Melk, tour famous abbey - hop on a boat on the not-so-blue Danube to say Durnstein -classic wine town with ruined castle hovering above it -take bus to Krens for trains back to Vienna.

PalenQ

https://www.google.com/search?q=wach...HaXGBWkQsAQIHQ

Gorgeous Wachau Valley!

StCirq

<<at the end of the day, people are people, and a country should not be viewed by its government but by the people which make it up. >>

Totally agree with that, but it's the people of Austria that unnerve me, not their government. I find them cold, rude, bigoted, and unpleasant. As a whole of course. There are no doubt individuals who are pleasant to interact with. The government of a country is elected by the people, BTW.

Michael

<i> The government of a country is elected by the people, BTW.</i>

And in the current climate, Austria might look better than France considering Fillon and le Pen as presidential candidates.

Dianedancer

Agree on going to Melk Abbey from Vienna via the Danube.
Neunschwanstein: We went a few years ago. The tour was about 20 minutes long and so it was very disappointing. We passed by so many rooms with no explanations given. I'd skip it especially if it will take up so much time to get there and back and wait on line with loads of tour groups.