Need lots of help - 16 days in Europe

"April 19th - Arrive in Frankfurt - Need sightseeing recommendations... April 20th - Rhine cruise?" Going into Frankfurt from FRA takes you east. The Rhine lies to the west, so if you have no specific sightseeing goals in Frankfurt, save some travel time. At FRA, catch a direct train to one of the west bank villages - Oberwesel (about 1 hr.) or Boppard (a little further) and check in there for 2 nights. Fare is 19€. You'll see castles once you hit Bingen. Boppard is a little more active in the shoulder season, with more hotel and dining choices, and maybe your best choice in April. The station is close to the town center. Relax, walk the town, have a nice meal, do some wine tasting, take a chairlift ride: http://www.sesselbahn-boppard.de/chairlift_boppard/index_eng.htm On the 20th, you get to tour the area. A 9 am bus takes you to Koblenz station, where you catch a train to Braubach, on the opposite side of the river from Boppard. Once there, take an 11:00 tour of Marksburg Castle, a fine, never-destroyed, 800-year-old castle: www.marksburg.de A 12:37 or 13:07 train will then take you south along the east bank of the Rhine to Rüdesheim, where you can catch the 14:15 cruise boat north through the most scenic part of the Rhine to Bacharach (15:15), one of the more attractive villages to explore on foot. Return to Boppard whenever you wish, possibly with a stop in St. Goar on the way north.

(cont.) Bus and train travel is covered by a daypass - the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket, 21€ for one, 25€ for 2: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/ Buy it from a ticket machine at Boppard station. The boat ticket is 13.10€ at the dock - show your train ticket for a discount. On the 21st, a ticket to Heidelberg costs 27.10€ using the regional trains via Mannheim. Or 2 can do this for 40€ on a "Happy Weekend Ticket" (daypass.) http://www.bahn.com/i/view/DEU/en/prices/germany/happy_weekend_ticket.shtml Get these from a ticket machine at Boppard station.

If you're flying into Frankfurt and out of London... Rome seems out of the way. Why not head west, tour the Netherlands and Belgium, then take the train to London? Or Paris and Brussels and then London? Or Koln, Amsterdam, Brussels, London...Koln, Paris, London... Alsace, Paris, London... Or any other combination of the above. There are a lot of options that make getting to London from Frankfurt more leisurely.

Rome is not out of the way because they are also going to Venice. Sounds like Italy is the major interest and the reason for flying to Frankfurt is to visit the friends in Heidelburg.

The best way to travel from Venice to Rome is train. This has taken 6 hours when I have done it, though apparently there are also 4 hour services. The only boats that do that route are cruise ships, and Civitavecchia, the port for Rome is about an hour's travel from Rome.

Rome to London,fly, its a very long train trip and involves the crossing too, use a cheapo airline , book ahead for best prices, and pay special attention to luggage restrictions,, they are much stricter and lower on cheap inter europeon flights. Always pay up front when you can. Seems like you plan alot of shopping, this could make luggage an issue( i dislike shopping , find it a waste of valuable time , but when it comes to flying all that stuff home you really could have an issue. so be careful) . Fly into Heathrow or Gatwick, some cheopo airlines use Luton which is farthest out, and least conveneient. Look at Vueling and Easyjet.

Thanks for the responses! To answer the questions. Italy is one of the big reasons for the trip. Flying into Frankfurt was for two reasons, to see some old friends and using miles, it was cheap. Since we are coming from 12 time zones away and two red eye flights, I needed upgraded travel to rest and we could make it to Frankfurt for 50K miles each in 1st class from Hawaii. Additionally, I was stationed in Germany for a couple of years and never made it to Italy or England. I have already been to many of the other countries so that is the story behind the wierd pattern. As far as the shopping, it is just for little stuff to bring back for friends. It will be along the way as we are sightseeing. Just checked out the EasyJet site, WOW, way cheaper than Orbitz flights. Thanks Pat!

Maurice ,,with Easyjet just be careful you read everything. I am paying for extra luggage check in, and there is an extra fee for paying by credit card , but even with that, I got dirt cheap Barcelona to Paris for this summer, and I am flying Vueling from Nice to Barcelona dirt cheap too. I travel light so the luggage thing doesn't bug me. I asked on some airline forums whether it was worth it paying for "Speedy Boarding"( Easyjet) and the concensus seemed to be no. So I didn't take that option, nor did I get their insurance, I have my own for medical etc, and I figure if I have to cancel their flights its only a loss of between 40-70 euros.. not worth insuring for me. I just paid upfront for checked luggage.

Oh yes, tell your credit card company you will be making overseas purchases for the tickets, because my credit cards block those unless I preclear them, and then when trying to book my tickets the sites reject my card. Took me a while to figure that out( and some helpful forums!)

