Best Rec for Two Weeks in Italy & Germany
 

We're first timers planning to visit Europe in June 2014 for two weeks (14 nights, not counting flight time). We'd like to split the time between Italy & Germany, but can't decide whether to try a home base in each country for a week, or to come up with a more linear approach, moving to the next region every 2-3 days.

We've done an east coast (USA) trip before, touring Baltimore, New York, Cape Cod, Boston, Philly in less time than that, and enjoyed it, but of course those are closer together.

A few notes to mention --
*we wish to travel exclusively by train
*budget is $10,000 USD for three (husband, daughter & me), including airfare from east coast USA

We're interested in not just hitting up the "big" towns, but more in a taste of the true culture. Areas of interest include Rome, Venice & Cinque Terre in Italy, while in Germany we're more inclined to visit smaller, less frequented villages and towns.

Thoughts? Is this a doable approach, or will we end our trip purely exhausted, having seen relatively little?

Just a quick first comment - How old is your daughter? Reason I ask is there is a BIG difference budget-wise between a 7 yo and an adult. But airfares alone will be over $3000 leaving around $6500 for 2 weeks for 3 people, so not all that easy. That is about $150/€110 pp per day.

So are we talking about a 7 yo or a 20 yo or ???

Sorry, meant to put that. This will be her high school graduation trip; she will be 18.

I think you can meet your budget with some thoughtful planning.

A basic triple with a/c for a triple in Venice will likely fetch a minimum of $600-$700, probably more. You may get breakfast with that. In smaller towns in Germany, an apartment for 3 nights will probably come in at around $250 or less. Our family of 4 enjoyed the 2-BR Rhine View apartment in St. Goar, which goes for about 50€/night + 10% for short-stay (in Germany, usually defined as less than 4-5 nights.) You'll likely spend twice as much or more on everything in your Italian destinations as you will in Germany, so the more time in the latter, the better for your budget.

" ...but can't decide whether to try a home base in each country for a week, or..."

Your idea of using a base town (or two) for daytrips is sound and pretty economical in Germany. Individual states offer daypasses for travel on the local and regional trains - like the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, 30€/day for three:

http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and...-pfalz-ticket/

Interstate daypasses on weekends run 42€/day for three:

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/pr...d_ticket.shtml

If you happen to include the Black Forest on your itinerary, daytrips might be completely free - there's a promotion called "KOUS" offered by an association of 138 Black Forest villages. Love those double-decker sightseeing trains:

http://www.dreisamtal.de/en/service/konus.php?lang=en

I could see two base towns in Germany for 4-5 nights each + 1 destination in Italy for 5 nights (the length of a typical stay in Rome.)

I'd look into airfares into Frankfurt or Munich, then flying out of Italy ("open-jaw" flights.) And check into Ryanair flights for in between - these can be had for about 50€ or less each between Germany and Italian destinations (expect some additional ground transport expenses as the Ryanair airports tend to be less conveniently located.)

I neglected to give you a link to the Rhine View apt. (just for an idea of the price/value ratio in Germany.) Here it is:

http://www.loreley-apartments.de/die...inblick_en.php

There is a big difference between moving every couple of days in the US and in europe. You will be in 2 different cultures have to deal with 2 different languages and in each city or town have to learn where everything is and how things (like local transit) work.

If you try to do 6 or 7 different place I think you will end up spending a LOT of money for a very frustrating experience - with a large percentage of your time just getting places rather than actually seeing anything or experiencing the culture.

IMHO in 2 full weeks you should stay in no more than 3 or 4 hotels/towns - so you actually get at least a taste of the culture n each place.

Also - agree your budget is on the modest side for 3 adults for that amount of time - you will need to watch your pennies - given the fact that airfare will probably take the best part of $4K.

Completely agree with everything nytraveler wrote.

We have spent a good deal of time in both Germany and Austria and are returning to both this year, in two separate trips.

In a two week trip, we stay in 3-4 base locations to minimize the moving between cities/hotels and to maximize our time spent enjoying the areas we are focused on. In Germany especially, the train system is very efficient and there are many great day trips from the main hubs.

Not only is moving so much time consuming but it is also more expensive, as you have increased travel costs of getting from place to place.

CT, Venice and Rome will be very busy in June and rates will be high. IMO and IME, Venice and the CT show little of the true culture of Italy, as that can be found more in the smaller towns not completely overrun with tourists and day trippers from cruise ships.

I think, with the time and budget you have, you might think about visiting either Germany or Italy. Since it is a graduation gift to your daughter, let her decide. I diagree that "Venice and CT show little of the true culture of Italy". Italy has many cultures and they are but two of the many.

June will not be as crowded as July and August in Italy but you should make decisions and reservations as soon as you can to assure economical accommodations. For two weeks, choose 3 or 4 stops. Enjoy whatever you decide.

I think your budget is good. If you want to do Cinque Terre you need to stay there for a couple of nights if you hike. We stayed in La Spezia. We rented huge lovely apartment in Florence for 1200 euros for the week. You can do the same in Germany. Eat breakfast in and a couple of other meals. Day trips from Florence are possible. Doing Venice and Rome might be hard. There are a lot of nice day trips from Florence. My friends did the train to Venice. It was a long day but they squeezed it in. Fly into Rome, do a hoho bus and take the train to La Spezia via Pisa. Have to change trains there. I would stay in Florence, do day trips and then take the train to Garmisch Partenkichen, stay there for the week and fly out of Munich. Great day trips from there and they have a fab bus system. The train ride will be beautiful getting there from Florence.

< I diagree that "Venice and CT show little of the true culture of Italy". Italy has many cultures and they are but two of the many. >

IMO, it is more difficult to experience the local vibe and culture when the preponderance of people there are visitors and not residents. IME, both are overrun.

Wow, lots of food for thought here!

The budget can be expanded if necessary. We started out thinking of that budget with 10 days, and then extended the time frame given the two countries we wished to visit.

We have options to limit our lodging costs significantly, as we're a military family, but we'd really prefer the location, convenience & ambiance of local lodging as opposed to staying on base. And of course, we'd have to re-think the car rental as well were we to do that. I think it's just better this way, but again, still deciding.

You've all given me lots of food for thought. Thank you so much for the detailed responses!

And now we're back to the drawing board! When pressed, DD admitted that what she'd really like to do is visit England & Germany. Does that seem any more feasible, perhaps having a home base in each country for a week? I realize that won't give us an comprehensive overview of each country, but we enjoy slow traveling & would prefer to relax & enjoy ourselves than tick off boxes that might fall on someone else's to-do list.

Well - you can't "see' England (or Germany) in one week - or one year for that matter.

The easy solution is to rent a flat in London for one week and then maybe two shorter stops at a couple of places in Germany. But that isn't "England" . . . It is London.

So what is it your DD is interested in? We can help you narrow things down if you have some sore of wish list. London has enough to keep you busy for any length of time - from Castles to palaces to cathedrals to world famous museums/galleries to theatre to the arts to fashion/shopping -- you name it. But if she is more interested in the countryside - there are a hundred other places you could go instead.

So tell us more and we can help.

Same w/ Germany - the alps, or the Rhine or Munich or Berlin or ????

Does your 14 days include travel to and from Europe or 14 days actually in Europe (not to/from)?