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2 Weeks, Germany, Austria, Hungary, 1 week Netherlands

2 Weeks, Germany, Austria, Hungary, 1 week Netherlands

Old Apr 16th, 2018, 05:14 PM
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2 Weeks, Germany, Austria, Hungary, 1 week Netherlands

We are starting to plan our Viking River Cruise in Oct 2019 and are looking for some help, as this is our first trip to this area.
We will arrive in Frankfurt in the beginning of October and our plan is to travel in Germany, Austria, and Hungary for 2 weeks before we board the boat in Budapest (15 night).The cruise ends in Amsterdam where we are going to spend 7 days before flying back to the US.
We plan on visiting some areas where our ancestors are from, Vogelsbergkriese, Austria, Hungary, Antwerp, and West Flanders.
We are thinking about traveling to a few villages in the Vogelsberg area before traveling to Munich. We have a list of a few castles, ice cave, and the Abbey that we are looking at. We have thought about renting a car for the first part of the journey and then using other modes of transportation, bus, train, trolley??. Since we have a limited amount of time we don't want to over plan and miss interesting stuff. We like off the beaten path type traveling and checking out hidden gems. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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Old Apr 16th, 2018, 05:32 PM
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Don't consider driving until you are fully recovered from jet lag.

A good guidebook or two -- perhaps the Michelin Green guides for the areas you plan to visit -- will likely serve you extremely well.

Sometimes, planning is the way to make sure you don't miss interesting stuff!
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Old Apr 17th, 2018, 09:01 AM
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Great train info - www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Book tickets early for nice discounts.
Schedules - www.bahn.de/en.
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Old Apr 20th, 2018, 03:17 PM
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You have to be slightly more specific. How much of this is ancestral visit and how much ordinary sightseeing? Are the big cities like Munich, Nuremberg and Vienna on your list? How much time roughly for each country?
I can give you some tips about the Vogelsberg region, but at the moment it's all a bit vague to me.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2018, 03:28 PM
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Hi Lubitsch,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you.

The trip will be mostly ordinary sightseeing with a little ancestry dropped in. My wife's maiden name is Vogelsberg and my ancestry is from Antwerp and Flanders. Our initial plans are to fly into Frankfurt and pick up a car. We are thinking of spending a day or two in the Vogelsberg area before heading down to Munich. Munich 5 - 7 days and use Munich has a base for day trips. We were thinking of going to Bavaria, Black Forest, Austria from Munich. Then take the train to Budapest and 5-7 days in that area. We then board the Viking Ship in Budapest, traveling the Danube, Main , and the Rhine. The cruise ends up in Amsterdam where we will spend 5-7 days again. Nuremberg and Vienna are during the cruise. We have a list of a few of the castles and ice cave in the Munich and Austria area. We are traveling with another couple who has relatives in Brussels who will be meeting up with us somewhere along the trip.
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Old Apr 24th, 2018, 01:32 AM
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I see. Well, first just because the maiden name is Vogelsberg that doesn't mean your wife's ancestors have to be from the region. If the following statistic and map is to be believed 2 Weeks, Germany, Austria, Hungary, 1 week Netherlands-9ac574ac7fe897990c3ad143deb59629_de.png then the name appears sprinkled here and there across the country with the by far highest concentration however being in the Euskirchen district which belongs to the Eifel. I hope you have some more specific sources for the place where the ancestors came from otherwise you're following a pretty thin lead.
Technically you could go by train, at least insofar as Alsfeld, the prettiest town in the vicinity, and Lauterbach are connected to the railway though unfortunately the direct line from Frankfurt through the Vogelsberg has been taken out of action many years ago, so one has to go via Gießen. A car would give you however a bit more flexibility in such a thinly settled region. Schlitz is also a notable but remote place which is only reached by buses. You could however drop the car in Fulda and go from there to Munich by train.

The Munich part is ... problematic. You certainly aren't going from Munich to Bavaria because Munich is in Bavaria, it's the capital of the state. Also you clearly plan to adapt US travel style with destinations which are way too far away for day trips like the Black Forest. Just don't. There's no compellingly good reason to drive for hours, you're just wasting your precious time. Stay nearby, visit Regensburg, Landshut, Ingolstadt and Augsburg. If you wish you can go south for two days and stay near Füssen and see the palaces with Neuschwanstein plus the Wieskirche and Ettal abbey. Salzburg is also doable by train.
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Old Apr 24th, 2018, 02:57 PM
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Conside driving down the Mosel Valley from Belgium via Luxembourg to Koblenz - extremely scenic:

