Family trip to Europe this June... any hotel advice?? Flights are already booked. Should we get a global train pass or individual tickets?

Munich 4 days with day trip Salzburg
Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen 3 days
Paris 5 days
Pamplona 1 night - something my daughter really wants to see
Madrid 4 days
Malaga 3 days - day trip Gibraltar

Thanks for any help. (2 adults and 13 year old)

Individual tickets if 2nd class discounted tickets would be cheaper than any railpass (only one you would consider is a Eurail Select Saver Pass - kids that age get free passes). Rather book your own discounted tickets way early as they are sold in limited numbers and are train-specific and usually non-changeable from that specific train. Most are fine with that.

Check www.seat61.com for all the info you need on booking discounted tickets for all of those - for general train info - www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Individual tickets. We can't offer hotel advice without knowing your nightly hotel budget, in euros.

Trying to stay under $5000 for the hotels and trains.

How are you going between Paris and Pamplona? Long long train ride - best to fly to Spain but that will be a pain to fit in for one day - taking a day to get there and a day to get to Madrid.

Are you factoring in travel time between stops - and discount tickets will be imperative. Not doing Pamplona would free up days as right now it seems a little hurried. Pamplona is nice city but not that awesome and what does the 13-yr-old want to see it so much for. Really a sticking point in your intinerary. You could fly Paris to Madrid if skipping Pamplona.

<<Pamplona 1 night - something my daughter really wants to see>>

For what? If you're going there on a day NOT for the running of the bulls, it's just a town.

If you're otherwise going from Paris to Madrid, fly.

Skip Gibraltar - boring, peopled with grumpy Brits (much better versions of Brits available on the British Isles) and larcenous monkeys. Can also take an inordinately long time to cross the "border" from Spain to the UK.

Train prices are pretty much fixed. How much in EUROS do you want to spendper night for a hotel?

Well, I really enjoyed Pamplona, but agree it is a going to complicate the logistics.

I would like to spend 200 euro approx per night. If we skip Pamplona would you add that night to Madrid or Malaga? If we skip Gibraltar would you do a day trip to Barcelona? Thanks for all the advice!

This is what I have been looking at...

Munich- Hilton Munich City / Hilton points??
Don’t know what town to stay in in Switzerland??
Paris-Hotel Eber Mars??
Madrid- Hôtel Europa??
Malaga - Doubletree Malaga / Hilton points?

"Flights are already booked"
which flights: into Munich and home from Malaga?

Have you layed out your trip with travel times?
A day trip from Malaga to Barcelona?! No.
Have you been to Europe before?

How many full days do you actually have on the ground?
Do not count your arrival or departure days.

You only get a full day by spending 2 nights in a place, so 5 days in Paris requires 6 nights, 4 days in Munich and 4 days in Madrid requires 5 nights each. Right now, with the days you are counting, you would need 25 nights. Do you actually have that many? Your itinerary may look good on first review, but I think that is because it is not an accurate reflection of how much real time you have and the amount of travel hours involved.

It also seems you are zipping about when you could see more great sights without doing that.

When assigning days to a place, have you planned what to do for those days or just given a random amount of time? For example, are you doing day trips from Madrid or doing museums, etc. the whole time? That might be a lot of time for a 13 year old in Madrid. Nearby is Toledo and Segovia, both good for day trips or Toledo great for an overnight.

Rather than Gibraltar or Barcelona as day trips (one not good and the other impossible), have you considered Seville or Granada or Córdoba? The Andalusia area of Spain has so much to offer, see more of it while you are there.

Lay your plan out with some precision.

It has been awhile since I have been there, but unless it has changed a lot, the Hotel Europa in Madrid is fine. Do not expect American five star furnishings, but it is clean, comfortable and the location is great! It is also well priced.

Yes NECKERVD. Flights into Munich and out of Malaga.

Yes Sasssfrass I have mapped out the trip. I don’t need anyone telling us how long to spend in any given place. We have traveled the world and this is how we do it. Fast! We always go with the motto that we will come back if we like it. Gotta alot to see first on the bucket list! I don’t expect America’s 5 stars just a clean safe place to sleep. I am really looking for hotel recommendations.

Thanks!

