My wife and I are heading to Europe in October for the first time and have some questions regarding our trip (mainly in regards to transportation). First, our itinerary:
Fly into Munich on Tuesday morning
Take train to downtown and spend day
Take night train (CNL) to Amsterdam
Arrive in Amsterdam on Wed morning
Spend day and night
Take train to airport on Thursday
Fly to Venice Treviso (Basiqair)
Take train/bus to Venice
Spend day and night
Take day train to Garmsich, Germany on Friday
Stay in Garmsich through Monday AM
Take train to Munich airport to fly home

Here are my questions:
-Should we get a rail pass or pt to pt tickets?
-On the CNL, will my wife and I be able to get a private double in 2nd class or do we need to go 1st class? Any idea of cost?
-Has anyone had any issues with Basiqair?
-What is the best mode of transportation to get from the Venice Treviso airport to Venice? Approx. time?
-Are there any tours running out of Garmisch to the castles (Neuschwanstein and surrounding) that provide transportation?

Sorry for the 20 questions, but I'm sure that this is just the tip of the iceburg. Once I get the travel blueprint set, then I can dive into the sightseeing questions. Thanks in advance!

Hi t,

For pricing your itinerary, go to www.railsaver.com. They will tell you if a pass will save you money.

Sorry, but if this is the first time you go to Europe, you should really rethink your whole itinerary, as it makes absolutely no sense. You're spending basically all your time travelling, and have really little time at each location. Is there a reason why Amsterdam? I suggest you cut out that portion completely for a start.

I have to agree, this is a terrible itinerary. You will be exhausted and you don't have enough time to see anything. How about just going to Munich, spending a few days there, do a day trip to salzburg maybe and then head to Venice and finish the holiday there?

Agree with rkkwan. Your itinerary is, um, overly ambitious (insane is a much better word, but as this is your first post we might as well be polite ). One of the beautiful aspects of traveling in Europe is the proximity of so many cultures, and it is tempting to try and sprint through as much as you can, but, to get philosophical, you may want to ask yourself what you expect out of your trip - is it to hit as many of the "must-do's" as possible, or is it to try and mingle in a little local flavor, to get a feel for the place (or at least a passing knowlegde of landmarks so your nose is not constantly in your map) or let the feeling of the place come to you, rather than feeling your rear on a train seat knowing you should be sampling the wine from the vineyards that you're whizzing past.

You've got seven good days by my count, and your first will be jet-lagged. Pick two places, just two, keeping in mind the distances between them, and explore away. Don't cheat yourself out of your vacation by spending all your time traveling or running from must-do to must-do. And have a wonderful time.

I am a big fan of intra-Europe low-cost airlines, but even I cannot get comfortable with this ping pong itinerary.

I took a (whirlwind) 7 night trip, starting and ending in Munich, with two days Venice in the middle - - even that was mildly crazy, but it was with a bunch of high energy youngsters and it turned out okay. It included (as other highlights) Salzburg, Bassano del Grappa and Hall in Tirol - - and I think this, or something like it, could be a big improvememnt over what you have planned now. You can still fit Garmisch in, in place of the Austria destinations I mentioned.

Best wishes,

Rex

Thanks all for the quick responses. As far as itinerary goes, I realize that we're all over the place. We're more of the "let's check out a lot of places first and then go back to stay at one longer" type of travelers. As far as spending most of the trip traveling, I really don't see it. The Munich to Amsterdam leg will occur while we're sleeping and we really want to experience a night train. Amsterdam to Venice is about a 2-hr flight, then maybe an bus ride...not bad for going cross country. The longest traveling leg is Venice to Garmisch...which I understand is a very scenic trip through the Alps. Also, Garmisch is a must at the end of the week because of business.

Once again, we realize a best case scenerio for travelling would be to spend 3-7 days in each location to really get a good feel for the people, culture, etc., but we are who we are...

I too think this is crazy. You think the trip will only be 2.5 hours, however when you take into account: checking out of the hotel, getting to the airport/train station early enough to make your flight or train, travel, waiting for bags, getting transport to your hotel, then getting downtown tot he city.... it will take at least 1/2 a day..probably more. You will literally be spending all your time running between ariports or train stations. Do at least 2 nights in each place.

I am amazed that people here cannot stick to the questions at hand and cannot accept the fact that not everyone travels they way THEY do. If you like your itinerary then stick with it.

I doubt a railpass will be helpful in this case but Ira's suggestion to input the itinerary into www.railsaver (or railpass).com is a good one. You'd need a pass that covers Austria to get you from Italy back into Germany and having that extra country included for a one-time pass-through isn't usually economical.

I advise storing your luggage at the main train station in Munich, either in lockers or at the left luggage room...easy links all over the city from the station.

There is a website for citynightline services although I do not know the exact address..a Google will work, but I am almost certain you can get 2nd Class doubles since these services are somewhat more upscale than the usual night trains.

I am not sure Garmish is the best place to base youself for Neuschwanstein since may people opt for Fuessen or Oberammergau. I cannot comment on tours out of there, either, but you might want to check on the local bus services (you do not need an organized tour to see the castles N-schwanstein or Linderhof) if you are willing to take local transport.

Have a great trip.

