Hi y'all!

Here's the story, my boyfriend and I are starting to plan a trip to Europe in early May 2007.

Through work, I'm managed to accumulate enough Hilton points for 7 nights at a Hilton in Europe. I wouldn't normally choose a Hilton anywhere in Europe, but for free, I'll take it. So, automatically, we're limited to where there are Hiltons.

This will be my BF's first trip to Europe, save Ireland when he was 13 years old. I've been several times to Amsterdam, Zurich, Brugge, Paris, Prague, London, Scotland.

We're 33 and 36, from Phoenix, love dives, hanging with the locals, museums, architecture, etc. Not high maintenance at all, love to drink wine!!

Of course, his first picks are places I've been, such as Prague and Amsterdam. I'd love to go back, but wonder what we're missing.

The deal is this, the 7 nights hotel have to be in ONE hotel. So that will be our base.

Here's what I've thought of so far:
Amsterdam with an overnight trip to Brugge
Paris with an overnight to Beaune for wine and several other day trips
Prague with an overnight to Dresden

But, where else could we go that we could spend a week? I want to get to know the area, but not be bored by day 3.

He's not so interested in Italy for some reason.

Places we've thought of that you might have feedback on:
Munich
Budapest
Slovenia
Madrid
Lyon -- there's a Hilton there
Dubrovnic with an overnight to Venice
Tallinn Estonia -- too small
Warsaw

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have. We don't want to spend a fortune and all our time going to other places. He really wants to experience the OLD, historic parts of Europe.

Have a great day!

Good Grief! This budgeteer never thought she'd be advising people about 5-star hotel choices!

How about Greece!?!?! It's certainly Old and Historic, and Greece invented Wine! And Architecture! and Art! Etcetera! And MAY is the perfect Month to go to Greece... temp 65-80... and in southern Isles, warm enough to swim (yes).

There are 2 hiltons-- in Athens & in Rhodes. Howsabout you fly to Athens, and walk right down the hall and take a Bargain Aegean Air flight to Rhodes (35E +taxes etc eachway = about 45E, or 90E RT, but you have to reserve SOON). Enjoy 3-4 nights in Rhodes (Crusader Castles! Medieval walls; ancient columns of Lindos! etc). Last May 18 I swam in the bay of Lindos, and it was divine.

Then fly backone AM and enjoy 3 nights in Athens -- Acropolis, Forum, Plaka district, FAB museums, architecture, all that good stuff. PLUS late-night dancing/bouzouki etc. If you want to hang out with the locals, just talk to your Hilton "co-workers" your age, at the 2 hotels... they'll steer you to places THEY like, where they know you'll enjoy yourselves.

You wonder what you've been missing?? I just told you... and I want you to come back & say Wow, how come I never thought of Greece before!

Oh yeah, and I forgot to say that -- aside from the cost of coffee (which somehow is 2.5-3Euros), the prices in Greece are about HALF that of Italy in May.
(Don't tell anybody on this Fodor board or they may desert Italy and crowd up Greece).

For a week doing side trips and in early May I'm going to say Madrid. Spring is the best time to visit and there are lots to see both in the city and in the towns nearby (avila, segovia, toledo, salamanca, la granja, aranjuez, el escorial...). In fact, you don't have enough with a week

Arhh! Greece! Yes. That could be a possibility. Thanks Jan. Here's the catch. The hotel stay has to be at one hotel for the entire seven nights. I've been told that Athens isn't really optimal for a week. What are your thoughts on that?

Thanks so much.

Oh golly, I just saw the line that says it has to be in ONE hotel.... hummmm. Well, choose one or other, and you've still got a winner.

If you go to Rhodes & rent a car part of the time, you can explore the whole Island... in addition to just enjoying the beach & the facilities at the Fab Rhodes Hilton in Ixia, a suburb of Rhodes town.

Also, do a day trip to Symi, the next island, which has a Port that is Magical, they tell me!

If you chose the Athens hotel, just seeing the city (Acropolis, museums, ancient forum, the fab new Olympic site etc )can easily take 3+ days... and you can also take good Day trips...

One destination is only 1 hr by ferry (so you get a little of the GReek ferry experience) -- to the Island of Aegina. Rent a little scooter and zoom around all over, especially to the best-preserved Greek Temple in All of Greece, the temple of Aphaia, with a stunning 360° hilltop view overlooking the whole Saronic Gulf.

Another trip, by bus, to the Temple of Sounion... take a picnic, go to the beach for the afternoon, a taverna dinner, then see the sunset at the Temple on a high cliff, then bus back at 9 pm for more of that night-life.

A third idea if you're REALLY into Ruins -- 6:30 a.m. bus to Delphi (2.5 hrs) to beat the crowds -- unforgettable views in the mountains (don't take a "tour" to this, it's a ripoff, not enough time on site).

THat enough to convince you??

I think you should go to Vienna. Vienna should be nice in May (I just looked it up, and there's a Hilton there), and you didn't mention that you've already been there. It sounds right up your alley---lots of museums, architecture, fun low-key places, but also lots of high culture. Vienna itself should take a few days to see properly, and then there are day trips to Eisenstadt, to Melk, Krems, Durnstein, etc. And day cruises on the Danube.

