How do you make your trip a varied experience?

The basic fact that you are going to very different cities and countries is diverse enough. As an example, Bacharach is nothing like Berlin, which is nothing like Munich, except that they are all in Germany. Even though they speak German, the dialect is completely different in all 3 places and their history is pretty varied. Their churches will look different, the food may vary, the architecture will change and the historic sites in each city are of course very individual. Use Google to find out special events and fests going on the towns you will be visiting for your time periods. All cities have websites, where they will list this kind of thing. Go on a walking or bike tour your first day in each city, ask your guide for tips about things going on. There may be a street festival or concert happening or a special museum exhibition that will interest you. I also recommend using Trip Advisor to find out more info about each city. The Destination Experts can give you valuable tips that are not going to be in any guide book.

We like to tour local industries whenever possible. Factory tours, wine celler tours, tours of salt mines, perfumeries, etc. I think my children's absolute favorite was the Florian candy factory in Nice. It concludes with tastings. Yum! (I should add that we also loved to do this in the US.)

Your list of destinations is kind of city-heavy, but at least each one is pretty unique. Adding the Rhine gorge and Lauterbrunnen Valley will give you a nice break from the big cities. One way to vary your experience begins with your itinerary. Once you've pieced together your list of major destinations, look on a map and see what's there in between. Use mulitple guidebooks, because different books will write up a location that others may ignore. You might land in a completely hum-drum location that's not in the guidebooks for good reason, but you might strike a hidden gem.

The comment Tom made about your itinerary being city-heavy rings true. Maybe it's because I live in a big city, but I like to get out of the cities, and that's where I find more of the variety. I love the cities, but a lot of time is spend figuring out the public transportation system and seeing the big sights. When I get out to the smaller towns, I find I'm able to explore more. Get off the main street, find the bar where the locals go. Finding local events is good, too. We've happened upon some local and regional holidays and celebrations that really made our trip.

We like visiting zoos. Really enjoyed Amsterdam's. Also, across from the zoo is the Resistance Museum which is great.

Your trip encompasses a lot of territory. If you happen to be in the Switerland area during the late spring to early fall timeframe, there are TONS of sports related activities going on.

The thing that has added the most variety - not to mention fun - to our trips has been staying at bed-and-breakfasts instead of hotels. Each bed-and-breakfast is unique and different. Their owners are always locals and are often very interesting people. Most of all, you get to have breakfast - and sometimes dinner too - with a variety of people from all over the world. B&B's are invariably out in the country or in smaller towns, and just finding your way from one to another can be a lot of fun - you get to see all kinds of off-the-beaten-path places. B&B's have given us some of our best travel experiences.

Natalia, I try to make my trip a "varied experience" in a number of different ways. These are some of the methods I use: > Vary the accommodations by using a combination of B&B's, budget Hotels, perhaps a "splurge" Hotel and also the occasional Hostel stay. > Vary the sightseeing - include a mix of Museums, Galleries, famous historic sites, etc. Try to find out if there's an interesting site that perhaps isn't listed in the Guidebooks. Try to include a few that allow a more "interactive" experience. For example, although it's a "Museum", I spent many interesting hours exploring HMS Belfast in London. I'm sure that's not for everyone, but given my interests I quite enjoyed it! > Make sure to allow time to just relax and enjoy the place you're visiting, chat with the locals or other travellers. > If spending more than a few days in a location, try and find an easy day trip or two. Munich provides lots of opportunities for interesting day trips - The Castles in Füssen, Dachau, Berchtesgaden or perhaps even Rothenburg. From Salzburg a day trip to Hallstatt is good, although it's better to spend at least one night there. > Try something unusual and entertaining in a few of the places. Some examples that I've tried are attending a musical in London and Paragliding in the Swiss Alps. > Don't feel "guilty" about visiting some of the spots that are considered tourist traps, such as the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. > Try to have at least one memorable and really nice hot meal while travelling (rest assured, I've enjoyed a few of those!). I tend to be a "planner" and find that it's a good idea to do my "homework", so that I have a good idea what sites are located in or close to each city I'll be visiting. Cheers!

the above comments about your plan being very city-heavy strikes a chord with me, as i (stupidly) did that to my own trip. we planned to spend a month in london, paris, amsterdam (short side trip) and barcelona. i never made it to barcelona, as i could not fathom spending an extra week in yet another city (or by myself, which i thought was a good idea before i got there!) we should have scheduled time outside of cities, but then that was our personal preference. you may love cities and be fine with it, but i just thought i'd share! i guess the key to having a great trip is 'know thyself'. have a great trip!