I would recommend for you to think higher for the Swiss Mountains for an amazing experience. Interlaken lacks charm and Lauterbrunnen is still in the valley (but a much better option than Interlaken in my opinion). Think Wengen and Mürren.

OK then. Gibraltar or Barcelona will work fine for you.

I would skip Pamplona and also Gibraltar. Nothing to see there.

Any chain hotel will do the trick. If you want someplace clean and a private bathroom, I'd recommend looking into any chain hotels in the major cities you plan to visit.
You can look for them in Google Maps, for instance.

" I don’t need anyone telling us how long to spend in any given place. "

Not going to do that, but you do seem to be travelling a lot with lots of long distance trains. If you do this I'd recommend taking picnics. So stay as long as you like but why all over the shop?

HI I suggest Wengen, I was there in July with my son, an incredibly lovely place with the Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger over the village, esp when you go up the Mannlichen lift right in the village. access to neighboring villages i.e. Grindelwald, Murren (where I've also stayed) Great hiking, small village, but very nice, train right to village, about 3 hrs from Zurich. Zermatt is much more touristy and about 4 more hours south. I can recommend the Schonegg Hotel in Wengen, very clean and safe in this small village....lovely views of mountains. might be a bit more expensive, but well worth it there, can get half or full board with room and was excellent both BF and dinner. The real top place of 3 weeks in Europe for me/nice patio too. chain hotels have little character in my opinion usually. Get better recommendations off of this site. Get room facing mtns if you go to Wengen and book early. Sue

In Madrid be sure to go to the Prado Museum, in Munich out to Dachau about 20 min on train, so we not forget. Switzerland is more expensive than some spots but well worth it to me, but best to see the high mountains to appreciate, and stay up in there, easily accessible by the great Swiss Railway. Sue

Your question is: "Should we get a global train pass or individual tickets?"
and you obviously don't like a lot of tips concerning other stuff.
So I just answer your questions:

MUNICH - INTERLAKEN:

PLANE: MUC - BRN fares start around 100 EUR if you book well ahead. BRN - Interlaken (bus and train) costs 27 EUR full fare, free with Bernese Oberland Pass.
MUC dp 8.10 - BRN 9.10/10.03 - Interlaken ar 11.28,
MUC dp 18.10 - BRN 19.10/20.03 - Interlaken ar 21.40.

BUS: The Flixbus line to Grindelwald may start this summer. For the moment, you can only book tickets up to Berne Bus Terminal: 17 EUR if you book well ahead, 50 EUR full fare;
Bern Neufeld - Interlaken 30 EUR
München ZOB dp 7.45 - Bern Neufeld ar 13.50 Bern citybus - train - Interlaken ar 15.57

TRAIN: Munich - Interlaken, discounted web fare if you book well ahead 40 EUR, standard fare 157 EUR
Munich dp 8.47 - Interlaken ar 15.57,
Munich dp 12.11 - Interlaken ar 18.57,
Munich dp 16.12 - Interlaken ar 22.57.
In the case you visit Salzburg and Hallstatt, you may go directly from Hallstatt to Interlaken, using the overnight train (with sleeping cars) Attnang-Puchheim dp 23.34 - Zurich ar 8.20 (Interlaken ar 10.28).

INTERLAKEN - PARIS:

The TRAIN is much faster than anything else (journey time 5 1/2 hrs). Fares: about 80 EUR if you book well ahead, standard fare 220 EUR.
BUS: Fare 70 EUR, journey time 16 hrs (overnight).
Plane: journey time 7 hrs, fares start at 150 EUR if you book well ahead.

PARIS - PAMPLONA

TRAIN: Paris dp 10.07 - Pamplona ar 21.38, Paris - Barcelona fares start at 130 EUR, webfare Barcelona - Pamplona 25 EUR.
Cheaper solution via Hendaya - Donostia.
BUS: Paris dp 14.30, Pamplona ar 3am, Fare 100 EUR
PLANE: Fares for Paris - Bilbao start at 80 EUR, bus from Bilbao to Pamplona about every 2 hrs (2hrs journey)http://laburundesa.com/pamplona-bilbao/
journey time Paris city center - Pamplana city center about 10 hrs.