Are these cities acceptable to visit?
 

I am in the planning stage for my trip where I am trying to find out where I plan on going inside the countries I visit. Here is a list of cities I have picked, I am looking for advice on bad cities/great cities if you know of them, or have been to them. I figure the best place to find out this stuff is to ask people that have been there before. I really don't know anything about any of these cities, so that's why I'm asking. Here's the list. Oh yeah. I am planning on going to Europe for a month, how many cities should I visit, without spending all my time on the train. Thank you very much! <BR> <BR>1)Frankfurt, Germany <BR>2)Rhine River area (Any suggestions?) <BR>3)Munich/Postdam <BR>4)Wurzburg, Germany <BR>5)Nurnburg, Germany <BR>6)Vienna, Austria <BR>7)Salzburg, Austria <BR>8)Munich, Germany <BR>9)Garmisch, Germany <BR>10)Innsbruck, Austria <BR>11)Venice, Italy <BR>12)Geneva, Switzerland <BR>13)Bern, Switzerland <BR>14)Zurich, Switzerland <BR>15)Possible Stuttgart, Germany on my way back to Frankfurt to catch my flight home. <BR> <BR>Thanks again.

George, <BR>I think you've got to do some homework instead of expecting folks here to do it for you. Define your interests: art?, modern history? ancient history? military history? theater? urban life? languages? Invest some time in your library or browsing at a large book store and pore over guidebooks until you find places that suit your personal interests. Don't depend solely on the tastes and preferences of others. Our interests, ages and experiences may be far different than yours. <BR> <BR>Pick up the Insight Guides to Germany, Austria and Switzerland to begin to get ideas; then look for and look through Insight Guides to individual German cities and Venice. Check out the Fodor's, Michelin, Baedeker Guides as well. Surf the web for the German National Tourist Office and contact it for brochures and literature. Do the same with the Swiss and Italian tourist offices.

Wes gives sound advice. First, buy a good map. With all respect, you seem to have need of a basic knowledge of geography. For example, looking at your list, you will discover that Munich is nowhere near Postdam, a suburb of Berlin. Read other postings on this web site on planning, the key to enjoying any trip.

Sorry, I meant berlin/postdam, not munich. I know about these places, and wasn't asking for an answer to what these cities have to offer, I was just looking to see if anyone had been to one of these cities and thought it was absolutely terrible, so I could stay away from it. That's all. Geeze.

But George, you did say, "I really don't know anything about any of these cities", that's why you got those types of comments.

Mind you, I have only flown out of Frankfurt and in to Zurich, and I have never been to Geneva, but from what I know of these three, I would drop them from the list. They are more business/government centers, although they do have attractions of their own. My own research has led me to leave them out so far. I liked Bern and Munich, and loved Vienna. Bern is an easy stop because of good rail connections, and it is easy to see in a day or less. However, unless you have already been, I would use the Swiss time to see the Alps around Interlaken (a couple of days minimum). <BR> <BR>I would say most of your locations are fairly in line with one another geographically and not too terribly far apart. An exception is Berlin, which I would probably drop for that reason. Vienna too is a little out of the way, but I think it is worth it. I haven't been to Berlin yet.

Thanks for the help dan.

George. <BR> <BR>Quite a lot of the cities you list are not really on the tourist/holiday agenda. <BR>I cannot see anything worthwhile in Wurzburg or Nurenburg, and I would personally not spend much time in Zurich,Geneva or Stuttgart, all expensive commercial cities. <BR>You really do need to get a good map, to start locating the smaller towns, and the scenic centres. For example your choices in Switzerland, Zurich, Geneva and possibly even Bern, are by no means the pick of the crop in that country. <BR>I gave you a draft itinerary a couple of weeks ago, which you seem to have ignored. I'm not saying you have to do it, but take another look at it, as it is a good starting point, which is what I said at the time I think. <BR>I'm worrying that you are just making a list, rather than working out where you want to go, and why. <BR>

George, all those cities would be great to visit. The ones I would put on your B list, however, as ones not so special are these--Frankfurt, Munich, Nurnberg,Geneva, Zurich. They are Ok of course but just not as colorful as those others on the list. <BR>I can rave particularly about Berlin/Potsdam, Wurtzburg, Vienna, Salzburg, and the Rhine area. But opinions differ on this forum( man! do they!) so each of us would prepare a different A and B list. I've not yet been to Innsbruck or Venice and take as an article of faith that they are both fabulous. Enjoy your trip planning. Maybe our comments can point you to some good guidebooks, as others have suggested.

Here are my opinions on your list:

Whoops! <BR>1) Frankfurt - skip it <BR>2) Rhine - I loved it! Bacharach and St. Goar are quaint little towns full of character. <BR>3) Berlin - big city, lots to see, doesn't feel like the rest of Germany <BR>4) Wurzburg - I didn't think it was too exciting. <BR>5) Nurnburg - never been there <BR>6) Vienna - 2 thumbs up! <BR>7) Salzburg - another thumbs up <BR>8) Munich - I live here and like it. <BR>9) Garmisch - It's ok. It's a quaint little town at the base of the Alps. You can go up the Zugspitze from there, which is cool, but other than that, I don't find the town too interesting. <BR>10) Innsbruck - thumbs up <BR>11) Venice - 2 thumbs up! <BR>12) 14) and 15) never been there <BR>13) Bern - I loved it! If you are that close to the Swiss Alps, you should definitely go south of Interlaken and stay in a mountain village. <BR>You might also consider Prague. It's a big 2 thumbs up in my book.

Alright, time to start doing some more research. I got the main message to stay away from frankfurt, zurich, geneva, stuttgart. Try and stay away from the more commercial cities? Thanks for the help. I will now only plan on flying into frankfurt, instead of staying there. Frankfurt seems to be one of the cheaper arrival cities for airfare from here in orlando.

Hi George, <BR> <BR>I have been to those most of those cities. Goto my website and see the photos at www.fototraveler.com <BR> <BR>This may help you!