Europe trip
May 12th, 2018, 07:48 AM
#1
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Europe trip
Hi All we are planning our very first Europe trip in the month of August for 15 days from 11 aug to 25 Aug including travel.
Here is my itinerary please advice
Franfurt - > Munich - > Salzburg, Austria - > Innsbruck, Austria - > Zurich - > Paris, France - > Frankfurt, Germany
We will do round trip. Will take car on rent and visit all the possible tourist places in between our route.
Please advice rental car is right way to travel or will choose any other option.
We are 2 couple with 4 kids
Here is my itinerary please advice
Franfurt - > Munich - > Salzburg, Austria - > Innsbruck, Austria - > Zurich - > Paris, France - > Frankfurt, Germany
We will do round trip. Will take car on rent and visit all the possible tourist places in between our route.
Please advice rental car is right way to travel or will choose any other option.
We are 2 couple with 4 kids
May 12th, 2018, 08:52 AM
#2
You have 12.5 days on the ground. Not enough time for all that -- ESPECIALLY if you plan on driving. It would be nearly 1500 miles/2300 km and easily 30 hours car time. So you'd spend 5 days of your 13+ sitting in the car. And having a car in most cities is a BIG problem.
Trains are easier for much of your planned list. But first you need to cut back the places you want to visit.
Trains are easier for much of your planned list. But first you need to cut back the places you want to visit.
May 12th, 2018, 09:16 AM
#3
Yes it seems a lot with kids in the car. My thoughts are
1) don't aim to only visit cities, lets face it cities are the pits in August
2) do aim to visit places to bike, canoe, swim, hike in the woods
3) Germany is buried in these sort of places as is Austria, Switzerland et cI'd grab a map of this part of Europe and plan to go to 4 bases. Maybe the Mosel, the Bodensee, the Black forest and Alsace
That means you can go see loads of little cities and have a great holiday
1) don't aim to only visit cities, lets face it cities are the pits in August
2) do aim to visit places to bike, canoe, swim, hike in the woods
3) Germany is buried in these sort of places as is Austria, Switzerland et cI'd grab a map of this part of Europe and plan to go to 4 bases. Maybe the Mosel, the Bodensee, the Black forest and Alsace
That means you can go see loads of little cities and have a great holiday
May 12th, 2018, 12:31 PM
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Trains are best for cities like that - meandering the countryside cars best - but cars in cities are a boondoggle and renting in one country and returning in another can have very steep drop-off charges for that - trains are great and go up to nearly 200mph - for lots on trains check www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts. You could look into some kind of railpass as kids if under 16 I believe get a free pass and except in France you can just hop any train anytime.
Try flying into Frankfurt and out of Paris - open-jaw to save time and money returning to Frankfurt.
Try flying into Frankfurt and out of Paris - open-jaw to save time and money returning to Frankfurt.
May 12th, 2018, 01:13 PM
#5
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Many issues here and more information about you will help.
Do you have tickets already?
Hope not, because in this case, it wastes travel time and more money to backtrack to a city. Cheap RT tickets are not always cheap in the end. Best usually to do "multi-city" into one city and return from another. This does not mean two, one-way tickets which are usually expensive.
It is also usually a mistake to go into and return from a city in which you have no interest seeing. That is another waste of time. It is best to pick the city or place you want to see and go there directly as possible.
Usually, you must be in the city of dparture the night before a flight, so unless that is a city you are wanting to see, it can be another night lost.
Why Frankfurt?
Are you tied to Frankfurt by already purchased tickets?
Where are you coming from?
You do not have time for all the places on your list, so which three are most important to you? If you are tied to Frankfurt, then you have to count it. Then, you have to figure best way between places with family of 6 plus luggage. Or, is it 8 people?
Family. Are you a couple (2 people) with 4 kids, or are you two couples (4 people) with 4 kids? Are there 6 altogether or 8 altogether? Ages of kids? Will any need car seats? Size car you would need for 6 or 8, plus luggage.
Do you want more countryside trip or more city?
City? You do not need a car. Do some day trips by train.
Country? Pick a place to stay a few days as a base, perhaps rent a car and do driving day trips.
If you could go to only one place in Europe, what would it be?
