due to work commitments I have 10 free days in west europe and wanted to see France and germany. Thought about staying at the following places after leaving paris (2 days in paris)<BR><BR>Lausanne<BR>Fussen<BR>Salzburg<BR>Mu nich<BR>Frankfurt<BR><BR>I willl be driving with others so do you have a better itinery? will i pass too much? can i do all these in 10 days (well 8 after i leave paris). This won't be my last trip but my next will be in 2 years.<BR><BR>Oh yeah, am visiting in september/october

I sort of understand, but i can't help. I have 4 days for either London or PAris or some combo of both. So if anyone has a sugestion and a must do and must see list then it would be appreciated

Lausanne is nice, especially if you take the train up in the mountains and visit the ice cave and dine alongside the lake and have cheese fondue. Fussen is a great jumping off place to sites such a Weis Kirche (church up the Romantic Road - could go all the way to Rothenburg which is a long drive), Munich is a lovely city with the Victualmarket, main square, and Englisher park. To me, Frankfurt is just a big city and not worth spending time in. Get to the Rhine River (Rudesheim) and travel the river by ferry jumping off at various cities. To add Salzburg you're cramming an awful lot into these days. Even the above is a stretch. I've traveled all this area and have a trip report if you're interested. E-mail me directly (report does not include Lausanne).

Only 2 days in Paris??? Agree with the poster above that if you are short on time Frankfurt isn't worth a stop. However, with travel time, you don't have time to see anything. You could spend at least 5 days in Paris, easily, and then pick one other city and a one-day side trip in Germany. Otherwise, I think your trip may turn out to be very disappointing. (Think of trying to drive and see New York, Boston, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Charleston in 10 days - you'd mostly just see the inside of the car.)Better to spend more time in one place and see fewer cities.

I guess me problem is that I studied German at school (only one year) about 16 years ago and now i finally get my chance and want to do everything but only have a short time. <BR><BR>I guess other people have real problems to worry about but having a great trip and not regretting missing things is hard to plan for

btw... scigirl, when you say that Frankfurt isn't worth the time.. thanx for that cos I thort it might be, but in that case I will only end up there to fly home. <BR><BR>So now I have one more day up my sleeve, given my general directions (as per the first posting)what should i do with my extra day??<BR><BR>or should I scrap this plan altogether and start anew???<BR><BR>Ta all in advance

Dear Clueless,<BR>I am not sure where Lausanne is, so sorry if my answer seems stupid. I would like to suggest to you the Rhein river area of Germany (eg. St-Goar). It is very beautiful. I would recommend it over Frankfurt and Munich. There are lots of nice bed and breakfasts in the small towns along the river. The river area has many castles. If you like the big city atmosphere, then it might not be for you though. Also the Alsace region of France (eg Colmar) is very nice. It has changed hands between the French and Germans a few times. When I went there the menus were all in French and German. <BR>Good luck and have fun on your trip.

I'd suggest skipping the Rhine Valley and doing the Mosel River Valley instead--IMHO it is more appealing and actually is what you hope the Rhine to be.