We are traveling to Vienna in September 2016 and wondered if our plans are to crazy. Day one Vienna, then travel via train to Hallstatt. Spend the night in Hallstatt then travel to Fussen the next day. We also want to see Rothenburg, Strasbourg then end in Paris. 17 days total trip but want the last 7 days to be in Paris. I think we need help!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Sounds like you have a lot of 1-2 night stops planned. These can be fine - in moderation. But a long series of them would be exhausting and frustrating; you'll need a few days in Paris just to decompress.
Use Rome2Rio to get a quick estimate of your travel times: http://www.rome2rio.com/. Remember that two nights in a place means one full day, and only one night means less than a full day. Again, this can be fine, as long as you aren't doing it every day.
Remember that the day of arrival is often a jet-lagged haze. So, landing in Vienna only to depart the next day for Hallstatt means that you will see even less of Vienna than you would on a single day in the middle of a trip.
Have you bought your plane tickets yet? If you haven't, you may want to start somewhere besides Vienna, closer to Paris (say, Munich). If you have and are locked into starting in Vienna, cut a few intermediate destinations, to avoid burnout.
Posted by
226 posts
I advise that you follow Rick Steve's advice to stay at least 2 nights in the same bed as much as possible.
I've followed some pretty aggressive travel itineraries, but still try to have 2 nights in a row every other stop even in an aggressive schedule.
Here's what I would suggest:
Day 1 - Arrive Vienna (stay in Vienna)
Day 2 - Vienna (Vienna)
Day 3 - train --> Hallstatt [4 hours] (Hallstatt)
Day 4 - train --> Salzburg [2.5 hours] (Salzburg)
Day 5 - Salzburg (Salzburg)
Day 6 - train --> [1.5 hours] stop in Munich for 3-5 hours --> Fussen [2 hours] (Fussen/Schwangau)
Day 7 - Neuschwanstein (Fussen/Schwangau)
Day 8 - train --> Strasbourg [5-6 hours](Strasbourg)
Day 9 - Strasbourg - perhaps quick visit to Colmar or Black Forest (Strasbourg)
Day 10 - train --> Paris [4 hours] (Paris)
Day 11 - Paris (Paris)
Day 12 - Paris (Paris)
Day 13 - Paris (Paris)
Day 14 - Paris (Paris)
Day 15 - Paris (Paris)
Day 16 - Paris (Paris)
Day 17 - Depart for home (Flight)
That's aggressive for the first half itinerary, but for the most part gives you a day off from travelling every other day and will help you keep some sanity by sleeping in the same bed a couple of nights at a time.
If it were me, I would probably add a night or two in Vienna, which would mean cutting a night or two from Paris.