junosrivastava

Hi,

I have a tentative itinerary which i am working on. I need suggestion if it is feasible and am i missing something here. i am tiraveling with my wife and two kids aged 11 and 8 years.

1. Departure 3.45 am on 20 Dec from Dubai to Cologne arriving at 8.20 am
2 Two nights in Cologne, 20th Dec and 21 Dec. Idea is to visit Christman market, Dome etc for two days in Cologne.
3. Departure via Thalys on 22 December at 6.40am reaching Paris at 10.00 am
4. Two night in Paris, 22 December and 23rd December. - Idea is to spend 22nd December roaming round in Paris, like Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Castle, River Siene, Arc de Triomphe, Christmas market. Plan it so spend entire 23rd December in Disney Land.
5. Departure to Innsbruk via Munich departure at 6.50 am from Paris and arrivign at 12.40 pm on 24 December 2015.
6. Two nights in Innsbruk. No specific agenda. Just sight seeing and go to alps glacier via Karwendel Bahn.
7. Departure to Prague via Munich on 26 December. Departure at 7.30 am arriving in Munich as via Meinfernbus and from Munich departing at 10.15 to Prague arriving at 2.53 pm
8. Staying in Prague for 2 night. Making day trip to Karlovy Vary one day,
9. Departing to Vienna on for two days on 28 December (overnight stay in Vienna). Sightseeing in Vienna.
10 Departing to Bratislava on 30th moring from vienna at 9.30 am arriving Bratislava at 11am, spend entire day in Bratislava and return at night to prague.
11. Return flight from Prague to Dubai on 31 December.

Does this itinerary make any sense. Any improvement suggestions.
My worry is on 24 and 25th of December when it is Christmas eve and most likely everything will be closed. I am in Innsbruck in these two days. My specific interest in Innsbruck is to visit glacier in alps so that my kids can play with Snow. Coming from desert country, they have never seen snow.
I have added Paris as my kids wants to see Eiffel Tower and visit Disneyland
My connection from Munich to Prague is very close, arriving by bus in munich at 9.50 and then Europa-Spezial IC bus departing at 10.15am

Regards,

fourfortravel

You are correct to worry that everything will be closed on 24 and 25 December in Innsbruck, because it likely will be. Be certain to have reservations in place for meals, as the restaurants that aren't closed may be full with reservations.

If you are referring to the Karwendel Bergbahn in Pertisau, according to their website they are open daily with no holiday closures listed.

Keep in mind that on 28 December (Monday) most museums in Vienna will be closed. Vienna in winter can be damp and cold, with the cobblestones slippery. Dress appropriately.

nytraveler

Sorry - you have way too many places for your limited time.

If you have 2 night in a city that mean one full day for sightseeing - not two.

You are counting travel time as part of your sightseeing - instead of lising tht time a separate.

For instance - you have 1/2 a day to see Paris (by the tie you get to hotel, check in, drop bags, etc) and then spend a full day at Disney. (I understand if kids want this - but then if you want to see any of Paris you need to drop sometihng else.)

The same with Prague - you have 1/2 day there and then a day trip.

If you try to pull this off you have a couple of problems:

Daylight hours are short and many days with be grey - with possible rain/sleet/snow depending on the city

Your kids will quickly become exhausted by this pace and you will end up hauling two really cranky kids all over europe in midwinter

If you don;t have proper winter clothing (warm coat, hat, gloves, scarf, booties with non skid soles, heavy pants and warm sweater) no one will want to be outdoors for more than an hour or so.

Due to the time of year transit will be very crowded and you have to allow for delays due to weather. Not even thinking about the holiday slow downs or potential strikes.

I would be amaed if you can pull this off in the time allowed - and think you will end up having to reschedule things on the fly.

IMHO - you nee at least 3 nights each in Paris (preferably 4 nights), Prague, and Vienna - and to cut a couple of other places to allow for this.

Obviously it is your trip and you can try whatever you want - but I have been to europe more than 100 times - and IMHO this is trip has the potential for a very expensive and frustrating blur that will quickly spin off schedule.

janisj

Looking at all three of your threads -- I think you need to re-consider everything. Yu are all over the place.

It appears you want to squeeze in a LOT of experiences/places into your short time in Europe. You need to realize that the more places you visit, <u>especially</i> in winter when the days are so short and the weather wintry, and with children who need to be catered to at least a little, the LESS you will actually see and do.

You will waste a LOT of time and money just getting from place to place. And with only a day or maybe 1.5 days in a place the chance of the weather cooperating is poor.

You should pick two places, or three at the VERY most, and actually enjoy yourselves.

pariswat

Hello
Not doable. You will see nothing during this trip.

