natasha

Hello. <BR>I am hoping for some suggestions for my trip to Europe. My friend and I will be starting our vacation after my business trip in Amsterdam. The vacation will be from September 16th to Oct 1st. <BR> <BR>I will already have seen a lot of the Netherlands, so I only want to spend 1 night of our 14 nights there. <BR> <BR>I will give you some background information on us and our preferences to help you give us suggestions. We are two females ~25 yrs old. <BR>We are more interested in scenery and smaller/quaint towns then big cities/museums/night life. I have already seen a bit of England and it is my friend's frist trip to Europe. We were hoping to do the trip by train rather than driving a car. We were also planing on staying in youth hostels with potentially one splurge on a nice place. <BR> <BR>We had originally planned a trip that covered a lot of distance, but we just came to the mutual conclusion that that was crazy and wouldn't be as much fun, and we would end up seeing less. Since we just realized this, I only have a sketchy outline of our trip. If anyone could suggest other areas that they think we would like or say if they did/didn't like the ones we are thinking of, I would greatly appreciate it. Some of the places I mention are merely areas, and not towns, so any help in these areas would also be great. <BR> <BR>-1 night Amsterdam <BR>-train to Koblenz <BR>-Rhine riverboat ride (KD line?) <BR>-Overnight somewhere on Rhine river between <BR> Koblenz in Mainz (help) <BR>-train to Rothenburg <BR>-2 nights in Rothenburg <BR>-train to Alsace Region (towns?) <BR>-3 nights in the Region <BR>-Loire Valley by train? <BR>-2 nights in Loire Valley region (towns?) <BR>-train to Paris <BR>-3 nights in Paris <BR>-train to Brugge <BR>-2 nights in Brugge <BR>-train to Amsterdam <BR> <BR>Thank you for any help you can give us. <BR> <BR>Natasha

Tony

Sounds like a well thought out trip Natasha - hope the weather holds up for you, as it is getting a little late in the season. My first thoughts were to head further south, but I think you are right to stick with your plan. <BR>There is a website for the KD Line - www.rivercruises.com which gives the timetables. The cruise from Koblenz to either Ammanshausen or Rudesheim would be great for your overnight. Rudesheim more lively. <BR>The train to Rothenburg is by no means direct. There is a Romantic Road bus service (covered by the railpass) from Heidelberg to Rothenburg which leaves about 0800. You may find it better to stay the night in Heidelberg, and cut l night off your Alsace region (or whereever). <BR>In the Alsace I think Strasbourg would be your best bet. It is a city, but not a huge one, and is certainly quaint in parts. Also more chance of a good Youth Hostel. You could easily day trip from there too. <BR>I'll let somebody else join in for the Loire Valley, as I have'nt been there.

Anna

Natasha, <BR>I have stayed at the Burg Stahleck youth hostel in Bacharach, Germany. It is in an old castle above the town overlooking the Rhine. Rothenburg has another nice hostel called Rossmuhle that is in an old horse mill. <BR> <BR>For more hostel feedback, you may also want to look at www.eurotrip.com <BR> <BR>Have a wonderful trip!

Russ

I’ll help with the German stretch. <BR> <BR>Koblenz is not a small town. There’s a lot of construction there right now, the hostel is way out of town, the boat docks are a ways from the station, and unless you have a specific goal there, I’d suggest staying in a smaller town to the south and doing day trips from there. <BR> <BR>Bacharach is a decent place to stay -- overtouristed by Rick Steves types and a bit overpriced, but cute. The castle-hostel is a very steep climb from town, however, and may discourage coming and going. I prefer St. Goar, which also has a train station, a boat dock, and an HI hostel. It also has a ferry boat connection to the other side of the river and is slightly better located for day trips. There are 3 castles you can see from town here, one you can tour (Rheinfels, a ruined fortress) and one downstream with a pirds of prey show (Burg Maus.) There are also some great hiking trails to the cliffs above town that continue along the river for more amazing views. The hostel is a much <BR>easier to walk to from the station and town center and has a fantastic view from the dining rooms (and a few bedrooms) of the castles and vineyards that dot the river gorge. It’s about $10 each including breakfast, and you can get a private room for two if you reserve in advance. From St. Goar, it’s a quick train (or boat) ride to Bacharach, Oberwesel (wine town just <BR>to the south), Boppard to the north (small but slightly larger river town with nice ambience, Roman ruins, river promenade, chair lift ride to nearby peak), or points beyond. For daytrips, save a railpass day, if you’re using one, and buy one of the 30 DM <BR>day passes good for up to 5 people that will take you anywhere in the region of <BR>Rhineland-Pfalz (covers the Rhine Gorge and Mosel Rivers, among other destinations.) <BR> <BR>I highly recommend spending 3 nights here. One reason is so that you can make a day trip by train to Cochem, about 45 minutes from Koblenz along the beautiful Mosel River. It’s a bit larger than Bacharach, a little touristy, but frequented by mostly German tourists, and has an absolutely charming old town center. The castle has the most incredible setting of <BR>any in this area, and the tour is excellent. The river scenery here is compelling; I stayed here 3 days this July and rode a bike along the river through some nearby towns. <BR> <BR>The other reason to spend 3 nights on the Rhine is that Rothenburg is an absolute tourist trap. An afternoon, an evening, and a morning are enough to see the worthwhile stuff and to get sick of rubbing elbows with your fellow Americans. But I understand you have to <BR>go there. Take the train instead of the bus so you can come and go on your own schedule. I haven’t hostelled there. <BR> <BR>Let me know if you have any questions about this or need more specific tips/phone numbers/etc.

