I've been taking all sorts of advice from you helpful travelers and this is what I've come up with so far. I've slowed it down some but I'm fine with not spending a week in one city. I'm a 28 year old female traveling alone for the second part of my trip and this is my first trip in mainland Europe (I've been to England). My mom is considering meeting me for a week or so though if I can every figure out my itinerary. My trip is from July 21st-August 19th.
Days 1-11 I'm not changing. My boyfriend is with me for this part and we are happy with it. The part I'm still figuring out is Days 12-29. I don't want to focus specifically on Museums, or history, or nightlife, etc. I want a bit of it all. I'm planning the North Germany part, probably Schwerin, as a relaxing point in the middle of my trip otherwise I plan on going, going, going during my trip. :)
Day 1,2 Iceland
Day 3 Arrive in Paris early afternoon
Day 4,5 Paris
Day 6 Train from Paris to Brugge (maybe few hours in Brussels)
Day 7 Brugge
Day 8 Train from Brugge to Amsterdam
Day 9,10 Amsterdam
Day 11 BF flys home, I fly? to Berlin (flight at 1420, arrives 1555)
Day 12,13,14 Berlin
Day 15 Train from Berlin to Schwerin, Germany (2 hours, leave noonish)
Day 16 Schwerin
Day 17 Train from Schwerin to Berlin in evening (2hours)
Day 18 Train in am (0830, 5hrs)to Prague
Day 19,20 Prague
Day 21 Train to Vienna (4.5h) leave?
Day 22,23 Vienna
Day 24 Train to Munich in am(8ish).
I'm thinking of stopping in Salzburg for 8 or 9 hours on the way.
Day 25,26 Munich
Day 27 Fly to Paris
Day 28 Paris
Day 29 Fly home in afternoon.
Any thoughts on use of flights versus trains, best times to leave, use of Eurorail or individual tickets is also helpful.
Thank you!
Kirsten
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Well this seems doable, if not precisely the way I would do it...but that is the point, it is your trip and not mine. Perhaps I missed something earlier--perhaps you have relatives there?--but what/where is Schwerin? If it is 2 hours from Berlin it must either be in Poland or somewhere near Hannover. Perhaps you could train from Amsterdam to berlin and stop off in Schwerin (???) rather than back-tracking.
I am not sure about a flight from Munich to Paris...which budget airlines fly that route? By train you could certainly go Munich-Strasbourg, stop over in Strasbourg and then the next day 2 hrs into Paris.
Remember that with budget airlines you have to be careful to buy in advance, pack very light (or get hit with baggage charges), and get to/from the airport. Especially with Ryanair, the airports are often secondary ones quite remote from where you are going. Be sure to check out the website "The Man in seat 61" for train travel advice if you haven't already done so.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
62 posts
No family in Schwerin (the one in Germany). Someone recommended north Germany, the Lake District and the Baltic Sea, to me and I once I did some research it seemed like a good stop. It's mid way through my trip so I thought something away from the big city were I could relax and maybe hit a beach might be a good idea. Kind of take a break from my vacation with out a bunch of site seeing spots on my itinerary. That is still flexible with me. Maybe a different location might be more practical?
Posted by
San Francisco
14960 posts
Hi,
I agree with your schedule on seeing Schwerin..you're allowing about 2.5 days there, including the time you get in from Berlin and leaving two days later in the evening back to Berlin. It used to be called Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the other famous place was Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Go to Schwerin using a point to point ticket, round trip. The distance is comparable to Berlin-Magdeburg or Berlin-Dresden, both of which I did last summer.
I envy your going to Schwerin, a place I have yet to see.
Posted by
Winston Salem, NC, USA
36 posts
Kirsten:
Sounds like a great itinerary! I'm going in September and will be visiting -
Amsterdam - 1
Berlin - 3
Dresden - 2
Prague - 5
Cesky Krumlov - 2
Vienna - 1 (been before, and couldn't find cheap accomo so decided to visit Grunau instead)
Grunau im Almtal - 2
Salzburg - 2
Munich - 3
Paris - 3 (been before & will visit 5 days next year)
Bruges - 2
Amsterdam - 2
Fly home on the 29th
Happy travels!
Posted by
Twin Cities, Minnesota
1997 posts
"It's mid way through my trip so I thought something away from the big city where I could relax and maybe hit a beach might be a good idea."
Kirsten, I totally agree with this approach. I just returned from my trip to the big 3 cities of Italy and would really recommend a relaxing place to regroup and recharge. Your trip is really coming together.
Posted by
Atlanta
1358 posts
I'd drop one of the cities at the end (either Prague, Vienna, or Munich). You're having a little more than 24 hours in the town, which is barely enough to just figure out the public transportation. IMHO, I'd drop Prague and just do Vienna and Munich.
We just stopped in Chicago as a part of a road trip, were there for just a little under 24 hours. We were very sad that we didn't have a couple of more days there. We spent the whole time running from one thing to another. We were driving away, looking sadly at shops, wishing we had the time to just "fart around" in the city.
Or, as another option, instead of doing Schwerin, keep Prague in the schedule and hit Saxon Switzerland in between Berlin and Prague.
Posted by
St. Louis, MO USA
1976 posts
I would skip Brussels and Salzburg. I know it's tempting to stop in these cities, esp. since you're going to be right there. But it's better to save these places for your next trip, when you can plan to stay there for a few days and really make use of your time there. Your trip is so packed already that you don't want to tire yourself out or feel obligated to stop in these cities just because you're right there.