peggy123

Hi,

I am flying into Germany on 10th August and intend to be in Europe for about 19 days....require suggestions on doing my itinerary within Europe and yes on a low budget !

I was thinking doing - Germany (port of first entry) then Netherlands, Belgium and France...does it sound alright or any changes I could do?

sparkchaser

Your question is too vague. We need more information:

Likes? Dislikes?

Anything you MUST see? Anything you want to avoid?

Budget?

Means of transport?

Do you like beer? Love it? Hate it?

Do you have any weird dietary requirements (vegetarian, vegan, diagnosed celiac, etc.)?

annhig

hi Peggy,

i see from your fodors profile that you've just joined us - welcome. You don't say where you come from, but I guess that wherever it is, you've not been to Europe before. It is much bigger than you think! and 19 days [18 nights?] is not that long to visit 4 whole countries. in fact, it's barely time to visit 4 cities.

In order to help you, we need to know a bit more - which airports are you flying into and out of, what your interests are - art, cycling, walking, lazing on a beach, exploring little towns, staying in big cities???? - all these and much, much more are available if you want to do them.

and why have you fixed on those particular countries? - what is it that you think that you want to see there? Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris? or do you have other things in mind?

Another thing to think about - moving from one place to another takes time - at least 1/2 a day every time you do it - and this will eat into your trip in terms of time and money. Trains can be cheap if you book in advance, and they are more fun than planes for getting between places, though they won't work so well if you want to get from, say, Berlin to Barcelona.

Good luck with your planning!

bilboburgler

All good questions. I'm going to have a punt and assume you are flying into one of the westerly airports so say Frankfurt which opens up the Lowlands to you.

Low budget, well roughly you will need E50 to stay over night and E40 to eat well in Germany. Prices for accomodation go up as you step over the German border unless you stay in things like IBIS BUDGET.

You can live lower than this, staying in Hostels for instance and eating your main meal at the lunch time "menu" you will see in many bars (less choice but basically three courses for E12-E15, 5 days a week).

Keeping you travel costs down mean going on the slow train and visiting fewer towns. But Frnakfurt opens up some lovely areas, the Mosel, the Rhine, Amsterdam etc. I'd avoid the tourist heavy towns like Bruges, but Lille for instance is a delight and in the Netherlands there are many ancient towns inside canaled fortified walls.

Now we need some answers

peggy123

@Annhig - Thanks for a nice welcome and appreciate your response!and yes as rightly guessed by you this is my first trip to Europe and am a bit lost in planning, guess everyone is at some point in time

I come from India and am flying into Dusseldorf , staying with friends and plan to explore some part of Europe.And believe me I am totally aware of Europe's huge size and have no intentions to cover whole Eu in this time !!That said, want to do few countries rather than touching many..

Thinking of doing Western Europe since, thats close to D'dorf.
Since, first time here hence, open to any kind of experience and am sure that will be unique!

Will be nice to experience good local food/landscapes/local culture yet do some tourity stuff as well.

Do let me know if you have better suggestions of other countries.

Hope this gives you some insight into my travel plan.

Thanks!

peggy123

And goes without saying - I dont plan to do all cities in the countries mentioned so, questions -


1)Am thinking - Germany/Netherlands/Belgium or France

2) And if these countries are good to go then which cities within these countries you suggest and how many days?

@sparkchaser - See my above response
@bilboburgler - Thank you for the information! However, now I have added more details about my plan so, do u wish to suggest accordingly

sparkchaser

You really didn't answer the questions, or rather, your answers are pretty vague and don't really help.

Let's try this again:

1. How are you planning on getting from location to location? Rent a car, train, bus, plane?

2. What is your approximate daily budget?

3. What interests you? Museums? History? Castles? Churches? Architecture? Partying?

4. Are there any places that you feel that you must absolutely see/visit? I ask because if you have places you absolutely must see, that affects any proposed itinerary.


In that part of Germany, you have: the Cathedral in Cologne, the Cathedral in Aachen, the Roman-Germanic museum in Cologne (and all the Roman ruins there), the Hohenzollern Bridge and the love locks in Cologne, the Beethoven house in Bonn, etc.

Belgium is steeped in Napoleonic Wars, WWI, and WW II history. This year is the 100th anniversary of the start of WW I so there are many Centennial events and exhibits. Plus there is the medieval town of Brugges. The beer and food is generally very, very good. If you go to Liege, mussels are very popular there.

Suja

Peggy, It would be hard for anyone to give you suggestions when there are innumerable itineraries you could follow!! You haven't mentioned means of transport - will you be flying? Will you have a train pass? This would add constraints to your planning. You could do the big-city tour, especially if you enjoy museums (the best are in the big cities) and the buzz that cities produce. Berlin-Paris-Amsterdam can happily take up 19 days. Perhaps you would like a peep at the Med? Berlin-Paris-Avignon is another choice (many day trip possibilities from Avignon like Nimes, Arles, Aix-en-Provence etc). Or Berlin-Paris-Brussels with day trips out to Bruges/ Antwerp. Not so interested in big cities? Like natural places, opportunities to hike etc? See Berlin, take an overnight train to Jungfrau region in Switzerland and enjoy a week of natural beauty, then head to Munich. Like warm weather? Fly into Spain(Barcelona/Madrid) or Rome. Even with Western Europe, the travel time can eat into valuable holiday time, so you are best off keeping to a limited number of destinations.
Good luck!

nytraveler

I'm not clear about the friends in Dusseldorf. Are you thinking you can stay with them while visiting all of these other places? You can;t - things are just way to far apart. Spend a couple of days there find - but after that you will have to decide where you're going and reserve hostels in those cities (to hold down what I assume is a very tight budget).

