arash_the_archer

Hey guys,

I and my wife (both 28) have planned to take a trip in some European Cities.

We are gonna start from Brussels which we don't want to stay but to rent a VW golf MK6 from Europcar and immediately leave to Paris on October 3rd morning. we will be there until 5th which we plan to go to Luxembourg city, I'm not sure to stay for a night or two at Lux (thinking about Vianden too) and then head toward Heidelberg, again not sure about a 1-day-stay or 2 and then go to Düsseldorf; stay there for the remaining days and come back to Brussels at 10th to drop the car and have a flight to Istanbul for 3 days.

So dear friends please let me have your ideas and experiences about what we can do the best in these places and the time we should spend in each city except Paris which is a scheduled-3day-trip. Any places to see, bars restaurants... are appreciated.

If you know only about a city or a place that's fine too.


Also some specific questions:

1- How hard will be driving in European highways? I'm not interested to drive in the cities so I'll park the car while we are in the cities and use the public transpositions but still driving in the highways, borders, city entries to the parking and also finding a suitable parking frightens me.

2- what will be the weather like from Oct 3rd to 10th in this places?

3-does Frankfurt need to be seen while heading toward Düsseldorf?

I promise to send the best response a beautiful postal card!!

Arash

Pegontheroad

All the European highways that I have experienced have been great. Your decision not to drive in cities is a wise one, as traffic is heavy and parking is either very expensive or nonexistent.

The weather is of course unpredictable, but I'd expect it to be cool but comfortable. There may be some rain. I speak from experience long past, but perhaps people who've been in those places during the time you mention can give you a better idea.

Paris is wonderful, of course. I haven't been to Dusseldorf or Brussels. Luxembourg would not be at the top of my list, but I haven't been there in 30 years or so. Heidelberg castle is very beautiful, and in general the city is interesting.

I have never thought of Frankfurt as a travel destination. I would suggest you get a couple of travel guides and look them over to see what ideas you can get from them.

It seems to me that you are going to spend a good deal of time driving, and that will cut into your time in any of the cities. You might check Viamichelin to see what is the driving time between the cities you plan on seeing.

If this were my trip, I would concentrate on just a couple of cities. Assume you will be back to see the other places at a later time.

annhig

hi arash,

have you done anything like this before? have you tried driving in paris? parking in paris? have you even been there?

your plan seems to be more driving than seeing.

if you are locked into arriving in Brussels, why not spend a night there, then get the train to Paris [you don't want a car there]. I would then miss out Luxembourg altogether, and head gently for Heidelberg, taking in the lovely wine-growing area of the Pfalz on the way. [you won't need to book is October].

regards, ann

otherchelebi

I second annhig's post, regarding the western european Leg.

in istanbul the weather should be quite nice and warm unless it rains. You should probably check 10 day or longer forecasts until you start your trip.

istanbul has an art Biennal going on.
there may be good music at Nardis jazz club, babylon, ghetto, istanbul jazz club, etc.

most of the music would be centered around Istiklal street together with the regular bars. Nevizade street has traditional turkish meze/raki/fish restaurants. (close to getto). Lebi Derya and 360 restaurants on istiklal have incredible views although their food is not exceptional.

for best innovative food try Changa, near taksim square. (selected as one of the world's 50 best restaurants)

for good but expensive traditional Turkish food try Borsa restaurant at the new convention valley between taksim and Nisantasi.

the upscale bars and restaurants and shopping will be at Nisantasi area.

Take a ferry ride up the bosphorus. there are long and short ones. Ortakoy is an interestin area on the Bosphorus and short boat tours are available from Ortakoy also.

StCirq

Ann's plan is a good one. Spend the night in Brussels; it's got arguably the best food in Europe. Don't drive to Paris; the car will be an albatross. Skip Luxembourg for now and spend the extra day in Paris. Take your time after that and consider staying off the highways as much as you can - you don't really see much from the highways, and you have only a short 7 days, of which 4 or so are for driving. You don't want to be speeding through Europe instead of actually seeing things.

Beaucoup

To be a bit of a contrarian, I would encourage you to visit Vianden! The town is charming; the castle is great; the hotels and restaurants are generally very good! We also enjoy very much driving through the Ardennes.

Like the other posters, I agree that you should maximize your time in Paris. I would take the train from Brussels to Paris, then rent a car once you are ready to leave Paris for the drive northeast through France to Luxembourg (Vianden). From here it's an easy drive into Germany to Heidelberg and beyond.

Enjoy!

arash_the_archer

How about this one: October 3rd to Paris - HOTEL ALESIA MONTPARNASSE (How's that??!)
5th: rent a car from Paris - MONTPARNASSE railway station(avoiding Paris driving chaos as much as possible) and head immediately to Luxembourg city (reserved a hotel there and can not cancel this)
6th: Heidelberg
7th: Vianden and again Paris - drop the car (stay a day in Vianden or go back to paris the same day?)
8th Paris
9th: Brussels
10th: Istanbul

Question: is it worth to take some time to go to La Vallee Village for my wife's shoppings?


some places Fodors recommend are per below please let me know of your idea about each - I'm not a museum fan and I have seen d'orsay before so i think the museums go. - I have been in Paris for 1 day!!-

* Ancien Cloître Quartier
* Bois de Boulogne
* Canal St-Martin
* Carrefour de Buci
* Castel-Béranger
* Centre Georges Pompidou
* Cour du Commerce St-André
* Eglise St-Sulpice
* Hôtel des Invalides
* Jardin des Tuileries
* Jardin du Luxembourg
* The Louvre
* Musée Carnavalet
* Musée Cernuschi
* Musée d'Orsay
* Musée Guimet
* Musée Jacquemart-André
* Musée Marmottan Monet
* Musée National du Moyen-Age
* Notre-Dame
* Opéra Garnier
* Palais-Royal
* Place des Vosges
* Rue Mouffetard
* Sacré-Coeur
* Sainte-Chapelle
* Tour Eiffel