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Itinerary Help - Decision Fatigue

Hi everyone,

I'm having decision fatigue and thought I would turn to the experts for help (that's you!)
I land in Berlin on Dec. 16 at 7:00 am.
I fly out of London on Dec. 31 at 1:00 pm.
Everything else is up for debate.
And yes, I'm aware that many cities shut down on and around Christmas. I travel every year over this two week period, and just use it as a time to relax, do a walking tour, etc.

Things to consider:
I'd like to see Auschwitz/Birkenau.
I need a couple days in London at least. (It's my favorite city.)
I'm fairly active and like to pack my days from sun up to sun down. I've already been to Amsterdam (Loved), Bruges (LOVED), Brussels (Ugh, no.), and Paris (Fine, not great). I'm a huge fan of historical sights.

How would you schedule the trip? Looking forward to your brilliant ideas!

One key thing to be aware of is any Christmas closures in cities. For example London really does close up a lot over Christmas with many tourist attractions closed 24/25/26 Dec and absolutely no public transport on Christmas Day. For that reason I’d not head to London until 27th. I’m not sure what other European cities are like over Christmas.

Alternatively I’d do London first as it’s amazing in the run-up to Christmas, but your flights are the wrong way round for that!

Posted by
15777 posts

I believe the locals on the forum have reported that much of London transport is shut down for Dec 25 and 26. Dec 26 is also a holiday in parts of Central Europe. Do plan carefully for holiday closures and limited transportation.

Berlin - Prague - Krakow - Vienna - Budapest (probably fly in/out of Krakow). Prague/Vienna/Budapest - probably only 1 or 2 of them, I don't think you have enough time for all three.

Posted by
6713 posts

I think Chani's got it. Several days in Berlin, then Krakow for a couple of full days including Auschwitz, then any combination of Budapest-Vienna-Prague, then London at the end. I'd say pick Budapest or Vienna or Prague, not more. Six cities in two weeks is awfully rushed, a lot of transit time, but maybe OK if you're high energy and willing to assume you'll return. You might pick your "middle" city or cities based on ease of getting to and from them, or any particular historic interest. (My choice would be Budapest but they're all good.)

You could, instead, spend time in other German cities, but going to Krakow puts you close enough to Budapest-Vienna-Prague that working some of them in would make sense.