Central Europe-First time traveller
 

Hello expert travelers, Im in need of your experts advise.
my husband and I will be rravelling Romania,Hungary,Prague,Vienna,Switzerland and Germany on September, our plan is to go and explore for a month,and we are looking to rent a car and use train to go around.
Is 1 month enough to cover all those places, and what places should we stay longer?
We love to see architectures, and the natural beauty of Europe.
Thank you in advance.

I wrote several trip reports that included Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Click on my name and then "find Trip Reports". One of the best reports for Romania was written by Clifton. We traveled by car and train in Poland, by car in Hungary and Romania, by train and bus in Bulgaria, so any combination is possible. However, car rentals might pose a problem as a car might be rented in one country and cannot be taken in another (you have to check that before finalizing a car rental), and there are stiff cross-border drop-off fees if you decide on a one way rental between countries.

Go browse in your library or a book store specializing in travel books to figure out which book to buy and how to organize an itinerary.

Going to Romania in just over a week for the first time.

Flying into Bucharest, travelling around by train, and in just under 3 weeks will cover Bucharest [1 night], Sinaia [3], Sighisoara [3], Sibiu [4], Brasov [6], Bucharest [1].

I've used Rough Guide, and the various Wikivoyage pages for most of my planning, which has been relatively simple.

We were in Macedonia last month for 2 weeks, which we thoroughly enjoyed, and am looking forwarding to making comparisons on prices and quality.

Also have a look at Bosnia & Herzegovina, another wonderful country with a very evident and sad recent history. Mostar and Sarajevo are definitely worth the effort.

"rent a car and use train'? Trains are best if going to large cities - cars for going thru countryside - for lots on trains check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. Romania is an outlier on your wish list - cut it - would take a day to get there and back to other places.

I have traveled in all those countries by train, for Romania see:

https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...e-two-1027992/

However, you seem to be trying to cover too much ground in too little time - I spent three weeks just in Romania and it was my second visit to the country. Suggest you borrow some guidebooks, figure out what you want to see, and then lay the trip out on blank calendar pages.

Less can indeed be more at times! Less traveling between fairly scattered bases and more time in cities or places.

You have six countries (not cities, countries) in four weeks. That's a max of 5 days per country. To me, not near enough time. We're heading to Prague and Budapest this summer. In 10 days we will visit both and I would still love more time in Czech Republic. We've spent a total of two months in Switzerland and would still return in a heartbeat. My advice would be to research each place and get a ballpark idea of what you'd like to do. Realize that each time you change locations it will take a day. Then figure out how much time you need to do that. I can guarantee it will be more than a month.

How long can you stay?

A month is enough time if you are okay just getting a taste of those countries, with essentially 1-2 home bases per country. But if it were me, I would drop at least one country, and probably two so that I could really see more of what is remaining.

I have not been to every country on your list! But I have studied a lot of European history and I know my own bucket list pretty well. So, knowing that, if it were me....

I would drop Romania, being farthest from the rest. I would consider cutting back on days in Hungary --just see Budapest for 3 days. That would give you about 8 more days to divide between the remaining countries. I suggest you read the Destinations tab on Fodor's website for your preferred countries. Or watch a few Rick Steves videos on Youtube. Then ask yourself, what are you most drawn toward seeing? Is it the mountains, the small picturesque villages, old castles, historic city centers, revitalized cities to walk around in, 20th century history, etc.

If you go by car it may take longer in some countries than the speedy train service. And for large cities cars suck - useless and even expensive to park lots of times - $25-30/day I think in places like Amsterdam. Much of Swiss Alps off-limits to cars too. Consider a whole train trip as with that much on wish list you have little time to meander thru countryside which cars are great for.

“Less is more” has worked well for us in some of our travels to Europe. There is nothing like a couple weeks in a small hill town in Italy for us, for example. But for many travelers, a trip to Europe might be a once or twice-in-a-lifetime experience. We are able to travel hard, have only carry-on luggage, get up early and go late. We can see a lot in a day. Google one, two and three day itineraries for any city, and see if any of those appeal to you and your sense of travel. We could easily see AND enjoy all of the places you mention in one month. We wrote 100 blog posts in 2015, when we took a relative on a whirlwind tour of Europe. The trip included Barcelona, Nice, Paris, Budapest, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels, Venice, Rome, an Italian hill town, and lots more. And, for us and our relative, it was a very positive experience. All of it. And, no it wasn’t all from train windows; we walked 300 miles in those 30 days. But again, just as spending many days in one city might not be your cup of tea, this type of journey is NOT for everyone. But one of the great things about travel, it comes in many forms. You can see our blog and get an idea of an extreme trip taken in Europe in October: https://16countriesin30days.wordpress.com

Although rail is usually mentioned as the go to travel in Europe, for good reason, also don’t be afraid of looking at airfares. Skyscanner is a good source. Easy Jet, Wizz Air, Volotea, and Ryan Air sometimes can be cheaper than rail. It has helped us get around. Several years ago, we flew from Cluj, Romania, to Rome for only a handful of dollars. Same with Rome to Belgrade. Naples to Palermo. Catania to Venice. Milan to Barcelona. Lisbon to Nice. Budapest to Brussels. Just a few of the dozens of ways to get around Europe by air. You can go almost anywhere quickly and affordably in Europe.

Hi K,

Its a bit rushed, but doable.

Fly into Bucharest - 4 nights (we liked Scala Boutique Hotel)
Train to Budapest - 4 nights (I can recommend Residence Baron)
Train to Vienna - 6 nights.
Train to Prague - 5 nights
Train to Munich - 6 nights
Train to Zurich - 5 nights in CH fly home from Zurich or Basel.

If you need a car, rent one in each country. There is a very hefty drop-off charge for crossing borders.

Have you considered a river cruise along the Danube?
For example, we had a really great experience on
https://www.avalonwaterways.com/rive...ntent=overview

((I))

Ira's itinerary seems very very relaxed with several days in each base. Great for day trips.

A somewhat decent visit of Romania should include at least
Bucuresti
Brasov, Sibiu, Sighisoara
Suceava and the painted monasteries
Count about 10 days for that.
You may then go to Cluj - Debrecen - Budapest - Vienna - Prague - Munich - Switzerland as suggested above.