I really hope that you reconsider your itinerary and listen to the wisdom of the previous posters. They are all seasoned travellers in Europe and know what they are talking about.

You will be jetlagged on Tuesday when you arrive in Munich and you won't have anyplace to "crash" for a little nap to help you adjust. Your first real chance to relax will be on the night train to Amsterdam, and having done a night train, believe me, you won't get much rest (unless you just pass out from exhaustion).

On Thursday you will be spending most of your daylight hours commuting to Venice. I hope you take some time Friday before leaving for Garmisch to at least look around Venice during the day.

I realize that you want to hit as many places as possible, and then decide which ones to go back to, well I can tell you right now you'll want to go back to all of them because you will only get a little (very little) taste of what each place has to offer.

Please, please, reconsider...go back to the drawing board. Peace.

Robyn

If you must do Garmisch at the end because of business, wouldn't it be better to visit Munich at the end too? It seems to me that you can save some time this way, but I could be mistaken.

I think that you insist on visiting Amsterdam, I'd head to Amsterdam right away. I'm not sure if I'd take a night train myself though.

I'd also investigate how far Treviso is from tourist Venice. Amsterdam to Venice can be longer than you think if the airport in Treviso is far away, but then it doesn't seem like you've much of an option to get between the two.

Proceed with your initial schedule and you will learn many valuable travel lessons.

Even though you think you only have a short flight, by the time you add in the travel to/from the airports and the additional time required for security check-in, your 2-1/2 hr trip suddenly has become an almost 6-hr trip.

We did the same thing when we flew from Edinburgh to London last month and that's only a little over a 1 hr flight. But by the time we allowed the extra time at Edinburgh airport for all the security and baggage checks and then the extra time required to find our way thru Gatwick Airport to the train, we had eaten up almost 5 hrs for a 1 hr flight!

I've used City Night Line once. The trains have two- and four-berth compartments with wash basins, and two-berth compartments with bathrooms. You pay an inclusive fare which depends on the standard of the accommodation - there is no such thing as first or second class. Fares include a little breakfast. I went from Karlsruhe to Dresden and would use them again.

I have to chime in with... this sounds overly ambitious and not much fun, concerning the proposed itinerary. If you insist on it, you can come back and let us know how it worked, and why 98% of us were wrong (most kindly).

Have you looked into an "open-jaws" plane ticket? They can be helpful so you don't have to backtrack to the city you began in. Fly into Amsterdam, out of Venice with Germany inbetween, or like that?

Personally I'd skip Amsterdam, as I'm not overly wowed with that particular city.

Each time you change locations, I subtract 1 day of siteseeing (by the time you check out of hotel, transpo to train station or airport, flight or train journey, transpo to new hotel, check in - what you think will take 2 hours, never does take only that long). You will be seeing more of the inside of trains, busses, taxis, planes, than of the lovely cities you plan to visit.

You might post some specific questions separately (like the Venice airport to city one) so they don't get lost.

I don't think there is anything I could add that has not already been said. To expand on ChatNoir's comment about learning valuable travel lessons...if you proceed with this plan, I'd love to hear an honest account of how it went.

hi tlombardo-

I'm afraid I'd have to agree with others about too many places in too little time. With 7 days you're visiting 4 cities in 3 countries. Like others have said, you'd be jet-lagged on Tuesday when you arrive in Munich, and you'll be even more tired on Wednesday due to lack of quality sleep (on the plane Mon night and on the train Tues night). If I were you I'd be too cranky to even enjoy the sights.

If you're sticking with your itinerary, check Basiqair's website. It looks like they only have 1 flight/day from Amsterdam to Treviso, and the flight is at 2pm, which arrives in Treviso around 4pm. Treviso is 1hr by bus from Venice. So, if things go smoothly (no plane delays, traffic jam), you will get into Venice the earliest by 5pm. I don't know how much you'll get to see/enjoy Venice if you're only there from 5pm until the next morning before you have to get on the train to Garmisch.

This is your first time in Europe, but we have all been many times, so I wish you would believe us when we tell you this is not good. You will barely have time to see anything or get a sense for what you like and dislike. However, it sounds like your mind is made up already, so all I can do is wish you well. Chat Noir is so right, you will learn many lessons in travel from this rushed trip. But it makes me sad that these lessons will be so expensive, in terms of both vacation time and money. I hope some good comes from this and you will learn how plan your vacation better next time. Good luck to you.

Looks like the ATVO Eurobus goes from Treviso to Venice. It take 1 hour 10 minutes.

As someone who lives in Europe and flies regularly (we do not own a car), I just want to again stress that flying somewhere often takes many hours more than expected. Planes are late, you sit on the runway, baggage delays and strikes are common.

Also, understand that you will be mentally exhausted from trying to figure out where to catch the next train, how to get to the station, how to buy a ticket, etc.

Most airports do have a website. Before we fly anywhere I check the website to find where the train or bus connection is, how often it leaves the station, cost (and make sure you have change for that to buy tickets from a machine in case there is no live person at the ticket desk).

The more pre planning you do, the less exhausting it will be.

In light of yk's comments, I think that if you want to fit in both Amsterdam and Venice, you should probably investigate one of the big airlines -- like KLM or Alitalia. They should have more frequent flights but you'll probably have to pay more.