Munich, Germany - Have two weeks!
 

Hi All,

I know this is a pretty common question as I have done alot of forum reading, but, now it's my turn to ask and hope I can get some advice!

My wife and I fly into Munich for two weeks June 23. We have been to Budapest, Hungary before so do not want to re-visit so soon, we have never been elswhere in Europe though so are newbees! We do have to fly out of Munich on July 7 but other that that we are very open a flexible.

We are pretty young and energetic but, do not want to have a rushed or hurried vacation. We'd like to see 3, maybe four cities tops in two weeks and as much as it pains me, we think perhaps Italy may be too hot, too expensive and too busy this time of year so we'll likely do that another time.

My thoughts are: Munich - Vienna - Prague - Munich ... with perhaps Salzburg and another day trip or two from Munich if time and energy permits.

We like sight seeing, cafes, people watching, city walks and day tours, the occasional castle, a museum if its really special, beautiful scenery/architecture/historical buildings and the occasional decent dinner with maybe 1 night of nightlife thrown in.

We are in our thirties, so not exactly college kid back packers but we're not high end either, kind of a bed and breakfast, 3 star hotel crowd, shorts and t-shirt people. We don't have a set budget but it would be somewhere low to mid low end if that helps?

We are early risers and like to stroll at night and sip coffee or beer.

We need the usual kind of great advice that is offered:

basic itinerary ideas
mode of transport (train, plane or car? boat trip?)
hotels and/or B&B suggestions (cheap but clean/safe is perfect, basic works too!)
things to do / must sees for each city

Lastly, I have looked at the train schedules and fares and it seems pretty confusing and overwhelming. If it could be explained really simply I'd feel very relieved. (as would the wife!) Again, we arrive and must depart from Munich.

Oh, and we wouldn't be adverse to renting a car if this is a better, more economical option, I just want it to be fairly hassle free if possible so parking? Air travel perhaps?

And a boat trip portion would be awesome, if that was do able...

Thank you so much for reading this!

I think you are on the right track with your initial thoughts - 3-4 locations in 2 weeks is about our speed too and it works well for us. We see a fair amount without being too rushed or having to move so often that moving eats away at our sightseeing time. Munich-Vienna-Prague would make a nice trip.

You also might consider adding one or two smaller towns or cities as either a destination or as day trips from the larger cities. That would balance out the bigger cities.

I prefer to take the train as much as possible - I find it to be easier and more economical, as well as more environmentally-friendly. If you will be spending your time primarily in cities, then it really doesn't make sense to rent a car at all because you won't need it in cities. And for smaller towns, the rail network is very good, so you have to really get off the beaten path to find places that aren't accesible by public transport. Plenty of small towns are on rail lines.

We are renting a car for a few days for an upcoming trip though - this is specifically to visit the Aufsess area outside of Bamberg, Germany, which is difficult to get to on public transport. We also rented a car once to visit the Alps - that was because we wanted to be able to poke around and see some places without having to plan train and bus routes and to see a couple places enroute from Nuremburg that aren't easily accessible.