We tend to choose a theme relevant to the area (areas) we plan on visiting- brass rubbing in churches; mills, steam heritage, black and white buildings; pubs with intriguing names, different souvenirs which serve as christmas ornaments, etc etc

Good question. To us, a varied trip means that we include some time in cities, and some time in rural areas. Because we are very interested in art and history, we always spend a lot of time in museums, churches and other historical sites, regardless of location. Some people might think that's too much of the same thing, but as that's what we enjoy, it's not too much for us. We live in a beautiful mountain area, and do a lot of outdoor activities like hiking and biking on the weekends when not on vacation, so we tend NOT to do those things on vacation in Europe. Some things we tend to do more in some cities than others. In London, we always go to the theater. We've been to the opera several times in other cities. Mostly, we love to eat, so that's what we mostly spend time on in the evenings. We went to a music performance in Prague, and the opera in Budapest, both of which were fabulous experiences.

I think there are some very good suggestions in these comments. And it's a good question too. I find that contrast in my itinerary makes my entire trip more vivid. So after a city, a mountain. After a 3-day blitz, 3 days in one place. Within reason. Et cetera. For a trip long enough to visit all of Natalia's far-flung points, I'd want to structure in a good bit of slow-paced recovery time. A week would not be too much.

Thanks all for your great suggestions!! I know that my trip is really heavy on cities, that's one of the things that made me think about how I could mix it up a bit... I really want to have a whole experience in Europe and to be able to enjoy different aspects of the places I'll visit... I've been searching a lot for places near the cities I chose to make day trips. For example, I'm planing to visit Zaanse schans by bike from Amsterdam, Hallstaat from Salzburg, Neuschweinstein from Munich... Besides, I included more rural locations, such as Bacharach to enjoy the Rhin river or Lauterbrunnen to get to know the Alps... Other small towns I intend to visit are Bruges of course, Wurzburg and Rothemburg ob der Tauber in my way from Bacharach to Munich... I'd love to get to the Mediterrenean to enjoy some beach (I'm travelling during summer time) but I still can't figure out how to arrange my itinerary to do so... As for the activities in the cities themselves, I still have a lot of searching to do, but I'd really love to make it to at least one music concert, attend a theater function (I'd love to see a Shakespeare's play in the Globe!), see an opera or listen to some classical music (in Vienna maybe?), and (this will be the most difficult since I'm travelling in July) see a soccer match!
My boyfriend plans to taste a lot of different beers to make the trip special too! So, these are my ideas so far... what do you think?

I tend to mix things up by having structured days where I do the big tourist things and days where I just mooch about. I might just sit in cafes or do some people watching in bookshops. It's a chance to have a breather and just soak up the local atmosphere. I love crafts so I will often have a day where I will tour all the local fabric shops or check out any craft galleries. I really enjoy it as I see parts of the area I may have missed otherwise and get to meet fellow enthusiasts from other parts of the world. One thing I like to do is not plan everything and have a day where I will just have a look in the local paper or listings guide & choose something to do at the last minute. If I get talking to someone I will ask them to recommend something non-touristy. I've found myself in some very cool/strange/interesting places thanks to someone's idiosyncratic suggestions. I do tend to have very city-heavy trips, but I am a city person and only need the countryside in small doses!

When visiting cities I often take boat trips and visit gardens in between museums. I like to not over schedule and leave free time for wandering through neighborhoods. Also walking tours in cities and hiring a guide for a day to visit sights outside a city is a way to add new insights to travel.

Natalia, In London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Prague there are history museums, in particular military history. Only the one in Prague I haven't seen yet. It is interesting to see how each country presents its war history in comparing the presentations of the different museums. I generally focus on the big cities but the small towns have also great museums, depending on your interest area.

"When visiting cities I often take boat trips and visit gardens in between museums" could not agree more with the above. in fact, when i think about my favorite parts our our last (first) trip, the places i enjoyed most were parks and gardens (Vondelpark, St. James Park, and the gardens at the Rodin Museum).

This might sound silly, but how about visiting a mall? They can be surprisingly interesting and it's neat to see what's popular with the average European.

My wife and I travel a couple months each year and one thing we try to work in is a local cooking class for one or two days. It's a good way to learn about the culture and something that is fun to share when you return home. There's lots of them listed on the web. Another thing we do to give some variety especially on a nice day is to visit a park or botanical garden.

If you do a larger number of a variety of cities you often still end up doing the same thing in those cities, i.e. going for the top sites like top museums and churches. And you end up spending a lot of time in transportation. A train ride is fun the first time and maybe even the second time around, but after while there is not much variety in that. A different approach to travelling that can also give you a more varied experience is by staying in one place for a longer period in time. By staying in one place you do get to do a variety of activities and experiences that go beyond the top sights. You can still include museums and churches but also check out the local beaches, farmers markets, watch a sporting event (what about handball for a change?), rent bike .... We usually end up combining a one week stay in one location with one week of travelling from place to place. That gives us variety of activity and variety of place.

Well, I'm a professional chef and I really like experiencing the cuisines as well as I can. Not the top places, I like finding the real thing. When I'm getting ready along with guide books I buy a lot of cookbooks (they're very cheap used) on the area I'm going and get a good idea of what I want to try. When I can get a place with a kitchen I get a kick out of the local markets. I guess what to do is to focus in on things you like at home as well as the standard things.

I really enjoyed wandering around a big underground grocery store in Prague. In Amsterdam there is a great store - HEMA - love that store.