Maurice, God Bless you, you going to see a bunch and collapse when you get home. I guess that's why we go on vacations. I would contact my friends in Heidelberg and find out what and where their plans are. That can then drive your plans from FRA. Don't go to Frankfurt, Honolulu on steroids with no ocean. I lived in Mainz for 3 years, so the Rhine River Castles are very familiar. They're all lovely, touristy, and something to see. In Rome, go to the Vatican museum first thing in the morning 9AM. Be there at 8:30, the lines get long, and the rooms and the Chapel get full. When at the Trevi Fountain, below the Spanish steps go right to the dead end. Then turn right 2/3 blocks down is a church on the right, with John the Baptist's head in it. The church has these tiles from the catacomb's on the wall. The head looks sort of like a prune. The priest told me it's all faith. Take the tour to the top of St. Peter's Cathedral. The view is breathtaking. Hang on to the rope. As you exit the Cathedral and are walking back to the Tiber on the main boulevard, to the left is a cafeteria two blocks down, inexpensive and with various choice's. Well worth it. I would stay in London and not go to Stonehenge. If you're there longer, yes, but there's so much to do in London. You can't walk up to the stones any more. The tourist didn't read the sign about not sitting on the stones. If you were in the service, the Bunker that Churchill stayed in during the Battle of Britain is cool. It's close to where the Queen's Guard patrol. Tower of London, St. Paul's, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, Harrod's, Hyde Park, and my God a play or two. You'll be busy.
Have fun!

Terry says: Don't go to Frankfurt, Honolulu on steroids with no ocean.
Seriously??? My guess is that you never really went and saw anything here or there would be no way you would say anything like that. Frankfurt is one of Germanys' most historic and oldest cities and has been capital during various time periods. We were already electing German kings as well as having a royal palace for the king before anyone even thought of founding Rothenburg o.b. It was the Election city for the Holy Roman Emperor since the 1300's and has the Coronation cathedral as well as one of the oldest churches in Germany, St. Justinus, built in 850. It had the 1st Jewish Ghetto in Europe and has one of the most personal and moving Holocaust Memorial I have ever seen. It is the location of the 1st freely elected parliament, where they wrote the German constitution and Bill of rights. This was a Free, Imperial City for centuries. The Karmeliter Cloister has the largest religious wall paintings N. of the Alps painted in the early 1500's, but I guess Terry thinks Honolulu has something similar. We have dozens of museums, cultural events and festivals galore, and Farmers Markets abound. A visit to the Klein Markt Halle is worth your time too. You might be interested in the Luminale which is taking place from 15-20 April. Very cool and lots of fun. Here is a video from the last one. http://vimeo.com/11138354

Actually, that looks pretty workable...if the trip fr Heidelburg to Venice is really long, look into an overnight train - the scenery starts to be pretty boring if you are sitting on a train for a long time, and of course if you can get a night train, you can wake up in your city - we did a night train fr Salzburg to Venice (the bad thing, train left at 1am - not much to do in Salzburg at 1am - and arrived at 7:30, but at least we slept, kinda, thru the long journey and didn't lose a day on the train.)Hmm, actually, looking at Rail Europe, there doesn't seem to be any direct trains... My must sees in Venice (look into a museum card, help you skip the lineups at places like Doges Palace - on our 1st visit with no card - an hour to get in, 2nd visit w/card - right in - I think it also gets you admission to 2 or 3 museums in the price)...so
Doge's Palace, San MArco, the view fr Campanile bell tower, Murano (Glass Museum if that is your thing), Correr Museum, Santa Maria Dei Frari church, Torcello was OK, but we got there just as things were closing and it's a long ferry ride...we did other churches, but I can't rem the names

I guess Jo from Frankfurt missed you were arriving in probably the AM in FRA and then going to the
Rhine River. You have a half day. Jo don't take it badly. I love Frankfurt.

No, Maurice says he arrives in Frankfurt on the 19th and wanted sightseeing recommendations for Frankfurt and is going to the Rhine on the 20th. So, I gave him the information that he wanted, things to do and see all day and evening on the 19th. In Frankfurt. Russ is the one that said to just go to the Rhine as Frankfurt was East (11 min. train ride East to be honest so not what I would call going out of your way) and you said don't bother visiting Frankfurt at all, that it was just Honolulu on steriods. Just sayin'.

I guess Jo after reading all the post's this is you. I am sorry , my focus is Maurice and, NOT, Frankfurt, Germany.
Maurice, you figure it out, your from Hawaii. I'm sure you can. Have fun in Rome, and London.

Terry, please re-read the original post form Maurice. "April 19th - Arrive in Frankfurt - Need sightseeing recommendations " So, please, cut me some slack, I HAVE answered his request. YOU are the one who suggested otherwise.