Beginner trip to Europe

From Florence or nearby Pisa or Bologna you can fly to Vienna or Munich. You can take the train but they are all a very long journey, I would fly. Vienna, Munich and Prague are sort of a triangle. They aren't horribly far, so hopping from one to the other by train is doable. However I would still check low cost airfare on skyscanner.com. From any of the three to Paris is a long distance that is best covered by air. Munich is the largest airport of the three, therefore more likely to have more flight options.
Once in Paris, to go to Amsterdam the train is probably the better option.
Amsterdam to Dublin is to be done by air.
Whether you do Paris first and Amsterdam second, or viceversa doesn't make much difference.
I didn't consider Brussels since I think you should visit Paris before you consider Brussels. I don't have experience with Poland.
I don't think the Eurail pass makes much sense if you use it only for two or three connections. Actually nowadays I don't think it makes any sense at all unless you are traveling on the train constantly.
One more thing. The cities you mentioned all deserve way more than two nights each. I could not fathom staying in Paris for less than four or five nights.

Hello ty0214. You could go to all of those cities in 18 days. But I agree with Roberto. Being at Paris would be more pleasant if you could be at Paris three whole days, not two whole days. If it were my trip, I would delete Vienna from the itinerary. You can fly from Florence to Munich. Train from Munich to Prague. Fly from Prague to Paris. ...

ty and group.

i will let others with more knowledge answer your travel questions.

but with regards to Dachau vs Auschwitz, they are horses of different colors.

From what i understand and this was brought up during our tours, is that Dachau was a "proving ground" for the prison camps. Auschwitz is the real thing on a larger scale. just something to think about when making your decision. I did both and am glad i did.

happy trails.

ty,

It's great that you've pared down your list considerably, as that will make it easier to work with. In the same situation, I might look at something along these lines.....

• Jun.27-D1/N1 - Florence to Munich - I'd use train on that route. There's a train departing at 11:00, arriving 18:21 (time 7H:21M, one change at Bologna). While that's a bit of a late arrival, it's not too bad and that's the about the shortest travel time. I don't think air travel will be much different once all is considered (time to & from airports, waiting, check-in, security, etc.). As you're likely on a budget, you can save money by pre-purchase of your Italy rail tickets online, but you MUST be able to commit to a specific train, date and departure time. Don't miss the train you've booked or your costs will increase sharply!
• Jun.28-D2/N2 - Munich - Spend at least one day in Munich as there's LOTS to see - the Hofbrauhaus will probably be a "must see" for your group. If you're interested, the Deutsches Museum is awesome but it will take some time as it's HUGE (16 kM of exhibits).
• Jun.29-D3/N3 - Munich - Visit either Dachau or the Castles in Füssen (whichever interests you the most). Given your overall route, Dachau would be a better fit than Auschwitz. You can either do the tour on your own or take a day trip with Radius Tours.
• Jun.30-D4/N1 - Munich to Vienna - I'd suggest a train departing Munich Hbf 09:34, arriving Vienna Westbahnhof at 13:30 (time 3H:56M, RJ direct). That's a good time to arrive as it allows a partial day for touring.
• Jul.1-D5/N2 - Vienna - touring
• Jul.2-D6/N3 - Vienna - touring
• Jul.3-D7/N1 - Vienna to Prague - I'd suggest a train departing Wien Hbf at 09:07, arriving Praha hl.n at 13:18 (time 4H:11M, RJ direct).
• Jul.4-D8/N2 - Prague - touring
• Jul.5-D9/N3 - Prague - touring
• Jul.6-D10/N1 - Prague to Paris - Have a look at GermanWings or EasyJet (there may be others but I didn't check). As with all budget airlines, you'll get the cheapest fares by booking early. Note that the cheapest tickets are often non-refundable and non-changeable. Also be sure to read their Terms & Conditions carefully, especially related to luggage.
• Jul.7-D11/N2 - Paris - touring. Depending on what touring you have planned, you might consider getting *Paris Museum Passes as they will minimize your time waiting in queust. Eiffel Tower can be pre-booked online.
• *Jul.8-D12/N3 - *Paris
• *Jul.9-D13/N4 - *Paris
• Jul.10-D14/N1 - *Paris to Amsterdam - I'd probably use a train departing Gare du Nord at 08:25, arriving Amsterdam Central at 11:42 (time 3H:17M, direct Thalys). You'll arrive early enough to do some touring.
• Jul.11-D15/N2 - Amsterdam
• Jul.12-D16/N3- Amsterdam
• Jul.13-D17/N1 -Amsterdam to Dublin - the best option on that route is probably Aer Lingus (flight time ~1H:45M).
• Jul.14-D18/N2 - Dublin
• Jul.15-D19/N3 - Dublin
• *Jul. 16 - D20 - * Return flight to U.S.

