Best First Tour Destination

Need some more info. When are you going? What interests you both? Art? History? Nature? Cuisine? Are you looking to relax or see as much as you can? How much are you prepared to move around? What counts as a big city, like where do you definitely NOT want to visit? Do you have a budget? Is there somewhere you need to end up to fly home?

As the previous poster said, give the forum some more information.

What month are you talking about?

After the family reunion in the Lofoten Islands, does your son have three days or ten days free?

And you are going to begin from Munich but where do you want to end up to fly home?

Knowing your departure airport would be of help. If you are spending a week out of your 10 days in the Lofoten Islands, one might expect it to take most of a day to get to Munich, leaving only a couple of days for anywhere else. To minimize wasted sightseeing time, you might pick somewhere close to Munich, if that is where you will fly home from. Perhaps Salzburg? Keep in mind that you will want to be in your departure city the night before you fly home.

"Best first tour destination"??? I don't know what this means.

Are you already flying from Norway to Munich? If not, I would consider spending some more time in Norway.

There is so much more to see than the Lofotens Islands. Take the coastal express ferry to Trondheim with its beautiful cathedral. From there you can take the scenic Dovre Railway to Oslo or get off in Dombås and take the famous Rauma Railway to Åndalsnes and then continue on to the art nouveau city of Ålesund. Depending on time of year you could travel the winding Trollstigen.

From beautiful Ålesund you can fly nonstop to Copenhagen, Amsterdam or London if you don't want more Norway.

Hi Everyone,
Sorry, I guess you need more. We’ll be traveling at the end of June, Budget is 2-3 stars. We can depart from anywhere because we are non-reving. Big cities are Paris, London, Rome (sadly). He doesn’t want to spend hours in museums, and wants to have low key, low pressure travel. He has a wide range of interests, but like I said, doesn’t want to spend all his time jn museums.

Based on your original post, spend those 10 days in Bavaria, including the Franconia region. Use Munich as a base for a few days and then spend one or two days in each of three or four smaller (than Munich) cities.

See what Munich has to offer and include a day-trip out to Herrsching for a hike to the Andechs Abbey. Nuremberg, Bamberg, Regensburg and Wurzburg are all interesting places to spend a day or two. If your son is into cars, head west out of Bavaria and visit Stuttgart for a deep dive into the world of Porsche and Mercedes.

I also suggest using an AI search engine to learn what local festivals my be happening while you plan to be in wherever you decide to go. Many cities have summertime festivals that are a great way to experience the local culture.

Have a great time.

2 to 3 stars i presume means cost reflected in quality. Well if it weren't for the no heat I would send you to the cheaper part of the Balkans; Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenrgro. Not that June is "hot" and half of each country is at elevation. But I know this crowd and they will swear differently. But its facinating country, from sea to mountain canyons and not a little cheaper than Italy or Germany or France, but substantially cheaper. Save some, and use some to bump up quality and more activities. Go here and view a few videos. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/bosnia/10-days-of-independent-travel-after-best-of-adriatic-tour

Second choice is Romania. Wonderful country and most at altitudes so cooler. Again, substantially cheaper than Western Europe meaning more options, more quality and less worry. Many great smaller towns and Bucharest is a kick in the arse if you are young.

Thanks OP. It being end of June, you’re basically getting into high season. Everywhere is going to be a bit more crowded, staying away from big crushing cities is probably a good thing. It’s bound to be hot (Europe keeps getting hotter.) I think it’s best to eliminate any possibilities south and stay north of the Alps.

I guess it’s not clear if you’re doing anything in Munich up until this point. If not/not much, I think basing off of Munich is an easy win. You can spend a few days there easily. Other cool destinations that are within a couple hours train ride are Nuremberg and Salzburg. Both of those have a solid mix of history, attractions and easy living. I’m daydreaming just thinking about a nice summer’s day in a Salzburg beer garden!

If you’re thinking about somewhere else, it’s either a 5 hour train ride or a quick flight which isn’t the craziest thing, but then almost anything is in the table. Quick thoughts here: Warsaw/Krakow? Venice and more so the Veneto towns? (Padua, Verona, etc) Yes, Venice will be crowded but mostly just during the day, and it’s still Venice. Ireland maybe? It can be a little awkward with places like France, because it would almost certainly end up with you in Paris at some point. But these are the decisions you’ll have to suss out for yourselves.