first time

What you are asking is for someone to write you a guide book. My suggestion is that you read some guidebooks and get a feel what you would like to see and do. Rent some travel DVDs, go to your local library, read some of the questions and answers on this site, do some homework yourself first and then return with specific questions. Only in that way can we be helpful to you.

maybe my question was not elegant enough Frank. I am not asking you to do my research. I am already doing the things you mentioned. Someone may have had an outatanding resturant experience, hotel stay etc. experiences on winter travel in europe, vegetarian resturants, car rental etc.

No, it was not specific enough. Italy is not a city but a big country. Why should I waste my time recommending a restaurant or hotel in an Italy city that you were not going to be in. Come on, cooperate a little bit. Are you going to Rome, Milan, or Florence? You have to give a hint.

Also Stephen, how many days is your conference, how many days do you have left for travel, where in Switzerland/Italy are you thinking of visiting?

My initial impression it that it's a lot to do in the time you have available but it depends on where in Switzerland and Italy you and your wife would like to travel. Do you plan on travel by train, budget airlines, or rental car?

For example, personally, I like the Berner Oberland area of Switzerland and in northern Italy I've enjoyed spending time in Verona and Bologna.

Are you into skiing? If not I would consentrate mostly on Italy. Monaco, I found, was nothing special. It would help to know where you are flying in/out of, how many travel days you have and what kind of budget you are on.

I love Munich and there are so many day trip options to take from there. I found the Lonely Planet Munich, Bavaria and Black Forest guide book very helpful especially if you are spending most of your time there.

If you wanted recommendations on, for example, vegetarian restaurants, why didn't you mention this in your first post? We do try to be of help here, but we can't read minds. A list of cities you intend to visit would be helpful, a list of countries is not.

I just read in another post on the General Europe page (4 Things I Hate About Europe, page 2) where the poster (Brad II) said being in Monaco on a Sunday was a "bad idea." Given the context of 'conversation' with surrounding posts, I took that to mean not a lot was open and it was pretty sleepy, maybe not the ideal time to visit from a tourist standpoint (I haven't personally been to Monaco... yet...).

I agree with others that having more specifics from you would likely garner more useful replies. Collectively, we have all kinds of tips and experiences, but, for your trip, having more information would help us tailor responses to be more relevant for you.

Okay, you meanies. I'll help Good Ole Stephen. Here's what you do Steve:
Skip Monaco unless you want to buy a boat. Skip Italy as well, it's full of old stuff and cheap art.
Rent a car and head for Paris, it's only a seven hour drive. Passing south of Frankfurt, you'll see Burma Shave signs urging you to tour the Rhine Gorge -- don't bother, when you've seen one river, you've seen them all. A while later you'll see a big church on the right, this is Reims -- don't bother getting off the freeway, it's not really all that impressive when you get right down to it. Finally, you'll get to Paris. You'll need three nights here, unfortunately there's not much to do during the day. The first night eat dinner on the Seine river cruise, you can probably pull it off for a couple hundred bucks, night two is for dinner at the most excellent restaurant part way up the big TV tower (figure on another couple hundred), on night three eat at the Moulin Rouge -- the grub is kinda steep but you get to see the ladies underpants. That pretty much does it for that burg.
Now head for London, you can keep the car and use the ferry to take it across the channel. Don't bother with the British Museum, it's full of more old stuff. I saw a vegetarian restraunt near there once, but, anyway, it's just across the street from some pub that I can't remeber the name of either.
Having seen the best of the UK, find a way to Roskilde, Denmark, to see the Viking ship museum. It's got old stuff, but it's interesting. That's pretty much the highlights of Europe as far as I know. Have fun.
Seriously, with limited time on a first trip, poke around Bavaria for a couple of days and then head for Paris for the remainder. (Unless you have absolutely overriding reasons for the other places you mentioned, the're relatively minor and you can see them on subsequent trips.) Paris will knock your socks off. Take your wife there and she'll love you forever. Do NOT eat at any of the places I mentioned.

Please tell us the following so we can help:

1) What days will you be attending your conference.

2) Can you fly in and out of any city you wish?

3) What is your current itinerary in regards to exact places--not just countries.

4) Besides vegetarian restaurants, what types of things are you looking for? Museums, historical sights, etc?

5) Would you consider other forms of travel besides a rental car?

6) Have you picked up a copy of "Europe Through the Back Door?"

I guess there must be another site for beginners. If I knew with such detail what I was going to do, I would not be posting. but thanks for the suggestions,i will continue with the search.

Does this seem like a reasonable question?

my wife and i are planning our first trip to america. leaving 2/18---3/7/10. we are planning to spend time out west, i have a conference in texas, then time in florida and new england. we are interested in your tips and experiences.

