5 weeks in Europe starting early July (need critique and ideas)
 

Dear all,

Will be doing a 5 week travel (39days (exclude last day) in Europe starting early July. like to do some hikes whenever possible. Have been Prague
Arriving Budapest and out of Zurich.

Day 1 Budapest city walk ( arriving 1pm at Budapest )
Day 2 shoe memorial ,The Chain bridge , Heroes Monument, Thermal spas Great Market Basilica
Day 3 no plan yet ( Overnight at Budapest )
Day 4 no plan yet ( Overnight at Budapest )
Day 5 travel to Bratislava by train or bus - Devin castle , Bratislava castle city walk
Day 6 Gyor / Trnava / Trencin (day trip)
Day 7 Day trip to Brno
Day 8 High Tatras ( stay at Propad ? ) overnight . day hikes possible ?How do i get there from Budapest? Train to Propad and then ?
Day 9 High Tatras or I proceed to Krakow ( how do i get to Krakow ? by train or bus ? )
Day 10 Krakow city walk
Day 11 Auschwitz with salt mine ( go on own or sign with tour )
Day 12 Day trip to Warsaw
Day 13 Travel from Krakow to Wroclaw ( not sure need to stay how many nights )
Day 14 Wroclaw
Day 15 To Berlin ( 4 nights ?)
Day 16 Berlin
Day 17 Berlin
Day 18 Berlin
Day 19 To Dresden in the morning
Day 20 Dresden ( any day trip or hikes ?) no plan yet
Day 21 Dresden
Day 22 to Nuremberg ( 3 nights to stay / day trips ? )
Day 23 Nuremberg
Day 24 Nuremberg
Day 25 Travel from Nuremberg to Munich ( 4 nights )
Day 26 Munich ( no plan )
Day 27 Munich ( no plan )
Day 28 Munich ( no plan )
Day 29 Stuttgart
Day 30 Stuttgart
Day 31 Ulm
Day 32 Travel to St Gallen surroundings to find hikes
Day 33 Chaserugg ( i do not where to stay yet )
Day 34 - the rest no plan yet
Day 40 depart Zurich

Welcome any critique and suggestions especially to day trips and hikes. Thanks so much !!

Should be a nice trip!

Just a couple of notes:

• Personally, I'm very glad I didn't try to do anything else on the day I went Auschwitz / Birkenau. I'm very glad I went, but I found it emotionally overwhelming, and felt I needed the rest of that day to just relax and reflect. YMMV.
• I enjoyed Warsaw, but not as much as Krakow. You can, I assume, wait until you are there to decide whether you have time to visit Warsaw.
• I wanted more time in Berlin than you are planning, and that was before many of its current opportunities existed. Make sure you know your priorities and that you can see them with the time you have allocated.
• Ulm is an easy day-trip from Munich.
• Make sure you'll have time to see the things you want to see in Zurich.

Hope that helps!

Hi kja
Thank you for your kind reply.
Did you take a day tour to go to Auschwitz / Birkenau ?
Is Warsaw possible for a day trip or it is better to stay there a night ?
Do you know how to get to Krakow from High Tatras ?
I will assign one more day to Berlin as suggested.

Thank you so much again ! ^^

I visited Auschwitz / Birkenau as part of a group tour from Krakow, arranged through its Tourist Information Office. It was very well done, IMO, very sensitive to the reactions of the varied members of the group. That said, I went quite a while ago, so you might want to search this forum for other posts about Auschwitz. (There's a search function you can use on this forum, or you can use google with "Fodors" and "Auschwitz" as search terms.)

I believe that Warsaw is more than 2 hours from Krakow -- do you consider that a viable day trip? Some people are willing to spend more than 4 hours in transit for a day trip; some aren't, and there's no right or wrong answer -- just personal preference. But if you do consider it, make sure the transportation schedules work out for you. You can check rome2rio.com for your options; just be sure to click through to the underlying links, as the main site is not sensitive to seasonal variation.

You might also check rome2rio, or google, or guide books that cover things like that (the Rough Guide, Lonely Planet, and Moon often do) for your options to get from the High Tatras to Krakow.

Only add a day to Berlin if it that's what makes sense for YOUR interests and preferences!

Dear Kja,
Appreciate the advice and tips ! Thanks for sharing .Looks like my post is difficult for people to reply...

Yueyun
Auschwitz and birkenau can be easily visited by public transport bus. Leave early, as just one camp also takes up a lot of time.
Warsaw is worth a visit. Takes 4 hours from Krakow. There is a palace also on the outskirts.
You may decide to go with just your backpack and stay a night there.

This is whenever you can go.

I can see that you are in Bratislava on day 5 but can't see that Vienna is included in your itinerary. Maybe you have visited it before? If not, I can say that Vienna which is very close to Bratislava is probably the most interesting city on your itinerary. Maybe 3 days in Nurenberg is too much since it is a smaller town.

I doubt that you will be able to do the salt mine on the same day as Auschwitz. It takes time to get there, and the visit is only by tour, which can mean a wait just to start the tour. Plan on another day for the salt mine.

https://flic.kr/p/cAvbnA
Nowa Huta, a post W.W. II new town, might be worth a visit. It's at the end of a tram line:

https://flic.kr/p/cAujSJ