June 2015 Itinerary Feedback

Hello Jesse. I do not see any problem in this itinerary. Day 7 - you might have time for going to Burg Eltz and the town Bielstein.
I suggest that you search for the shortest travel time for traveling in railroad trains from Cochem to Trier to Munich (in one day). At London I recommend visiting the Museum of London (walking through it takes 90 Minutes), and Windsor Castle (a palace of the royal family). Ride in trains from Paddington Station in London to the Windsor and Eaton central station. After walking through Windsor Castle, walk through the town Windsor.

After taking trains from Budapest to Bratislava and from Vienna to Prague Spring, 2014, I don't desire to spend my time seeing countryside that really doesn't interest me. European budget air carriers fit the bill for me better.

Have you considered flying on EasyJet from Gatwick to Munich? From there, you could travel throughout Bavaria, Salzburg and Tirol--very interesting countryside. Train excursion passes for numerous people out of Munich are very inexpensive. And it's an area best seen via rental car.

Then catch a train down to Venice. EasyJet can get you back over to Paris quickly and efficiently from there--cheap.

You can also get back to London from Paris in 2 1/2 hrs. on Eurostar, and it's also inexpensive if you purchase the tickets ahead of time.

Curious. Mürren is on their list as a "must see", yet you skip that entirely and send them to Venice instead.

Jesse, your itinerary looks fine, but do you need three nights in Cochem?

@ Jesse,

Since you are flying in/out of London, here is something to think about....
Im not sure how long the trip from London to Bruges is, but look at putting London at the last of your trip. i think it would give you more chillin time before your flight back home also, you can do London at a leisurely pace since you are already there. Also, if you have a late flight out you maybe able to store your luggage at the hotel to give you more time to do/see things before you leave instead of spending it at the airport.

also, when you say that "we" have already been there, does that mean the 4 of you all, or just you and your spouse? If so, maybe the others that havent been there, done that, may want to spend more time in Paris..ect....

just my 0.02

happy trails.

Thank you for your advice.

I definitely would like feedback on the amount of time in Cochem. The main reason for three nights is that we will probably arrive in the evening on the first night and I thought a full day there would be nice to see Burg Eltz and some wineries. Does that sound like an appropriate amount of time?

I love the suggestion re: ending in London. I debated that as well. The main reasons for starting there was that we will already have to stay the first night (because we arrive at 10:45 pm on Day 1) and I thought easing in to Europe with an English speaking country might be helpful for our friends. I might have to play with that idea a little more.

Any more feedback is welcome!

Jesse:

I am envious that in your 20s, this is you guys' fourth trip to Europe!

That said, I am surprised at a couple of things - no one responded that you are packing too much to do into too little time. When I asked for help for planning two days in Paris, I was met with ... well, you can check out the responses for yourself :-)

We loved our "Paris in two (short, winter) days" trip - our favorite was the Versailles Palace of course. As you are going for the sake of the other couple, you might want to check with them to see what they are more interested in. For instance, I for one would not be a big fan of wineries as I am a teetotaler; besides, what is there to see in vineyards? But of course, most everyone else would probably have a ball. My point again, is that likes and dislikes are based on personal preferences.

BTW, did you edit the original itinerary? For instance, I see you discussing three nights at Cochem, but I see only two.

Would you mind sharing what you mean by 'amazing deal' for your flight?

Porcupyn

I feel very fortunate to have been 4 times already - and yet, I feel like I'll never be able to see it all!

I am also surprised that I haven't heard "you are doing too much." I hope that is a good sign. I am hoping we have somewhere closer to about 3 days in Paris.

I am definitely checking with our friends about where they want to go, but they are pretty open to anything at this point. If you saw my notebook, you'd see I have created at least 10 possible itineraries! Some slower, some faster paced. My goal is to have a well-rounded itinerary. City, countryside, history, outdoors, food, etc.

I did not edit my original itinerary. It has always been 2 nights (technicaly 3 days I suppose) in Cochem.

Jesse,

I'll have a closer look at this later tonight when I have more time, but a few initial thoughts and comments.....