What, no tips? Mean people!

I don't think Stephen is a Through the Back Door type. I think he would be more interested in structured tours. We have given him all kinds of opportunities to open a dialogue but he is going away in a huff. It is his lost. Not ours.

stephen,

I have to agree with some of the others in that in order to provide useful "tips and experiences", some further information would be really helpful.

It appears that your trip will be 17 days. Keep in mind you'll lose the first day and will usually arrive in Europe the day after you departed. You didn't indicate how many days you'd be tied up with the conference or how many days you'd have for travel to Italy, Switzerland & Monaco? Are you using open jaw flights or do you have to return to Munich? Which sights are you interested in seeing in the four places you want to visit?

As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door to begin with.

Good luck with your planning!

You can't go wrong with Rick Steves' Guide books. I've used them since 1997. Try to go to a few of the "back door" towns he recommends. Interlaken Switzerland is lovely. Also, if you are in Italy try to make it to one of the hill towns (Orvieto or Siena). I can't go to Italy without getting an anchovie pizza and gelato three times a day!

Kerry

I agree that Stephen was a little vague but why be so nasty? As a beginner on the site he may not realize that a little more information would make it a lot easier to help. There are times when I feel like making a sarcastic response (especially when the question of atms versus exchanging money comes up) but instead, I just don't post. My suggestion to the long time responders would be not to respond to a question that you find personally annoying. To say Stephen is going away in a huff because no one could read him mind is inaccurate. I think it would be more accurate to say he went away because he was treated rudely. Some of the posters gave him good suggestions of info that would make it easier to help him. Why post a response for no other reason to berate someone. It seems especially out of character for this site.

Hey, at least he's not on a cruise and has one day to see Rome...and wants to know what to do, where to eat and how to get there.

Teena says, "Why be so nasty?" and "Why post a response just to berate someone?" I see no real nastiness or beratiness (new word) in any of the responses. Perhaps they could be pointed out to me?

I don't see any of that, either, Norma. It was Stephen himself who acted offended by the responses instead of trying to clarify what he wanted to know. He gave no indication of doing any research, yet gave a snippy-sounding answer when someone suggested he do some. But just like the recent 11 countries in 21 days post, how can we know his intent unless he explains what he wants instead of expecting us to guess?

You guys are acting like a high school clique. Here you go again playing the "let's pick on the new kid" game. Grow up!

I get what Stephen is asking. It's also nice to hear highlights of people's trip so you can hear firsthand what their experience was like. While it's nice to read Rick's books, there's nothing like first hand recent experience from someone.

We just came back from our first trip to Europe. Some of our highlights include:

Munich - if you can get to Neuschwanstein I'd highly recommend it. It's about a 2 hour train ride from Munich. the scenery around the area is beautiful. If you can spend a night or 2 in one of the small Bavarian towns near the castle I'd go for it.

You didn't say where you were going to in Italy. We spent a few days in Rome and while we found the big sites (Vatican, Colosseum, etc.) interesting we really didn't care for Rome. We found the city to be dirty. Next time in Italy we will look for smaller cities to explore. While only there for a few days, we felt it was enough time to see everything we wanted to see - the city of Rome is actually quite small and it's very easy to get around by foot.

I understand wanting to hear other peoples' experiences, but still, some further information would help give Stephen personal experiences that will benefit HIS trip. I could tell you all about my trip to, say, Austria, but he's not planning on going there, so that information wouldn't be useful. And as Frank says, Italy is a country, not a city. A hotel recommendation for a city you won't be in won't help you.

Shelly,

It's difficult to offer "tips and experiences" without having locations to work with, especially in Italy and Switzerland. Both of those countries have a huge number of possibilities.

It's difficult to suggest locations to visit without having more information on the duration of the conference and whether open jaw flights are a possibility. With such a short trip, places to visit will be somewhat limited by the transportation times. Choosing locations that are relatively close geographically would be a good idea.

Cheers!

Stephen,

For Switzerland, my three favorite cities are Luzern, Bern, and Zermatt. Luzern is right on a beautiful lake, Zermatt has no motorized traffic and is at the foot of the Matterhorn. Skip Zurich and Geneva, just big impersonal cities.

Skip Monaco, it's expensive and not worth it.

Italy, that's a pretty big country, you'll want to narrow down to focus on what you want to see. Since this is your first time, far and away you should see Rome with a side trip to Pompeii. Florence is also a great first place for a first-timer. If you really want to discover an out of the way place, I recommend the little town of Alberobello, in Puglia, on the heel of the boot. You'll have to go through Bari to get there, but spend as little time in Bari as possible.

