teer

My 80 yr. old mother and I plan to take the train from Brussles to Munich, and stay for 2 nights at the Hotel Kriemhild. My first concern is how we get from the train station to the hotel. We will then take a train to Venice. We had planned to stay in Venice for 2 days, and then take the train to Florence. But I am concerned about changing hotels every 2 days. So another thought is to stay in a Venice hotel for 4 days and make one or 2 day trips. Any recommendations? Or is it easy enough to travel with luggage that changing hotels every 2 days is not a problem? Also, I could do some of the trip driving. What are your thoughts about driving from Brussels to Munich, and then to Italy and drop off the car there?

rex

You owe it to yourself and to everyone who visits this forum to re-post this message immediately - - and not expect everyone to stop and look <i>into</i> your message to see what it is you are befuddled about.

Look in the upper left hand corner for the word HELP in tiny little red letters. There, you will read that our gracious hosts (Fodors) really does expect some etiquette of you. And that includes mentioning destinations in your message header.

You may need/want to use a lengthy message header since you are really asking about several things:

1. Traveling with an 80 yr old mother

2. Itinerary advice connecting places that are NOT close together.

3. Advice for time allocation in Venice and Florence.

This might get the jist:

&quot;Seeking advice on itinerary with my 80 yr old mother on travels from Brussels through Germany to Venice and Florence&quot;.

I have several opinions on ways that this trip is planned wrong.

I will be glad to share them if you would be so kind as to re-post.

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers
Floyds Knobs, Indiana

Scarlett

Actually, I clicked on Befuddled because that is the way I feel half the time anyway
I cannot help you in any way with this question (which does need a more specific title) but it is a good word anyway
Good luck, teer~

travelbunny

..gone are the days of porters, skycaps ect...changing cities with luggage is not easy unless you (and your mother) pack light. my mother is a bit younger than yours but her definition of light is just under the max. allowable weight on the plane..and then she shops! a travel day does take away from sight seeing...would suggest you try to stay at least 3 nights in any given place or do the 4 days in venice (or florence) with day trips..hope this helps.

Grasshopper

Topping for Teer. This is his/her first post ever. Please don't put off by the instructions to repost.

If it were me, I'd take the train and pack very very light. Assuming of course your mother is as mobile as many very active 80 year olds.

tony

You really want to have a re-think on this itinerary, as you are probably biting off more than you can chew, and for no good reason.
By train from Brussels to Munich is a full 8 hour journey, with not particularly attractive scenery, apart from maybe one hour through the Rhine Valley, if your train goes that way, which it may not do these days. You will also have to change trains at least once, at either Cologne or Franfurt, which could add to the trauma, with luggage.
From Munich to Venice it is a 7 hour train journey, this time with excellent scenery in parts, and there is at least one train (the 1130 ex Munich, train No. EC 87) that goes right through with no changes.
Both trips are really too long to consider driving in one day.
Why are you going to Brussels? There is really nothing there of much interest. Whilst Munich is better it is still just a large city, not particularly uplifting, unless you are into Beer Gardens, and they are vastly overated anyway.
Perhaps you should be flying into Milan, Zurich, or Vienna and starting from there. Austria and Switzerland are far more enjoyable than charging through Belgium and Germany on long distance trains. You need to shorten the distances to enjoy it more.
With regard to transferring from trains to hotels, with an 80 year old Mother, the only way is by taxi, so pick hotels not too far from the tsations.
As a previous poster said you must also TRAVEL LIGHT, one medium bag each, on wheels, and no extra carry ons etc.
One final point. Please try and avoid the peak Summer holiday season of mid June to early September - it will be hot and crowded. Better and cheaper to go early June or mid September.

P_M

Your posting brings back memories of the days when I travelled with my dear, late grandmother. She was around 71 when we went on our last trip, and I can tell you with all certainty that the trip you have described would have been impossible for her. This trip might be a little too active for an 80-year-old. There were 2 types of trips that worked best for my grandmother. One was a cruise. On a cruise you are not packing and unpacking all the time, and she could relax in the room whenever she wanted. The other trip she could manage was the escoted tour. On a tour you will have transportation from one place to another, porter service for you bags, and the tour company will provide you transfers to and from the airport along with many other services. Additionally, with group travel there will be a guide and others in the group who will help look after your mom. I am sorry I have not given the specific answers you are looking for. I think independant travel is great for younger people, but I really think that older folks get more of what they need from some type of escorted tour, not to mention, this will be a lot easier for you.