In your brief time I reco no more than 3 destinations (cities NOT countries) in addition to Dusseldorf or you could spend way too much time sitting on trains than seeing european sights and culture.

bilboburgler

Dusseldorf is good for my basic advice. But we still need your budget. I'd still stick to the train. look at www.seat61.com for advice on the countries' railway systems and www.bahn.de to get an idea of times, prices etc

You will find English speakers in many of the places described but don't count on it (worth grabbing a travel guide with the top 20 phrases outlined in your mind and recognise that Belgium has 2 (well three but don't worry) languages so stick to English there.

adrienne

From reading your posts, here's what I've learned:

You have "about 19" days - better to specify the number of days for people to help with your planning. About 19 days could mean 17 days or 22 days. Please count only those days when you will be in Europe, not travel days.

You only want to visit cities - no smaller towns. You can easily visit Amsterdam (a bit over 2 hours by train from Dusseldorf) and Paris (a bit over 3 hours by train from Amsterdam). Then return to Dusseldorf (4 hours by train from Paris).

Stay 2 or 3 days in Amsterdam and 5 days in Paris. Since you're visiting friends I'm guessing you'll want to spend some time with them and see their city. Cologne is an easy trip from Dusseldorf (half hour on the train).

What you do in these cities depends on your interests which you would need to identify for more sightseeing help.

peggy123

Thanks for all the good advises! However, this is my first ever trip to Europe and you think that I would know the best mode of transport.(If I had known I wouldnt be posting on this forum).

I do wish to keep my travel at a low cost, hence, wish to know cheap modes of transport from D'forf ro Berlin, Berlin to Amsterdam and Amsterdam to Belgium and Belgium to Paris?(FYI - The difference in Indian currency and Euros is huge).

Gretchen

However, this is my first ever trip to Europe and you think that I would know the best mode of transport.(If I had known I wouldnt be posting on this forum).

A little snarky for someone seeking advice. We might not expect you to "know", but we might have expected that a month before you are leaving you would have looked at some guide books for where to go and how to get there instead of this post asking everyone to plan your trip.
We STILL have NO idea what you are saying is "cheap". How much money do you have committed to this entire trip?
Oh, good, you do know the differential in the two currencies.

hetismij2

Are you an Indian citizen? You do have your visa and insurance organised?

Maybe you should consider a railpass since you don't have any detailed plans.

You could easily spend your 19 days just in Germany
Maybe you would enjoy the Mosel valley, then the Benelux countries perhaps. Hotels in Brussels tend to have special offers in August as all the EU staff are away.
Amsterdam is expensive but you could look at the Volkshotel maybe. Hostels are cheaper but likely to be fully booked.

I suggest you do some internet searches to get an idea of what you want to see, and prices of hotels and hostels. Also for train travel compare the price of a railpass with individual tickets. Man in seat 61 has lots of advice and links for rail travel.

Sassafrass

Of course there is a difference between your currency and the Euro. Do a currency conversion so you know what the equivalent to your currency is in Euros, so you know how much things will cost in Europe.

How you travel from place to place depends on the places you choose. Some are easy to get to by train. Others might be by plane. Start this way. Get at least two guide books, one with good travel info about trains, busses, times places are open, ticket cost for museums, etc., and one with pictures and info about things to see.
1. Make sure visa, passport, insurance, etc. is in order.
2. Figure how much money in Euros you have for the trip.
3. Decide where you most want to go and how much time to spend there based on what you wish to do or see there.
4. Choose your next favorite place and how much time you will be there.
5. Decide how best to get between those two places.
6. If you have more time, pick another place, or pick places close to your first two or in between them if you are traveling train.

nytraveler

Unless you are traveling long distances train wil be mot convenient and can be cheap if tickets are bought in advance. If you wait until the last minute you will pay a premium.

But since you have given us no idea of your budget we don;t know if you will be couchsurfing, staying in hostels, budget hotels or ???

peggy123

SO, after having careful thoughts and consideration from the posts here is my revised itinerary :

Amsterdam - 2 days
Brugge - 1 day
Ghent - 1 day
Paris - 3 days
Strasburg/Munich - 1 day
Rest days- Dusseldorf and around (Cologne/aachen etc.)

Does this itinerary sound reasonable? or should I increase/cut down days somewhere. Suggestions welcome!

sparkchaser

<i>Strasburg/Munich - 1 day</i>

One day each, I hope. Even then, Munich deserves at least two.

It's a 3 hour 40 min train ride from Strasbourg to Munich (3:45 by car, or longer depending on traffic), so you need to decide which city is going to get the short end of the stick.

bilboburgler

Strasburg/Munich - 1 day ? does that mean on the same day?

Munich is way out on a limb, I'd drop it

peggy123

I was thinking of either doing Strasburg or Munich (not both) and spent one day in one of these locations.

Any recommendations on which one?