Mini Europe Grand Tour: France Germany Austria

I'm confused about the concerts you mention. Are you trying to go to them - so dates would be fixed for those parts of your schedule - or are you trying to avoid them?

Thanks for responding. We wish to attend concerts in Saltzburg and maybe Paris also.

I was going to try to see what the Salzburg Music Festival turned up but in 2015 the last day is the end of August and you will be traveling sometime in September.

So rather than trying to puzzle out which concerts you are intending to go to, can you save me a pile of time and tell me which concerts you are trying to get to in Paris and Salzburg, or at least the dates? Then I have something to get my teeth into for suggesting other stops.

You are starting in Paris? Where are you flying out of?

Paris to Colmar is way under 5 hours.
Colmar to Salzburg is only 7:23, with only 2 changes, Strasbourg (23 minutes) and Stuttgart (54 minutes, at lunch time), so there is plenty of time for a lunch break and stretch your legs, and the longest leg is only 4:02 (Stuttgart-Salzburg). Could you stretch to that one?

Salzburg to Rothenburg ob der Tauber is less than 5 hours.

RodT is less than 5 hours to Bacharach. Bacharach is 4 and a quarter.

Bacharach to where you fly from, dunno yet.

Have't picked concerts in Salzburg yet just thought more choices during the weekend. We will fly into Paris from Boston open jaw.

I think I have it what do you think?

Fly Boston to Paris Friday arrive Saturday: Paris Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday - 4 nights

Train Paris to Colmar 2:54 hrs. 0 changes stay Colmar: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - 3 nights

Train Colmar to Bacharach 5 hrs. 2 changes stay Bacharach Saturday, Sunday, Monday - 3 nights

Train Bacharach to Rothenberg 4:53 hrs. 3 changes stay Rothenberg Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday - 3 nights

Train Rothenberg to Saltzburg 5:02 hrs. 3 changes stay Saltzburg stay Friday, Sat., Sun., Mon. - 4 nights day trip to Hallstatt

Train Saltzburg to Frankfort 5:40 hrs. 0 changes stay ?

Fly Frankfort to Boston

Thanks for help.

Dot

Dot if you are already committed to flying into Paris and out of Frankfurt, have determined what your stops are, and Salzburg in the middle, there's not much to suggest.

I don't know whether weekend timing will particularly improve your concert options. It does seem that it's adding more back-tracking to your train route, at least in the form of that last, return train ride from Salzburg to Frankfurt on your latest post. If you worked your way north, making Bacharach the last overnight stop, then the train ride from there to Frankfurt airport can be done in 1 or 1.5 hours, depending on departure time.

You are backtracking and wasting time going up north and then back south again. Get out a map and look at where Colmar is located in relation to Salzburg. Colmar is almost directly west from Salzburg. From Salzburg head north to Rothenburg, then head over towards Frankfurt and the Rhine. Bacharach is close to Frankfurt so I am assuming you will be departing from here.

Alternative is to reverse your order a bit. Take the fast train from Paris to Frankfurt, takes under 4 hours. Visit Bacharach and then head south either to Colmar or to Rothenburg, etc. though there are easier towns to get to, like Büdingen, Dinkelsbuhl, Esslingen, etc. Depart from Munich.

Laura are you suggesting the following order: Paris (4), Colmar (3), Saltzburg (4) ( Hallstatt), Rothenberg (3), Bacharach (3)?

How can I find out concert options in Paris and Saltzburg? And am I bypassing any place I should visit?

I am trying not to spend a lot of time on trains. I find around 3-4 hours train rides still give us a half day at either end.

Thanks for all the help everyone.

Dot

I have found out about concerts in Paris for given dates by just googling. I expect it would be the same for Salzberg. There is an on line booking company called Classictic which may be useful to you.

Dot:

In looking at your long distance itinerary, I would prefer to travel more in a straight line, to cities that are close and complement each other--rather than taking long train rides. The advent of budget European air carriers has opened up Western Europe to cheap and efficient air travel.

With limited time, there are just other cities I'd rather spend time in. For example, Bacharach is a good place to stop for the night, however it's not a destination city. It's not even 1/2 mile long.

Why don't you visit Paris, and then take Niki Air to Vienna--the music city? You could easily visit Budapest or Prague on your way to Salzburg. Cesky Krumlov and Hallstadt are other great small city side trips that you could see.

And you can fly home from Munich--an easy train ride from Salzburg.

Thanks David. I Am now considering a night train. Any thoughts on that as opposed to flying. Just seems flying is never fun anymore and never seems to save much time once you factor in getting to airport ahead of time.

I'll think about your alternatives.

You might search around this helpline for previous discussions of night trains.

Not many places are actually linked by true night trains; many night services involve several connections in the middle of the night, and many times it will involve waiting for a train in a remote station for several hours in the middle of the night.

If it is a true night train you may actually save several hours of what would otherwise be spent in daytime travel, but the cost may be very little overnight sleep making the next day very unpleasant.

I used to take night trains. I've likely taken my last.

Others may have different impressions.