viranpooja

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting on this forum. Have read some awesome stuff and thought I would get advice from you all. So here goes: My family of 10 is coming to Europe this summer for two weeks. We are coming from USA, starting our trip in Zurich, Switzerland and ending in Prague, Czech. Here is a tentative plan. I know that some of you may feel that this is too much and some of you may feel this is ok. However, please keep in mind that we are ok with jumping from place to place so we can see more. We are primarily an active group with the exception of my aunt and mom who have slight knee problems.

I wanted to get advice on what you may think of the itinerary, possible changes (with consideration that we are ok with not spending too many days in each place), possible additions or suggestions of things on the way that we may not want to miss or alternative options, and most importantly...what kind of rail pass do we buy to go through all of this? We are debating between buying a 10 day rail pass, buying individual point to point passes, renting a car/van, hiring a private driver. Please help with suggestions?

• Day 1--> Arrive in Zurich by 9:00am.
○ Head to Lauterbrunnen Valley and drop off bags at hotel
○ Go waterfall viewing in the valley
○ Spend the night in Lauterbrunnen Valley (hotel has already been booked)

• Day 2 --> Head to Grindelwald in the morning
○ Ziplining in the morning
○ Alpine sliding in this area
○ Spend night in Lauterbrunnen Valley (hotel has already been booked, same one from day one)

• Day 3--> Head to Broc and Grueyere around 10:00am
○ Chocolate factory in Broc
○ Cheese factory in Grueyere
○ From Grueyere, head to Chur and spend the night in Chur

• Day 4-> Bernina Scenic Express from Chur
○ Train for Bernina Express leaves at 8:30am and arrives in Tirano around 12:45pm
○ Leave from Tirano, Italy at 2:30pm and get back to Chur at 6:30pm
○ Spend the night in Chur?? Or can take a late night train to Salzburg? Or can take over night train to Vienna? (this obviously affects the rest of the schedule below)

• Day 5 --> Chur to Salzburg in the morning
○ Unless we already get to Salzburg late at night then we can wake up a bit later
○ Hang around Salzburg town all day
○ Spend night in Salzburg

• Day 6 --> Ice Caves (not sure yet which ones to visit)???
○ Spend the night in Salzburg

• Day 7 --> Hallstat
○ Spend the night in Salzburg
○ Unless it is better to spend the night in Hallstat

• Day 8 --> Morning in Salzburg and then leave for Vienna
○ 2 and half hour train ride
○ Spend the night in Vienna

• Day 9--> Spend day in Vienna
○ Spend the night in Vienna

• Day 10--> Day trip to Budapest, Hungary?
○ There is a tour company that does day trips to Budapest for $99 per person
○ Spend the night in Vienna

• Day 11 --> Leave for Prague in the morning
○ Spend the day and night in Prague

• Day 12 --> Prague
○ Visit nearby concentration camp
○ Spend the night in Prague

• Day 13--> Another full day in Prague
○ Spend the night in Prague

• Day 14 --> early morning flight back to USA

Thank you in advance to all who reply

nytraveler

A couple of notes:

Traveling with 10 people two of whom have even minor mobility issues is going to take much longer than it does for just a couple to move around.
You have not allowed nearly enough time to get from one place to another.

I won't give you every details - but for instance Day 11 you say leave for Prague and spend day in Prague. But the train from Budapest to Prague takes 8 hours - so there is no day in Prague. It will be dinner time when you get there.

As for traveling - you need to look into the details between each city. We flew between Prague and Budapest to save time - but don't know the cost now.

As for driving this really isn't an option. For 10 people and luggage you will need either 2 mini vans (and so 2 drivers) or a private driver with a large van/small bus - which will be extremely expensive.

But my biggest concern is that it is already June and you don't seem to have any plans locked in. Not such a problem for 1 or 2 people - but for 10 people you can start to run into all sorts of problems getting enough hotel rooms in the same place or the trains or planes you wish.

Also you don;t seem to have picked out what you want to see/do in each place - except for a couple of things that I'm not sure everyone will be able to do.

Suggest you lay this out day by day, checking the transit options by specific times. Bahn.de has train schedules for all of europe so you can figure out your options - but I'm afraid things are going to take longer than you have allowed.

Essentially you are running a small tour group - and they plan those many months in advance and have a professional driver and guide. I fear you will find this a very expensive, exhausting blur and that some people will drop out along the way.

