nellywynne

Hi

We are having a whirlwind trip to Europe departing mid Jan. Our itinerary is as follows
Hong Kong 1 night
London 3 nights-Country Inn & Suites Kensington
Paris 3 nights-Hotel Langlois
Fuessen 1 night-Hotel Kurcafe
Rome 3 nights-B&B Giovy
Florence 2 nights-Hotel David
Vienna 1 night-Pension Columbia
Prague 2 nights-Castle Steps
Berlin 2 nights-Hotel Tiergarten
Amsterdam 2 nights-??

then 3 nights in New York (East Village Bed & Coffee) on way home to Australia.

We will be travelling by train. If anyone has any feedback on our route or accomodation choices please let us know. Is it a good idea to catch night trains from Paris-Fuessen, Fuessen-Rome and esp Venice to Vienna or will we miss too much scenery (I have heard this is a very scenic route)Also, how terrible will the weather be?
Thank you!!

shandy

Nellywynne, I know that because it costs so much to get over to Europe from Oz there is a tendency to cram a lot in because it might be quite a while before you can get back again, but I do have to say that I think you are trying to cram far too much in. I would seriously suggest that you rethink your itinerary and work out just how much time you are spending on travelling during your trip as compared to sightseeing or just sitting down/wandering and soaking up the atmosphere. As well calculating the actual train trip travel there is the packing up, getting to the station, finding new hotel etc. at the other end.

If you can get night trains to a couple of the places it will help but you will still constantly be on the move. Don't forget how short the daylight hours will be in January. For example, you are suggesting one day in Fuessen. From Paris to Fuessen I am guessing that you are unlikely to be there before lunch. By the time you get off the train, dump your luggage at your hotel and get out to the castles it could well be 2.00pm or later. It will be getting quite dark by 4.00pm so you only have a couple of hours of daylight to "do" the castles and you are heading off presumably the next morning.

Likewise with Vienna, it is a hell of a long way to go for only one night. This one I can say from experience. My husand and I once drove all over the way to Vienna and ended up staying for only one night (we had planned on three) before heading back to Italy the next day.

As to the weather, it will be very cold but provided you take the right sort of clothing and jackets you will be fine. We had a month there last December/January and we were all fine. Admittedly, the current winter is more severe than last year's but you can cope. We had one winter in Europe which was extremely cold. We are amongst the few people who can say that they have been to the Isle of Capri in the snow. However, taking the right type of clothes is paramount and you need to layer. While you need a lot on when outside, once you go inside a museum, restaurant etc. you will die of heat exhaustion if you can't take off a few layers.

Actually the idea of snow sounds preety good at the moment. I am in Melbourne and it is 43 degrees today. It will be fun for the celebrations for New Year's Eve tonight.

Incidentally, if you haven't got anything booked in Hong Kong and can't afford anything really ritzy we stayed at the YMCA Salisbury in a harbour view room. The room is nothing flash but the view is absolutlely fantastic (exactly the same view if you stayed at the ultra-expensive Peninsula next door) If you only have one night it is well worth the extra for the harbour view.

nona1

The London/Paris part sounds ok as the journey via Chunnel is pretty short and you'll get enough time at teach city for a reasonable look around. But staying for only 1 or 2 nights on longer journey legs doesn't make much sense to me as you won't see a lot past train windows, and dark evenings.

What really interests you most about Europe? If I were you, I'd pick at the most 4 locations and spend longer at each one. There is sooooo much to see and do and you can't possibly do it all, so why not choose to do a few places more thoroughly. You'll also save a lot of money by travelling less so have more to spend on doing things, nice meals, shopping and treats!

ira

Hi N,

Good advice above.

You have planned an expedition, not a visit.

For example:

Paris to Füssen is a night train that drops you in Augsburg at 08:00 and gets you to Füssen at 11:55

For Füssen to Rome, you leave at 17:05 for Munich, where you have a 2 hr layover for the night train to Rome.

You can find train schedules at http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

You are passing by Venice to spend 1 night in Vienna?

May I suggest:

Fly to London (4 nights), train to Paris (5 nights), fly www.myair.com from Paris Orly to Venice VCE (3 nights), train to Florence (3 nights), train to Rome (4 nights), fly to NYC.

