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Feedback / critiques for my summer 2015 itinerary

Posted by (Morgantown, WV, USA) on

Hi everyone - I am beginning to plan our 2015 trip to Europe and would appreciate the forum's feedback on my very* rough draft of our itinerary. My husband and I are traveling with our 15 year old niece and are trying to be both realistic and aspirational about our itinerary. My husband and I have been to Europe multiple times, but it will be our niece's first trip there. She is learning German in school and I speak enough German to be dangerous, so that's the reason behind the multiple stops in Germany. My husband and I want to add some new countries to our collection and we settled on Belgium and the Netherlands as reasonable destinations to reach from Germany. We intend to travel by train between all points. Is the following a realistic and comfortable plan? I do appreciate your help!

Day 0 Depart U.S.
Day 1 Arrive in Brussels and travel to Bruges by train. Spend two nights there.
Day 2 Bruges
Day 3 Travel to Amsterdam and spend two nights there
Day 4 All day in Amsterdam
Day 5 Travel to Berlin and spend three nights there
Day 6 All day Berlin
Day 7 All day Berlin
Day 8 Travel to Bamberg early morning and spend 1 night there
Day 9 Travel to Munich and spend two nights
Day 10 All day Munich
Day 11 Return to the U.S.

Posted by
17357 posts

Hi Jennifer---I cannot comment on Bruges or Amsterdam we we have not been there. But I will endorse your plan to spend a night in Bamberg between Berlin and Munich. We did that on our trip there last fall and it was a great choice.

Bamberg is a very pretty and welcoming town, with some interesting sights to see on a walk along the river and up to the old castle. We stayed at Hotel Bamberg which was great, especially the breakfast. It is a " Best Western" but doesn't feel like a chain hotel. It is walkable from the train station, although we took a taxi to the hotel, not realizing how close it was (6 blocks or so). The taxi driver chucked but was cheerful about the short ride.

Posted by
10587 posts

If what you're looking for is to give you niece a very quick peek at Europe, and check off a couple of boxes for yourself, your plan will work. My concern would be about the pacing. Two nights in a location only gives you one full day there. You have 5 locations in your 10 days. You can't count your departure day, and it's questionable about whether your arrival day would be productive. It depends on when your flight arrives. People react differently to jetlag. I've been to both Amsterdam and Bruges. You can get a quick look at them both by planning well. I think the Anne Frank house is a must in Amsterdam, and tickets can be purchased in advance. If you go, make sure your niece has read Anne Frank's diary prior to the trip. It was a highlight for my daughter.

You'll lose at least a half day every time you change location. You can't just look at train times. You will need to check out of your lodging, make your way to the train station, take the train to your next location, find your next lodging, then check in. It's good to keep that in mind.

You have to decide what kind of trip you want and decide how you want to proceed.

Posted by
796 posts

As much as I loved Bruges, for this trip I would skip it and add an extra day to Amsterdam and either Berlin or Munich.

Posted by
15777 posts

I agree with Dawn. If you want to lengthen your list, make it of cities, not countries, and take day trips. There are lots of them from Amsterdam.

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