https://www.google.com/search?q=mose...w=1879&bih=922

Wine towns dot the vineyard-carpeted valley the while way after Trier - a great stop to see its stellar Roman relics, some of the best north of the Alps.
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Old Apr 24th, 2018, 04:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Lubitsch
you could go by train, at least insofar as Alsfeld, the prettiest town in the vicinity, and Lauterbach are connected to the railway though unfortunately the direct line from Frankfurt through the Vogelsberg has been taken out of action many years ago, so one has to go via Gießen.
And THAT would mean that you wouldn't have to put yourselves, or any one else who happens to be on the road with you, at risk. Worth serious consideration, IMO.
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Old Apr 25th, 2018, 01:15 AM
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PalenQ, I know you love to flood the forum with your advice whether it makes any sense or not, but how exactly is your suggestion supposed to fit into the itinerary of the OP? Try to resisit your urge to post something everywhere, ok?
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Old Apr 25th, 2018, 06:55 AM
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Well it seemed to me that they were driving from Belgium to Munich - I guess I reaad wrong.
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Old Apr 25th, 2018, 07:36 AM
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It will be really interesting journey, I recommend to stop in Munich (one of the best cities in Europe), also try to visit Wien for 2-3 days if it's possible. Amsterdam is really great so spend there maximum time! You can rent a car at the beginning of your trip, and left it at the end in Nethrlands
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Old May 1st, 2018, 03:03 PM
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Hey Lubitsch,
What about the Schotten? My wife's brother ventured there on one of his trips. Is that area worth a stop over? This would be when we leave Frankfurt at the beginning or our trip.

Hey Leader_k,
We do stop in Wein as part of our Viking cruise and we are there for 1 1/2 days.
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Old May 1st, 2018, 03:25 PM
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Rent the car in Frankfurt and then drive south to the Black Forest and from there east toward Munich. You really do not need a car in Munich, so use it as your final stop before taking the train or flying to Budapest. Getting the Michelin Green Guide is a good idea. Antwerp is an easy train ride from Amsterdam.
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Old May 2nd, 2018, 02:05 AM
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The next person who makes brilliant suggestions on this thread like Michael does will be ... well, something not nice. If OP are going to a rolling hill country like the Vogelsberg why on earth should they go to another which is not on their way. Why do people feel they have to contribute some random and pretty worthless advice?

Schotten is as you can see here https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Serie_A-de.png on the other side of the "mountains" There's nothing wrong with the place, it even has a noticeable altar piece in its parish church. But the other three places I mentioned simply have more and nicer old houses and are on the whole more impressive. Schotten also lacks any train access so you'd have to go by bus. If you want to rent a car, keep in mind that driving jetlagged is not really a good idea.
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Old May 2nd, 2018, 07:47 AM
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The OP mentioned the Black Forest, but first going to Munich, which does not make sense geographically from Frankfurt. I was only trying to rationalize their travels from what I know and based on a good part of their stated interests. You yourself question the idea of Vogelsberg being necessarily the ancestral land of the family.
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Old May 2nd, 2018, 01:56 PM
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Thanks to everyone that has responded with ideas of plight
So even though we probably have too much stuff going on I wanted to share what we have.
Picking a car up in Frankfurt and driving towards Lauterbach andGießen.
Picking from there travel down towards Zurich via the Black Forest. Stay in Zurich for 2 days
From Zurich we would travel to zillertal, garmisch, Ettal Abbey, and Innsbruck. Stay in this area for 3-4 days
Travel to Munich for a 2 day stay before traveling to Salzburg.
In Salzburg we would drop off the car.
After dropping the car we would take a train to Venice for san over night (Round Trip)
We would then travel from Salzburg to Budapest via train.
We pick up the Viking Cruise in Budapest.
Once the cruise ends we have 7 days before heading back home and we haven't gotten much done for that part of the trip.
We have some thoughts like Mosel Valley, Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent,and Bruges.

We are meeting with the couple we are traveling with over the weekend to discuss what we have so far.
It really seems like it's too much so there may be more re-routing.
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Old May 2nd, 2018, 04:24 PM
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Picking up rental car in Germany and dropping it off in Austria may incur a significant drop off fee. Try to pickup/dropoff in same country
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Old May 3rd, 2018, 08:03 AM
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Yes, drop car in Germany and take train to Salzburg.

Lubitsch: <The next person who makes brilliant suggestions on this thread like Michael does will be ... well, something not nice.>

Well OP has decided to go thru Black Forest - thanks maybe to Michael.
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Old May 4th, 2018, 11:10 AM
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Rather than stay in Zurich, continue a bit further and stay in Lucerne. Must nicer location for your one Swiss stop.
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Old May 4th, 2018, 12:36 PM
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Yes Lucerne is much smaller than Zurich and sits on a lovely lake - try to do a boat ride. Zurich ain't bad though and its lake though not as scenic is nice too and has boats. But I agree with casperij - Lucerne only about 45 minutes from Zurich and probably direct trains to Zurich Airport.
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