90 Days In Central Europe - Itinerary Planning

Your best travel months are April and May, but March can sometimes be fine in the south. September and October are also good with November variable.
Even with 90 days time, it is not possible to see every city and do all there is to do.
I have found p!anning very long trips difficult as an odyssey has a way of changing as you go from city to city. You never know what experiences and who you may run into along the way. Having a tablet or electronic device with you allows making room reservations possible on the run.
The time allotted for many of your cities is too much. For example, I would have no desire to spend 3 nights in Zurich as it's very quiet and not in the Alps. Bacharach is a 1 night stopover and hardly 1/2 mile long. Hallstadt is also a sma!l p!ace. There are few 7 day stops warranted even in large cities.

I prefer to split planning into 2 week blocks of time. And I like to visit cities that do compliment each other and are somewhat in a straight line.. For example, Munich, Salzburg, Hallstadt, Vienna. Or visiting Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna, Prague. Another would be Rome, Florence and Venice if you get my idea.

I should clarify re Zurich.

The idea is to use Zurich as a base for exploring the Argau region (ancestral home of the Habsburgs).

I don't anticipate spending much time in the city itself.

We seem to have different attitudes about weather. When I think about winter in the interior, "terrific" is most certainly not the word that comes to mind. More like "frigid". So I will mostly ignore that aspect of your trip; if it works for you, that's all that matters.

Many of your stops are as yet unvisited by me, so I'll only address some of them. I don't know anything about the history of the Habsburg Empire, so please forgive my focus on general tourist interest rather than the specialized history that may be calling to you.

Zurich is pleasant, but it's a business city and very expensive. If I were paying Swiss prices (which are exorbitant) I would choose a place with more charm. Lucerne? Berne? Berne has a lot of arcaded streets, so perhaps more pleasant in the winter.

Brixen/Bressanone is a nice small town with a very pretty historic district. It is quite small, and I think one full day there might pretty much wipe out the points of interest unless you perhaps are planning day trips (by bus/lift) up into the Dolomites? The larger city of Bolzano, which also has a lovely historic district and good access to the Dolomites, has a number of museums that would help keep you occupied, including the one housing Otzi, the Iceman. You can move between Bolzano and Brixen/Bressanone quite easily by train.

Hallstatt is a pretty little place, but 3 days might be a long time, especially in the winter. Lake towns are sometimes dead in the off-season, though that may not apply to Hallstatt.

Prague is stunning, but 7 days is a long stay unless you plan to do something special (like dig into historical archives??).

Sibiu is nice and can also be a base for day-trips to other attractive towns like Brasov and Sighisoara. Getting into and out of Romania is not a quick process. It looks like the overnight train to Zagreb takes over 17 hours. If your time is flexible, I suggest seeing more of Romania. It's not so easy to get there, so you're not likely to return soon, and it has a lot to offer. But of course, I'm thinking back to what it was like in the summertime.

3 days at Lake Bled in the winter...I don't know about that. Without a car or a side-trip by bus (and the latter may not run in the winter), I'd have been going nutso after one night there. It is beautiful, but it is a very, very small lake. As in you can walk around it in an hour or two--something like that. There are lots of attractive outdoor options in that part of Slovenia, but I don't know what's available in the winter. Incidentally, it's an easy bus trip from Ljubljana (though I don't know the winter schedule), so if you really just want to see the lake, you can add a day to Ljubljana and avoid a hotel change.

I understand about the 3-night minimum, but 3 nights in Opatija and 3 nights in Venice seems a bit odd.

If you haven't already done so, I suggest checking all your transportation legs to be sure they are reasonable. I use the Deutsche Bahn for checking schedules, though at the moment the English-language page is switching to German when the schedule is displayed.

Also, regarding Hallstatt, yes it's very small. The idea was to do some hiking around the area.

Likewise for Cesky Krumlov and Stary Smokevic.

@acraven

Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who likes snow and frigid temperatures! I'm curious about Brixen v. Bolzano. Bolzano looked more modern/industrial I thought, but maybe that's wrong. Re Slovenia, is there another specific town/city you would recommend beyond Bled and the capital? Re Romania, I'd like to add more time. After Sibiu, what would be your next stop? Re shortchanging Venice, indeed, but I've spent a fair bit of time in Venice before.

I see you have a few 7-night stays, but they are toward the beginning of your trip. I would put one or two longer stays (5+ nights) toward the end (perhaps cut one or two of the 7-night stays down to six and shift those nights toward the end).

@Zoe

Good point. Zagreb might be a candidate for a longer stay.