If any of you say Paris, then why not fly direcly to Paris at the beginning of the trip or out at the end?
Surely, Frankfurt was not number 1.
Why Zurich?
Do you have tickets already?
Hope not, because in this case, it wastes travel time and more money to backtrack to a city. Cheap RT tickets are not always cheap in the end. Best usually to do "multi-city" into one city and return from another. This does not mean two, one-way tickets which are usually expensive.
It is also usually a mistake to go into and return from a city in which you have no interest seeing. That is another waste of time. It is best to pick the city or place you want to see and go there directly as possible.
Usually, you must be in the city of dparture the night before a flight, so unless that is a city you are wanting to see, it can be another night lost.
Why Frankfurt?
Are you tied to Frankfurt by already purchased tickets?
Where are you coming from?
You do not have time for all the places on your list, so which three are most important to you? If you are tied to Frankfurt, then you have to count it. Then, you have to figure best way between places with family of 6 plus luggage. Or, is it 8 people?
Family. Are you a couple (2 people) with 4 kids, or are you two couples (4 people) with 4 kids? Are there 6 altogether or 8 altogether? Ages of kids? Will any need car seats? Size car you would need for 6 or 8, plus luggage.
Do you want more countryside trip or more city?
City? You do not need a car. Do some day trips by train.
Country? Pick a place to stay a few days as a base, perhaps rent a car and do driving day trips.
If you could go to only one place in Europe, what would it be?
If any of you say Paris, then why not fly direcly to Paris at the beginning of the trip or out at the end?
Surely, Frankfurt was not number 1.
Why Zurich?
May 12th, 2018, 02:20 PM
#6
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Round trip is a bad idea. Why Zurich? There are lots of false economies associated with a) RT fares that take mean you have to spend a whole lot of time and money backtracking and b) flying to someplace you don't want or mean to visit - huge waste of time and money.
You have far too many places and need to cut the whole idea in half. You are traveling with what amounts to a tour group herding 8 people around in a huge PITA and really cuts down on your time.
You have far too many places and need to cut the whole idea in half. You are traveling with what amounts to a tour group herding 8 people around in a huge PITA and really cuts down on your time.
May 13th, 2018, 09:05 AM
#7
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I would not argue for open jaw vs. RT depending on the itinerary. For example arriving in Frankfurt and visiting Bavaria, the Black Forest and Alsace in that order could make a return from Frankfurt logical. Going from Frankfurt to Franconia (part of Bavaria) down to Munich and then over to the Black Forest by either dipping into Switzerland or just going along the border would in no way represents back-tracking.
May 13th, 2018, 09:39 AM
#8
It is hard to know what to change, since we don't really know why you picked the places on your proposed itinerary.
But agreeing with most here, that is way too many places, especially driving yourself, to try to do in the time frame. You need to cross off about half of the places to make this work better.
I would also look into where trains would be better than a rental car. When it is a simple city to city transfer, probably trains are better, easier, more relaxing.
But agreeing with most here, that is way too many places, especially driving yourself, to try to do in the time frame. You need to cross off about half of the places to make this work better.
I would also look into where trains would be better than a rental car. When it is a simple city to city transfer, probably trains are better, easier, more relaxing.
May 13th, 2018, 01:05 PM
#9
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Hard for many Americans who are wed to cars when traveling here because it's the only realistic way to go to see that in Europe for a string of large cities trains are best and public transports once in a city are so so great and many cities very walkable in centers. If OP wanted to meander from say Salzburg to Insbruck and stop off en route cars would be nice but the schedule OP has does not allow for that.
May 13th, 2018, 03:52 PM
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Too big even for an open jaw, and I did not rule out an open jaw; I just gave what would be a RT possibility, given that most posters seem to agree that the OP has to eliminate destinations.
May 15th, 2018, 04:56 AM
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" Will take car on rent and visit ALL THE POSSIBLE TOURIST PLACES in between our route."
I suppose you know that this is abslolutely imposssible within 2 weeks, although the Swiss and French legs you chose are not really touristy.
I suppose you know that this is abslolutely imposssible within 2 weeks, although the Swiss and French legs you chose are not really touristy.
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