Perhaps you can assign specific towns to certain people in order to get things moving more quickly - and prepare a list of items for people to choose from in each town so each can do what they want.

viranpooja

Thanks for your reply.

For Day 11, we will be going from Vienna to Prague (not from Budapest). There is a day trip with a tour company that we will do from Vienna to Budapest through. This tour company takes you there and brings you back to Vienna. So this should be fine as the next day our transport is from Vienna to Prague (not Budapest). Already looked into it.

Private driver with tour guide in Switzerland is coming out $1600 per day, which is about $160 per person. Not sure whether it's better to go by train or do this way?

There are many hotels available so I am not concerned about that. I already booked the hotel for Lauterbrunnen, in the speaks with a hotel in Chur which should be finalized by tomorrow, and many many many hotels available all throughout Salzburg, Vienna, and Prague for the dates we are going. Thanks though for warning me about this, because I will start booking faster, perhaps by the end of this week

Yes my siblings are helping me as much as they can .


Any suggestions on buying the rail pass that covers Switzerland and Austria for 10 days for about $500? Is that a good idea?

janisj

>>For Day 11, we will be going from Vienna to Prague (not from Budapest)<<

That doesn't help all that that much. Sure it is a shorter trip than from Budapest but it is still more than 4 hours. So your poor group will be on a bus ALL day the previous day and then first thing in the AM getting on a train for a 4+ hour ride. That isn't counting getting to/from the stations. I'd be really upset sitting for the best part of 1.5 days.

You do realize the bus will take about 3 hours each way to Budapest and back??? That is nearly 6 hours just getting to/from - not the time touring the city.

In your planning realize that traveling with 10 . . . EVERYTHING will take longer than a single/couple

viranpooja

Fortunately for our group, sitting is the time to relax. Especially on the nice trains of Europe

If it is a big deal, then we can always cancel the Budapest plan. We have only discussed with the tour company of potentially doing it, but have not yet booked it. Luckily, we can book this tour even a week before if we wanted.

viranpooja

What I am really confused about is why it would take longer for 10 people vs. 2 people? I have done so many trips with this group of 10, actually we were a group of 12 but two could not make it this trip due to classes, and any time we traveled it was not slower? We traveled Greece, Turkey, and Croatia just last year and even then it did not take "longer" just because we were 10 people so I am very confused why it would take "longer". You get on a bus/train that is going to depart whether it is 2 people or 10. It's essentially 5 couples vs. one couple. It can be counted as 5 separate couples traveling on their own. So just confused why things will take "longer" for 10 people?

janisj

The time ON various modes of transport takes the same time . . . but 10 people take different lengths of time to eat, they walk at different speeds, have different needs for rest breaks and bathroom breaks. And shopping and reading descriptions in museums and galleries and just about <i>everything</i> except actual time on the bus or on the train.

One person -- or even a couple -- can set their own pace, but when there are 10 of you, it is the lowest common denominator . . .

viranpooja

Janisj... got it thanks for explaining. That makes sense and know that by experience from all our trips together. But we manage to always work that out. The reason we travel together is because we are so similar. Reading speed..eating speed..everything. Even walking speed ends up being the same as we always have the moms head start a few minutes. And the times when it doesn't..we just accommodate as needed and keep moving. Thanks though!! I can see how this can affect groups that aren't similar or who don't usually travel together. Our first trip together we were definitely worried about this!!

fourfortravel

A couple of thoughts.

You and your family are visiting cities that are rather popular with travelers in the summer; the "many, many" hotels that are available now could disappear by next week, leaving the group with few options and perhaps in less convenient areas outside of the main city. This could add transportation time and at the same time reduce sightseeing time.

Cobblestones and inclined surfaces (e.g. pathways to castles in Prague and Budapest) can be a challenge for those without mobility issues. You may want to send the moms out considerably ahead of the group--is it still group travel then?

A couple of weeks ago we lost almost an hour driving from Vienna to Prague because of road construction in CZ; just yesterday we lost 15 minutes on a simple drive to Bratislava because of road construction in Austria, and peak holiday travel time has yet to begin. (Translation: if you really think a day trip to Budapest is worth it, consider train travel.)

viranpooja

Thanks!!! I will go ahead and reconsider the Budapest trip but will wait on what the other 9 people think (who are ok with the travel time).

You are right about the hotel situation and I will be getting to them asap!