Bolzano is larger than Brixen (Wikipedia pages will give you populations), but when you're in the historic area, you're not really aware of the modern surroundings. I liked both towns very much, but there just seemed to be more to do in Bolzano. You can find pure-medieval environments, but some of them are horribly touristy and Disneyfied. I prefer what I call "real cities" that have historic areas where I can plunk myself down in the historic district for some wandering time; others prefer the tiny, purer places. Not that Brixen is tiny. Staying there would be fine. You can make side trips to Bolzano and Chiusa/Klausen (a much smaller, picturesque town on the rail line) if the weather or your interests make going up into the mountains undesirable.

In Romania, aside from the previously-mentioned towns, I liked Timisoara (where the revolution began, a city with a lot of well-kept historic architecture) and Cluj-Napoca. Aside from the very pretty historic area, Cluj is a good jumping-off point for trips to Maramures, the area of wooden churches, wooden gateways, and the Merry Cemetery. I don't know what winter traveling conditions would be like (the area is quite hilly, and I assume it gets snow), and I suspect the Retro Hostel in Cluj doesn't get much interest in its day-trips at that time of year. I didn't stay at the Hostel, but I took a 2-day trip to Maramures organized by the hostel. It was great. Transportation within Romania is quite slow; I think Maramures would only be possible via rental car or on some sort of tour. Maramures is in the NW. In the NE you have Bucovina, another interesting area, this time with painted monasteries. It's another area where public transportation will probably not be sufficient to see the good stuff. I took a van trip that originated in Suceava, but again I'm doubtful that it would be offered in the winter time.

One other point about Romania: Labor rates are very low, so a private guide may be a lot more affordable than you would expect.

I loved Ljubljana. I based there for visits to Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, the Vintgar Gorge and the Skocjan Caves. I didn't cover the country very well and am not in a position to suggest a different or additional base. I know some others here have had more experience than I, and Dejan, who is from Slovenia, has been generous in posting first-hand information. You may find some good stuff by reviewing the Slovenia forum, but time of year may make a difference.

Basically I am jealous

I think the winter weather in most of central Europe is over stated. Its not that it gets all that cold. It really isnt any colder than much of New England; its just that it lasts for a decent period of time. We have a home in Budapest and we spend time there in late September and early October because I love that time of year in the region; cool, not cold. We also go back for Christmas most years and love it when we are lucky enough to get snow (1 year in 4 years probably). Generally speaking wake to sleep temperatures are 32F to 40F. Just not horrible. We did spend one January in Moscow and for two days straight the temperature was close to 0F. That was cold. We will be in Budapest, Lviv and Kyiv this coming January and not too worried about the cold.

Still the Adriatic is much too pretty to do in the dead of winter. September wouldn't be bad thought. We were on the coast of Montenegro the last week of this last September and it was perfect weather.

As for your locations? I understand Budapest, but with your interest in history you might get more out of Esztergom or Pannonhalma than Eger. Train from Lviv to Krakow makes sense, but the trip to Lviv from Stary Smokevic i suspect is a long tough ride. I would try and find a flight. But going to Lviv is brilliant.

I like your creative title, sort of refers to the Habsburg Empire historically, doesn't it?

Your primary interest is history in this geographic area of the former Austria-Hungary....bravo. . I assume you know the historical names used in anglophone historiography for some of these places...Laibach for Ljublijana, Lemberg for Lvov, Hermannstadt for Sibiu, etc

Also, an impressive list (including a few battle sites) you are visiting. You can take the train from Krakow to Przemsyl..a little long but certainly worth your time historically and geographically. . Between Lvov and Przemsyl is a very bloody site indeed, hundreds of thousands of men perished there, if you count both sides. Take the direct train to Tarnow from Krakow.

I would suggest starting this 90 day trip on May 1.

@ fin de siecle....great name. I would suggest you see in Vienna, among everything else, the Deutschmeisterplatz, where a big military monument is situated to commemorate Habsburg victories. If you have a good level of reading German, all the better, since you'll get more out of these monuments than just by looking at the figures without understanding what was written exactly.

There is another Habsburg military monument near Westbahnhof, opposite of the Hotel Fürstenhof, on the 1809 feats of the Lower Austria Landwehr troops. You'll notice the Austrians seem to focus on 1809. There are more battle sites/museums around Vienna and reachable by public transport.

I would suggest dropping Hallstatt, go to Linz after Salzburg instead for more history, especially in the Zentrum. While in Salzburg, take the bus to Bad Ischl to see the Kaiservilla, where Franz Joseph spent the summer to escape the heat of Vienna. I've been to Bad Ischl a couple of times, take the tour (only in German) to see the interior of the Kaiservilla.

