2 travelling on a budget
 

2 students travelling to visit some family in Berlin and Munich. Landing in Paris or Amsterdam, have only 2 weeks, transportation by train. Any advice/suggestions?? Thanks.

anyone?

For what?

Any advice/suggestions about WHAT?

(I saw this post last night - but didn't have any idea what the OP was asking so just skipped it.)

As with the others, what are you asking about? Attractions, hotels, bars, trains, shopping, what?

Pack lunches to save on money, ride coach and watch your wallets.

Have you decided on Paris or Amsterdam for your ticket? Are you going to both, or choosing one or the other?

My advice is to research staying in hostels for students on a budget. Lonely Planet's website is an excellent place to start.

As with others, I'm not really sure what the question is.

Ok, seems straightforward - visiting family, one week in Munich (lots to see and do in the city and in the region around the city!), one week in Berlin (big city with lots to see and do), go home. What's the question?

Why land in Paris or Amsterdam if you go to Munich and Berlin? Those are serious distances with serious ticket prices to get from A to B to C!

Would you fly into Boston to visit family in Chicago?

Why not fly into Munich and out of Berlin - that's called an open-jaw ticket (use the "multi-city" feature on the airsearch websites).

Even if it costs a bit more (it may not!), it saves you a lot of money that you don't spend backtracking to Amsterdam or Paris, not to mention the time that uses up.

Here's a money-saving hint: If you choose the slow trains in Germany, you pay less. A bit slower, a bit cheaper. Much slower, much cheaper.

On the German railway site www.bahn.de select your mode of transportation (in German "Verkehrsmittel", a selector where you can pick all trains, or minus ICE, or minus even other fast ones).

If you disable all fast ones, the price almost halves, and the travel time more than doubles. But hey, if you're on a budget and in no hurry...

Surely your famly members will have suggestions for things to see and do in and around both those locations?

WK

Yeah, but ICEs are just cool. We all have our priorities, of course.