You have half a day in Paris. Don't forget you need to go to hotel, check in, unpack, refresh a little bit, kids want to use toiulet etc. Then leave and go to a metro and start visiting.
One late afternoon - 2 evenings in Prague. Why bother ?

(In Koeln since you have 2 days you can do a daytrip to Phantasialand, a very nice attraction park half way between Koeln and Bonn).

pariswat

Oops you are the one who wnat to see the Alps from Koeln.

Please get a map in front of you.

Pin the places you want to go to.
Trace the journeys - visualize waht it represents.

Take the journey's times.
Add at least half an hour to reach the stations from your hotels.
Add half an hour to reach your hotels from the stations.
Add time to check in.
Add time to check out.
Add time to pack. To unpack.

Check what you have left to visit.

Remember you have children - waking them up early each day
will be hard. They can sleep in the trains...
They must eat - subtract time to eat.

You say you are on a budget. But you are spending it traveling, not visiting.

Ask for help from a friend who has traveled before - it seems you have never traveled. It is NOT doable.

Mvg.

janisj

Sorry for all the extra <u>underlining</u> in my post Forgot to 'turn it off'.

Maybe this will be easier to read:

>>Looking at all three of your threads -- I think you need to re-consider everything. Yu are all over the place.

It appears you want to squeeze in a LOT of experiences/places into your short time in Europe. You need to realize that the more places you visit, <u>especially</u> in winter when the days are so short and the weather wintry, and with children who need to be catered to at least a little, the LESS you will actually see and do.

You will waste a LOT of time and money just getting from place to place. And with only a day or maybe 1.5 days in a place the chance of the weather cooperating is poor.

You should pick two places, or three at the VERY most, and actually enjoy yourselves.<<

Sassafrass

I am sorry to say, this is a mad, mad, mad itinerary. I rarely criticize an entire plan, but the whole thing is a mess.

When you arrive someplace at 11:00, you cannot say you have a whole day to tour. By time you get to your hotel and grab a bite to eat, you will have a half day and it gets dark early, so actually only a few hours.

When you catch early morning trains, that means you are getting up super early to leave the hotel. Departing at 6:40 means you are getting up at the latest, 5:40. That is going to make for some sleepy, cranky kids.

Also, you are traveling in the mornings, getting there mid-morning to noon, using up some of the best daylight time, which in winter, would be better for sightseeing. In some cases you are using up half your daylight time in transport. Some people love trains, but I bet the kids will be bored by the second train ride, plus so much time lost that could be spent experiencing places.

You are spending equal time in Cologne and Paris. Cut one night in Cologne and add it to Paris.

You are going to Prague twice. Bad plan and waste of time backtracking. Since you have to be there to fly out, put all your time in Prague together at the end.

You are also going through Munich twice - I didn't check the map, but if you are not staying in Munich and doing day trips, then why go through there twice?

You need to cut at least two stops.

Lay your trip out allowing time to get to train station and from station to hotel.

December 20, arrive Cologne 8:20, get to hotel, etc. by 10:00-11:00. Jet lagged 1/2 day Cologne
December 21, explore Cologne, take late afternoon train to Paris, night in Paris
December 22, Paris whole day
December 23, Disney Land whole day
December 24
I will look at a map, because not sure where to go from here. Mostly, you have to make some decisions about where you most want to go.

Sassafrass

A couple more points towards more realistic view.
Day 7, you arrive in Prague around 3:00, hotel by 3:30, so only a few hours to wander about in late afternoon and evening.
Day 8, you are doing a day trip.
When will you actually see Prague? You won't.

Day 10, you arrive in Bratislava at 11:00, tour, then travel to Prague. Travel time is between a little over 3 hours to up to 5 hours from Bratislava to Prague. You will spend between 5-7 hours getting to and from Bratislava! You will have maybe 6-7 hours sightseeing time in Bratislava.

It is hard when there are so many beautiful place you want to see, but at this pace, everything will be a blur.

Again, cut at least two places.

nytraveler

I am totally confused. Now you have another thread where you said you will base in either Koln or Prague and how to get to a glacier from either one.

Have you now decided to spend all of your time in one of these places except a trip to get to snow???

Or by "base in" do you not mean stay there the whole time?

Your first post said you had a 2 week trip - which would be 15 or 16 nights and it now seems you have only 11 nights. And this is in midwinter with significant potential for bad weather/weather delays in travel, some sights being open limited hours and most important very short days. You will have 8 daylight hours (from 8 am to 4 pm) at most each day - but only 1 or 2 of them are likely to be sunny. the rest will be cloudy and gray.

You really need to clarify what you are trying to do - and cut back all of this hopping around - or you will spend the bulk of your time and money on just getting from one place to another - and end up with a very expensive, frustrating trip that turns into a long confusing blur before you even leave for home.