I went there for five days all by myself once in early January and wasn't bored at all---just cold, which you won't be.

Otherwise, I think you should definitely spend the seven nights in Munich. There are so many day trip options (all the castles, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden...the list goes on). Also, there's nothing better than sitting out in Augustiner Keller with a liter of beer, a pretzel and some mustard. Hopefully it should be warm enough then.

I would agree that after two-three days you will have seen the best that Athens has to offer and trips elsewhere would probably need more than just a day or even one overnight.

You could get to a lot of places from Munich via car or train; the Hilton Munich City (one of two Hiltons there) is situated directly over an S-Bahn stop (Rosenheimer Platz) so getting elsewhere coule be easily done.

One overnight to Venice (from Dubrov.)would be too short in my opinion.

Hi G,
I don't think that you would get bored with a week in Paris.

You could visit Versailles, Chartres, Auxerre, Dijon/Beaune as daytrips or overnights.

Friends of mine just stayed at the Hilton in Paris and enjoyed their view of the ETower every morning and night from their room. I,too, would choose Paris. Why can't you tack some other days at the beginning or end of your trip and do some touring then?

We spent 2 weeks in May in Greece this past year and have already begun planning a return trip in 2007 for 3 weeks at the same time of year. We've traveled in the UK, Germany , Italy extensively, and dabbled in France and Spain... Greece totally blew us away however. I think a week in Athens actually makes a lot of sense. Seeing the Acropolis, both ancient Agoras, and the accompanying museums will take an entire day. Then the National Archaeology Museum is worth at least another day. There are also other great archaeological sites such as the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, Kerameikos cemetary with the ancient funerary monuments, etc... You could easily take a daytrip to one of the nearby islands (Nikki's trip report about Carnival in Greece tells you how to do this). You can also visit Delphi as a daytrip. Other good daytrips are Ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth, and Ancient Mycenae. You could hire a driver to take you around or rent a car and drive yourself. Driving in Greece is incredibly easy... we found it much better than even Germany! There are also plenty of companies running daytrip tours if the above two options don't appeal to you.

oops, correction. Our return trip will be in 2008. 2007 is Germany/Austria/Italy with the family.

Isn't there a Hilton in Cannes? Then you could do your 7 nights there and not be bored at all. Many day trips from there all over Provence and you could do easy day trips to Italy.

From that list, I'd choose Paris or Madrid or London.

Hilton's aren't five-star hotels, to the person who thinks they are. Maybe some are, but a lot of them are pretty average, even 3*. I'd say the Paris Hilton is a 4*.

I just spent 5 days in Dubrovnik and would think with day trips (we did one day to Montenegro) you would have no trouble filling up 7 days.

You could also do day trips to some of the islands (Korcula comes to mind first, but there are several) and there is also Mostar in Bosnia.

Plus Dubrovnik is one (if not THE one) of the most beautiful places I have ever been too. I didn't go into the Hilton there, just saw the outside, but the location is very central...in my humble opinion you wouldn't go wrong with 7 days in Dubrovnik.

Whatever you decide....ENJOY!

I agree with LowCountryIslander - give Croatia a try! I haven't been there yet but my husband and I are going in May 2007 as well and Croatia seems beautiful, laid-back, and uncrowded...

I think what you need to figure out first is not "where is there a Hilton?" but "where is there a Hilton that has availability for Hilton points stays around the time you want to go". If you visit the Hilton Honors discussion thread on flyertalk.com, you will a) discover that a lot of people often have difficulty using their points where and when they want to use them and b) gain access to some helpful advice from frequent travellers who know the ins and outs of the hotels you want to stay at and suggest tips for finding reward stay availability.

The Hilton in Basel Switzerland is really nice and Basel is an excellent base to explore Switzerland, Germany, France. Many desitinations as day trips with return to Basel to sleep. Basel is not a huge tourist destination so it is "really" Europe. Great munster (cathedral), old City, excellent museums (historical, Greek/Roman, modern art, etc.), KaiserAust (sp??), is a short bus/boatride away with excellent Roman ruins, go to the Alps, Alsace wine routes, German forests...all as daytrips, plus Zurich, etc.

As above, I'd find out availability before you stew too much over this one.

Is Geneva a possibility? That would work well as a base for a week.

I don't see any problem going back to a city you have been before. If anything it might be less stressful than somewhere brand new.

geg5150,
Why do all 7 nights have to be the same hotel? Hilton does not limit their awards as such. Different Hiltons are also in different categories which require differing amounts of points per nights. Their top category requires a whopping 40,000 points/night.
You could pick a Hilton in different cities and see what the total award points you need would be.

If you are looking at their special 7-night awards, these are limited to their Silver and higher VIPs.
The hotels (Cat 4-6) in the large cities are often their more popular ones. May can be quite busy. It would best to see if their is availability first before setting your heart on something.

Also since you don't mind staying in smaller, less fancy hotels, Hilton has several intl hotels that require less points. So you could mix and match, e.g., Cat 5 for 4 nights and 3 nights in a cat 3 hotel, and still end up using a similar amount of points.

Research which Hiltons you may be interested in. The amounts of points you may actually need may surprise you. Flyertalk.com has loads of info on how best to use your points.

Why have we not heard anything in reply from this poster?