k_ogren

We are beginning to plan a trip to visit our foreign exchange student in Germany. We are looking at flying into Munich and out of Scandinavia, perhaps Oslo or Bergen. We are looking at late June through late July. Our thoughts at this point are to stay in Munich and day trip to Nueschwanstain, and maybe Mittenberg. Travel across the south of Germany, considering Paris. We plan to visit Brugge and Amsterdam. Our exchange student lives near Dusseldorf, we will spend some time there probably doing a river tour of the Rhine. North to Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, perhaps Bergen and home. We will travel with our 16 year old daughter, and hopefully our exchange student will meet us in Munich and travel with us. We will be on a pretty serious budget and want to visit small towns. We believe Trains will be our method for the most part. We will plan to travel light ,and will be looking at low cost accommodations, and meals.

I am interested in some thoughts on things we should see on our way, recommendations of where to stay, where to eat, and general thoughts on our plan. We are not broke, just frugal. Thanks for your help.

Dukey1

OK, I'll start this one off. Unlike some, yes I think you can do this because everyone travels differently and you already know you aren't going to see everything.

I would ask how long in Munich and are you interested in seeing anything IN the city? Also, why Neuschwanstein (as opposed to one of the other three Ludwig builds)? I know the place is iconic.

When you say "across the south of Germany" any particular places you have in mind?

If you go to Paris you can easily do Brugge more or less on the way to Amsterdam.

Are you willing to take budget flights between any of these places?

Can think of many other questions but it would also be helpful to know how long you want to stay in these more major cities. And have you asked the exchange student for any recommendations?

Michael

<i>We will be on a pretty serious budget </i>

If you mean restricted budget, forget Norway--even the Swiss might consider it expensive. You might want to look at guidebooks that cover Germany and/or northern Europe.

k_ogren

We certainly do know that we won't see everything. I don't know much of Munich as of yet besides Hofbrauhaus, the glockenspiel, And the English Garden. That said we are looking at four or five days including the day trips out and arrival. Nueschwanstein looks interesting, it is somewhat out of the way but seemed like a good day trip opportunity. what are your thoughts

Across the south is sort of the route we are looking at Lindau seems like a nice stop, we could take the train through the black forest from there. So no really would be my answer, excepting that we would like to see the country, and I have gleaned that this is better than crossing the middle. Please let me know what you think. The Paris, Bruges, Brussels, Amsterdam connection seems somewhat logical.

Are we willing to take flights, I would say yes, but I don't relish all the time in airports, and what will we miss along the way.

I'm thinking of trying to do somewhat like I have suggested with Munich, finding a base to day trip out of that makes sense for the area.

I am Norwegian and Swedish, therefore I would like to do somewhat of a whirlwind out through there. Again I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Our foreign exchange student did not seem to have many suggestions, we also became friends with another foreign exchange gal from the same area, she did not have any real ideas either. I have asked them to look into some ideas as well.

Thanks for the guidebook thoughts, I am reading Rick Steves Europe through the back door, and his Bruges Brussels and Amsterdam.

nytraveler

If you are on a serious budget you really don;t want to go to Scandinavia. Or Switzerland. Prices are much higher than the rest of Europe - and hotels and meals can easily cost twice what they do in the US.

Don;t misunderstand me - I love Scandinavia - have been several times and will undoubtedly go back. But it's practically impossible to do on a budget.

Also - it seems to me you are trying to cover too much round in too little time - esp considering that the more different places you move to/from the higher you are driving your costs.

k_ogren

I truly appreciate your thoughts, I am thinking perhaps one week or less to trek through Scandinavia, as I said I am of Scandinavian descent and would like to swing through while we are near. youth hostels, B&B's and the like. It will be cheaper to go while we don't have to add airfare to the trip, than to do a separate trip later.

That said, I certainly will consider taking that leg out if necessary.

How would you lay out the plan with or without Scandinavia? Are there things along this route that can't be missed?