nitishraj

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Goa...!!!

Well, im writing this for itinerary help and ideas as my requirements and places are little different than the normal itineraries that one can find on the internet.
we are a couple with a 3 year old daughter and its our wedding anniversary and we want to do a holiday as below in Jan 24 end and beginning of Feb.

Day 1 - Arrive in Prague in morning and we can leave next day afternoon as we have been couple of times in Prague. However we wish to visit the Infant Jesus church and hence the visit to Prague

Day 2 - leave by afternoon to Innsbruck and then we have 6 days and nights with us in which we wish to explore Innsbruck and then Switzerland etc. We have already been to Vienna and Salzburg earlier. In Switzerland, we have been to Lucerne, Interlaken, Bern earlier

Day 9 - post 6 days as above, we plan to leave on 7th day back to India from Zurich

Will be really thankful for some nice suggestions...we are aware it will be cold...but we would like this trip to be a memorable one...

Thanks
Nitish

neckervd

Bom Dia
What are you really interested in:
cities (churches, museums, palaces, medievlal architecture...)
castles (omnipresent in this area),
mountain villages in the snow,
winter mountain landscapes
points of view, high mountain peaks?

Unfortunately, most open air theme parks that might inerest your kid will be closesd in winter.
Hikes on prepared panoramic trails (with or without rented sledge for your kid) could be an alternative.
The zoological gardens of Zurich and Basel will be open, of course.

You could visit the medieval city of Krumlow, on the way from Prague to Innsbruck.

As you have already done the Lucerne - Interlaken/Jungfrau - Berne thing, you may try to explore Southern Switzerland
The easiest way to reach Switzerland from Insbruck is the direct train to Zurich. A more original itinerary could be:

Innsbruck - Zurich or Bregenz bound train - Landeck (Austria) - Bus - Scuol (Switzerland). Scuol is a small resort station with a spa (hot thermal water from the mountains), a scenic center and a gondola to the ski-, hiking and sledging area Motta Naluns.
From Scuol you cold proceed .to Samedan (St. Moritz) and cross the Alps by Bernina Express up to Tirano in Italy. From there you could proceed by connecting Italian traiin up to Varenna.(ar 14.34), enjoy this scenic village on the shore of Lale Como and finally board a fast ferry (dp 16.45) to Como (ar 17.41). Proceed then the same the same evening or the following morning by direct train to Lo<arno/Switzerland.(1 hr journey)..
Locarno is a resort town on Lake Maggiore, very popular with Swiss and German tourists. The 3 castles of Bellinzona (Unesco site) are close to Locarno.

Locarno is llinked to the Swiss Canton of Valais (Matterhorn Canton) by the scenic Centovalli railway and the Simplon railway (journey time Locarno - Brig 2 1/2 hrs).
The area around Brig is full of winter sport resorts with prepared winter hiking trails, gondolas to viewpoints, panoramic mountain restaurants, etc.).

A train ride from Brig to Zurich airport (direct trains) takes 2 1/2 hrs.

neckervd

neckervd

neckervd

neckervd

neckervd

nitishraj

Thank you so much neckervd for the suggestions....It is definitely helpful. I will study this in detail....Thanks so much again

Our interests are :
cities (churches, museums, palaces, medievlal architecture...)
castles (omnipresent in this area),
mountain villages in the snow,
winter mountain landscapes...
Thanks

J62

Prague seems to be the outlier here. You've been there before, and it's a long way from Innsbruck.
Any reason you're not going directly to the Alps?

nitishraj

Dear neckervd,

Thank you so much for your suggestions. However, on closer thought, we felt we will make slight changes in our plan this time and now we are thinking of doing the following :
Prague - 1 Day
Hallstat - 2 days
Innsbruck - 3 Days (Maybe) Or No....
and then go to Regensburg and spend three days there and do some day trips from there...
If you can kindly suggest...

By the way, the suggestions that you gave above have been duly noted and i will definately do this trip some day...

Thanks a ton,
Nitish

neckervd

Regensurg is somewhat betweeen Prague and Innsbruck/Salzburg.
If you fly home from Prague again, it doesn't matter whether you visit Regensburg at the beginning or at the end of your trip.
Otherways Prague - Regensburg - Salzburg/Hallstatt - Innsbruck - Munich airport would make more sense.

J62

I also posted this on your new thread of the same topic.

You'd be better off just continuing the discussion on your other post.....or ask the moderators to merge the threads...

I still don't understand your desire to visit places so far apart - Prague on one end and Innsbruck on the other.

I've spent a lot of time in Innsbruck and in my opinion it's neither unique nor that special. Yes, the steep mountains surrounding it are beautiful, but it's a rather meh medium sized city. Cute small historic old center, but not really unique or must-visit compared to many other places all across the Alps. Ditto for Hallstadt. I would not travel hours out of my way just to say I went there. Ditto for Leicheinstein. It sounds like you want to check off destinations you've been to, What might help us better to help you is to step back, close your eyes, and tell us the 3 or 4 features of a trip that you would find most enjoyable. There are many marvelous places to visit that we may be able to suggest without you having to schlep all across endless kilometers, in the middle of winter,with a 3 year old child.

For example, if Prague is a must-visit city for a day, that's ok. From there I'd consider taking a quick 2hr train ride north into Germany/Saxony area to Dresden. There are some beautiful natural areas near the border between Prague and Dresden that are an easy half to 1 day trip out of Dresden.

From Dresden area you could visit some smaller towns / cities in the area, eg Leipzig, and maybe head to Berlin. Or from Dresden you could get to Bavaria quite easily on train if you want to.

nitishraj

Dear Friends from this forum,

At the outset, let me thank all of you for your kind suggestions and taking out time and write your thoughts and suggesting an itinerary.
Finally after much thought, we zeroed down on doing the French Riviera (Nice, Marseilles etc) . Post our day visit to Prague, we will fly to france and then do this trip.

I once again thank you all for your time. I will definately do the above trip...maybe next year and then your ideas will definately help me plan better.

Thanks again...

Cheets from Goa

J62

That sounds like a wonderful plan. Enjoy your trip!