I am currently planning a trip and I need to know if there are any ways to improve the itinerary.
Here is the day-by-day breakdown.

Fly to London, take train to Bruges
Bruges (3 nights)
Brussels (2 nights)
Amsterdam (3 nights)
Heidelberg (2 nights)
Munich (6 nights)
Fly out of Munich

We plan to take several day trips from Munich, making it a base. Any suggestions?

Why fly into London? Can't you fly to Brussels or Amsterdam? You will lose practically a whole day by flying into London.

I would take a night off either Bruges or Brussels and add it to Amsterdam.

If you could, fly into Amsterdam, then Brugge, Brussels, Heidleberg and finally Munich.

If going by train be sure to investigate the Benelux-Germany Railpass, good on trains in Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and all of Germany - just about any train anytime - fully flexible tickets that at least in Germany often cost a fortune. Great web sites for learning about trains in Benelux and Germany IMO - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com and www.ricksteves.com. Go to www.bahn.de - the official German Rail web portal to get sample schedules and pricing. This pass not sold in Europe to my knowledge but marketed for foreigners only.

bruges itself is at most IMO a whole one day thing - but can be a great base for easy day trips by train to Gent or Antwerp, two really historic and old-world in many ways cities. But three whole days in Bruges would bore many folk.

And Brugge would be a terrific place to spend 3 days for other folk.

I am flying into London instead of Amsterdam or Brussels because it saves ~$200. Any thoughts on Heidelberg? Rick Steves hates it, but others seem to like it. Is two nights overkill?

Overkill? It all depends on what drew you to Heidelberg.

You chose all cities. Many are very large with Bruges being the smallest. If you like a busy college town, Heidelberg is for you. Others might choose a smaller town on the Rhine and day trip from there. It is quite a trek from either Brussels or Amsterdam to Heidelberg.

As for the itinerary others mentioned, if you are deciding strictly on cost basis, you might be correct if you have added all the relevant cost: Heathrow to St. Pancras, Eurostar to Brussels, Brussels to Bruges if the Eurostar ticket is not an ABS type. Also Heathrow to Bruges is 5-6hrs if everything goes right and depends on whether you go via Brussels or Kortrijk. If landing in Amsterdam, it is 20min to downtown by frequent trains at about 4EU. If you are not landing much earlier in Heathrow than in BRU or AMS, you are paying an opportunity cost by foregoing more time at the actual destinations.

Why do you want to go to Brussels? I would cut it and try for Ghent, Antwerp, Bruges and may be Vlissingen in Zeeland on day trips

Heidelberg: Agree w/ Greg. Not that special; do the Rhine/Mosel villages instead, where the castles are more numerous and more interesting, the scenery unique:

www.marksburg.de
www.burg-eltz.de
http://www.st-goar.de/17-0-burg-rheinfels.html
http://www.reichsburg-cochem.de/
http://www.reichsburg-cochem.de/english/falconry.htm

Brussels: Almost agree with bilboburgler. But Brussels can be a nice stop for several hours on the way Antwerp, A'dam or Bruges.

Munich daytrips: Dachau, Salzburg, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald

I agree with the Mosel and Rhine areas being awesome - a few days there in a dreamy base like Cochem gives you the Europe of your dreams that you just do not encounter in the likes of Uber tourist meccas like Munich or any large city. Stay in a cozy down-comforter equipped family-run guesthouse. Take boats along the Mosel and especially along the Rhine - all the sites Russ mentions are easily accessible by train and or boat or bus - public transportation being superb in that area - and if you have a railpass then it is also valid on K-D sightseeing boats plying the Rhine and Mosel - no formality just hop on.

Putting aside for a moment the "cost" of losing a whole day...

Exactly how much of that $200 "savings" will you spend getting from London to Bruges????

For Rhine K-D boat schedules check out their site - www.k-d.com. Best IMO to plan it as a whole day and get off at some docks that are a short stroll or cable car ride up to wondrous castles like Russ mentions - Marksburg, the rare Rhine castle not destroyed by marauders thru the ages or cute Rhine towns like St Goar or Burg Eltz (a few miles from Moselkern boat dock or train station).

Mosel is nice and you could even pass through Luxembourg, Trier etc but time is a passing by

I agree that you need to consider how much of the savings will be eaten up by the travel to Beligium from London - then compare that with the time involved and decide if a flight to London is really worth the savings.


We really enjoyed Brussels and think that it is definitely worth more than a stop enroute to another place. It just depends on your interests.

I also thought that 3 nights in Bruges was great. The first day we arrived early afternoon - wandered around and toured the Halve Maan brewery. The second day we took a half day bike tour, climbed the belfry, took a canal tour, and wandered around some more. The third day we were planning to do a daytrip to the coast, but the weather was cruddy, so we stayed around Bruges that day. We went to ChocoStory and the Frites museum. We ended up with about a half day to kill in Bruges, so we hung out in some cafes and just kicked back. We could have done with 1 less night in Bruges given that we didn't take the day trip, but with a day trip I think that 3 nights would have been just about perfect.

If you want to hire a bike in Bruges this might help
http://www.mybikeguide.co.uk/North_Sea_Bike.php

Another vote "against" Heidelberg - it's not a terrible place, I just find it terribly overrated. I believe it's connection with the US army creates more tourist buzz, and perhaps sentimentality, around it than it's sights and character warrant.

As for the Rhine, I could spend weeks on the Mosel but I won't return to the Rhine. It's a busy rail and barge-way. Some pleasant towns but.....

"Saving" $200 by flying into London is not worth it, IMO. First, you have to deal with a London airport, probably Heathrow, which is always busy and far out. The airports at Amsterdam, Brugges, and Brussels are much easier to deal with. Then you'd have to get to the train station. Then take the time to get to Bruges. I'd recommend flying directly to one of the three cities you mentioned.