PratikVasagadekar

Hi Fellow Travelers,

My name is Pratik. And i was looking for help on making a Central/Eastern Europe Itinerary.
I will be travelling in April 2018 for about 16-18 Nights depending on the budget.
I will be Travelling from Mumbai, India into Europe. (yet to decide on the arrival city).

I was planning places as below.

Mumbai -> Prague
1st Day Reach early morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel.
2nd Day - roam the City for max 4 Monuments/Attractions.
3rd Day - roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions. and leave for Budapest by Night train.

Prague -> Budapest
1st Day Reach early morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel.
2nd Day - roam the City for max 4 Monuments/Attractions.
3rd Day -: roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions.
4th Day -: leave for Vienna by Morning Train. Travel of Max 4hours.

Budapest -> Vienna
1st Day Reach by morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel. roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions.
2nd Day - roam the City for max 4 Monuments/Attractions.
3rd Day -: Take Morning Train to Salzburg and Reach Salzburg by 12 PM

Vienna -> Salzburg
1st Day Reach by morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel. roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions.
2nd Day - roam the City for max 4 Monuments/Attractions.
3rd Day - roam the City for max 4 Monuments/Attractions.
4th Day - Take Morning Train for Innsbruck

Salzburg - >Innsbruck
1st Day Reach by morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel. roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions.
2nd Day -> Tour of neuschwanstein castle
3rd Day -> Move for Munich by Day Train.

Innsbruck -> Munich
1st Day Reach by morning and Check into hotel/AirBnb/Hostel. roam the city for max 2 monuments/Attractions.
2nd Day - Cooling off !!
3rd Day Back to Home via Munich to Mumbai Flight

Total Nights = 14
Places to be Visited = Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Munich.
Expected Date = April 2018

Could you please help me for this Itinerary by answering below questions
1) How do you find this Itinerary - Too Crowded or Comfy ?
2) Should i Add or Remove Any Places or Nights ?
3) I wanted to add Lucern, Interlaken/Grindelwald/Wengen to my itinerary but the alone cost of Swiss places hampers the other.
4) How should i plan for the Internal Travel such as Rail travel or Bus travel. I have seen negative reviews of Flixbus or Bus services overall hence inclined for Rail Pass. But Should i book point to point or get a EURail Pass?
5) What Average food cost should i consider for all those places ?

Notes -:
1) We wont be backpacking but we are okay with hostels as well.
2) If you have any tips then please do share with me

I really appreciate your help.

Thanks,
PV

naddy74

Pratik,
I did almost the same itinerary last year. Couple of thoughts -
a) Fly in to Vienna or Munich. They have much better air connections from India as compared to Prague.
b) Within Europe, we travelled by train. We did the following trips -
Vienna - Prague - Vienna
Vienna - Salzburg
Salzburg - Hallstat - Salzburg
Salzburg - Munich
Booked everything on Oebb website or Deutsche Bahn (depending on which trip was cheaper on which site). Was simple and convenient.
c) My take (you can have a different thought)
Prague - 2 nights 3 days is good.
Budapest - Do it as a one trip from Vienna
Vienna - if you really like exploring the parks, danube tour, cycling in Prater, then you need to give it a week
Salzburg - same, if you explore it on a cycle, give it 4 days. Plus definitely do the 1 day trip to hallstat and take out time to visit the Dachstien Ice Caves.

I did 18 days, Prague 2 days and a 1; Salzburg and Munich 4 nights and rest in Vienna. Used Airbnb everywhere.
Let me know if you want more info.

fourfortravel

May I suggest that you first identify what you would like to see/do; and then look at the timetables for transportation options between each of your destinations before setting an itinerary? Just listing the maximum number of attractions doesn't help determine the amount of time you might need.

For example, you indicate that while you are in Innsbruck you plan a "tour of Neuschwanstein castle." Using a train or bus (if that is even possible) is about a 5 hour trip one-way. Yet, visiting the castle is closest from Munich, at 2+ hours, by train.

I hope this is helpful.

