Here is the itinerary for a trip we are planning to Europe in June 2011. Any suggestions for changes from you frequent travelers would be appreciated, particularly for great bed and breakfast places for overnight along the way.
Arrive in Paris on Day 2, Night cruise on the Seine.
Day 3 - Hop on/hop off bus tour of Paris. (Some of us have toured Paris before.
Day 4 - Pick up car and drive to Versailles and tour. Spend night between Versailles and Normandy Coast.
Day 5 - Tour Normandy Coast spending night in maybe Etretat or Honfleur.
Day 6 - Tour cemetery and Mont St. Michel and spend night nearby.
Day 7 - Drive to Como, Italy, spend night. Visit Tremesso, Varenna, Bellagio by ferry from Como.
Day 8 - Go to Zermatt, Switzerland, and then go toward Murren (Lauterbrunnen) and spend night. (See Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen, and catch early gondola (cable car) to Schilthorn.
Day 9 - Leave Murren and drive toward Austria, spend night along the way.
Day 10 - Bertchesgaden - maybe tour Salzburg or Lake District.
Day 11 - Bertchesgaden - Eagle's Nest - Drive to Munich and spend night.
Day 12 - Fly back to US from Munich.
Pretty full trip! Thoughts?
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
OK up to day 6, then it all goes to hell. Did a different person plan the trip after that? Entirely too much. And the key with the Alps- give yourself enough time in each location so that you can adjust for the frequent bad weather. Nothing worse than spending hours driving to a one-night Alpine destination and seeing nothing but rain and fog.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Day 4--take RER to Versailles and pick up car then when you are ready to leave town.
Day 7--you'll be lucky to make it to the French border in a day. Also, most car rental agreements charge a pretty stiff fee for drop off in a second country.
Day 8--you are not going to catch an early gondola to anywhere in the BO if you are leaving the same morning from Italy. Your Day 8 - 9 scenario really entails arriving late in Murren and then leaving early the next day.
I'd seriously rethink Day 7, also the 8-9 thing, and maybe scale back with the car. Pick one place in Switzerland and spend at least two days there. Or leave it for another trip.
You won't need a car in Switzerland or, apparently, Italy. So you could pick up a second rental in Germany and swing though Austria and back, ending in Munich.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9146 posts
Sorry, am busy shaking my head. Driving from the coast of France all the way to Italy and you are only going to spend ONE NIGHT in Italy? Have you figured out how long of a drive this is?
Have seen a lot of really busy schedules on this forum, but this one goes to the top of the list.
Day 8 is unbelievably full. Leave Italy and go to Zermatt, then go to Murren and on the way visit Grindelwald, Kleine Scheidegg, Wengen and take a cable car to Schilthorn.
You won't need any bed and breakfasts as you will be spending all of your time driving from one place to the next.
You have 10 days to see 4 countries. That is barely 2 days each. Please consider cutting this back to only 2 countries maximum.
Posted by
Moreno Valley, CA
159 posts
Just out of curiosity, I put Mont St. Michel and Lake Como into Google Maps. The driving distance by car is approx 755 miles. I just got back from a road trip thru the southern half of the U.S. and averaged 75 mph. At that rate, you're looking at 10 hrs driving without any stops for gas, bathroom, food, or just to stretch your legs.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
800 miles of rental car driving in one day, Mont St Michel to Lake Como. Viamichelin gives a straight driving time of about 12 hours, which would exclude the time for fuel and all other stops. And an estimated $220 in tolls and fuel cost. The 12 hours seems optimistic, includes no stops of any type, and assumes "normal" traffic (whatever that means, do they ever have normal traffic in Italy).
Posted by
OP
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
14 posts
Your responses are great. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. Really appreciate your thoughts.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
Ahhh, you are there. Glad we could help.