Europe-21 days in September 2014

Old Jan 28th, 2014, 02:29 PM
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Europe-21 days in September 2014

Discussion on some recommendations for itinerary. Europe-21 days in September 2014...

Wife and I are going to Europe this September 2014. We would like to get a tips and recommendations for cities and places to see. I think Italy is one country we definatley want to see on this trip. I know they say not to see too many countries in a short amount of time, but this may be our only chance to see Europe in a while. We are thinking 3 counties and squeezing in Oktoberfest.

Any information and feedback would be helpful


-Vish
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Old Jan 28th, 2014, 04:17 PM
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Italy Austria & Germany. Travel by train. Get some guidebooks to find out what might interest you. Open jaw Rome-Munich.
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Old Jan 28th, 2014, 04:23 PM
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You can do/see anything you want, but you can't even see all of Italy in 3 weeks. Only you know what interests you. Our recommendations reflect our interests/biases and the way we, as individuals, like to travel.

A few things to keep in mind... Every time you move from one destination/hotel to the next, you lose at least half a day so check travel times (train, car, plane) between destinations. If budget is an issue, the more you move around, the more you spend. Once you decide what you want to see/do, investigate the days and hours these things are open since not everything in every place is open all day, every day. You may have to adjust your itinerary to accommodate.
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Old Jan 28th, 2014, 04:45 PM
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Michael- I think those three counties are great but would you say France in stead of Austria. the city of light.

Jean-We are looking for this trip to give us an idea what europe like in terms of the culture, food and lifestyle. Also we would like to get a sense of history and see all the point of interest at each location.

what is there to see in austria? Have any of you folks been?
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Old Jan 28th, 2014, 05:30 PM
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Hi
We have done 3 21 day trips to Europe (always in Sept/Oct) and have been to all the countries you mentioned, including Germany for Oktoberfest. In Austria, Vienna is a wonderful city, my favorite point of interest was Schoenbrunn, which I have probably spelled incorrectly. It was the summer palace and I truly enjoyed the self guided tour better than Versailles. Empress Maria Theresa had such foresight, the place is great. Then there is the Opera House for music and Sacher Torts for food. We were only there 2 days but truly enjoyed it. Munich is also a great spot for a base. You can have the history of the rise of Hitler, the Hofbrau Haus for food and entertainment, a side trip to Neuchanstein Castle and a visit the Dachau for a good perspective of the highs and lows of history. My favorite countries have been France and Germany, but that is based on our interests. Talk about diversity, although most people think of Paris as the highlight of France, there is Ville Franche sur Mer on the Riviera which is a great place to take a vacation from your vacation, to Chamonix, for a taste of the Alps, Beaune for history of hospitals and wine caves for tasting, Normandy, the D-Day beaches and museum for more history, Mont St Michel, not to mention, walled fortresses, prehistoric caves, Chateau country, Monaco, and Sarlat and of course Paris.
The above responses were true in that you need to decide what you really are interested and try to work in some variety.
I am sure you will have a great trip.
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Old Jan 29th, 2014, 07:14 AM
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All really helpful guys!

Since this is my wife's first Europe trip we will get a bit of everything. Adventure, history, food. We would like this trip to be unique in terms of not all events should be geared towards where the tourist are. We are doing research and seeing where should go, what we should see, and how we should do it. We would like get some opinions from various people just so we have an idea of how we would like to compile out itinerary. I am now debating oktoberfest as my wife doesn't really drink beer...however its on my bucket list. I am thinking doing it another trip with the boys maybe? What do you guys think? At the same time IDK if I will get another chance in a while to go to Germany.

After doing some reading around I understand Austria is very beautiful in the Fall (Sept)

We have not put an actual figure in terms of budget. I thinking around 4500-7500 for the 2 of us. This can be a little flexible.

Austria or Switzerland in Sept?

Italy>Austria>Germany?

Any feedback would help..


Vish
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Old Jan 29th, 2014, 08:09 AM
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Austria or Switzerland? Switzerland!!!! Italy, Switzerland and France would be a great trio!

Fly into Rome, fly out of Paris.

Make sure to visit Bernese Oberland (if you are into spectacular beauty!)

