maha

Hi all!! This is my second visit to europe. Last time i did london, paris, rome, venice, florence, zurich and lucern in switzerland. This time i want to visit the countries i havent been to. So many options netherlands, belgium, germany, austria etc etc. Can anyone help me plan my trip i was thinking amsterdam->brussels->berlin or munich->some place in austria maybe vienna. Have i missed any gem on the way?? What place should i add/skip. Help Help Help

Gretchen

You did all those in two weeks also?

dwdvagamundo

maha--so how did visiting all those places in two weeks seem to you? If that's a pace you like to go at, then:

I'd do Bruges and Ghent in Belgium--both more "gem like" than Brussels. Maybe Amsterdam also if you find yourself getting bored. That's one week. Then Munich, Salzburg and Vienna. That's the second.

maha

@gretchen i did rome, florence, venice, zurich and paris in 2 weeks.

@ dwdvagamundo
thanks for ur suggestion...sounds good so i will skip brussels then, so its
amsterdam day 1 and 2
bruges 3,4
ghent 5,6
munich 7,8
salzburg 9,10
vienna 11,12
i still have 2 days to spare should i add in another place or should i increase the stay... and for which city?

Gretchen

You will use up those days when you factor in the travel to your two day visits.

PalenQ

help me plan my trip i was thinking amsterdam->brussels->berlin or munich->some place in austria maybe vienna.>

drop Brussels perhaps a city that many are non-plussed with and head right to Berlin - the via Dresden, the Florence on the Elbe, to Munich and Bavaria - dip down into Salzburg for a taste of Austria

Amsterdam 5 days including some day trips into the real Holland - like to Delft, Utrecht, Rotterdam, etc

Berlin 4 days

Munich 5 days

2 weeks without going all over everywhere - if going by train check out the Germany-Benelux Railpass that allows you to hop on virtually any train in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg - for lots of great info on trains in those countries check out these IMO fantastic sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

PalenQ

Yeh if you do go to Belgium drop Brussels and go to lovely dreamy Bruges, one of the most old-world romantic cities north of the Alps (3.5 hours from Amsterdam via train, changing at Angwerp).

maha

hmmm the benelux railpass seems to be just the thing i needed!!!thanks for the valuable advice. I guess i will have to research more and re think my itenary. Arent 5 days for munich going to be too much for a city? do u suggest any day trips n where to?

maha

if i decide to do belgium (ghent and bruges)then where should i be staying??? do i find a hotel in brussels and visit ghent and bruges??? or do i stay for a night each in burges and ghent?

cathies

Firstly, you don't 'do' places.

Secondly. You couldn't have seen very much of the places you went to on your other trip.from what you described you only had one day in each place to have a walk around and then you'd have been heading to the next destination. Sounds horrible.

How about slowing everything down and spending 3-4 nights in a couple of places and exploring them more thoroughly!

PalenQ

Arent 5 days for munich going to be too much for a city? do u suggest any day trips n where to?>

Yes for the city but can be a great base for Bavaria - easy day trips to Rothenburg, the perfect walled city, Fussen and the Bavarian Alps with Mad Ludwig's fantasy Neuschwanstein Castle, Europe's most famous and familiar castle probably behind Windsor Castle but very very different - day trip to Salzburg or Innsbruck Austria - or stay in any of these places.

And of course Dachau the concentration camp is a good half-day trip from nearby Munich.

PalenQ

Or you could spend a few days going between Munich and Berlin - stopping by Dresden - the Florence on the Elbe - one of the most interesting cities in Europe - blitzed needlessly many say during the waning days of WW2 by the Brits are retaliation for Coventry bombing - allegedly - the city has pieced itself back together wonderfully so the world-famous museums and edifices lining the Elbe shine once again.

And then stop by Rothenberg - that iconic walled medieval looking town before ending in Munich and its area.

Masterphil

You can get real crazy and after Vienna take a lovely 4 hour train ride to Prague!!

I am so happy I decided to visit Prague!! A truly incredible city.

(Amsterdam was "nice," Munich, Salzburg,Vienna are musts!)

I have always done the same thing on European vacations...see as much as possible!!! 2-3 days in one place is plenty!!

When I get older and less mobile, I will have plenty of time to return and spend more time in places I have been to and liked.

suze

I don't stay longer and travel at a slower pace because I am "older and less mobile". It's because I prefer to see more of each place, instead of simply more places. Nothing to do with age or physical abilities (I'm perfectly fit and healthy).

PalenQ

bruges 3,4
ghent 5,6

Well if you mean to relocate I'd say stay in one and day trip to the other and for the average tourist a day in each is more than enough IMO. Could also day trip to Brussels - though most do not like nearly as much as the other two - plus Antwerp to me is one of Europe's most fascinating cities too. But relocating means packing up, unpacking - taking about half a day so I'd base in one town - Bruges IMO because at night it shines - after the tourist hoards have left and the humpbacked wooden drawbridges and canal-side ancient Flemish facades are sublimely illuminated is so so special.

dwdvagamundo

Second PalenQ's advice--started to write the same then saw his post.

maha

Thankyou PalenQ for your advice and i will most certainly be following it. I shall base myself in bruges and take day trips from there. Maybe when i catch the train to munich i will stay for few hours in brussels explore it a bit have lunch some place. I'm not into museums that much so a few hours in the city centre will be enough for me.
Secondly are delft, utrecht, rotterdam etc half day trips?? Can i do two in one day???

annhig

blitzed needlessly many say during the waning days of WW2 by the Brits are retaliation for Coventry bombing - allegedly >>

Pal - the yanks didn't invent shock and awe you know.

that said, the Germans had an excuse for bombing Coventry [my home town] as it was a centre of aircraft manufacture; the Brits had no excuse for bombing Dresden apart from wanting to end the war asap by undermining the morale of the german population.

PalenQ

Secondly are delft, utrecht, rotterdam etc half day trips?? Can i do two in one day???>

Delft can easily be combined with The Hague (Mauritshuis and a nice old area around it) or Rotterdam but hard to do with Utrecht - Rotterdam and Utrecht offer so much I'd spend the whole day there.

Delft is smaller so maybe a half day there and a half day in Rotterdam or The Hague is possible.

maha

what would be the best place for windmills??? The kinderdijk or zaane schane??