With the time you have, there are lots of possibilities, and this is only one suggestion. One point about Hostels is that you'll need to pack a towel, Flip-Flops and a small Padlock for the lockers (don't use the cheap TSA Locks as they are NOT secure).

To get some idea on whether a Railpass might be useful, you could try entering the details of your trip on Rail Saver as that often provides a close estimate. Note that Railpasses don't cover the reservation fees which are compulsory on some trains, so you'd have to pay separately for those.

Good luck with your planning!

I think it's a mistake to focus only on such short stays in big cities that are so far apart from one another. There is a lot to Tuscany besides Florence, and a lot to Italy besides Tuscany. I am assuming that you will see plenty of Italy during your study abroad period - but if not, Rome and other parts of Italy merit consideration. Sienna, Lucca, Orvieto, Assisi, Venice, Cinque Terre. Two and a half weeks is not a lot of time, and you are young so be assured that if you want to go back, you will. (I am a very experienced traveler, and my rule is two weeks = one country, maybe dipping briefly into a separate country if nearby). You could do very, very well on the Rome to Paris corridor, making the connections by train. This might include the Cinque Terre, French Riviera, Provence, French Alps, even Burgundy. I want to do a two week trip focusing on just Provence and the French Riviera, with an emphasis on the former, because there is so much to see there (my wife and I blew through there in four days on our 2003 trip). I would add London rather than Dublin, if you need to add something. As much as I like Dublin, for a first trip it's no contest. These days especially, any idea of getting on a plane mid trip is something that I avoid. Any time you get on a plane you are killing the better part of a day, with a much higher risk of delays that the train. Trains take you city center to city center - consider overnight trains. I have done this on three occasions and it always worked for me. For big cities the idea of traveling one day and staying one day before moving on would also be a big mistake. Paris is good for four full days (five nights) at a minimum. If you think you will have had your fill of Italy due to your study there, you could go right up to Paris and make it a Paris-Amsterdam-Brussels-London thing. These are all closer together than some of the other places that you mention, and train connections are good. I think Brussels is nice but no where near as great as Paris. Munich will definitely overwhelm you if you only have one full day. Big cities like the ones that you mention are well, big. It takes time to get your bearings. My wife and I were in Munich this year for two nights on the tail end of a trip, and even though it as my fourth time there and I am good with maps, it still was difficult on such a short visit. I want to go to Krakow too, but it's very far from anything else. I have had a hard time working it in to any of our trips. Definitely an advanced destination in terms of logistics, and probably not well suited for a first trip.

ty,

I was going to offer a few more comments on Dachau vs. Auschwitz (ran out of room in the previous post)......

Dachau was the first camp, opened in about 1933, and it was a model for many of the others. It was used initially for political prisoners, but later expanded to include other "undesirables" and those opposing the Nazi party such as Communists. The crimes there were as horrific as those committed at other camps, although not on the same scale as Auschwitz.

Auschwitz and later Auschwitz II / Birkenau was also used initially to house Polish political prisoners. However this was quickly expanded to include extermination, which was accelerated following the Wannsee Conference of January 1942, a conference that was chaired by Reinhard Heydrich. If you're interested in the history, you might consider visiting the Church of St's Cyril & Methodius while you're in Prague. Look up Operation Anthropod online for the details.

Of the two, I believe Auschwitz will be a more "intense experience". Given your route and limited time, Dachau will be a better fit for your Itinerary.

Hi Ty,

I'm not sure if people mentioned this to you in your other posts; if not, I'll suggest it now.

I believe you are studying abroad in Florence for several weeks/months and then your are planning to visit several places before returning home, correct? Do you have your weekends free in Florence? If so, you maybe able to visit many of your desired locations for a weekend during your travels. If you are worried about logistics, etc., Rick Steves son, Andy, runs a company for students that specifically does this. I believe the website is www.wsaeurope.com. ( if you go the 'About Rick' section on this website then in the bottom right corner, you'll see something about it).

This way you will be able to see many sights in one place at a time. Then once your semester ends, you can go see the places you missed on the weekends. Or, you can go back for a more in-depth visit to the places you really liked.

I'm kind of going against the grain here to suggest that you could do a semi-whirlwind trip ( way easier in my 20s than my 40s) if you didn't do the weekend trips with Andy Steves as long as you really plan it. I mean, that's what your 20s are for!!! Assume you can always go back to Europe later ( you've got many years) to do places in more depth.

Enjoy your time! I'm jealous!

Hi Ty,

I'm not sure if people mentioned this to you in your other posts; if not, I'll suggest it now.