Many great options along the route!
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Old Jan 30th, 2014, 04:14 PM
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Anyone recommend a sample Itinerary?
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Old Jan 30th, 2014, 07:49 PM
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If one of you doesn't drink beer at all, skip oktoberfest, go with the boys. Also take into account the start date (20th) and the difficulty/prices for accomodation.
If you drink wine, do consider adding austria to italy. Actually, even if you don't. Food culture in austria is very local and high quality, the sights beautiful, and both very different than italy.
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Old Jan 31st, 2014, 01:21 AM
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If you want variety, and if you want to visit the Oktoberfest, I would suggest Paris, Munich, and Italy (two or three stops).

I would suggest arranging to fly into Paris and fly home from Rome. I suggest a minimum of four nights in Paris, or five if you want to make a day trip to some smaller town. Then fly to Munich via a budget airline. I would spend three nights in Munich, or four if you want to make a day trip. Munich is very near the Austrian border, so you could take a day trip to Salzburg, for example (1 1/2 hours by train, and a scenic train ride). You might also want to take a guided castle tour from Munich one day. I think Munich itself will be sinking under the weight of tourists during Oktoberfest, so, much as I like the city, I probably would have had enough of the city center in one day.

Then, I suggest you travel by train to Venice from Munich, because the trip through the Alps is spectacular. You should have twelve days left, which would be enough to visit the classic three "must-see" cities, Venice, Florence, and Rome. How you divide the time between them depends on your interests, but I would suggest a minimum of four nights in Rome, and one more for each day trip you might want to make. If you're very interested in Renaissance art, you'll need a lot of time in Florence; otherwise, you would need at least two nights there, which would give you a day and a half to see the city, plus an extra night for each day trip you might want to make. There are some very nice and easy day trips you can make from either Rome or Florence, but again, it would depend on your interests. In Venice, I would suggest at least three nights, which will give you one whole day to spend in central Venice, and half a day or so to visit the islands in the lagoon. If you want to visit more than one museum, or a variety of the churches or "schools", you would need more time.

If you tell us more about your interests, we can help you plan your time better.

Here is a good site for finding budget one-way flights within Europe:

www.skyscanner.net

Many budget airlines have strict baggage limits, so make sure you pack light. In fact, when you're moving around a lot, you need to pack light anyway. I would suggest no more than one small or medium-sized rolling suitcase each, plus a small daypack, which will also be useful when you're out and about.

Here is the German rail site, for the trip from Munich to Venice:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/index.shtml

Here is the Italian rail site, for the travel within Italy:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...005817f90aRCRD

You have to use the Italian names for the cities (Venezia, Firenze, and Roma). The main central stations in those three cities are Venezia Santa Lucia, Firenze Santa Maria Novella, and Roma Termini.

For train travel, you can get very good discounts if you reserve well ahead, but the discounted tickets cannot be refunded, and changing the reservation to a different date or time will incur a large penalty.
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Old Jan 31st, 2014, 01:24 AM
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I should add that the order of travel in Italy would be Venice - Florence - Rome.
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 12:30 PM
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First off I would like to thank everyone for their advice. BvLenci that was really helpful. I am sorry I didn't give enough about us and our interest. My wife and I have been married a little over a year and a half. She is from the Islands of Fiji and we live in the US. Loves wine, not so much beer but she has an open mind. She has never been to Europe. She loves food especially seafood and would like to explore some unique dishes. Not too open minded with food but just enough to try a the basic varieties such as fish

I like trying new foods and drinking unique style beers . I am adventurous when it comes to food.
What I would like to get most out of this trip is to see History and Culture (lifestyle) of the country and city. I have been to Europe once. Also both of us would also like to see some point that are romantic whether it’s for sightseeing location or just a dinner somewhere. Here is what I have so far tell me what you guys think BTW We are leaving from San Francisco (SFO)...Let us know if it is too much going on in that amount of time or just give us some tips to adjust or we can scratch it all together. I know thats a very subjective question but any feedback is helpful. We would like to get a little out of every city and would be ideally spend most of our time in the cities we feel there is a lot more to do and see such as Paris or Rome.


