Message: My husband and I will be taking our first trip to Europe from 5/25 to 6/8. I had previously posted my itinerary and after some wonderful suggestions and upon further research and reflection, have revised it considerably. So, I would like to hear some feedback on my new one. Here it is: <BR> <BR>5/25-5/28: Paris (This is out of the way and still up for debate but I just can't imagine not going.) <BR>5/29: Train to Frankfurt, rent car, drive to Rothenburg - overnight Rothenburg <BR>5/30: Rothenburg - overnight there <BR>5/31: Romantic Road to Mittenwald - overnight Mittenwald <BR>6/1-6/2: Castles and the Alps - overnight Mittenwald <BR>6/3: Drive to Salzburg via the Alpine Road (pray for good weather)- overnight Salzburg <BR>6/4-6/5: Salzburg - overnight there <BR>6/6-6/7: Munich - overnight there <BR>6/8: Fly out of Munich <BR> <BR>So, how does it sound? What do you think is an absolute must see/do in these areas? Any hotel suggestions? <BR> <BR>Many thanks! <BR>Stephanie <BR> <BR>

Whoa! You seem to have an awfully high amount of travel time in your itinery. <BR>I guess it depends on how much you want to 'see' which can bge seen in the car or on the train, versus how much you want to 'do' ie strolling etc. <BR> <BR>Try to adjust it so that you spend at least 2 nights in a place, one night isn't much if you get there late afternoon and leave the next morning. <BR> <BR>Also, what is the goal of this trip? Is it the black forest and Austria? It's not Paris, as you mentioned you want to tack that on. Define what you want out of the trip, that will help in planning the itinery. <BR> <BR>As it stands, I can see this itinery could leave blurry memories of your trip. Take time to smell the roses.

xx might not be aware of th itinerary you originally posted: <BR> <BR>Day 1 through 4 - Paris <BR>Day 5 - Train to Frankfurt, rent a car and drive to Wurzburg where we spend the night <BR>Day 6 - Wurzburg and Rothenburg <BR>Day 7 - Rothenburg to Munich, stopping along the way at Dachau and anything that looks interesting <BR>Day 8 through 11 - Munich with a daytrip to Salzburg <BR>Day 12 through 14 - Prague (traveling there by train) <BR>Day 15 - Fly Home <BR> <BR>I think that you have made substantial improvements. <BR> <BR>I wonder how many of "us" ("veterans"?) could say that we had an itinerary that combines "ambitious" and "well thought out" as well as you have done. <BR> <BR>It IS both ambitious and well thought out - - I suspect that the worst that will happen is that you will be headed back to Europe sooner than you think - - to see more of what you didn't get enough of! <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR> <BR>

Hotel Eisenhut in Rothenburg. I didn't think the Romantic Road was very special. Can you manage a bit more time in Munich?

In response to the question by xx - if that is your real name ;-),I guess what would explain what kind of trip we want is what Rex mentioned, ambitious but well thought out. We don't mind driving and plan to use that time to just stop and take pictures whenever we want and collect our thoughts. We want to keep busy and see as much as possible without making ourselves a ball of nerves. <BR> <BR>We would like to see some towns and villages, some beautiful mountain scenery and personally, I would like to find a hill where I can twirl and sing "The hills are alive..." We want to go to Paris because we are both art lovers and frankly, because it's Paris. <BR> <BR>I hope this helps! <BR> <BR>Many thanks! <BR>Stephanie

Steph - I think xx's point was there is a BIG difference between seeing and visiting. Your itinereary is certainly ambitious, but you will end up seeing most things from a train or car window. <BR> <BR>Many folks think they can "see" an area by simply driving through it. If that is what makes you happy, then go for it. But if you want to actually get to know a place and actually meet some people, trim it down to the 2 or 3 places you really want to visit. <BR> <BR>You are leaving no time at all for Munich since the advance check in time means most of the last day will be spent just getting to the airport and waiting for your flight. <BR> <BR>Plus - with so many "pack up and move's" you will be spending a hour or two most mornings just packing to go to the next place. So it looks like more than 1/2 of your time will be spent packing or sitting in a cramped car. <BR> <BR>Apparently you have streamlined your original itinerary - I didn't see the first one - but my heartfelt advice is to work on it some more.

