Can you HELP me decide between Zurich, Munich, and Frankfurt?? Please?
 

Hi all,

What an amazing community. I wish I had found this earlier. You guys are a knowledgeable and friendly bunch for helping everyone out like you do.

Onto the problem. I'm a 25 year old first-time Europe traveler. Me and my companion are flying into Amsterdam. Plan on spending a few days there then go to Paris.

We want to go to Prague. The problem is the leg from Paris to Prague. We are getting the train pass so it has to be by train. To me from looking at it, it looks like we have the following three options:

Paris -> Frankfurt -> Prague = 17 hours
Paris -> Munich -> Prague = 16 hours
Paris -> Zurich -> Munich -> Prague = 18 hours

To break up that long train ride, we were thinking of stopping in one of those intermediary cities.

Which would you recommend for two twenty-something travelers? Does Zurich warrant adding another country to our pass? Are there any other stops in Switzerland to hit instead?

Thank you all so much for your time.

I really like Munich! can't speak to Zurich yet.

why not check out easyjet or another cheapy airline and get there in an hour?

MUNICH IS MY CHOICE OF THE THREE.
IT'S A GREAT PLACE AND MUCH NICER IN THE CNETER THAN FRANKFURT AND A LITTLE EASIER TO ENJOY THAN ZURICH, FOR YOU YOUNG PEOPLE.

I agree with the others - there's a lot more of interest to do and see in Munich than in the other cities, especially for a young person. Just fyi, the Hotel Helvetia, near the train station, is fairly inexpensive and - from our experience - has a young clientele and a friendly, helpful staff.

Another vote for Munich!!!

I also vote for Munich and agree with the other poster on the Helvetia Hotel. I stayed there last year. There are so many wonderful beer gardens but my favorite is in the Englischer Garten, the Chinese Pagoda. Another great one is Augustiner Beer Garten which is within walking distance of Helvetia Hotel (but a long walk).

I, too, will have to vote for Munich-(although having worked in Frankfurt, I'm one of the few people, Germans included, who actually like staying in that city) Munich's got everything you'd want in a great city-it's sophisticated, has wonderful art museums, friendly people, great restaurants, a wild and crazy nightlife, biergartens (partic. nice in summer) lovely parks, an exciting city , full of vitality. Helvetia Hotel is a good choice.

Fly smartwings.net from Paris to Prague for peanuts. Today is their thrid day in operation!

Best wishes,

Rex

I you don't fly on smartwings directly to Prague, I recommend Munich. It's a fun, charming and easy city to visit.

Another vote for Munich - a charming city.

Are you sure you need a train pass? It may be cheaper to buy train tickets to Paris and then fly to Prague.

I agree with the posters who see this as a very long train trip and have encouraged you to fly.

But if you must do this by train, and if you're really only planning to spend one night in Munich, it probably doesn't matter that much where you stop - why not make Frankfurt your stop instead and take the night train from there to Prague? This would save you some "down time" on the second leg since you'll get into Prague at around 8 am. Frankfurt isn't a bad place for a short visit - drop bags at station, head to the Sachsenhausen district for some food/grog, visit the Romerhof if time, have a walk along the river to stretch the legs, and hop back on the train (leaves around 11 pm.)

Yep, of the choices available to you my preference would also be for Munich. A buzz, yet relaxed, with lots to see and do. Nice countryside around it too, if you have the time.

Wow thanks to all for the helpful replies!

I must admit I'm confused at this point in what I want to do. I, of course, want to see it ALL, but I've only got 2 weeks to do it.

I know it's a long train ride... but we were planning on buying the eurail pass to go from Amsterdam, to Paris, to Prague, to Berlin, and back to Amsterdam. One of those three cities seemed like the best way to break up what would otherwise have been a long train ride from Paris to Prague.

Now that a few of you suggest flying, I will have to research that (we haven't gotten our train passes yet).

How would you guys suggest doing the logistics of Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam and maybe throw Munich in the mix since everyone is raving about it..????

Also, we kinda wanted to see the Alps, but it's not looking like we can work it in. Any ideas??

Thank you guys SO much!

how many days per city do you want to allot? list your priority cities in order... train rides are a lot of fun and I can be a lot less hassle than flying (sayeth flygirl).

not b/c of the FLIGHT but rather all the hurry up and wait crap. trains - you get there, find your seat, then relax & pop the cork. planes - you will spend more time navigating the airport and security than the actual flight. easier to bring your own bottles of wine and a picnic on a train - more room to spread out.

it really sounds like, work with me here, 14 nights? 5 cities? Amsterdam, Paris, Prague, Berlin, and somewhere in between one of them? you could visit A'dam 2 nights, Paris 3, Prague and Berlin 2 each and still have 3+ days to hike in the Alps - the last day left over being the day you head for home. if you have an early flight out not a bad idea to sleep in A'dam the night before.

you're young, it won't seem so rushed! you've got all your stuff in one pack right? no worries. eurail passes are great.

