nutney

I will be in Europe for a little over 3 weeks. Below is my &quot;draft&quot; itinerary. Any comments on the feasibility of this are welcome. I will be traveling with a friend by car in Germany, and much of my traveling in France will also be with friends (by car). In Italy, I will be relying on train travel.<BR><BR>April 12th fly into Amsterdam at 10 a.m.; staying with friend in Germany<BR>April 13th- Cologne<BR>April 14th- Koblenz-Heidelberg<BR>April 15th- Heidelberg-Bodensee<BR>April 16th- Munich<BR>April 17th- Munich<BR>April 18th- Salzburg-night train to Venice<BR>April 19th- Venice<BR>April 20th- Venice<BR>April 21st- Venice-train to Florence in p.m.<BR>April 22nd- Florence<BR>April 23rd- Florence-train to Rome in p.m.<BR>April 24th- Rome<BR>April 25th- Rome<BR>April 26th- Rome-flight to Brussels; staying with friends in north of France<BR>April 27th- Normandy<BR>April 28th- Paris<BR>April 29th- Paris<BR>April 30th- Paris<BR>May 1st- Paris-Versailles<BR>May 2nd- train to Amsterdam<BR>May 3rd- Amsterdam<BR>May 4th- flying home at 12 p.m.

rex

It's a whirlwind, but not a totally insane one.<BR><BR>It could take more time than you think to get from Brussels to &quot;Normandy&quot; (depends on where you mean in Normandy). Perhaps go straight to Paris, and leave Normandy as an option. Vernon/Giverny, or Rouen, for example are pleasant enough day trips. A (day) trip to the Normandy invasion sites, is a 14 hour day, for many people.<BR><BR>I'm a little bit surprised that a night train option exists for Salzburg-Venice - - only about 4.5 hrs; or is this MUC-VCE with a (day trip? or stop? in Salzburg?<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

jheim

Hello nutney,<BR><BR>If your objective is a 'whirlwind' tour this is doable. <BR><BR>I would probably do a day trip to Salzburg and take the train from Munich to Venice.<BR><BR>Have a great trip, hope you have time to recuperate when you return home.

rex

up to the top, for nutney<BR>

Rooniew

Nutney<BR>Your trip is right around the corner, so your plans are probably solid, but if not I would recommend more time in the Heidelberg area. There are wonderful places very close by (within 10 or 15 minutes by car)..like the old walled city of Ladenburg (there are Roman ruins),the town of Schwetzingen with its' beautiful yellow &amp; gold summer palace, grand gardens,and sidewalk cafes, and the old (some say the oldest)town of Speyer, on the river, with a huge, beautiful Dom(cathedral). All worth seeing and all with fabulous restaurants.