I have to strongly disagree with janis - - and I wonder if she took the time to really study Steph's new itinerary - - or has it become SO politically correct that the ONLY way to truly "experience" Europe is to "base" in a big city and spend seven solid days on foot? <BR> <BR>Perhaps the problem is in the way Steph "wrote out" her itinerary. <BR> <BR>Notice that she does have TWO nights in Rothenburg (I think a lot of people only spend one), THREE nights in Mittenwald, THREE nights in Salzburg, and TWO nights in Munich. Not enough time to see Munich? If they choose to, they can arrive in Munich at 8 in the morning ion the 6th - - it's less than a 2 hr drive! - - and then spend two FULL days (with 14+ hours of sunlight in June) there. <BR> <BR>This IS a "tasting" trip - - Steph and her husband are not looking to buy a house or do a week's worth of geneaology research in any of these locations you know! - - and I still maintain it stacks up as better than 90% of the "first-time-to-Europe", self-planned independent itineraries I typically see. <BR> <BR>OH - - and one last comment, Steph, re: <BR> <BR>&lt;&lt;We would like to see some towns and villages, some beautiful mountain scenery and personally, I would like to find a hill where I can twirl and sing "The hills are alive..." &gt;&gt; <BR> <BR>use that car and spend one day OUTSIDE Salzburg - - here's a website to give you plenty of ideas: <BR> <BR>http://www.sitesatlas.com/Places/ausSalzkammergut.htm <BR> <BR>(sorry it has an annoying flashing banner ad) <BR> <BR>

Stephanie, <BR>I think what you've come up with is fine with one minor exception! Once in Upper Bavaria, you'll find that distances from one sight to another are relatively short. It's only about 12 miles from Wieskirche near Steingaden to Neuschwanstein, about 6 miles from Oberammergau to Linderhof. My sole suggestion is to reconsider staying in Mittenwald; pick a more centrally located, convenient spot from which to tour Upper Bavaria. You can visit Mittenwald (and it's well worth a visit) on your way to Salzburg. You might consider Schongau on the Romantic Road or Steingaden rather than Mittenwald as more centrally located spots from which to tour. <BR> <BR>I'm sending you a few driving itineraries for the area. They'll at least tell you what there is to see in the area and how to get to the sights. <BR> <BR>Drop me an Email if you've any questions.

Stephanie, <BR> <BR>Your message seems to be multiplying. Since you mentioned you were both art lovers, I would suggest getting to the D'Orsay Museum in Paris. It has the most impressive collection of "Impressionist" art I have ever seem. The Louvre has got Mona and Venus, but it is way to big to spend just a short time. By the way, the Impressionist art is on the top floor of the building. Go there first and work your way down. I still like you new plan! <BR> <BR>Greg <BR>

hey Rex - lighten up. Did I mention ANYWHERE basing in a big city????? They'd look pretty askance at Steph twirling and singing "the Hills are alive with the sound of Music" in the middle of a major metropolis. <BR> <BR>No - I merely said they are spending a LOT of time just driving. And reading between the lines -- "Twirling on a hillside", "collect our thoughts", etc -- they sound like sensible people who want to "smell the roses". IMHO, this itinerary doesn't allow time for much rose smelling.

Hello, Steph! You and I will be in Salzburg at the same time. It's my favorite little city ... and a third trip for 5 nights. <BR> <BR>I visited Mittenwald at the start of a 3-week solo trip this year if you have any questions. My notes include info on the Salzburg part of my trip. If you search for Mittenwald, that might be easiest. Drop me an email any time.