I admire your mom's spirit for still wanting to see the world, and I hope when I'm 80 years old, I will have someone like you to take me to Europe, if I cannot go alone.

MelJ

I love the title--it caused me to open the post!

Christina

This is just personal opinion, which I think is mostly what this gets down to. I have almost no patient/interest whatever in transport logistics and don't like moving around. Traveling with someone who is 80 means you are going to be responsible for most of all that. I think you will get exhausted moving around every couple of days, it gets tiring, even if you travel light. I don't think you've traveled very much or at all, or you would probably have your own idea as to what you liked on that regard.

It takes time and energy just to do the constant moving and checking in and out, and takes time. My advice, which others don't feel the same about, is in your situation, do NOT scrimp and scrape over taxi fares from train stations to hotels. It will make your trip more relaxing and enjoyable if you accept the fact that you will have to pay a little more than the do-it-yourself lugging around on public transportation thing you could do in other circumstances. Long after the trip is over, you won't notice or care about the little extra cost for taxis. Choose your hotels accordingly, so that they are not excessive distances from the station or wherever you plan on arriving. Anything within 10 miles should be okay.

SalB

teer, You know your mother. If she can do it, don't worry about previous posts. My grandmother drove from Ohio to Missouri by herself at age 85 and at 83 went to Egypt and rode on a camel. I have the pictures to prove it.

Actual age has little to do with one's physical or mental abilities. We have a 92 year old lady at our church who drives every week and does a far better job than a few of the teens who are there. You couldn't guess her age in a million years. She looks somewhere between 60 and 75. I overheard her telling her age to a couple friends on her birthday.

Does your mother like trains? Would she prefer a car? Your choice. Personally, I wouldn't change hotels that often simply because it takes away from sightseeing time. I like to unpack and forget it and go see what the area has to offer. This is a matter of personal taste.

Good luck and enjoy your trip.

rhkkmk

i think that you would find plenty to do in venice for 4 days....i just spent a week there and have been there several times before...venice is not the easiest place to get around in so with an 80 year old in tow, you will move slowly...i would find no reason to leave venice....bad any side trips...just go out to both murano and burano and you will enjoy it and it will be easy for your mother to stroll around in both of those places...
4 days would be perfect for you...florence is lovely but save it for another time...2 days is plenty in munich really..

by the way take a taxi to the train station with your bags...hopefully the hotel is on the tram line and you can use it without bags in munich...

rex

&lt;&lt;I love the title--it caused me to open the post!&gt;&gt;

Well, then let's add more for others to use - - why bother with message headers that reflect destinations or information needs?

1. Dadgum brain-addled
2. Overfriggingwhelmed
3. Bumfuzzled
4. Lollygagged
5. Eyes glazed over
6. Synapses past misfiring
7. Cerebrally snockered
8. Hypocognizant
9. Blubberflustered
10. Fodorized

questionmotives

Somebody needs to be a little less invested in this site, lol. Posting a set of instructions that you made up for a site that doesn't belong to you may well qualify for the &quot;Get a Life, Buddy&quot; intervention.

My experience with German trains is that you should not expect much if any assistance with your mother. be prepared to assist her yourself and handle the luggage to boot. Very self sufficient lot over there. If travel is a concern, do try to limit it and make it as convenient as possible.

BTW, loved your post title!

ira

Hi teer,

Your current itinerary is Brussels, Munich, Venice and Florence.

Is there a compelling reason for going to Brussels?

Is there a compelling reason for going to Munich?

If not, I suggest you fly into Venice and out of Florence or VV. You could do 4 days Florence (with a daytrip) and 3 in Venice without wearing out your mother or yourself.

Take taxis and water taxis between train staations and hotels.

Have a great trip.

I

helpmewithtravel

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