nutney

Thanks so much to everyone who has responded thus far. I am leaving in a little over a week and I have made a few changes to my itinerary. I wasn't sure if I should post a new message, so I hope to get some &quot;hits&quot; with this one! <BR><BR>April 12th- fly into Amsterdam at 10 a.m.; staying with friend in Germany<BR><BR>April 13th- Cologne/Munstereifel: visit city and dome; staying overnight in Eifel<BR><BR>April 14th- Koblenz/Loreley/Rudesheim: driving along Rhine; visiting Loreley cliff; overnight around Heidelberg<BR><BR>April 15th- Wurzburg/Romantic Road/Rothenburg: overnight in Rothenburg<BR><BR>April 16th- Romantic Road/Fussen: Neuuschwanstein; overnight around Fussen<BR><BR>April 17th- Munich<BR><BR>April 18th- Munich: public holiday; activities as available; night train to Venice at 11:30 p.m.<BR><BR>April 19th- arrive Venice at 7:15; drop luggage off at Hotel Galleria; Doge's Palace Secret Itineraries reserved for 10:45; visit St. Mark's <BR><BR>April 20th- Venice: Accademia; Ca' d'Oro; canal tour on Boat #1<BR><BR>April 21st- train to Florence in a.m.; drop luggage off at Hotel Alessandra; Bargello; Duomo; Santa Croce church<BR><BR>April 22nd- Florence; reservations at Uffizi at 9 a.m.; reservations at Accademia at 2:30; Boboli Gardens; gelato at Vivoli's<BR><BR>April 23rd- train to Rome at 7:40 a.m.;drop luggage off at Hotel Alimandi; Vatican tour with Enjoy Rome at 12 p.m.; visit Spanish Steps and Piazza del Campidoglio; Trevi Fountain<BR><BR>April 24th- Rome: Reservations at Borghese Gallery at 9 a.m.; National Museum of Rome; night tour of ancient Rome at 6 p.m.<BR><BR>April 25th- Rome: Pantheon; Piazza Navona; Castel Sant' Angelo<BR><BR>April 26th- flying into Brussels at 2:40 p.m.; visit Grand Place; travel to north of France (near Calais) to stay with friends<BR><BR>April 27th- D-Day Memorial Museum and cemetery; spending night near Calais<BR><BR>April 28th- drive to Paris in a.m.; visit Louvre; Sacre Coeur; Jardin du Luxembourg; spending night with friends in Paris<BR><BR>April 29th- Paris: Orsay; Ste. Chapelle; Notre Dame; spending night with friends<BR><BR>April 30th- Versailles day trip; return to Paris to visit Eiffel tower and go on night cruise of Seine; spend night with friends in Paris<BR><BR>May 1st- Musee Rodin; Arc de Triomphe; return to Calais to spend night<BR><BR>May 2nd- drive to Amsterdam; visit Anne Frank House; botanical gardens; canal cruise; experience nightlife!; spend night at Hotel de Filosoof<BR><BR>May 3rd- Amsterdam: Rijksmuseum; Van Gogh Museum; Vondelpark<BR><BR>May 4th- flying back to US at 12 p.m.<BR><BR>I know I have planned quite a lot of things to do! I have left the German portion of my itinerary open on purpose because, even though my traveling mate in Germany is from Germany, we will be visiting places that are new to him. My main concerns are the availability of attractions that I have planned during Easter weekend and on May 1 in Paris. I have found no information that these attractions will be closed but, if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know so that I can make other arrangements! If any day of my itinerary seems entirely too packed, please say so! Thanks again. I have learned so much from this board.<BR>

smueller

<BR>Eliminating Heidelberg was a good choice. It is highly overrated. I think of it as the &quot;Wall Drug of Europe.&quot; Also, I was there less than a year ago and both the castle and the historic Alte Brucke were under scaffolding and construction.<BR><BR>Heidelberg tourism promoters are fond of stating out that the town was spared the ravages of both world wars. What they don't tell you is that Heidelberg was completely demolished by the troops of Louis 14th. A town that was reconstructed in the 17th century might be impressive by American standards, but by European standards it is nothing exceptional.

dugi_otok

nutney<BR>Looks like a wonderful trip!<BR>Traveling will take more time than you realize. Go to viamichelin website to plan driving times and routes. Also to-from airports and train stations are time consuming. A few detailed comments.........<BR>Rothenburg-needs a half day either 4/15 or 4/16. <BR>Bavaria Castle Area needs a full day to see Neuschwanstein, Wies church, Oberammergau, Linderhof castle, etc.<BR>Stop at Andechs for a great Baverian lunch on the way to Munich.<BR>Florence-Vivoli's is near Santa Croce, enjoy your gelato then.<BR>Rome- itinerary not well planned-April 23-suggest a twilight walk Spanish Steps-Trevi Fountain-Pantheon-Piazza Navona-Campo de Fiori( your 3 are all over the map).<BR>April 24/25-Need to see Colosseum and perhaps Forum in the day time.Rome gelato at Giolitti's and Gelateria della Palma both near Pantheon.<BR>April 27 has 7 hours of driving to see the worthwile sites of Caen(le Memorial), St. Laurent(the very moving American cemetery- burial place of the brothers of private Ryan among the thousands).<BR>&quot;Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.&quot; ....Colin Powell's response to the Archbishop of Canterbury who asked if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush......it became very quiet in the room.<BR>Enjoy your vacation!<BR><BR>Gary<BR> <BR>

nutney

Thanks, Gary! <BR><BR>I will rethink the day of the 23rd. Also, I didn't realize it took that long to get to Caen from Calais, but you are right! My French friend suggested going there, but we may not make it that far and back to Calais in one day. Perhaps it would be better to go directly from Caen to Paris and spend an extra night there. That would cut out about an hour and a half.<BR><BR>Any other suggestions are welcome!