Itinerary help
May 29th, 2005, 11:11 AM
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Itinerary help
Hate to add another plea for itinerary help to these boards, but am at a loss as to what to do and am hoping that the collective wisdom will point me the right way.
My husband and I are in our late thirties and wish to visit Europe in the fall (October, most likely). This will be my first trip outside North America and only his second (he visited Germany for a few weeks about 20 years ago). We plan to travel for at least 16 days but probably no longer than 21 days (which is counting the travel time we'll need to get to/from our home base of Illinois). We also expect that this will be our last European vacation for some time, as we plan to start a family when we return.
He really wants to visit Paris, Brussles (with a possible side trip to Bruges) and (to a lesser extent) Amsterdam, while I really want to visit Prague. Germany is optional to both of us, and he doesn't have any interest in Vienna, Budapest or any of the other stops that are usually mentioned in Prague itineraries. We'd also prefer to generally travel by rail (he's not the best flyer) and would be okay departing by a different city than we arrive in (most likely Paris or Amsterdam). We also wouldn't want to spend more than $6,000 total on this trip.
My main question is whether or not Prague is feasible or recommended based on our budget and our desire to also see Paris and Belgium? Should newbies like us bother trying to take trains from Amsterdam to Prague (via, I'm guessing, Berlin or Munich), or do the seasoned travelers out there think this would be stuffing way to much into the trip? Or could we drop one of the other cities (Amsterdam maybe?) to lessen the ease of travel?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
My husband and I are in our late thirties and wish to visit Europe in the fall (October, most likely). This will be my first trip outside North America and only his second (he visited Germany for a few weeks about 20 years ago). We plan to travel for at least 16 days but probably no longer than 21 days (which is counting the travel time we'll need to get to/from our home base of Illinois). We also expect that this will be our last European vacation for some time, as we plan to start a family when we return.
He really wants to visit Paris, Brussles (with a possible side trip to Bruges) and (to a lesser extent) Amsterdam, while I really want to visit Prague. Germany is optional to both of us, and he doesn't have any interest in Vienna, Budapest or any of the other stops that are usually mentioned in Prague itineraries. We'd also prefer to generally travel by rail (he's not the best flyer) and would be okay departing by a different city than we arrive in (most likely Paris or Amsterdam). We also wouldn't want to spend more than $6,000 total on this trip.
My main question is whether or not Prague is feasible or recommended based on our budget and our desire to also see Paris and Belgium? Should newbies like us bother trying to take trains from Amsterdam to Prague (via, I'm guessing, Berlin or Munich), or do the seasoned travelers out there think this would be stuffing way to much into the trip? Or could we drop one of the other cities (Amsterdam maybe?) to lessen the ease of travel?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
May 29th, 2005, 11:21 AM
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Whoops, I actually meant "lessen the rigor of travel" in the second-to-last sentence. See how worked up I am about all of this?
I should also clarify that we really cannot stay for more than 20-21 days (that's pretty much the limit of our vacation time, and we do want to keep our jobs!).
mortranna
I should also clarify that we really cannot stay for more than 20-21 days (that's pretty much the limit of our vacation time, and we do want to keep our jobs!).
mortranna
May 29th, 2005, 11:46 AM
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Suggest you fly to Amsterdam .(Northwest/KLM has some decent flights).
After visiting there and its environs, take the train to Brussels. In fact, perhaps you want to stay in Ghent and visit Bruges and Brussels on day-trips. Brussels is expensive. Bruges and Brussels are short train rides from Ghent.
We lived several years in Brussels and took day trips to Paris, using the high speed trains. That might be an option, even if you have to come into Brussels from Ghent.
You then can work your way to Prague either from Bussels or Paris, perhaps stopping en route in Munich or Dresden to break the trip.
After Prague, return to either Munich, or Frankfurt via Dresden (if you haven't been there before) and fly back from there, using an open- jaw ticket on NWA/KLM. Obviously, you could also fly back from Prague (if Czech airlines fly into O'Hare), or Dresden via Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
Although it is the website of the German Federal Railway (Bundesbahn), I have found it to be about the best to research train connections for your itinerary.
After visiting there and its environs, take the train to Brussels. In fact, perhaps you want to stay in Ghent and visit Bruges and Brussels on day-trips. Brussels is expensive. Bruges and Brussels are short train rides from Ghent.
We lived several years in Brussels and took day trips to Paris, using the high speed trains. That might be an option, even if you have to come into Brussels from Ghent.
You then can work your way to Prague either from Bussels or Paris, perhaps stopping en route in Munich or Dresden to break the trip.
After Prague, return to either Munich, or Frankfurt via Dresden (if you haven't been there before) and fly back from there, using an open- jaw ticket on NWA/KLM. Obviously, you could also fly back from Prague (if Czech airlines fly into O'Hare), or Dresden via Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
Although it is the website of the German Federal Railway (Bundesbahn), I have found it to be about the best to research train connections for your itinerary.
May 29th, 2005, 02:35 PM
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Hi M,
Your trip is doable, but your $6000 budget is rather tight for 3 weeks.
Airfare into Amsterdam and out of Prague will be about $1600.
If you can find accomodations for about 100E/night you will have only about $90/day for all other expenses including train/air fare.
Chicago-Amsterdam-Paris-Chicago is about $100pp less.
See http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm
www.mobissimo.com is offering Chicago/London RT in Oct for about $625pp.
http://www.smartwings.net/en/index.php will fly you London to Prague to Paris for about $250pp taxes included.
SMILYS fares from Paris to Brussels are about 25E pp each way if you book as early as 60 days in advance online at www.sncf.com. Amsterdam will be about 33E pp each way.
Hope this helps.
Your trip is doable, but your $6000 budget is rather tight for 3 weeks.
Airfare into Amsterdam and out of Prague will be about $1600.
If you can find accomodations for about 100E/night you will have only about $90/day for all other expenses including train/air fare.
Chicago-Amsterdam-Paris-Chicago is about $100pp less.
See http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm
www.mobissimo.com is offering Chicago/London RT in Oct for about $625pp.
http://www.smartwings.net/en/index.php will fly you London to Prague to Paris for about $250pp taxes included.
SMILYS fares from Paris to Brussels are about 25E pp each way if you book as early as 60 days in advance online at www.sncf.com. Amsterdam will be about 33E pp each way.
Hope this helps.
May 29th, 2005, 02:44 PM
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May 31st, 2005, 06:08 AM
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Thanks for the insight and the Web links! We're now considering arriving in Paris, dropping Amsterdam, taking a flight from Brussels to Prague and back, and then flying out of Brussles. At the very least it will make for an interesting trip report on these boards when we get back!