• I'd probably stay with a few days in London at the beginning as it will give all of you time to get over jet lag and "acclimatized" to being in Europe. An English-speaking country would probably be an easier transition for your friends.
• Your plans for days 5 & 6 are a bit problematic (IMO). Although you may arrive at 12:30, by the time you get to your hotel and get settled, it will likely be about 14:00. You'll really only have a few hours to look around Bruges before heading out the next morning for Cochem, and I'm not sure it's worth the effort after all the travel time to get there.
• A visit to Burg Eltz is definitely worthwhile (IMO). Were you planning to hike up through the woods from Moselkern? If you don't want to hike, as I recall there's a Bus from Treis Karden or one of the other towns but I'd have to check on the details. If you hike you'll arrive in the valley below the castle, cross a small bridge and then climb stairs. If you arrive by road, you'll need to either walk down the hill (quite steep) from the car park or take the shuttle. If you come by road, my suggestion would be to take the Shuttle in one direction and hike the other, as there's a great vantage point for photos about half way up the hill.
• One country that's noticeable by it's absence is Italy. Is there no desire to go there?
• How are you planning to get from Paris to London?

I'll try and come up with a few more suggestions later.

Looks good to me.

Ken - thank you for your thoughts!

- I am hoping we hike up to Burg Eltz (as opposed to taking the shuttle)

- My plan for Bruges was to arrive by 12:30 (but I agree, realistically not being settled until 14:00), but I wasn't planning to leave until 14:00 the next day (arrive in Cochem around 18:00). I agree it is tight - do you think too much so? According to google, the sun won't be setting until approx 10:00pm, so I figured we will have plenty of day light.

- I would LOVE to go to Italy - but I am trying to restrain myself. I figured end of June/July isn't the best time of year for Italy (I don't enjoy the heat) and I would prefer to do Italy as a trip all by itself since there is so much to see!

- I was planning on the Eurostar for Paris to London (assuming we will leave Paris in the evening and head straight for a hotel close to the airport)

Did you buy your plane tickets already? If not, consider flying open jaw into London and out of Paris. That would give you a little more time in Paris and might save some money.

Jesse,

Thanks for the additional information. A few further thoughts and suggestions.....

With such a short trip, Bruges seems to be an outlier to some extent, so my suggestion would be to skip it on this trip. As you'll basically only be spending one afternoon there, it's not worth the time it will take to get there.

As your friends are interested in a "best of" Itinerary, it's unfortunate that you can't make at least one stop in Italy. While June / July will be busy, other months can be equally busy. Is there any way you could add a few more days to the trip?

There are many possibilities, and perhaps something like this would work.....

• D0 - Depart U.S.
• D1 / N1 - Arrive London (assume you'll arrive at LHR?)
• D2 / N2 - London, touring
• D3 / N3 - London, touring
• D4 / N1 - EuroStar to Paris
• D5 / N2 - Paris, touring
• D6 / N3 - Paris, touring
• D7 / N1 - Train to Interlaken Ost / Mürren (one of the shortest trips will be departure from Gare de Lyon at 10:23, arriving Interlaken at 15:28, one change at Basel SBB. Another easy trip leaves Paris at 07:23, but that means an early start to get from your hotel to Gare de Lyon by that time - I'm assuming you know how to get from Interlaken Ost to Mürren).
• D8 / N2 - Mürren, touring
• D9 / N3 - Mürren, touring
• D10 / N1 - Train from Interlaken Ost to Cochem (one of the shortest trips will be a departure from Interlaken at 08:00, arriving Cochem at 15:06, time 7H:06M, two changes)
• D11 / N2 - Cochem, touring (Burg Eltz?)
• D12 / N1 - Train to Munich (departure at 07:42 will arrive in Munich at 13:39, one change in Koblenz
• D13 / N2- Munich, touring
• D14 / N3 - Munich, touring
• D15 / N1 - Use budget flight from Munich to London (EasyJet has flights to Gatwick, Luton or Stansted, flight time ~55M - if you use a 09:40 departure, you'd still have most of a day for touring in London).
• D16 - Return flight to the U.S.

There are numerous ways to arrange your Itinerary, and this is only one suggestion. Skipping Bruges will provide more of a buffer for travel times and a more relaxing time in your other stops.

Good luck with your planning!