Itinerary Question and Opinions

Frank,
I have not been to all the places you're planning so I am only addressing one point that stands out to me. In my experience a six hour trip to anywhere equals a day lost once you factor checking out of hotel, getting to station or airport, getting to the new hotel, checking in, unpacking. And you have two such trips = two wasted days eastbound across Germany, then back west again. Would it not be better to arrive in Paris, enjoy it, Bruges, Amsterdam and then end in Munich and depart from there? Or vice versa? I know that the timing of Oktoberfest is probably the driving engine of this itinerary, but if you could find a way to enjoy that event and your other sites without backtracking to the west again, you'll probably gain nearly a full day of your trip. As it stands, I don't see how you have time to "check out a couple other museums" in Paris and still have 6+ hours of travel to Munich.

Sounds as if you two guys are a couple of bohemians. If so, forget Belgium and just take in Paris, Amsterdam and Munich. Like was earlier said, you'd do best flying into one city and out of the last stop. If you took in Oktoberfest first, you might skip the other cities entirely. Just be sure to take plenty of Euros, because the En Mass nectar of the gods was $11 last year. It's a major good time place. Amsterdam's another really lively place that's very easy to travel to because everyone there speaks perfect English. And the women are about 6' tall and absolutely beautiful. When taking in Munich the end of September, you must have rooms arranged for far in advance.

Frank, For such a VERY short time frame, there are too many changes in location and too many hours spent in travel (IMO). Keep in mind that each change of location will require at least half a day and in some cases a full day. Spending a full day in travel with such a short trip is not efficient. My suggestion would be to skip Brussels and Bruges on this trip and focus on the other places, using open-jaw flights. If I were planning this trip, I might arrange it something like this.... > D1: Depart U.S. > D2: Arrive Amsterdam, light touring, jet lag recovery > D3: Amsterdam > D4: Amsterdam > D5: Train to Paris (you could stop for a few hours to have a quick look at Brussels - one route that I checked allowed a 3 hour stop via Brussels Central, with total travel time to Paris 6H:54M) > D6: Paris > D7: Paris > D8: Train to Munich (one of the quickest appears to be a departure from Paris Est at 07:25, arriving Munich at 13:27, 1 change, time 6H:02M, reservations compulsory on first leg) > D9: Munich > D10: Munich > D11: Flight home There are numerous ways this could be arranged, and this is only one suggestion. Since you want "a nice mix of history and partying", having a couple of days in Amsterdam is worthwhile. This Itinerary provides about 2.5 days for Oktoberfest activities and touring Munich (there's LOTS to see there). If you're planning on buying train tickets at Amsterdam Central, note that they ONLY accept "Chip & PIN" credit cards, so be sure you have cash on hand. Good luck with your planning!

Thanks for your responses. Yeah, I originally wanted to end in Munich but found that almost all of the hostels during the weekend are booked. so I added Paris as a place we could spend a day or two before we head to Munich during the week.

I've been to all those cities, forget Brussels and Bruges on this trip. Give one more day to Paris and one more to Amsterdam instead. BTW, you can't explore Germany on day 5,stay in Munich and enjoy it.

Thanks everyone! I talked with my buddy and we decided to listen to you guys and drop Belgium off the list and go with Amsterdam, Munich and Paris. Also, have any of you heard how some hostels are waiting till a certain day to put their rooms/beds up for reservation for Oktoberfest? I found a place that was doing that and wanted to know if that is common. Thanks!!

Here's a suggestion.... late summer/early fall is festival time throughout all of Germany. Oktoberfest is merely the most famous and the one that attracts the most foreign frat-boy types. It's also ridiculously crowded and expensive. If that's what you're looking for, then go for it. However, there are plenty of fun but not so crowded festivals everywhere in Germany, many of which have a beer or wine theme. Rather than waste two entire days traveling to and from Munich, you may want to consider a German festival that's a little closer to your route of travel. Some worthwhile fests I have attended include Stuttgart's Cannstatter Volksfest, Bad Dürkheim's Wurstmarkt (despite the name, the emphasis is more on wine than sausage), Bremen's Freimarkt, and Oberwesel am Rhein's Rotweinmarkt. I haven't been to them, but there's also a Berlin Beer Festival, and the Aachen, Mosel, Frankfurt, and Rüdesheim Wine Festivals. Hannover also hosts the second largest Oktoberfest celebration in Germany, although they downplay the Bavarian connection.