MNGirl2

My husband and I are putting together a trip to Europe the end of May, first week of June. We are spending a night in London at both the beginning and end of the trip and plan to take budget airlines to our beginning and end destination. The current plan:

Fly to Genoa
2 nights Cinque Terre
2 nights Lake Como
4 nights.....??
3 nights Munich, fly to London

My husband is set on the above sights in Italy and I am set on seeing Munich. He has never been to Europe and I've been to London, Netherlands, Belgium, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Florence and Venice. We are having a hard time deciding how to spend our time between Lake Como and Munich. We'd love to see Vienna, Salzburg or somewhere in Switzerland but aren't sure what would fit best into the itinerary. We could fly cheaply from Milan to Bratislava (near Vienna), but I wonder if it's just as easy to train it by the time we get to the airport, check in two hours early, take the train to Vienna...

Any thoughts? We're in our late twenties and are planning on mainly 75-100Euro hotels...we're on a modest budget but just love walking, wine, food, soaking up history and people of an area. This will probably be our last 'big' trip for a few years.

TXgalinGA

We made the drive from Como to Munich last summer. We stopped one night in Ruette (Fussen) to see Ludwig's castles... If you have 4 nights, I might suggest you go to Salzburg. Maybe stop one night to see Ludwig's castles, then go on the Salzburg for 3 nights.
We also are in our late 20s and enjoy the same things as you

MNGirl2

Thanks! Was it a difficult drive? We've never driven in Europe before but it would be fun to have the independence.

bobthenavigator

Drive via the Engadine valley thru St. Morit and Landeck to Reutte or Oberammergau for 2 nites to see the castle country. Then, I like the idea of Austria, but I would station in St. Gilgen for that region.

enzian

You could leave Como late in the day and catch the night train from Venice to Vienna, stay ther for a night or two, then work your way across Austria, ending in Münich.

TXgalinGA

We loved driving in Europe, especially in the Alps. Rather, I should say my DH loved driving and I enjoyed the senic views... the drive from Como to Fussen (Ludwig's castles) was amazing!!

AisleSeat

If you take the route through Fussen there are some wonderful sights in that area of Germany. Taking the back roads, which are still good roads you can go by Wiessekirche, Oberammergau, Schloss Linderhof, Ettal Monastary, Garmish (Zugspitze) ...all pretty much on your way to Munich.

Look at a map and see if you want to go on to Bertschesgaden and Salzburg, it's not far. Also between Salzburg and Munich you can go on a boat across Chiemsee to see Ludwig' copy of Versaille.

vagabondsoul

I'll be there too in May and am looking for a hotel somewhere in the vicinity of Fussen ... I've searched a bunch of websites but haven't located anything that strikes me.

Anyone have a specific hotel they recommend, or great site to check?

dreamathers

Thanks for the driving recommendations! So...would you recommend Switzerland or Austria for those middle days? Now we're leaning towards taking the train from Como to the Berner Oberland and then training to somewhere on the German-Swiss border where we could pick up a car and do a leisurely drive to Munich.

Thoughts? Is there a train from Zurich/Bern that goes somewhere convenient to grab a rental car in Germany? I'd just prefer to eliminate drop off fees.

I was sold on Vienna, but now we're thinking it may make sense to come back and start there for an Eastern European trip.

Common problem, there is so much to see and so little time!! I don't want to rush us too much but want to give my husband the taste of getting on a train, going 4 hours and being somewhere completely opposite of the place you just left.

swandav2000

For dreamathers:

You can research your train route & schedules at www.rail.ch.

s

dec528

I would spend your time in the munich area and take a day or overnight trip to Salzburg, which I've done in the past. You need a good 3 days at least to cover that. I visited Vienna last year in a trip that included prague and budapest, over a 2 week period, so you could consider doing it next time.