my friend and I are going to go to Europe for the first time and want to take in culture and view gorgeous scenery by visiting some small towns and then some sightseeing cities. What do you think about this gameplan? <BR> <BR>go down the rhine and stay at kolbenz to look at castles and go on day trips for 3 days (any recomendations?), then go to Schaffhausen and go to day trips to titisee, stein am Rhine, and another town (again any recommendations) After 4 days here we will then go to Interlaken. what do you think? what must we do or see in these towns? thanks

At least part of the Rhine Valley should be done by boat - there are frequent day trips between Rudesheim and Koblenz or towns in between. From Koblenz you should also take a trip up the Moselle Valley, either by car, train or partly by boat, to Cochem, Bernkastle and Trier. <BR>At Interlaken a lot of people recommend staying in one of the smaller towns part way up the Jungfrau, such as Muerren, Wengen or Grindelwald - my favourite is Wengen.

I stayed at interlaken and did some day hikes, one to grindelwald and had a great time, look into doing some hiking around the mountains. cheers-jackson

Hi <BR>There seems to often be an emphasis on this board on Southern Germany and sometimes the Rhine and the former cities of "Eastern" Germany. While this is understandable as Bavaria ect is arguably one of the most beautiful parts of the country, it means that beautiful places in the north are often forgotten. Some good places to visit up north - Hamburg, Lubeck by the sea, Celle (small town, wonderful architecture), Hameln (Quaint old town of Pied Piper fame), Bremen, even Muenster and the Munsterland ("little Versailles" and water castles). All these are well worth the visit if you have time to spare as they are within reach of each other. The landscape is less inspiring than the south but the places mentioned would not disappoint. <BR>Angela

The Mosel Valley and Trier are wonderful. We enjoyed them MUCH more than anything along the Rhine.