Good answer from flygirl - - except for the last four words.

Do NOT buy a rail pass without looking at the cost analysis on railsaver.com

Thank you.

I guess you're right... it won't seem as rushed when it's happening. I want to have enough time to do a few things in each place.

If anybody's still reading this.... where would you go to see/hike the Alps? Can I get there via train from Paris and still be able to get back to Munich?

Reddington,
I agree a friendly & helpful bunch. We are going to Munich and Prague in July but cannot find the DueschBahn web site to check on schedules. We are planning on taking the night train so we don't waste our touring time so we want to reserve a sleeper. Has anyone had any experience with this?

The website is www.bahn.de

Not sure how much this helps but you can get to the Alps (and see Mad King Ludwigs Casltes in the bargain) on a Bayern Pass from Munich for up to five people for only 22Euro from Munich and go all the way to into Austris if you desire. We found this to be a fantastic bargain and well worth the price. The ticket allows you unlimited travel within the specified region for a 24 hour period for the price of one cheap ticket. It takes two hours to the castles and I do not know how much further to what you want.The casltes are near the alps and probably not more than another 30 minutes from there. BTW the castles are & and * Euros respecively and are good photo ops even if you do not go inside. Photo ops no cost!!!


Enjoy your trip.

Must you stay in Amsterdam? I did not find it to be near as interesting as the other cities on your list. Any chance of connecting from Amsterdam to Paris on your outward journey, then taking the days alloted to Amsterdam and going to Munich instead?

Hi reddington,

For 2 weeks I would plan on seeing 2 cities (and their surroundings) - that gives you about 3 days in each place, hardly enough time to get bored. So, Amsterdam, Prague and Paris make a great (and unorthodox) combination! Don't forget that you'll need to spend some time in Amsterdam on both ends of your trip.

Logistically, I would do this as follows:
- Fly from Amsterdam to Prague and Prague to Paris on Smartwings
- Thalys train from Paris to Amsterdam

Purchasing a Eurailpass makes zero sense, since it doesn't even cover the Thalys train, only entitles you to a discount.

If you really want to add Berlin to the mix, it would fit best between Prague and Paris:
- train from Prague to Berlin (just under 5 hours)
- fly from Berlin to Paris on EasyJet

Here are the sites for booking your journey:
www.bahn.de (for the train from Prague to Berlin)
www.easyjet.com (Berlin - Paris)
www.smartwings.net (Amsterdam - Prague - Paris)
www.thalys.com (train Paris - Amsterdam; select France as country of residence and prepay)

Hope this helps,
Andre

Here's a more direct link for the Prague-Berlin tickets:
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Cost is EUR 78.25 for 2 people in second class.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Actually,

I'm going to disagree with myself ;-) and suggest the following itinerary:

- Thalys train to Paris immediately upon arrival from the US in Amsterdam Schiphol airport (it leaves right from the airport and takes just under 4 hours) - this is the best use of your time.

- Fly from Paris to Prague on Smartwings (or to Berlin on EasyJet if you choose to add it, then train to Prague)

- Fly from Prague to Amsterdam on Smartwings.

I would buy the train ticket to Paris in Amsterdam upon arrival - you never know if your flight is delayed. Fare is EUR 180.- for 2 in 2nd class. If you're a gambler, you can purchase a non-exchangeable and non-refundable "Smilys" fare at EUR 138 for 2 and print it out yourself by following the instructions on this link:
http://www.thalys.com/buy/discover_the_printed_ticket
Enter ticket pickup in FRANCE and SCHIPHOL as your departure station.

Hope this helps,
Andre

OOPS, forgot to add that the Smilys fare requires roundtrip travel, so you need to enter a fictional return date to get the fare.

Hope this helps,
Andre

Ok this is getting embarassing, but I just noticed that you are 25, which would entitle you to the youth fare on the Thalys - it would only cost EUR 45.50 and does not require advance booking. So if your companion is also under 26, that's the way to go with a total cost of only EUR 91 for 2. Even if he/she is older, it's still marginally cheaper to buy 1 full fare and 1 youth ticket rather than 2 Smilys (136 EUR vs. 138). So forget about the Smilys :-)

Hope this helps,
Andre