Hello
We would like to visit Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels and Amsterdam. We have 2 weeks towards mid July. We want to sample the major highlights in each city. We fly from San Francisco.
Where should we start/end our trip? Any suggestions on a 2 week itinerary will be helpful.
GR
You can fly nonstop from SFO to Munich and from Amsterdam to SFO or vice versa on United Airlines. From the Munich airport train station, you need to transfer in Munich to get to Salzburg (2h 30m) and sleep in Munich two nights. Before leaving home download Rick Steves app on your phone and take his Salzburg self-guided walk so you don’t miss seeing anything.
To get from Salzburg to Vienna take a direct train (2h 30m) and sleep in Vienna five nights. While in Vienna visit the Hofburg Imperial Apartments and Treasury, the Kunsthistorisches Museum, St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Schönbrunn Palace. On your last day in Vienna take a day trip by direct train (1h) to Bratislava’s old town and have lunch. It’s quite charming.
You can fly nonstop from Vienna to Brussels (or vice vs.) and sleep in Brussels for four nights. While in Brussels visit the Grand Place and the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium. Good day trips from Brussels are Bruges (1h by direct train) and Ghent (30m by direct train). You can then take a direct train from Brussels to Amsterdam (3h). While in Amsterdam visit the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum.
Thank you!
Most efficient is to fly to Vienna as it's the farthest east. Then work back west. Munich works, but you need to travel even farther east by train to Vienna and then double back.
But of course figure out which flights are best for you - cost, schedule, etc, and then work from there.
I'd travel east to west because of slightly higher chance of good weather in the low countries at the end of the trip.
I'd break the Salzburg to Brussels train day with a stop either in Strasbourg France or along the middle Rhine castle zone. About halfway, and worth two nights. Both are on the high speed train lines.
Also note that there is a NightJet train from Vienna to Brussels. You could get a sleeper car. Salzburg then is a issue, but the train from Salzburg to Linz Austria (a NightJet stop) is just over an hour, direct, and frequent. You could easily leave Salzburg at check out time, arrive Linz, bags at station, look around Linz (which is a nice city!), go to dinner, then 10pm onto train. Sleep the night in a private sleeper cars, and be in Brussels at 11am the next.
Only caveat some people don't sleep well on the train.
Also check out staying in either Ghent or Antwerp in Belgium - both quite near Brussels and both probably preferable tourist cities.
there is a NightJet train from Vienna to Brussels. You could get a sleeper car.
The Nightjet train is your best bet; this way you can kill two birds with one stone. I've taken approximately 17 overnight trains where I've rented a sleeper car and never regretted it. Heck, you have to sleep somewhere.
In Brussels I also recommend the Musee des Instruments. It's a fascinating and extensive collection of musical instruments, with recordings of most of them playing a period piece of music. Even my non-musical friends have enjoyed it. The building itself is an architectural gem designed by Horta and there's a lovely cafe on the top floor overlooking Brussels lower town.
Sounds like a lovely trip!
I like Brussels fine, especially the large, paired Museums of Fine Art. But many posters here really enjoy Bruges and Antwerp. Others prefer Ghent. I don't mean to say you should cater to cocktail party chatter, but no one will ask you about Brussels; They will ask you if you went to Bruges. I personally find Antwerp to have more days of things to do than Bruges.
I am thinking of flying from SFO to Vienna and returning from either Brussels or Amsterdam to SFO.
If I return from Brussels, I will cut out Amsterdam from the trip. I will just end it at Brussels.
This information has been quite helpful
It will be great to get a sample number of days / city to plan out a schedule.
Thanks
For most stops, I tend to like three nights in a location. 4 nights in our first stop to allow for jet lag. 5 full days for big cities like Paris or Rome. It’s handy to use Rome2Rio to calculate travel between locations. Then add in time to pack/unpack and check into/out of hotels. That helps you get a more realistic sense of how much time you really have in a location.
Well, I would hate for you to miss Amsterdam, but you are already covering a lot of ground and the Netherlands is worth an entire trip on its own. Next time!
If you decide to fly home from Brussels, I would plan on 4 nights there. That's probably only 3 full days, and there are so many easy day trips. It's only about 3-4 blocks between the Central train station and the Grand Place. Stay in a hotel soewhere between the two; there are many choices. That way it's just a short walk to your train for day trips to Brugge, Ghent, or Antwerp. Upon your return in the evening, it's also a short walk to numerous restaurants on and around the Grand Place.
In Brussels itself, I'd skip the Mannekin Pis, but recommend the following:
