Need help adjusting europe vacation itinerary
 

Up until last week, we had planned an upcoming trip to Europe (for a family of 5) as follows: Paris 5 days, Amsterdam 3 days, Munich 8 days. This is the first time that my family will be in Europe.

We would not be spending all 8 days in Munich, it would be Munich plus surrounding areas. Probably 2 days in Saltzburg, 1 visiting Meuschwanstein castle, 2 in Rothenburg and only three actually in Munich.

The problem is that we cannot get the CityNightLine from Amsterdam to Munich on June 14 (potentially unavailable due to repair work). So, we would lose most of our last day in Amersterdam travelling.

Alternatively, we could change itinerary to be: Paris 7 days, Amsterdam 4 days, Munich 5 days

Or, we could also do this: Paris 5 days, Brugge 2 days, Amsterdam 4 days, Munich 5 days

These changes would allow us to schedule the CNL train that allows us to keep a full day in Amsterdam. But, we would go from 8 days in Munich area to only 5 which probably means we would not visit Saltzburg or Rothenburg.

Would it be better to make the first plan work or would we be better changing to one of the alternative plans?

I think more time in Paris is good, so of your 3 options, I vote for #2. Your Munich area days will require much transit (either renting a car or training), so it may not be the most relaxing.

Only you can decide how to allocate your days based on what sightseeing priorities you have in each place, although you seem to be quite fluid with that considering how easily you'd add or subtract days here and there.

If at all possible, try to put all of your nights sleeping in Munich at the end, rather than checking into a Munich hotel on arrival, then checking out to go to Salzburg and Rothenburg, and checking back in again in Munich before your departing flight.

And I suggest you think again about what you want to see/do everywhere and how long that will likely take. Especially Amsterdam and whether your desire to go there overrides the logistical problems it causes. Write out your itinerary in real time so that you remember how long it takes to get from place to place. For example:

Day 1. Arrive Paris.
Day 2. Paris
Day 3. Paris
Day 4. Paris
Day 5. Paris [really only 4.5 days in Paris]
Day 6. Paris to Amsterdam (3.5 hours)
Day 7. Amsterdam
Day 8. Amsterdam [really only 2.5 days in Amsterdam]
Day 9. Amsterdam to Munich (7.5 hours)
etc.

Maybe our plans in/around Munich are too ambitious because they definitely will necessitate a decent amount of travel time.

I have a pretty detailed itinerary that was based upon our original plan, but it included taking the CNL from Amsterdam to Munich. With that train being unavailable the weekend of June 14 we need to make some adjustments.

The suggestion regarding Munich makes sense. We could take a train (not CNL) from Amsterdam directly to Rothenburg. Then, train directly to Salzburg before returning as suggested to Munich. One negative of this plan is that we really only get 2-1/2 days in Amsterdam as the train departs at 3:00. Another negative is the amount of travelling.

Here is an abbreviated trip plan based upon going to Rothemburg from Amsterdam.

Thurs June 6 Pittsburgh (leave 6:35 PM, direct Delta to Paris)
Fri June 7 Paris (arrive 8:35 AM)
Sat June 8 Paris
Sun June 9 Paris
Mon June 10 Paris
Tues June 11 Paris (depart AM for Amsterdam, approx. 4 hours)
Wed June 12 Amsterdam
Thurs June 13 Amsterdam
Fri 14 Amsterdam (depart mid afternoon for Rothenburg, approx. 7 hours)
Sat June 15 Rothenburg
Sun June 16 Rothenburg (depart AM for Salzburg, approx. 5 hours)
Mon June 17 Salzburg
Tues June 18 Salzburg (depart AM for Munich, approx. 2 hours )
Wed June 19 Munich
Thurs June 20 Munich (day trip to castles)
Fri June 21 Munich
Sat June 22 Munich
Sun June 23 Return (flight from Munich airport)

Too much travelling, I suspect. I'll be reviewing this with my family tomorrow.

thanks!

Four countries in 15-16 days. No matter which trains you take and what order you do this, these destinations are not going to get any closer together, and you're going to lose sightseeing time moving around. I see that the "direct" train from Amsterdam to Rothenburg takes nearly 8 hours. Rothenburg to Salzburg another 5 hours.

How do you know that the CNL is not available on June 14. I tried to book and stopped at the point where I would have to enter my credit card. DB Bahn shows that this train is available.

I got to that point and tried to finalize the purchase...many times. Finally I spoke with an agent very familiar with DB Bahn and CNL who told me that tickets are not being sold due to the potential for maintenance over that weekend. This should only affect amsterdam departures, though. If you look at the train schedule (I found it somewhere on the DB Bahn website) this appears to make sense.

How old are your children?

When my DH and I went to Europe on our honeymoon, we did a lot of traveling around - one day here, one day there, etc - and it was fine because it was just the two of us. Since we have been traveling with kids (who are now teens), we've learned that less is best.

Looking at your schedule, you really only have one day in Rothenberg and 1.5 in Salzburg - IMO that is a lot of traveling for such short visits.

But I would want to know how old your kids are, and what you most want to see in those cities.

Our children at 18, 16 and 12. We have revised our schedule based upon feedback as follows:

Paris – Amsterdam – Salzburg - Munich
Thurs June 6 Pittsburgh (leave 6:35 PM, direct Delta to Paris)
Fri June 7 Paris (arrive 8:35 AM)
Sat June 8 Paris
Sun June 9 Paris
Mon June 10 Paris
Tues June 11 Paris
Wed June 12 Paris
Thurs June 13 Paris
Fri 14 Amsterdam (depart Paris in AM, approx. 4 hours via train)
Sat June 15 Amsterdam
Sun June 16 Amsterdam
Mon June 17 Amsterdam (in evening, take CityNightLine to Munich)
Tues June 18 Salzburg (Arrive in Munich early AM via CityNightLine overnite train, rent car and drive directly to Salzburg from Munich train station)
Wed June 19 Munich (drive to Munich late day)
Thurs June 20 Munich
Fri June 21 Munich
Sat June 22 Munich
Sun June 23 Return (flight from Munich airport)

This schedule allows use of CityNightLine which eliminates the loss of a day to travel. It also saves $ by eliminating the need for hotel rooms that night.

Renting a car will allow us to easily take one of the cable car trips to the top of a mountain. I showed pics of these cable cars to my kids and they seem to be more excited about that than anything else!

That looks much better! :)

Looks like an interesting trip. Not to confuse the issue, but one thought- if you are going to the Zugspitz for the cable car ride, you can do this as a day trip from Munich. This would allow you to catch the train from Amsterdam to Salzburg then return to Munich before renting a car. You could actually forgo the car rental and catch the train from Munich to Garmisch if that's all you wanted the car for. I suspect you will have to get a van with 5 people which can be very expensive.

Else on your way to or from Salzburg in the car, depending on the weather, you could detour to Garmisch for the Zugspitz ride. You could also use the car to drive from Garmisch to Fussen to stop at Neuschwanstein castle. Overnite in Fussen to get an early start for the castle. And remember to get the Vignette to drive on the main roads in Austria.

Have a good trip...