germqueen99

My daughter & I are going to Europe the end of May for 2 weeks. We are meeting a friend in Paris for 4 days. Then we'd like to go to Germany & see some castles for 3 days, then to Venice for 2 days & Rome for 3 days.
We are planning to go by Eurail unless someone else has a better idea?

harsha

Have you taken into consideration travel time between destinations?If you haven't,you'll have to take 3-4 extra days into your travel plan.
Can you tell us where 'some castles'in Germany are?If its in Bavaria,it quite a long haul from Paris by Eurail.
You'll be better off flying to these places.Paris-Munich-Venice-Rome-Paris.

gard

Hi

I guess everything is possible but you also have to take into account how much time is spent just traveling between the places. Paris is wonderful and my wife and I have been there a couple of time. The last time was in April last year and here is my trip report with pictures and links http://gardkarlsen.com/Paris_France.htm . We also went to Rome a couple of years back and here is a similar trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/rome_italy.htm . I hope that you can find some useful information there. Good luck with the planning

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

bob_brown

Can it be done? Yes/
Should it be done? No.

Which castles? If you are thinking Neuschwanstein and/or Linderhof, it will take all day to travel from Paris to Munich.

From Germany to Venice, even south Germany, will use up another day.

Then you have at least 75% of a day used up getting from Venice to Rome.

Have you looked at distances and travel times in total? I don't get that impression.

Russ

I wouldn't try to bite off that much that quickly, but you could do this if you are very well planned. You'll have no jet lag to deal with, so get an early start.

Day 1: Leave Paris early for Koblenz area (about 5 hours by train.) Check in, take the train to Braubach for a tour of Marksburg Castle.

Day 2: Outing up the Mosel to Burg Eltz Castle and Cochem's Reichsburg Castle; Cochem's worth some time too.

Day 3: Train to St. Goar for Burg Rheinfels castle ruins and take a short river cruise upriver to Bacharach. There's a night train leaving Frankfurt at around 7 p.m. for Venice with a change in Basel at about 11 p.m., arriving Venice 7 a.m. Take it.

Day 4, 5: Spend all day 4 and half the next in Venice; catch an afternoon train for Rome.

Days 6-8 in Rome. You need at least 3 days there. Fly out of Rome, of course.

quokka

The itinerary Russ suggests sounds very sensible to me. The Rhine and Mosel valley have enough "real" medieval castles (Neuschwanstein and Linderhof in Bavaria are 19th century palaces, not castles), and the way from Paris to the Rhine is much shorter. Plus, there is wine.
Here is my favourite website about the Rhine valley (sorry regulars, I keep posting the same link over and over again, but this is indeed the best source of info): http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.d...id=318&L=3

The night train to Venice saves a full day of travelling. Get a sleeper compartment.

That way your plan will indeed be "do-able" and include enough time to actually see and enjoy places.

germqueen99

thanks for all the good advice. We are thinking of taking an overnight train from Paris to Munich and spending a day there then on to Fussen for 2 days. Venice for 2 & then Rome. Overnight train to Rome??? However, Russ, your itinerary looks great too. Will have to check w/my daughter.

Aramis

Germy;

Neuschwanstein is nice, but 2 days in Fuessen is overkill when you want to see so much in such a short time.

There are more authentic castles in Germany, but most of them, Including Neuschwanstein, are hard to get to without a car.

There is a tourist route called The Castle Road promoted by the German national Tourist Board - check it out for some ideas.

Russ

germqueen:
I tend to agree with Aramis' suggestion to bypass Neuschwanstein. My take: it's a late 1800's knock-off castle which demonstrates King Ludwig's eccentricity but not much else. It was hardly ever lived in. The interior is mildly interesting, the tour a disappointment. It's amazing to look at from the outside, but you can do that with good photos. Many people go to much trouble to go there - they bus out from Munich, herd uphill, snap photos, buy souvenirs, and hop back on the tour bus - but the 800-1,000 year-old castles that actually served a purpose over centuries in the Rhineland are the ones I've found more interesting. Reichsburg also has an excellent falconry show several times for day for a couple of Euros.

Accessibility: Marksburg, Reichsburg, and Rheinfels can all be reached easily from town on foot or with a little in-town tourist shuttle. Burg Eltz, the one you really should see most, requires a 45-60 minute walk through the woods in each direction from the train station in Moselkern. A beautiful trek, not terribly strenuous, and you get a real sense of the past by walking that you don't get when you step off a tour bus. My 75-year-old in-laws made the trek easily enough and said Eltz was the highlight of their 3-week trip.

Have a good trip.

Dukey

A few thoughts:

Castles...I am one of the few who seems to agree that the outside of Neuschwanstein is a lot better than the inside (but what an outside that is!).

If you are going to Fuessen by rail that's fine but then you'll have to take public transport or a taxi to the castle itself. For better INTERIORS you might do better with Linderhof.

If you are going to go by rail to Venice then you are going to have to go BACK to Munich to get a train most likely so keep that in mind.

I would not take an overnight train from Venice to Rome since the daylight trip time is about 4.5 hours (leave early in the morning would be my recommendation..and I mean EARLY to make the most of your short time).

Would you consider taking a budget flight from Paris to Munich? There are definitely possibilities (www.skyscanner.net)

ira

Hi queen,

My thoughts:

4 days in Paris is 3 too few
Venice for 2 days is 2 too few
Rome for 3 days is 2 too few
1 day in Munich is 1 too few
2 days in Fuessen is 1 too many.

There is no such train company as Eurail. You take national trains.

For example, from Paris to Munich you buy your tickets from either www.voyages-sncf.com (France) or www.bahn.de (Germany).

Don't buy a railpass until you have entered your itinerary at www.railsaver.com and clicked "only if it saves money".

Check train schedules at www.bahn.de and see how much time you are losing jumping from place to place.

Paris and Venice, and the areas around them, make a very nice 2 week visit.

Fly into Venice, take www.myair.com to Paris, fly home from Paris. See www.kayak.com.

Enjoy your visit.

threerohdes

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