olijoc

Thank you to those who responded a couple of months ago re: our trip to Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. I know this may sound too ambitious but we originally planned to spend time in Germany followed by a Baltics cruise, so I used frequent flier miles for the airfare. We're flying into Frankfurt and out of Copenhagen. Later, after reading how little time we would actually be in each port, we decided against the cruise. By that time, our airline tickets were set in stone. Next time I won't be so quick.

Because of some of the responses to my question, we think we might need to shorten/lengthen our stay in a few cities. Also, since I last wrote, our 14 year old grandson (who will turn 15 one week after we return from Europe) will be travelling with us. I just made his plane reservations and since he's never been to Europe, he's beyond thrilled! We want him to enjoy the sights of the countries but also don't want him bored out of his mind. He loves sports, food, the outdoors and isn't into the dating scene yet. He's studied a lot about Germany and the war, etc. but nothing about Scandinavia. Here's our "loose" itinerary so far:

Day 1 - 3 Cochem, Germany [hike and sightsee]

Day 4 - 5 Bacharach [hike and sightsee]

Day 6 - 7 Rothenburg I received a response that this will be a long time on the train, with many changes. We were here for a very short amount of time and loved it, so we thought it'd be great for our grandson to see this beautiful walled city. Thanks again Aramis; we'd go through Frankfurt now though, however, we're still thinking about this city. [hike-?, and sightsee]

Day 8 - 12 Garmisch, Fussen or Mittenwald. Someone responded that Garmisch has more to do, so I must research that area more. They all sound very lovely. [hike and sightsee]

Day 12 - 15 Munich [hike, sightsee, see Dachau and possibly go to a beer garden.....not too sure about that last one because of our grandson]

Day 16 - 17 Oslo [sightsee]

Day 18 - 20 Stockholm [sightsee]

Day 21 - 22 Copenhagen [sightsee]

Day 23 Fly Home

What do you seasoned travellers think of this as far as how much time in these areas? Too much/too little? We're very open for suggestions and can change the number of days in a city. My husband and I have never been to Scandinavia either. Is there enough to see and do in those cities, as well as the German ones, for the length of time we'll be in them? We have no idea how much time to spend in Oslo either.

We'll be using the train system in Germany, and to save time (thanks travelgourmet), we'll be flying from Munich to Oslo, and also flying between the Scandinavian cities, using inexpensive airline flights. Should those tickets be purchased before we leave home? I'm hesitant to set more airline reservations in stone.

Also, I don't know how to get this question into the Scandinavian section of this forum. Is there someone out there who could please let me know how to do this.

THANK YOU for any and all responses. I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment as I know I have to get hotels and transportation done soon.

Mimar

I'm not quite clear on your itinerary. For example, Day 16-17 in Oslo. Does that mean you're flying in on Day 16, staying 2 nights, then moving on to Stockholm on Day 18? It's better to show nights rather than days. Also you might want to put in the actual dates, in case there are any holidays, etc.

My general impression is you're giving short shrift to Scandinavia. Maybe skip one of the three capitals.

Also you might want to consider getting a car for Germany. It gives you more flexibility, and the driving is easy. What time of year are you going? The weather might affect your destination choices.

I assume Fussen means Neuschwanstein Castle. And Cochem includes Burg Eltz. Your grandson would enjoy both of these, and each can be approached by a shortish hike.

olijoc

Mimar: Yes, the number of days means how many nights we'll be spending in each city. And yes also to the castles, we know our grandson will enjoy those. As for driving, my husband doesn't want to, which is the reason for the train travel in Germany.

quokka

Let your grandson do a little reading, in guidebooks and/or on the web, and help with the research and planning. A 14 year old is old enough for that and if he has picked some places to see by himself he will be far more interested. All these cities and towns have tourist information websites in English.
There is, for example, an excellent website about the Middle Rhine Gorge with all those castles which he will enjoy investigating: http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.d...php?id=318&L=3

No worries about the beer garden - in the daytime and early evening you'll see many families with kids of all ages there. All beer gardens also serve non-alcoholic beverages, coke and lemonade and everything. A popular and healthier drink is, for example, Apfelschorle (mix of unsweetened apple juice and sparkling water).
Legal drinking age for beer is 16 so he is too young for that but if you offer him a sip from your glass to try, everyone in Germany will find that okay.

olijoc

Quokka: Thank you for that web site.....and for that insight into a beer garden. I know that families in Europe frequent pubs, I guess I was still thinking as an American.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for this itinerary?

quokka

To be more clear: all pubs, restaurants, beer gardens are forced by law to serve also non-alcoholic beverages, and the cheapest on the menu has to be a non-alcoholic one. Not only because of kids but mostly because of guests who have to drive afterwards.
There will be a seperate section on each menu titled "alkoholfreie Getränke" (non-alcoholic beverages), everything in there is 'safe'. Water, sparkling or not, lemonades, coke, Spezi (mix of coke and lemonade), Apfelschorle, different fruit juices are served everywhere.

The law about protection of the youth allows under 16 year olds to be in pubs etc. on their own until 10 p.m. If they are with parents/someone who has custody, it is up to the parent/someone to decide. Adult-only places are only gambling halls, night clubs and other 'red light' places, but I do not think you will be frequenting any of these anyway;-)
Enjoy the beer gardens, fingers crossed for good weather and warm evenings!

lknstowe

We did a trip similiar with our son at 14 two years ago. In Mittenwald, they have the cable car which shoots up about 900" and is a thrilling ride. We rented mountain bikes and did a lake tour- relatively flat, on paved trails.

In Munich, there is an Engineering museum, so depending on his interests, this is rather enjoyable, plus just riding the streetcars was a novelty. My son also enjoyed the trip to Eagles Nest (Hitler's Retreat).

My suggestion with this age is activities like cycling trips and down time and not overdo on the museums. The basic experiences like train travel are most interesting.

olijoc

Quokka: That's a great web site you mentioned. I've been on it for an hour now. There are so many hiking trails, what a great time we're going to have. I can't wait.

olijoc

Iknstowe: It's been so long since I had a 14 year old (and they were all girls), thank you for your tips. We aren't planning too many museum tours because we don't think he'd enjoy those as much. We plan to hike a lot. It's funny you mentioned the train travel as I was making myself a wreck over the train travel before we went to Italy, and it was easy. And we enjoyed it. I don't think our grandson has ever been on a train so he'll probably get quite a kick out of it.