Military R&R

Listen to James, he knows what he is talking about here.

Although Germany will be more convenient given your arrival location, it may still be pretty cold there that time of year. Maybe Italy would be a better idea, but then again I love Italy. You could catch an inexpensive flight to Rome, spend some time there and then head down to the Amalfi Coast for a week.

Just a thought.

Oh, and I stupidly forgot to thank you for your service. I hope that you and your wife have a wonderful, well deserved time of rest, recovery and relaxation!

Thanks to everyone for responding so quick. I always hate asking these types of questions that have multiple answers and possibilites. James looks like you live in germany?? I will look into the ration card, seen plenty of AFN commercials about it. I guess a more specific question is, is it feasible to travel Europe without hotel reservations. i want to spend a few days in each city without having to worry about being rushed to be somewhere. I appreciate everybodys feedback.

You can travel without reservations, but the tradeoff is you may pay more and spend some of your vacation time looking for lodging instead of relaxing. However April is off-peak so finding places shouldn't be too hard. If you know your next destination often you can call ahead to make reservations while traveling there (bring a guide book listing choices).

My advice is that instead of trying to see "as much as possible" is to pick 3 cities as bases, spend 3-5 nites in each, and explore the surrounding area from the base. You'll save a lot of time in packing/unpacking, finding new places to stay, etc. Instead of waking up in the morning and spending the time until noon just getting to the new destination and getting settled in, you'll be out exploring.

April is usually very nice in the Frankfurt area - rain totals are lower in March and April than the other months. You'll probably enjoy Europe much more if you drive and travel around less. From K-town, FRA is quite close. Have her fly into FRA, then do a loop to your destinations, maybe by train so you can enjoy each other's time and have a glass of wine as you go without the distractions of driving. And no one wants a car in any of the major cities you mentioned!

Germany: (3 nights?) Splurge on a night or two at Auf Schoenburg castle-hotel in Oberwesel overlooking the Rhine; St. Goar and Bacharach are also atmospheric villages with less expensive accommodations as well. Take a short river cruise up to Braubach for a tour of Marksburg Castle - www.marksburg.de . Head to Cologne for a night or two after that.

Amsterdam: (3-4 nights?) This is a quick trip by train from Cologne. Check out Zaanse Schans village north of the city (take the train to Koog-Zaandijk station.) Take another outing to the Keukenhof Gardens - they're amazing in April.

Bruges: (2-3 nights?) Not on your list, but very romantic, and not far off your A'dam-Paris route.

Paris: (4 nights?)

(Oops. Didn't finish.)

Save Venice for another time when you can take in some other Italian destinations as well.

Not sure what your best rail options for this would be, but I'm sure I wouldn't want a car in A'dam or Paris.

Regarding the travel without reservations ...

You should be fine except if you happen to be travelling over Easter weekend. Between Good Friday and Easter Monday, I'd suggest that you reserve.

I was in Bruges and Amsterdam last year over Easter and planned at the last minute ... a number of hotels that I tried were booked.

Thank you for your service, I hope you have an excellent time.

Don't forget to take advantage of your military benefits and use Space A.

Here is a website you can use, I am sure there are others too (or contact the USO):

http://www.milvetstravel.net/miltravel.html

"You'll fly right into Ramstein" One correction- you'll fly into any airport you want, free of charge. Once you get to Ali Al-Salem in Kuwait, the travel office will book you a civilian flight from Kuwait to the airport of your destination (provided you have the correct leave paperwork, of course). So, unless you absolutely want to visit Ramstein, you'll never see it. Your leave officially begins when you land at your destination. The only stipulation is that you have to return from the same airport, so flying open-jaw is not an option.

Echoing the others, I would not try to see "as much as possible", as you'll spend too much time in transit, and as I noted earlier, you have to back-track to your arrival point. Trains are probably your best option- I would not take a car into Paris or Amsterdam. Pick one, two but no more than three destinations, and enjoy your well deserved time relaxing with your wife.

Because the military can not guarantee an arrival date for your R&R, making reservations in advanced may not work. April is not peak season, you may not get your first choice of hotels, but you should be able to find something without a reservation.

Once again thanks to everyones replies. Everyone provided good advice and will use all of it. Obviously 2 weeks is not enough to see "everything." But definitly like the idea of just picking 2 or 3 destinations. Thanks.

I am on my 2nd deployment and my wife and I are going to Italy (amalfi coast & rome for leave) in june. We are going to meet up in rome and then make our way to amalfi coast. We decided just to make reservations for the hotels we want. Its worth knowing we have the hotel and room we want and maybe have to pay for 3-4 nights we won't use. The only issue is the flight and space-A is not a viable option due to the reliability issue. In the end if it cost us other $1k - $2k from our savings, its worth knowing we will have what we want.

Jose & Ryan,
Thank you and your spouses for your service ( nephew is USA in Afghanistan for 2nd tour). Enjoy our well-deserved R&R . Paris and Venice are truly magical, but just being together creates its own magic.

I would probably start in Paris, spend five days there, then rent a car and explore a wine region of France. Train is a good option for two. It's less convenient but you don't have to worry about driving/reading maps.

It would be a lot more relaxing than trying to cover a lot of territory.

I'm also military (now Air Guard, formerly active duty AF). Seperation is part of our reality, the best thing now is to give yourselves some time to get to know each other again with the least stress/expectations possible. If there is ever a time to avoid a jampacked vacation, this is it.