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Intinerary - Too much?

Posted by (Newton, MA, USA) on

Hello - We are going to Europe in May, flight into London with a quick flight from there into Prague. We are trying to see highlights only really and really get a feel for which part of Europe we'd like to spend a lot of time in at a future date. We realize we'll spend a bit of time on trains (the night train schedule won't appear to work for us) but are hopeful we'll get to see at least the scenery and it will break up a lot of the walking we'll do.

  • Day 1/2: Prague (don't plan to explore outside Prague)
  • Day 3: Train Prague to Salzburg via Summerau (explore Salzburg for day), train to Munich to stay overnight
  • Day 4: Munich (not renting a car so we won't explore Bavaria)
  • Day 5: Munich to Luzern spening evening there
  • Day 6: Luzern (1st Golden Pass rail) to Interlaken
  • Day 7: Interlaken
  • Day 8: Interlaken to Bacharach (long train ride)
  • Day 9: Via boat Bacharach/St Goar onto Cologne
  • Day 10: Cologne
  • Day 11: Early train to Amsterdam for day/night
  • Day 12: Early flight Amsterdam/London connecting with London/home

Anything look too crazy? We already have a pretty good idea of what we want to do in these locations as well and have thought through that given we won't spend much time in each city/town/country.

Posted by
1568 posts

You will not have too much time to see the sites in your destination cities.

By the time:

You pack and travel to the train stations
Time on train
Travel from train station to your hotel
And repeat the process 11 times.
You will not much time to eat and site see.

Posted by
289 posts

JB - Thank you for your response.

I probably should have noted we plan to stay 2 nights in Prague, 2 nights Munich, 1 night Lucerne, 2 nights Interlaken, 1 night Bacharach, 2 nights Cologne and 1 night in Amsterdam (so we weren't sleeping somewhere different every day). Also, we plan on traveling with small packs. With that said do you think this is doable?

Posted by
1589 posts

A death march with a few great views! Unless you are a train spotter fan, this smells like a diaster.

Posted by
19283 posts

Day 9: Via boat Bacharach to Cologne.

According to the K-D schedule, there is only one boat per day that goes all the way from Bacharach/St. Goar to Cologne. It leaves Bacharach at 11:15 and gets to Cologne at 20:00 (8 pm). That's almost 9 hrs on the boat. I went from St. Goar to Bacharach, a total of 1 hr 10 min, and I was bored and more than ready to get off.

Posted by
289 posts

Regarding "Day 9: Via boat Bacharach to Cologne. "

I should have wrote that I would make a stop (via boat) to St Goar to explore and then go on to take the train to Cologne (not boat). I've read in several places that it only makes sense to actually take the boat for that stretch only.

Posted by
1530 posts

Ali, I consider myself someone who prefers the "blitz" approach vs. the "take the time to absorb the culture". Having said that your itinerary does seem a little crazy to me. You will spend way more time traveling than site seeing. I count 3 days that you are staying put in one place without traveling, 1 in Prague, 1 in Interlaken and 1 in Cologne. I personally would drop Munich and spend the night in Salzburg, then drop Luzern and Interlaken and go all the way into the Lauterbrunnen valley for 2 nights. I'd also drop Cologne in favor of spending an extra night in Bacharach or Amsterdam.

Posted by
19283 posts

"...really get a feel for which part of Europe we'd like to spend a lot of time in at a future date."

That's what guidebooks are for, and they cost a LOT less than your way.

Posted by
289 posts

Lee - I posted a new itinerary or thoughts on one in a separate post. I have plenty of guidebooks but they won't tell me if I will enjoy spending a week in a specific country. With that said - we are shortening the amount of countries and slowing it down since it seems to make more sense based on what I'm reading.

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