Hello all! Thank you so much for all of your many suggestions! You have certainly given me some things to think about. Mainly, I guess we need to decide exactly how busy we want to be. <BR> <BR>Maybe I had underestimated my driving times. I have been using Shell GeoStar to get an idea of distances and times. How long will it take to drive the Romantic Road? Alpine Road? <BR> <BR>I guess we want a bit of both worlds. We want to stay busy but know we will need to have some down time to recover. We want to see some cities but the countryside as well. All in all, we aren't looking to immerse ourselves on this trip. We definately want to do that on later trips, but on our first, we more or less just want to get our feet wet. <BR> <BR>Thanks again and keep the suggestions coming! <BR>Stephanie <BR> <BR>P.S. Janice-What an image! I can just see myself twirling and singing in the middle of Munich. Thanks for the laugh!

Apparently several of the people who are posting critical comments aren't reading your schedule. When someone says you should try to spend at least two nights, he obviously didn't read that you have a minimum of two in every city, three in several. I think it's a great itinerary. We enjoy driving also. If you had a couple of months to spend then it would be nice to spend a week or so and do some in depth study of some areas, but two and three nights in each of these places will give you more than just a taste of what they are about. Go, enjoy, and ignore the people who don't even take the time to read your itinerary, just make comments.

Itinerary sounds fine to me - do what you want to do, but be warned you will be planning your next trip before you leave. Don't miss Neuschwantein, at least see it from a distance. I have driven the romantic road and it is OK, but I have also driven around the Berchesgarten (sp) area and it is unbelievably beautiful and fairly close to Salzburg. Try to drive through if possible. I really enjoyed the technological museum in Munich. My first trip to Europe was Germany and I have been going back as often as I can since then. Have a great trip! K

Steph: A couple of minor thoughts/questions... <BR> Is it possible to pick up your rental car as you leave Rothenburg? The train from Frankfurt to Rothenburg is easy and you won't need a car in the city of Rothenburg proper. <BR> Where do you plan to turn in your rental car? <BR> Our very positive experience in Germany was to take the train between major cities so as not to worry about driving/parking in major metropolitan areas. We then picked up a rental car as we were leaving the city. That allowed us the freedom to stop where we chose in the more rural areas. <BR> IMHO, your opinion sounds fine. You can always change it as you go, after all, it is your vacation. <BR> One last thought, we enjoyed Munich much more than Salzburg (it actually seemed to be a let down after Bavaria). You may want to consider basing yourself for those extra days in Munich and going to Salzburg as a day trip either via an escorted tour or on your own via the train.

I think this itinerary is very doable and is a big improvement on the original. However, I agree with Wes that you want a more central location in Bavaria. Be sure to day trip to the Austrian Lakes[ Wolgangsee] from Salzburg or vice versa.

Steph, <BR>In addition to sending you an Email as I’d previously promised, I thought it better to post the website addresses here a well for the benefit of any other prospective travelers to Germany and specifically, Bavaria. To begin, there’s an apparently new search engine that is the most comprehensive and fastest that I’ve yet found; to try it out, go to www.ilor.com and enter the name Mittenwald. Click on www.mittenwald.de and check out the hotels and inns. <BR> <BR>To gauge the cost of accommodations, go to www.oanda.com scroll down the left frame and click on “cheat sheet” where you can then get a conversion chart, dollars to Euros and vice versa. <BR> <BR>Now, to get a feel for the countryside, go to www.alpinpanorama.de/deutschland.htm Click on a country in the left hand frame, then on the red squares that appear on the maps that materialize. You’ll get 360 degree views of Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland or Italy. For another look at one of the regions of Bavaria, go to www.pfaffenwinkel.net/p_frame_a.html and click on the photographs for additional views. <BR> <BR>For hotels and inns in Bavaria in even the smallest towns, go to: http://www.reisen-mit-preisen.de/rmp...sh/framee.html Enter the town name and you’ll get a listing of inns and gasthausen with their amentities and rates. The site offers to verify room availability; don’t trust it, contact the inn directly. <BR> <BR>For hotels and inns in Munich and its suburbs, check http://www.fortunecity.com/oasis/mon...chsuburbs.html <BR> <BR>For a wealth of informative links on Neuschwanstein, go to www.neuschwanstein.net For similar information on Oberammergau and environs, check out www.oberammergau.de/estart05.htm <BR> <BR>For accommodations and restaurants in Steingaden, take a look at: http://nikocity.de/wieskirche/egasth.htm <BR>