pranavthakur82

Hello friends,

I would like you to help me plan a ~15 days Europe trip from India (Mumbai) covering France, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria (open to adding 2-3 more countries) under a budget of 4500 Euros. We are 2 adults - me and my wife.

I was thinking of taking a very economical flight from Mumbai to either of the above countries (cities) and then travel by Eurail (Global pass 1000 Euros offer) visiting beautiful scenic locations. I am also open to travelling by night trains to destinations and not stay in Hotels all the time. Around 2 nights stay in France, 2 in Germany, 3-4 in Switzerland, 1 Austria (or other country). Being a couple, I would like to visit and stay around beautiful snow-peaked mountains and valleys.

I'm particularly interested in Western Europe by Eurail option (http://www.eurail.com/plan-your-trip...rope-itinerary). But my concern is that on the days when I won't be staying at a hotel, would sleeping on the train while travelling be a comfortable option? Are there sleeping arrangements on the train? I would not want the trip to be hectic at all and get good night's sleep everyday.

I have looked at tour operator options as well but they're making travel arrangements from one place to another by road. Moreover, Eurail looks like a much cheaper and better option.

I do have a lot more questions but I wanted your views on the plan.

Thank you and have a nice day!

-Pranav

rimavip

Hi Pranav, we went to our Europe trip last august for two weeks. And we did cover only 2 country which was Italy and Switzerland.u don't want to miss Swiss part and take good time there. Swiss ofer much more and like you were saying that u want to see beautiful places. We stayed at mountain town WENGEN in Swiss and it was just beautiful. Do you know what area u wanna cover?

Michael

300€ per day will not get you far, especially in Switzerland.

artsnletters

What month will you be traveling? It has an impact on how likely you are to find your snow-capped mountains.

I suggest you think in terms of cities or specific destinations rather than countries. There's obviously no way you can see all of France - or frankly even a little of it - in 2 days.

Bus tours can get you around a schedule such as you propose by giving you long days on the bus, and because they have everything arranged and orchestrated. Traveling on your own, you will need to find your own way, and you won't have a bus waiting at your hotel door at 7am ready to take you to your next stop - you'll be at the mercy of train schedules, for one thing.

I suggest, with 15 days, thinking in terms of 4 places, one per country. Try:

Paris, 4 days
Lauterbrunnen and/or Luzern in Switzerland, beautiful mountain areas, 5 days
Munich and environs, 3 days
Salzburg for 2 days, or if you have 3, Vienna

In this scenario, you fly into Paris and home from Munich to save having to backtrack, which is costly in both money and time, which you have little of.

You can often buy point-to-point train tickets for less than a rail pass as long as you are willing to commit to a date and time two or three months in advance.

StCirq

This looks like it's modeled on an Indian travel agent bus tour, which is completely different from a trip organized on your own.

Do not buy a railpass. Point-to-point tickets, if you learn how and when to buy them from the country's national railways, will save you a good bit of money.

Four countries in 15 days, once you factor in the long-distance travel between them (and all the packing up, getting to the train station, finding your hotel, unpacking, etc.) is very rushed.

Switzerland can be frightfully expensive. Your budget is already tight. I'd drop it.

In short, unless you plan meticulously, you need more time and more money.

ashwinb

I did Austria and Czech Republic in about 12 days, I cant comment on Switzerland or France, but you can travel in Bavaria or Austria for a very low amount if you bok your train tickets in advance. For example, the 4 hour Graz-Salzbur trip cost me just 19 EU, when I booked 2 weeks in advance, it was 37 EU at the last moment, and find out if you are actually going to travel a lot by train.
You can have a look at my blogpost: :http://ashwinbahulkar.wordpress.com/...ia-and-prague/
I would like to spend a week in Austria itself,doing Vienna, Salzburg and the Lake District(very,very beautiful). I did not find Austria too expensive,you could do well on your budget.