BigRuss

You can't check in anywhere, whether a hostel, hotel or airbnb, in the early morning. At best, for hotels and hostels, you can drop off your belongings. For airbnb/vrbo/homeaway/flipkey rentals, you can't even do that without a special arrangement (usually for a fee) with the host.

And your notion of 2-3 night rentals at rental apartments like airbnbs is daft. Both airbnb and vrbo/homeaway charge an additional fee for the booking and every rental lessor charges a cleaning fee. Add those two fees to your stay and you're effectively paying for a night or more that you don't use. Only by going for a longer period or getting a really cheap rental (which will likely suck as a bad location or a dump of a flat) can you have a sensible arrangement.

PalenQ

rains are great - look into the European East Railpass valid for all your trains except to Munich - hop on any train anytime- for lots on trains: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

PalenQ

But Should i book point to point or get a EURail Pass?>

No to Eurailpass - much more expensive than Eastern Europea Pass and price out discounted tickets available on respective web sites of each nation's railway web site- I initially thought I saw more than 4 longish rail trips in counries that pass covers however so price out point-point tickets and compare and if close then go for pass as discounted tickets have various restrictions and often cannot be changed from a specific train you book them on.

In Austria price tickets at westbahn.com - low-cost competitor to Austrian Railways. www.seat61.com is the best source for info on self-ticketing and discounted ticketing that may well be better than a pass especially as E European Pass minimum is 5 unlimited days of travel over a month period and you need only 4 Innsbruck-Munich not being covered since you're going to Germany most of the way - get cheap tickets for that at www.bahn.de/en - German Railways web site. but if wanting total flexibility to hop any train anytime just by showing up at station the E European Pass would be a good deal vs full walk-up fares. Details: http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id6.html.

PratikVasagadekar

@naddy74 Thanks, bro, Could you please share the Itinerary.

@bigruss I am considering Hotels in this case now as Airbnb or Hostels are bit troublesome in the current stage. And they are well within my budget. But i will be considering these tips when i come back for another trip in Southern Europe.

@fourfortravel I did make the list of Attractions which I want to visit, but i didn't post here as the message would be too big to read.

@palenq Same Logic was suggested by many, i didn't find that Eurail passes beneficial for me. I will look into the Websites that you suggested. This is a major help for me.

PalenQ

Yes see what real train fares (not ones from sites like Rail Europe) are and then compare to pass - if willing to put up with rsetrictions that will probably be the best - if wanting full flexibility to hop any train anytme and especially in first class the pass may be the best or not.

PalenQ

I am considering Hotels in this case now as Airbnb or Hostels are bit troublesome in the current stage>

What's wrong with hostels? Airbnb has had problems I know but hostels?

PalenQ

4th Day - Take Morning Train for Innsbruck>

There are two rail routes Salzburg-Innsbruck - the quickest one via Corrdior Trains running via Germany and a slower route via Austria thru gorgeous Alpine valleys via Zell-am-See - you have lots of time so take that much much more scenic route IMO - even if it costs a bit more.

PratikVasagadekar

@PalenQ

1) I forgot to tell you that i am going on our Honeymoon hence she would kill me if we stay in hostels. I should have probably omitted "We wont be backpacking but we are okay with hostels as well" part. My budget per night was around 130 Euro so the hotels that i have chose are well within that level.

2) Could you please tell me the name of the train or route about the alpine valley train.

Thank you very much

PalenQ

Probably does has a name but I don't know it but if you look at www.bahn.de/en (German Railways schedule site for all European trains) and put in Salzburg via Zell-am-See to Innsbruck you will get all the trains- check www.budgeteuropetravel.com 's home page for a several useful tips on using www.bahn/de that may not be apparent at first glance.

And you do not want Korridor Zugs as those are the ones plying the quickest route via Germany and skirting mountains not going thru them.

PalenQ

Note that then inland route or whatever it is called takes 4:15 minutes Salzburg-Innsbruck with one change of train - the direct route takes 1 h 37 so the Alpine valley route is much longer - ideally make a day out of it and get off at Zell-am-See or one of the Alpine resorts it stops at.

But it is a bit longer than I thought but IME well worth it.