meljoff

Hello, My husband and I are going to Europe in mid-December. He is attending a conference in Salzburg, and I am meeting him after the completion of the conference. I fly into Munich and we plan to meet in Salzburg that day. We are only in Europe for 6 days, and we want to see a good portion without trying to fit too much in. We had planned to go to Salzburg, then Zermatt, then Prague and back to Munich to fly back. Now we think that may be too much to try to do. Should we go to Zermatt or Prague? Also, shoud we try to spend time in Munich? Keep in mind that it is December... Thanks for your help!

Intrepid1

I usually don't say what I am about to because different people have different travel capacities but in this case: YES, you are trying to do too much if for no other reason that geographically given the fact that Zermatt and Prague are more or less in opposite directions from where you will be.

I've been to Zermatt and Prague many times. Both are wonderful and both are unique but if I had to pick one over the other I would pick Prague...but you are leaving yourself precious little time to do much of anything and we haven't even started to talk about how you are going to travel between these places.

You could easily spend a day or two in Salzburg..well, at least a FULL day and spend the rest of the time in the environs/Bavaria/Munich to include Berchtesgaden, Garmisch, the Ludwig castles, etc.

I'd concentrate on a smaller area this time around but have a wonderful trip no matter what you decide to do.

hsv

Unless you plan to go skiing, I'd say skip Zermatt.
Wheras if you want to ski, skip Prague- because it'll take a full day to get from Salzburg to Zermatt, you would need a few days there in order to enjoy the skiing.
That said, if yoou do intend to ski, why go all the way to Zermatt? There are pretty good skiing areas around Salzburg: Obertauern or Badgastein come to mind, so taking that trip to Zermatt does become even less appealing.
Prague is a wonderful city, although I have not been there in December and thus can't vouch for the weather to be enjoyable. Still, I have been to countries in Europe further East (a wording that I hope will avoid any popular discussion whether the Czech Republic may be called Eastern Europe;-) ) in the winter and found the cities to be fairly enjoyable.
Hope this helps.

meljoff

Thanks for all responses so far! We planned to take overnight trains so that we wouldn't have to get hotels those two days. So the long trip isn't necessary a hindrance- although I've heard that the trip to Zermatt requires stops and getting on a private train in Bern. We don't plan to ski as we are live in Colorado and ski plenty here.

Intrepid1

Yes, you CAN get to Zermatt and that "private train" they are talking about refers to the Matterhorn-Gotthard railroad that operates the services from Brig up to Zermatt. It is "private" in that it is not part of the Swiss Federal Railways system..but it does honor some passes such as the SwissPass and regular point to point tickets.

You can make connections from either Salzburg or Munich.

bobthenavigator

No question to me--Prague!
But, check out the train connections from salzburg--it will not be easy.

walkinaround

two overnight trains in 6 days (with flights to/from north america on either side of the 6 days)???

i would rethink this because, frankly, it is crazy.

you say you want to "see a good portion". keep in mind that at this pace you just end up "seeing". if you stay in one place for the 6 days you can start to experience something rather than just see the same scenes you can see in a book.

i would suggest munich and salzburg since these would minimise travel time and are nice places to visit especially around xmas. if you haven't seen much of europe (even if you have), i'm sure you will have a great time experiencing munich and salzburg and maybe some of the surrounding areas.

Intrepid1

Frankly, after all of these recommendations I'd be real happy right now with a simple RESPONSE from the original poster!

cmeyer54

This is another vote for Munich - the Christmas Market will be in full swing while you are there and is so much fun! You'll find plenty to do in the city - its easy to navigate. There are historical sites, museums, churches, palaces, and so on. We ran out of time with 6 days there.