We have a trip planned for September,all travel by train and other public transport. We do not plan to go to any large cities. We are flying into Zurich, leaving upon arrival
and going to Lindau, Germany on Lake Konstanz,daytrips to Mainau and Meersburg. Next,to Fuessen and Mittenwald (castles and more) on to St.Wolfgang, Austria in the Salzkammergut area with daytrips to Hallstatt,St. Gilgen, etc. and our last visit to Landshut to be near the Munich airport. There are several trip reports including most of these areas you can read. I know you will find the perfect places.

Sure IF you have foreign language skills it's great to brush up, or learn some basic vocabulary. and take a dictionary and phrase book.
BUT you definitely don't HAVE to speak any other language besides English to have a fun two week trip to Europe taking the train around to a few places.

believe me I'm not proud of having minimal language skills but it didn't stop me from having wonderful trips (including twice to Venice, also Paris, Amsterdam, and Lac leman area of Switzerland five different times).

and, no, i don't expect everyone to speak English ;-)

Yes, a few phrases is always beneficial but remember, with every question, there's an answer you must understand too or it's all naught.

Some people freak out more than others in a place they don't speak the language. I try to stay calm and just look around me to figure out what to do (how you line up, where you buy a ticket, whatever). I do try to not be in the position of having to ask for directions, for example, since that doesn't work out so well. But with a good attitude, open manner, and a street map, someone will help you out. Or in a shop... they have something to sell, you want to buy it, you'll figure it out.

Language in Venice (Italian in Venice to be specific).

You will hear people very quietly say “Permesso” on crowded streets. It means, “Can I pass you please”. It’s the Venetian equivalent of a blast from an air horn on the autobahn from a BMW going 180. Venetians are not renowned for their friendliness, and if I lived in a city that had a deluge of tourists every day, I’d get a bit terse too when I could not walk down the street. We did find them to be unfailingly polite.


This phrase worked for us – “Sono Australiano, piccolo Italiano”, which seems to mean, “We’re Australian, we don’t speak much Italian”. Responses varied from “That’s fine, then perhaps we will speak English” to “Sono Italiano, piccolo Englesi”, with a laugh.

"To not do so IMO is to be an Ugly American demanding and expecting everyone will speak English straight up"

Ah. I'm Canadian. Maybe that explains why I'm concerned about learning the language(s). ;-)


Seriously, though, thank you again everybody for the wonderful responses. I'm super excited now.

<BUT you definitely don't HAVE to speak any other language besides English to have a fun two week trip to Europe taking the train around to a few places.

believe me I'm not proud of having minimal language skills but it didn't stop me from having wonderful trips (including twice to Venice, also Paris, Amsterdam, and Lac leman area of Switzerland five different times).>

I whole heartedly agree with that after traveling for decades thru every language belt about in Europe - thank Allah that every country seems to use English as a second language - at least in tourist towns where tourists will be

thank Buddha that even in multi-lingual Switzerland i have often found that even say a Deutscher or German Swiss may have to resort to English to speak to a French-speaking Swiss or Italian-speaking Swiss, etc.

Thank God that zillions of students in Europe study - often have to study - English for years and years - and though many never become fluent in speaking it they can communicate basic questions a tourist may need to ask.

So all you really need is English to have a trip free from serious language problems and thanks to all the deities in the sky that English and not say French developed as the world's common language.

Now it is just too bad those Scots and Irish and Welsh and English Midlanders can't seem to speak English! ("Can you tell me that in English, Scotty?)

Hi vict4ia
We just travelled To Italy..Our trip was for a week,so We tried to cover most of the cities..
Here's the link to the detailed itinery

http://italyinoneweek.blogspot.com/

You might find it useful.
Thanks

As a Canadian, I can say you don't need visas to the places you are thinking of going.

Train or car? I'll admit that I've not done a lot of train trips in Europe, but have driven Ireland, France, Austria, Switzerland and Italy.

My thoughts? Car is a better option, because it gives you even more flexibility than train. A train gets you from place to place, but when you get to a place, how do you get around? You end up at St Heidi, and then you need to get to your B&B need a cab. The lady at the B&B tells you about a nice restaurant on the edge of town, with view of Alps, need a cab. The waiter at the restaurant tells you about a neat set of caves about 10 miles away...need a cab.

On of my favorite trips ever was my first solo trip to France. I rented a car and headed for the Loire Valley. Multiple times I got 'lost' and ended up on small little roards seeing parts of the countryside off of the well-beaten path. I wanted to stop somewhere because it looked interesting, I did. Wanted to go over to see a particular castle, went. The trip was on my schedule.

A train still take you from A to B... but it's those places between them that you might miss.

Great, I might need to brush up a bit with Italian greeting words before this coming September. I do appreciate those advices.

the only Italian word one need know - "Capiche?"

Ummm - and that's NO Italian word at all!

I'm late to this thread. Some thoughts: skip a car in Switzerland. It has superb public transportation; the trains/buses/boats are timed to interconnect and will take you deep into the mountains. Some of the prettiest small towns are car-free.

tenaya, I don't think the Swiss Pass works beyond the Swiss borders. Locarno is in fact in Switzerland, in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino. Pretty close to Italy, though.

Has anybody pointed out that using a Eurail pass in Italy and Germany, you have to buy seat reservations? (~5-10 euros) That is, for all but slow local trains. So, except for the latter, you can't necessarily just hop on, hop off where you want.

Hi,

I'm another who prefers using trains in Switzerland and Germany (I live in Germany without a car, yaaay). I love the small towns and villages of Switzerland and can confirm that they are best seen w/o that auto! Yes, you can get around wonderfully by train and bus, if you need to. But best way is of course on foot or by bike.

Many of the nicest places in Switzerland are actually car-free, and of course all of the mountaintops are. The Swiss are really experts at getting folks to all corners efficiently. When you're on a train (or on foot or bike), you have more chance to meet the locals and to interact with them instead of being all isolated inside your car.

Also, of course, trains are more green! How happy will you be knowing that you left the Alps as pretty and pristine as they were when you arrived, eh?

Have fun!

s

Has anybody pointed out that using a Eurail pass in Italy and Germany, you have to buy seat reservations? (~5-10 euros) That is, for all but slow local trains. So, except for the latter, you can't necessarily just hop on, hop off where you want>

Right about Italy -= dead wrong about Germany where only a handful of the zillions of daily trains require seat reservations - the Thalys train from Cologne to Brussels and ICE Sprinters - which no tourist will take.

You can and i have decades of experience doing so just hop on practically any German train anytime with a pass - the beauty of a pass in Germany still works - not so in Italy where you do need a 3 euro (not 5) to 10 euro seat reservation fee to use anything but regional trains with a pass.

Thanks again, everybody.

Okay, now I have another question. For various reasons, my husband would like to start our trip in Copenhagen (we're adding a couple of days to the trip). Would it make any sense to take an overnight train from Copenhagen to Cologne and using Cologne as a base for a couple of days? (We'd like to do the Rhine river cruise and such). Would we miss too much scenery by taking an overnight from Copenhagen to Cologne?

If not the night train between Copenhagen and Cologne, if making this trip during the day would you actually want to take a day train (at least 9 hours, possibly more) or opt for a flight? You can get cheap flights on Germanwings between the two, flight time 1 hour 10 minutes.