bilboburgler

Kitbag, generally we don't insult other fodorites, if you disagree with someone you write about what you know, the IMO is there just invisibile on all threads

I for one like Pisa but in the evening when the hordes have gone and I think there are a few better buildings in Pisa than the silly tower, but that is my opinion.

to the OP, your plan gets worse and worse. You are now touring the airports of the europe. I suggest tear up your plans and chose two places to lay your head for such a short trip

I recommend
Paris and Strasbourg
Berlin and Dresden
Rome and Venice
chose one of these pairs and stick to it, use trains to visit other places as day trips.

Surely enough people have now given you a "less is more" piece of advice on this thread that finally you should listen to us.

Sassafrass

Name calling belittles only the name caller and negates their credibility. Thanks, Bilboburgler for addressing it.

To the OP, you are still grasping at the idea of seeing way, way too many places and hanging on to too many "must sees" on your lists. You are not getting anywhere.

You are still not allowing travel time. Go back and look at Janisj's itinerary, but notice it is for 11 days, so as she says, if you have only 10, you must cut even from that.

Based on all you have said, I recommend you stick with Paris for 3 or four days (4 or 5 nights), and spend the rest of the time in Germany. Start laying out a concrete itinerary that includes travel time, not just 3 days here or there. Use Janisj's example. Don't bother with specifics like pubs until you have basics.

Save the country of Italy for a future trip, after you have a bit of travel experience and when you can actually spend more time in places than you do traveling from place to place.

butterfingers

Southern Germany (Bavaria or Stuttgart area) or Northern Germany (Hamburg or Berlin)? What do y’all think?

bilboburgler

I like both, Hamburg is actually a pretty nice garden city with good access to the Elbe and locally there are some ancient cities that managed to avoid being bombed by the Allies and/or socialised out of existance. Berlin is a bit overwhelming at times, the central park is enourmous and the museums are very good but the place is buzzing and still a bit shaby chic. The area around Berlin, having been part of the no go zone is really very pleasant with lakes and the likes of Dresden not far by train. Lots of Hanseatic league stuff in the Hamburg area.

Stuttgart is motorcity for Germans and while pleasant enough is not really as nice as Hamburg, though the forest is relatively close. Bavaria is a federal state not a city with some nice bits and some dumps. Wine is grown here.

Beer is available everywhere.

butterfingers

Is GoEuro a good app for domestic travel between cities/countries? It has flights, buses, and flight prices. I dont know if it is credible/reliable and if the prices are more expensive then what they should be. Reviews on this app? Any other good transport apps? Also is Airbnb good to use because I need cheap rooms? Tips?

janisj

I'd guess you saw that site mentioned on another recent thread?

No need or advantage to using it.

>>Also is Airbnb good to use<<

In a lot of places yes. Not in Paris since the vast majority of their listings are illegal and the legal ones won't be 'cheap' since the available pool of legal ones is very small.

StCirq

I would not use GoEuro. What kind of transport apps? For trains, use the official sites of the national railroads. For flights use the airlines' websites or Skyscanner. For buses google your point of departure and destination and see what the options are.

AirBnb could be a decent option but not everywhere. Better to use Booking.com and make use of the filters to narrow down your search.

suze

Also is Airbnb good to use because I need cheap rooms? Tips?

Do you understand how AirBnB works? That you are renting from an individual owner.

Since it seems you are staying only 1-2 days in most places, I think a hotel or a hostel would be a lot more practical and easier to arrange.

VRBO or AirBnB works better for at least a one week stay (and in the cities where that type of rental is legal).

StCirq

And with an AirBnb rental you often can't get into the place until the afternoon, once the previous people have cleared out and the place is cleaned - can't even get in to drop luggage - so there goes even more of your precious little time.

butterfingers

Venice vs Rome? Which one is better to see?

janisj

That is up to you . . . sort of like asking which is 'better to see' - San Francisco or New York.

Both are amazing and worth visiting. - do you have a guide book to see which looks more interesting to you. And/or click on 'Destinations' above.

suze

Venice. I think Venice is better to see it's magic.

Sassafrass

While I might prefer one over the other, they are both so exciting to visit, unless you have a very strong interest or preference yourself of one over the other, then better would be the one that fits best with the rest of your itinerary.

StCirq

Kindly stop thinking that any one place is better than another. EVERYTHING depends on what YOU want to see and do and how you would rank experiences that might appeal to you. A lot of people prefer Myrtle Beach to Istanbul. Loads of people prefer Cornwall to Dubrovnik. And so on and so on....

Your first trip to Europe is unlikely to be perfect. Some of us had to make dozens and dozens of trips to sort through what our actual preferences were/are. and know what we prefer to do. Just give it a go,make a sensible unhurried itinerary, and plan to go back again and again to fill in the myriad blanks.

suze

Why I think Venice is "better" is because it is a much smaller city, so I believe relatively easy to get a handle on. You can walk most everywhere. Wouldn't really need public transportation to see the sites & sights unless you wanted to.

janisj

Me -- maybe I'd pick Venice. But the OP is a teenaged young man -- and maybe Rome would have more for him.


Who the heck knows - that is why he needs to look over some guide books, maybe some blogs, and pick one . . .

StCirq

Well, I would pick Venice too, because it's "easier" overall - it took me 3 trips to Rome to appreciate it - but none of us can guess what would work best for the OP.

suze

Well he seems to think we can!

StCirq

Sure he thinks we can, and the sooner he just makes up his own plan and goes for it, the better. It would probably be easier if he did what all us old-timers did back in the 60s and just hopped a TWA flight with a few dollars and a wing and a prayer. God, that was fun!

suze

Well back on April 11th there WAS a plan. What happened to that?

This is my Plan. Fly into Venice. Spend 3 nights there. Take a flight to stuttgart/Bavaria (I will decide later). Spend 3 nights there. Then take a flight to Paris. Spend the rest of my time there. Fly out from CDG.