prettymin

It's first time for me and my husband for Europe trip and i desperately need help with our itinerary. our itinerary looks something like this:

sept 7: arrive at frankfurt
arrive at rothenberg at noon
sept 8: night train to paris
sept 9-11 paris, night train to Rome
sept 12-14 night train to zurich
sept 15 zurich
sept 16 train to munich
sept 16-18 munich
sept 18 night train to frankfurt
sept 19 frankfurt, 11:30 flight

does my itinerary seem too hectic? do you have any better suggestions? what can we do in paris and rome and munich 3 days each?

There are few options for the eurail pass but i don't what what is the best options for this trip. I know i threw so many questions at once but hope i'll get some good information, thanks

pavfec

You don't seem to be spending much time in Frankfurt. Is there any reason why you're flying in and out of there?

My suggestion would be to fly into Paris and out of Munich (multi-city or open jaw ticket).

It seems a bit hectic. You're doing a lot of night trains, but have you ever done a night train before? What if you can't sleep very well? You'd be very tired arriving at your destination.

3 days for Paris is great, and many people would say not enough. 3 days in Munich is good. You can take your time and explore the city. Not sure about Rome since I've never been. Your best bet is to get some guidebooks from the library and read up on the things to see in each city.

suze

My question is the same... have you been on a night train before??? Will you have a private compartment or a shared couchette bunk?

I would do 2 overnight trains max. on a 2 week trip (since I really never can sleep well on a train even though I enjoy taking them, so am always tired that next day after the overnight journey). With jetlag on top of that at the beginning of the trip those first two legs would be brutal for me.

For me yes your itinerary would be way too hectic. I've done two weeks with 3 cities and 2 overnight trains which seemed about the right pace for my taste.

Neopolitan

Put me on the list that considers night trains a personal Hell. I can't sleep, I arrive somewhere feeling lousy, and usually can't get into my hotel to take a shower and refresh for hours, and as a result have a miserable time the whole first day in each destination.

If you put this on a map, it really looks like a zig zag and that's a whole lot of travel.

I'd probably cut out Rome for starters, and then Zurich which is only a stopover between Rome and Munich.

Is there a reason your stay in Switzerland is Zurich? Or are you really adding a bunch more time to get to someplace more exciting there? It seems odd to make your first trip to Europe and spend a day in Zurich as a stop on a train from Rome to Munich. This trip becomes more about travel than it does about seeing and experiencing Europe.

But I'm suspecting you got a fantastic deal on the round trip to Frankfurt and that's already set. Kind of too bad, but I'd still reduce the amount of travel.

By the way, 12 nights in Europe does not equal two weeks. For 12 nights, I'd try to limit the area covered.

Randy

Is there a reason you are flying into Frankfurt? Why not use CDG in Paris and save the train to Frankfurt or get an open jaw ticket and fly into Paris and fly out of Frankfurt.

It would also be a little much for me, but I do feel what you plan is possible. I think I would drop Zurich and add time to Paris or Rome.

suze

My suggested tweaks:

I'd drop Rome completly as it's the furthest out of the way, then switch Zurich to Geneva because I love that area along the lake in Switzland.

And I definitely would NOT get on an overnight train the 1st night (that is assuming you have just taken a long plane ride from US/Canada?).

As above, you have 12 days not 14 (= 2 weeks).

prettymin

Here is my situtation. My husband bought very very! cheap tickets that fly in and out of Frankfurt so we don't have much choice.. I haven't heard much interesting things about Frankfurt but if you have any suggestions, we'll keep our options open

We were so focused on saving time and money on lodging that we thought overnight train would be the best options.

prettymin

I guess would need to drop either Paris or Rome...

crefloors

Well, you'll get a thousand different answers so take it all in, let it jell, and do what works for you. I'm NOT an EXPERT, but have done three trips to Europe and frankly I think your plate is a bit full. I think you should take Rome out of the mix and save that for another time. You are doing a lot of traveling and two days will NOT do it any kind of justice. I haven't been to Germany yet so can't help there, was in Lucerne briefly and just loved it. I would say keep to Germany, Switzerland, and France. Others with more experience than I have will give you good logistics information.

LoveItaly

Hi prettymin, I think that one of the main points is, have you and your husband used night trains before? If so and if you know that you will sleep and feel refreshed in the morning versus that you haven't and assume you will sleep well on the night trains that would make a big difference as to suggestions regarding your time in Europe I would think. Best regards.

tcreath

I too think your itinerary is too rushed. Europe is fantastic, but I promise it will be there when you want to go back. Its easy to want to visit a lot of countries, but to visit a country just to say you've been there (such as Switzerland) wastes precious vacation time. You have a lot going on, and I would hate for your first trip to Europe to be an exhausting blur.

Overnight trains on occassion are fine, but I wouldn't suggest more than one or two. They are not as "romantic" as they sound. Its very hard to get a decent amount of sleep, and you wake up exhausted and usually disoriented, and you can't check into your hotel for awhile to freshen up.

I absolutely love Rome, but for your trip I would skip it. It's just too far away. If you really want to go to Italy, I would suggest Venice.

If you did Venice, you could skip Zurich and head directly north from Venice to Munich.

You may want to consider some of the low cost flight options. They are usually cheaper than overnight trains (especially if you want a private cabin). Check out www.whichbudget.com for help.

Good luck!
Tracy

prettymin

Your suggestion that I should limit overnight train to two is very helpful. Honestly, this is our first trip to Europe and first time for the overnight train! I'll definitely check out whichbudget.com. Thanks

wren

Prettymin, we just returned from a 17 day trip in and out of Frankfurt. (We never went into Frankfurt either) I understand your desire to see as much as you can, but with 12 days, why not concentrate on 3-4 places within 3 hours + or - of each other? That way you will get a better feel for a few places, and can travel like you will be back to Europe again. What about Rothenburg (1), then heading to the Rhine or Mosel Rivers (or Switzerland if it is a must-see) 2-3 days, then down to southern Germany where the castles are (2 days), then Munich (4 days) daytrip to Salzburg, and back up to Frankfurt for your flight out? Another possiblilty: what about taking the train to Amsterdam 3-4 days, then to Brugge 2 days, Paris for 5-6 days, and then back to Frankfurt? Just some ideas to confuse you!

suze

I think the in/out Frankfurt part is just fine since you got such cheap tickets. My suggestion is take a map (if you haven't already) and draw a circle, stopping 3-4 different places as your guideline, starting and ending Frankfurt.

Overnight trains are fine for some people, but not others. If you book a private room (2 people) it's about the price as a 3-star hotel anyways, so not always a money saver.

annhig

Prettymin - I really like suze's suggestions - as you are fixed with Frankfurt, why not make that into an advantage and concentrate on germany, austria, & switzerland? To cut out driving, you could train to Munich, then hire car to tour southern germany, possibly Salzburg, then thrpouigh the tirol into Switzerland and back to Munich.
In september you should be able to find accommodation as you go. There are already some great threads in this board about southern germany - just use the search facility.
Viel spass!

nessundorma

prettymin,

I'm going to echo the advice you are getting to draw a circle around Frankfurt and focus on places near there, instead of flinging yourself about.

If budget is a governing consideration, look to see on a map what might be convenient in eastern europe, and skip the Grand Old Western Capitals. Rome and paris and Zurich are pricey.

You might find this useful:

http://downloads.raileurope.com/map_...pe/europe.html