Craig

Natasha, <BR> <BR>For the Loire stint -- <BR>Amboise is a good place to have as a base. I haven't got any experience with the trains, but I remember passing a station nearby when I was there. <BR>In addition to getting a place to stay, you may want to look into reserving & renting a couple of mountain bikes. I've gotten around by car, but I've seen others using rental (same tags and colors) bikes to get from site to site. Seemed like a lot of fun if you are physically up for it.

Jeff

Sounds like a nice vacation. You have already received good advice. A couple comments, not to discourage, but to think about. Youare covering a lot of area. If you haven't already check the Deutsch Bahn website to determine how long your train travels will consume of your vacation. I like Rothenburg, tourist trap or not. There is a good reason tourists flock there. Having said that, it is a pretty long train trip b/t the Rhine and Rothenburg, so you may want to consider cutting Rothenburg out of your itinerary. I can't place it in my head right now, but Heidelberg might be a good replacement. Bacharach is everything others have said. We like it though. Burg Stahlek is a hike!!! Don't get down to the town and remember you forgot something at the hostel! We stayed in Bacharach, took a very scenic KD cruise (lots of castles) to St. Goar, walked up to Rheinfels to tour that fortress, then took the train back to BAcharach. We thought that made for a nice trip.

Russ

Here's a tip or two on Brugge: <BR> <BR>We stayed at the Passage Hostel/Hotel (2 adjacent buildings.) It has an excellent, central location and a really good, reasonably priced, atmospheric dinner restaurant. However... the hostel building is incredibly noisy due to the passage between the buildings that amplifies any sounds from the passage, where a bunch of pigeons have nested, or from the street, where scooters zip past regularly, and also due to the creaky old hall and room doors. There are also too few showers. Stay at the hotel instead, in a room on the inner courtyard. It is about the same price as the hostel, but you'll have a quiet place with your own bath (or a hall bath with fewer users.) Everyone who works there is very friendly and helpful except for the frizzy-haired, middle-aged woman who runs the breakfast operation and earned our nickname "breakfast Nazi" (don't ask for a second glass of juice!!) <BR> <BR>Rent a bike for a day or half day if you can and take a path out to Damme or other another town in the countryside. <BR> <BR>Brugge is touristy but not Disney-like in the way Rothenburg is. You will enjoy it. We found the Rick Steves notes on Brugge very valuable. The "Straffe Henrik" brewery tour (microbrewery tour, really) was fun and gives a nice view of the city from the top. The belltower climb is narrow and steep but worth the effort. <BR> <BR>Enjoy your time there. It's hard not to.

Russ

If your itinerary is flexible, consider timing a visit to the Rhine with one of the festivals there. On the 16th, Oberwesel has a wine market with outdoor music from 3:00 on, and St. Goar has it's huge "Rhine in Flames" fireworks/light show, whereby the castles are set "on fire". <BR>Go here for details: http://www.firework.rhine-river.com/stgoar/index.html <BR> <BR>Boppard has a wine festival from the 22nd through the 25th and on 8/30 and 9/1 also.

natasha

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Your responses have been very helpful. I am glad that everyone was so positive about my trip. <BR> <BR>From what Jeff and Russ have said I am considering skipping Rothenburg. Russ, I like your suggestion of spending 3 days on the Rhine. <BR> <BR>The where to stay/where not to stay info from everyone is greatly appreciated. Tony and Craig, thanks for suggestions for towns in the Alsace and Loire regions. I will again commence researching. <BR> <BR>Thanks, <BR>Natasha

fototraveler

Hi Natasha! <BR> <BR>There are many places nice places to see in Europe. Here take a look at my website at www.fototraveler.com <BR>There are over 8 years worth of traveling in photos. This may help you some. Happy travel!

Russ

Natasha: Tracked down this web page with some pictures of Cochem: <BR> <BR>http://www.mosel-reisefuehrer.de/cochem.htm <BR> <BR>Click on "Sesselbahn" for an aerial view.