Hello all,

I'm traveling to Europe in June for 3 weeks. My route will be: Budapest>Vienna>Munich>Prague>Berlin>Amsterdam. However, I've been thinking of skipping Munich so I can spend some extra days in either Budapest, Prague or Amsterdam. I arrive in Budapest June 12th, and depart Amsterdam July 4th. Any suggestions on how to divide up my time between those dates would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
B

before recommending one way or the other (I've been to all of those cities and more than once) it might be helpful if you tell us why you wanted to go to Munich in the first place. I assume, perhaps incorrectly, that you are traveling by rail????

Yes, I am traveling by rail. I wanted to go to Munich for a few reasons: 1) I've heard it's a great city, especially for young folks. 2) I've heard that it is quite different from Berlin, and it would be nice to get a taste of 2 different sides of Germany. 3) I've never been to Europe, and I want to see as many cities I can within my 3 week visit, but I don't want to have to rush.

For 6 cities in 21 days, after excluding travel time between them, you will have actual time for each city of about 2.5 days.

You could perhaps increase sightseeing time by taking some overnight trains (not sure any segment is long enough to have overnight train except maybe Berlin-Amsterdam).

So your original 6 cities would be pretty fast but not outrageous. You will just have to pick a few highlights in each city and know you won't see everything. (You won't see "everything" in any city even if you spent a week in each city so not sure cutting out just one city in your three weeks makes a difference.)

You also might want to consider whether you would like to see any smaller towns or more natural scenic locations. For example if you dropped your cities to 4, you would have time in each one to take a daytrip out of the city.

They are all about equal is terms of things to see.

Start with a minimum of 3 nights in each and add a 4th night to the few that interest you most. It is rushed but about the best you can do without dropping something. You'll certainly have time for all the "major highlights" with 3 or 4 nights in each destination.

There's no such thing as <i>"see as many cities I can but I don't want to have to rush"</i>. It's always one or the other to a certain extent.

Harking back to my early 20s, of the towns on your list, I'd drop Vienna first. I enjoy it, but it strikes me as a town one appreciates more with age. Budapest and Prague, and to a lesser extent Munich, on the other hand, struck me as towns I would've enjoyed at 20 as much as at 70 (yes, one can VIVIDLY remember things one did 50 years earlier), except in different ways. : -- )

Better idea now that you've responded. Berlin has, IMO, a LOT more to see and do than Munich BUT that depends on your interests and you could reverse what i said and it would also be true. Yes, it is deifferent from Berlin and the entire region of Bavaria which some of my German friends call "the Bible Belt of Germany" is waaaay different than the area around Berlin.

And you don't have to rush if you wisely pick just a few things in each place to see.

Some very helpful responses here, many thanks everyone. This is my tentative itinerary:
-June 12th: Arrive in Budapest @ 5:30pm. Stay 4 nights.
-June 16th: Train from Budapest to Vienna around 5pm. Stay 2 nights.
-June 18th: Train from Vienna to Munich around 5pm. Stay 3 nights.
-June 21st: Train from Munich to Prague around 5pm (this is the longest non-overnight train at about 6 hours). Stay 5 nights.
-June 26th: Train from Prague to Berlin around 4:30pm. Stay 3 nights.
-June 29-30: Overnight train from Berlin to Amsterdam, leaves around midnight. Stay 4 nights. Fly out of Amsterdam around 1:30 pm July 4th.

Also, these are some hostels I plan on booking. Any suggestions there would be appreciated as well.
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...Budapest/24308
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...ase/Vienna/730
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...el/Munich/1456
* http://www.expedia.com/Prague-Hotels...Q&rfrr=-30461&
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...tel/Prague/425
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...e/Berlin/38932
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet.../644/reviews/2
* http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldet...m/4916/reviews

For hostel info check out Let's Go student guide ad Rough Guides. Most are fine but some have very bad reputations (either partying all night or drugs or theft or?). I believe that Hosteling International are usually good - but this isn't my age range or price point. (Info from my daughters).

As for cities - without knowing what you want to see where it's hard to predict. If I had to drop one it would be either Vienna (somewhat triste IMHO) or Munich (a little boring IMHO). Of the 2 Vienna definitely has more to see/do. Munich is a good place to do day trips to the alps or Md Ludwig's castles.

If I were you I would drop the time you are spending in Prague and Budapest, but that is just me. I am a huge fan of what Germany has to offer and I, being younger, know what Prague has to offer and I don't see that lasting 5 days.

Berlin is absolutely amazing, but I cannot speak for Munich as much. It is fun and green and beautiful in summer, but Berlin is green, and fun, and young, and artsy and cheap. It comes to life during the day in the parks and especially during the night. I don't know if I can help much with the hostel/hotels.

This website is handy if you know a subway station you want to be around http://www.subwayhotels.com/Berlin/A...otels-365.html

Otherwise I would say go with www.hostels.com or www.hostelworld.com

have fun

I would skip Munich, add the time to Berlin or perhaps divide the time given to Munich between Berlin and a stop in Dresden when going from Prague to Berlin.