You will be traveling a lot, but you won't be completely exhausted.

The cheapest rate on the Eurostar is a one-day RT ticket (60 GBP). www.eurostar.com

Train schedules, prices and tickets in Italy are at www.trenitalia.com

Enjoy your visit.

StCirq

This isn't a whirlwind, it's a nightmare. Do yourself a favor and take ira's advice or you won't have any memories of this trip other than the blur of winter scenery out the train window.

SusanP

I was going to say just what StCirq said! Ira gives a good plan. With your current one, all you will remember are train rides.

suze

Take your itinerary and write up the actual travel times. Figure realistically how many hours it will take to check out of hotel, get to train station, take train ride, get to next city and to hotel there (x 9)... with your original plan that is how you will be spending most of your time! I would cross off at least 3 of the cities you mention (as others have outlined above).

nytraveler

No one has mentioned the New York portion of your trip.

Two points:

Europe may well be cold. NYC WILL be cold - in Feb it often drops to near zero (farenheit not centrigrade) at night and snow is common. So be sure you have heavy winter coat, scarf, gloves, hat and waterproof booties.

Also - since Jan is low season you may be able to get a much better hotel for a similar price using Priceline (assuming you can do 2 to a room). I would look into this option - since the B&B mentioned seems more eccentric than cute and the neighborhood, while safe, is not especiallly charming or near much you want to see.

janisj

Just to pile on - this itinerary is a real mess.

Besides what everyone else has said - every time you move from one city to the next, no matter the mode of transport, it will eat up 1/2 to 1 full day. And when you factor in all the checking in/checking out, packing/unpacking you would literally be spending more time in transit than sightseeing.

wilees

Regardless what you decide to do - you will have a ball - Europe is great even in winter - But given you are from Oz I recommend you invest in some thermals - then you can wander around without feeling the cold as much!

IMHO I would add a day to London. I am from NZ and living in London for a few months and after a day recovering from jet lag you'll only have 2 full days and I think that you need more. I took a kiwi around London in 2 days over Xmas and it was a mission just touring the city. Even thought it was -2oC!!

I would skip Fussen. The castles are nice but Neuschwannstein was never finished inside so it isn't quite the fairytale you expect. And there are so many kick ass palaces everywhere over Europe.

If you skip Amsterdam you could conceivably fit the vienna, prague, belin haul. (I'm doing them in summer). You need 2 days at least in Vienna.

There is a night train from Venice to Vienna. I personally needed a day to recover after taking it. But it you sleep like the dead you'd be fine. Also there is no co-ed 6 berth rooms so if you are a couple you will be spit us and put with strangers.

You could just wing it too. I reckon that time of year you hardly need to pre book accommodation.

nellywynne

Thanks for all your advice. I know our itinerary is crammed but there is some logic to it. It is a circular trip which begins in Paris and ends in Amsterdam (our city of departure). We are spending one night in Vienna because it is on the way to Prague. I have looked at all the train timetables as well. It is true that I probably dont need to book our accomodation already, I have just really enjoyed the research and choosing places but I might cancel them and wing it as was suggested. Thanks again for the feedback, I appreciate it.
ps I actually really like being on trains and just looking out the window,warm and snug and comfy, I'm looking forward to that part!!

StCirq

<<I actually really like being on trains and just looking out the window,warm and snug and comfy, I'm looking forward to that part!!>>

Well.....good, because that part of your trip is going to overshadow your actual visiting time - big time!

I'm not sure you've gotten the point we're all trying to make, which is that this is not a good itinerary, but what can I say? We tried......

Happy New Year!

jahoulih

I agree with wilees - Neuschwanstein up close isn't nearly as spectacular as the aerial photographs. At the very least, skip Fuessen, add a night to Vienna, and take a night train from Paris to Rome. With those changes, I think this itinerary would be ok (though others here would no doubt disagree).

suze

nelly, whether circular or not, and even if a city is "one the way" to somewhere else... there is necessarily a good chunk of time it takes for the logistics of getting place to place which is wasteful to me when you only stay 1 night. You don't seem to be willing to factor that in.

Have you done a trip like this before? We've tried to help but I don't think you're hearing the feedback you requested.