I believe you are studying abroad in Florence for several weeks/months and then your are planning to visit several places before returning home, correct? Do you have your weekends free in Florence? If so, you maybe able to visit many of your desired locations for a weekend during your travels. If you are worried about logistics, etc., Rick Steves son, Andy, runs a company for students that specifically does this. I believe the website is www.wsaeurope.com. ( if you go the 'About Rick' section on this website then in the bottom right corner, you'll see something about it).

This way you will be able to see many sights in one place at a time. Then once your semester ends, you can go see the places you missed on the weekends. Or, you can go back for a more in-depth visit to the places you really liked.

I'm kind of going against the grain here to suggest that you could do a semi-whirlwind trip ( way easier in my 20s than my 40s) if you didn't do the weekend trips with Andy Steves as long as you really plan it. I mean, that's what your 20s are for!!! Assume you can always go back to Europe later ( you've got many years) to do places in more depth.

Enjoy your time! I'm jealous!

Dachau is easy to reach (20 min. on S-Bahn), which is a good reason to include it in this itinerary, but doesn't provide nearly the complete or memorable experience that Auschwitz-Birkenau does. You may be able to fit in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp memorial, instead of either of the above, which is 2 hours by train from Vienna (with a connection). However, visiting as a detour on a travel day between Vienna and Munich is made more difficult because there is no bag storage at the train station; you need both a 3-mile taxi and a half-mile walk to get your bags to the storage area at the museum (not the visitor's center; more detail in RS Vienna book, but not Best of Europe).

Trains are easy for Vienna-Munich-Prague (or the train company operates some direct buses on the last route). Next, flights from Prague to Paris are about $85 on Smart Wings or Easy Jet, cheaper and faster than train, per Skyscanner.com. Any of us in this office would choose Paris over Brussels.

Please consider what Gretchen has said about traveling while studying abroad. When my son was in Berlin for a semester, every weekend was a 3 day weekend. So every weekend he and others hopped trains and cheap planes and were able to tour Budapest, Stockholm, Paris, Munich, Dublin, London and more. They had a lot of fun and covered a lot of territory and far flung places. This may make it easier for you when you plan the time after school. Perhaps trains to places in more of a central area so that you aren't doing one and two day stops.

Your location does not show up on your post. (Most of the time the city and State of the poster shows up). So depending where you live you might want to consider finding and attending the nearest Rick Steves' "Third Saturday" gathering. These groups get together and talk travel and welcome new attendees to help answer some of their travel questions.
These are groups of "unofficial" RS travel fans who really enjoy helping people like yourself plan that first European trip.

There are gathering every "Third Saturday" of the month usually at 10 AM and at most locations at a Panera Restaurant. (because of the free WIFI and the waitresses don't bug you to move on).

There are groups in Denver, Sacramento, Moscow Idaho, Kansas City and St Louis are the cities that have the most regular schedule. There are others. All post details of their meeting in this section of the RS website.

The next Kansas City meeting will be January 17th at 10 AM. I just emailed Andrea from the Sacramento group about how best to attract new people to our meetings. And writing posts like this and sending private message invitations seem like the best.

But there are a lot of lurkers out there who might might not post but might like to attend and just talk travel. Even if they don't have an upcoming trip. We welcome everyone to attend. The most fun is helping people with their plans and give them the encouragement to just do it.

Starting about a week before the "3rd Saturday" each group post the details of their time and location.

PLEASE join a group near you.

This month the 17th is the date of the big event at RS "World Headquarters". We (KC) may watch the beginning of the first seminar session that will be streamed on the RS website.

Paris is expensive as in budget breaking expense. In order to save money Please consider staying on the edges of Paris and utilizing their metro system to get around Paris. Also, encourage your group to recognize your selected destinations are all prime well known tourists centers, but there is a wide menu of off the beaten path locales offering the opportunity to create wonderful memories; perhaps at less expense.

To learn about the off the beaten path opportunities perhaps you should start a separate post.

Please budget into trip preparation a discussion with your fellow travelers of what to do when you encounter "glitches" ( I will bet there will be one instance of the group becoming inadvertantly separated and ending up on wrong trains, cities etc) and how to handle when you get really cranky with one another (it will happen). I advocate everyone understanding they have the right to have some time alone and doing their own thing.

Finally, add patience to your itinerary by believing this is the beginning of more trips to come!

Gretchen,

We will be in Florence for about six weeks, and I do plan on visiting parts of Italy and close European cities as well. We have three day weekends, so I hope to use a couple weekends to visit Barcelona, Geneva, and possibly even Stockholm. For the most part I will probably travel within Italy on those three day weekends and leave the bulk of traveling to outside European countries for the trip after study abroad has finished.