Since you'll be at a conference in Munich (though you don't tell us how long) you really should enjoy what Bavaria has to offer. Munich is fun. Rothenburg is really quaint, and you can pretty much see it in an afternoon. You don't hear people recommend Nurnberg (you may recognize it as Nuremberg) much, and I don't understand why, as I loved it when I was there for a conference this March (and I have been to Europe 9 times, so I have a lot to compare it to). Really neat restored medieval walled city, great food, and the sight of the Nazi party rallies from the 1930s is really worth a visit if you are at all into World War II history.

Pew!!!!. for a moment I thought the world was round and I am square--laugh-.
the initial responses were nasty. they also suggested that there is only one way to go about doing this.
we have travelled much in the americas and caribbean, europe will be a new venture for us, but the essentials for good travelling are the same.
I was not asking others to tell me what to do. I hoped my question would have invited others to share experiences. I get that teena, shelly and ken get my question. thanks.
happy thanks giving to those who celebrate the holiday.

i meant teena, shelly and mark, not ken.

Stephen, I think most of the posters would have liked it if you gave us more information, such as which cities you will be arriving and departing from, which cities in Switzerland and Italy you wanted to visit, how long your conference was, what are your interests, etc. The more information you give us, the more and better tips you receive.

I don't understand the reason why people feel the need to make snarky replies to posts, but do you at least get that they probably made them because your question was pretty impossible to answer without more specific information about your travel plans?

Monaco is beautiful, but unless you feel like spending 10 euros for a sandwich, I imagine there are cheaper places along the Riviera to spend a few days. When I go there, we ogle at the Ferrari dealership, enjoy the views, ask how much we think that beach front property costs, and complain about the bill each time we eat out. Luckily when I go, my boss foots the bill. I like Geneva a lot, a wonderful place to wander around, and the public transportation is good. As for Italy, of course go to Rome. Ignore comments of "Rome is dirty." Many places in the world are dirty, that doesn't mean that they aren't beautiful, and in Rome's case, positively magical. Remember there is more to Rome than the Forum, the Vatican, and the Coliseum. Head up to Trastevere, walk around the Aventine hill, go the Protestant cemetery behind the Pyramid, and the museum at the Palazzo Doria Pamphili. Also, after the cold in Switzerland, sitting in a sunny piazza under a heat lamp in a cafe will feel wonderful.

we are thinking of a vacation rental in munich rather than staying at the conference hotel. any one with such an experience? the VRBO options for munich are very limited.
Claire, I want to supprise my wife with a side trip to monaco because she loves that old Grace Kelly movie that was filmed there. yes the area is very different now but there must be more than the cost.

By all means, go and show your wife where they filmed "To Catch a Thief." Take walk along the beach, go the marina and check out the yachts and the famous casino. Stay in a beach front hotel. I guess what I mean is that there is something very unreal about the place, it doesn't feel like a town where people live, raise their families. Instead it feel like a place where people live a few months out of the year but where no one is actually from. That doesn't mean it isn't beautiful, but it doesn't feel real. Most of the people who work there live outside Monaco, so you don't even have the feeling of meeting the locals. You asked for our experiences, this was mine.

claire, thanks for the info.

Stephen: Re your: "I want to surprise my wife with a side trip to Monaco because she loves that old Grace Kelly movie that was filmed there."

"To Catch a Thief" is the film you're thinking of--but it wasn't filmed in Monaco but rather in several locations along the Cote d'Azur region, including Nice, Cannes, and Eze-le-Village, among others.

Footnote: Princess Grace was killed when her car missed a curve on one of the mountain roads between Eze and Monaco.

This internet thing is amazing...you never know what you'll find:

Filming Locations for To Catch A Thief

As you can see, very little was actually filmed in Monaco. To see much of this you would need about three days and a car.

Now, if you don't think this is being nasty...would you please tell us the following and we can really help to suggest a great vacation for you:

1) What days are the actual conference in Munich? (Then we know if its before, after or in between your entire trip and then we'll know how much time you'll have for everything. )

2) Do you have to fly in and out of Munich? (Is your company insisting you do this or can you fly in and out of any city? Again, this will help us make suggestions)

But, if you just want suggestions...here you go:

Switzerland: Zurich, Bern, Zermatt, St. Moritz, Lucerne, Lausanne, Lugano.

Italy: Venice, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Umbria, Bologna, Verona, Sorrento, Naples, Pompeii, Parma, Modena, Torino, Lake Como, Sienna,

And since you'll be in Munich, you're not far from Salzburg and Innsbruck.

So, there are lots of choices. But some won't make sense unless we have an idea of your fixed itinerary.