You'll see the desk where Franz Joseph wrote his "An meine Völker" speech in 1914 and the typed document itself. I was hoping to see (but didn't) his war declaration against Serbia, written not in German, but in French to the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister. That document in French was not shown in the tour.

I don't know enough about Habsburg history or many of the places on your list to comment on them.

December-February or even January-March means not many hours of daylight and long, dark evenings. That's not a problem in cities where there is year-round tourism and lots of entertainment, restaurants, and bars, maybe even some sights with evening hours. But for places like Hallstatt (where I've been) I wonder if there will be anything to do after 5 pm.

December means Christmas markets in many of your places. They and anywhere near winter sports means high season so it may be difficult and/or expensive to get "last-minute" accommodations - especially if snow or ice delays your travel (yep, even by train).

If you haven't traveled abroad before, do not underestimate the physical and mental stress of changing locations frequently. It isn't the logistics (packing, mvoing around) but the orientation to new surroundings - different languages, signage, currencies, customs, transportation, and becoming familiar with your surroundings. Hallstatt is easy, there's basically one street and no vehicles. Budapest and Vienna have several train stations, buses, trams and metro systems and it's not really hard to get lost. Two weeks of 3-night stays in multiple countries is tiring, two months of it may be exhausting. How much luggage are you going to take? Generally winter means more than any other season, because of the weather, like heavier clothes and more outer gear. The less you take, the more you have to do laundry, though you'll have long evenings for that :-).

I also wonder if winter is a good time to "get a taste of the local culture". If I were living in a cold climate in mid-winter, I wouldn't be out in the evenings strolling through the parks. I'd be hunkered down in my heated home watching tv. In warmer climates, there are fresh air markets all year long. Is that true in northern climes? Other than December, are there any winter festivities?

Sounds like a fabulous trip.

I assume that you have read a lot about the Hapsburgs. I recently finished "The Hapsburg Empire: A New History" by Peter Judson, which was very interesting, in that it discussed the history but also the sociology and implications. For instance, the rise of nationalism is discussed in this book. The modern nations of course arose within the last 150 years, but also the concept of Nation itself.

One component you might wish to think about a bit is the concept of the Auslanderdeutsch. Karl (1720s), Maria Theresa (1740-1770s) and Joseph II (1780-1790) sent a lot of Germanic Austrio-Hungarian citizens to colonize the depopulated areas in the Balkans. These areas are now part of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hezegovenia, Serbia, and Romania, but once were A-H. Thousands of settlers were sent to these areas in 3 waves in the 1700s. They founded lots of villages, were very important in the character of this region, and were finally driven out after WWII in an ethnic cleansing that few Americans are aware of. Cities like Novi Sad, Timosuaoro, Bratislava, and others in that vicinity were founded by these Germanic peoples.

I too would have questioned Zürich for 3 nights. Was it ever a Habsburg city? Judging from this map (status in 1780) I don't think so: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Autriche_ant%C3%A9rieure.png

I would suggest starting further west. Freiburg im Breisgau (see map) is a lovely city and has a Habsburg-themed city tour: http://www.habsburg.net/ausfluege-sehenswuerdigkeiten/schoene-ausfluege/freiburg-stadtrundgang/
The small towns of Rheinfelden, Bad Säckingen and Waldshut (all on the Rhine, see map) are worth a few hours each and have Habsburg traces. Rheinfelden still has the old army barracks in the main street with an Austrian coat of arms on the building.
And of course the original village of Hapsburg and its castle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habsburg_Castle

Freiburg im Breisgau is an easy train trip from Zürich airport, you could go direct there after landing.

If you want to go back pre-1648 there are ex-Hapsburg territories west of the Rhine in Alsace.

Important - you say "~90 day tour", I haven't added up your totals, but assuming you are not an EU citizen, you are only allowed 90 days in the Schengen Area, including arrival and departure days.

Hi,

Are you set on dong this trip in the winter, or is that still under consideration as a possibility? Doing the trip in summer has certainly advantages if you look beyond the down negative aspect of the heat, which can be stifling and oppressive. I don't like that sort of broiler heat, just do my best to put up with it. The train schedules offer more choices in the summer plus with some fine tuning of your itinerary you have night train options.

If you want to see evidence of the second Turkish invasion of Habsburg Austria, go to Wiener Neustadt in the Zentrum, I went there as day trip in 2014 from Vienna.