Day 1 Fly into Amsterdam (September 10th)
Day 2 Amsterdam
Train to Bruges, Belgium (3.5 hours from Amsterdam)
Day 3 Bruges (day trip to Brussels)
Day 4 Bruges
Train? Bus? Recommendations?
Day 5 Paris
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Paris
Day 8 Paris
Fly or train to Munich?
Day 9 Munich (Friday before Okteoberfest )
Day 10 Munich OktoberFest Nov 20th
Train through the Alps is spectacular to Venice
Day 11 Venice
Day 12 Venice
Day 13 Venice

Day 14 Florence (Renaissance art)
Day 15 Florence day trips to Lucca and pisa

Day 16 Rome Relaxing, exploring, etc.
Day 17 Rome Colosseum, pantheon, spanish steps, trevi fountain
Day 18 Rome
Day 19 Rome
Day 20?
Day 21?
Day 22 Leave Home- city?
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 12:33 PM
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I would add the two extra days to Amsterdam...you basically have no time there. If you are flying there at least spend a couple of days there...or fly directly to Brussels and take the train directly to Bruges and save the time...
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 06:50 PM
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Any thing else you would change about this plan?


-Vish
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 09:48 PM
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Hi, I'm also travelling to Europe this September and I have been diligently researching to plan the perfect itinerary! From your most updated itinerary, have you considered the time you need to travel from location to location and all the waiting time etc?

Dylan
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 10:57 PM
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Vish,

I well understand your desire to cram in as much as you can, but I think that bvlenci had the right idea with starting in Paris and ending in Rome. i would resist the temptation to slot Amsterdam and Brugge onto the front of the trip - you will probably be recovering from jetlag while you're in Amsterdam and the travelling between the two will take up the rest of your time, leaving actually very little time for seeing and doing.

bvl has come up with a great itinerary for you - i would stick to it.
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Old Feb 5th, 2014, 06:58 AM
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You know Annhig you know I agree with you. BVlenci plan sounds great. I just dont know what to do in paris for that long. Maybe I have to do more research but 8 to 9 days in paris is that overkill?

I have read many people say even 10 days is not enough in Paris. I am just wondering what we should be seeing and doing there besides the basic touristy things.


My in-laws might have some timeshare in Paris...
any recommendations on which Arrondissements we should stay in. Nothing that will break the bank but decent enough to have a warm shower once a day,lol

Thanks everyone

Vish
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Old Feb 5th, 2014, 08:31 AM
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Less is more in travel--stick to your first plan of three countries.

Three full days in Paris is enough for a first trip. There are people on this board for whom years in Paris (or London or Rome) would be too little time.

I like the idea of Italy/Austria/Germany as it's compact and doable.

If your budget is in dollars and includes air-fare, it's low for three weeks.
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Old Feb 5th, 2014, 12:36 PM
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hi vish - I think if you read blv's post again, you'll see that she is suggesting 4-5 days in Paris, 3-4 in Munich, and the rest in Italy.

If you allow a day for jetlag and orientation, you could probably spend another 3 days in Paris quite happily, possibly with a day trip to Versailles. i agree that 9 days in Paris on a first trip might be overkill!
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Old Feb 6th, 2014, 08:46 AM
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You guys have all been Super helpful. I cannot thank you guys enough.

If we skip Munich (Oktoberfest) Do you think Switzerland would be a good option or or adding Amsterdam to the beginning of our trip and take a train to Paris from there?

At this point this is what we have:

Day 1 Fly into Amsterdam (September 10th)
Day 2 Amsterdam
Day 3 Amsterdam
Day 4 Amsterdam
Day 5 Amsterdam
Train to Bruges, Belgium (3.5 hours from Amsterdam)?
Train? Bus? Recommendations?
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Paris
Day 8 Paris
Day 9 Paris
Day 10 Paris
Day 11 Venice
Day 12 Venice
Day 13 Venice
Day 14 Florence
Day 15 Florence
Day 16 Rome
Day 17 Rome
Day 18 Rome
Day 19 Rome
Day 20 Rome
Day 21 Leave Home


OR

Day 1 Fly into Paris(September 10th)
Day 2 Paris
Day 3 Paris
Day 4 Paris
Day 5 Paris
Day 6 Paris
Day 7 Switzerland(Zurich or Geneva)
Day 8 Switzerland
Day 9 Switzerland
Day 10 Switzerland
Day 11 Venice
Day 12 Venice
Day 13 Venice
Day 14 Florence
Day 15 Florence
Day 16 Rome
Day 17 Rome
Day 18 Rome
Day 19 Rome
Day 20 Rome
Day 21 Leave Home

I know we have been pretty indecisive on our plan as of now but after doing more and more research our interest keep changing. Some of it is "we dont know, what we dont know"

I am trying to reduce the traveling as much as I can in and get the most out of this trip.
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