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Second draft of 6 week trip

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My daughter and I are planning to travel for 6 weeks this summer mid-June to end of July (hot, crowded, but that's when school is out!). I had posted here last summer with some initial questions and got good feedback. Since then of course there’s been more negotiating, and discussion, and now we have a 2nd draft. At this point we have some things locked down (outbound and return flights, some hotels, etc.). I was considering a guided tour in the Balkans and have decided not to do that this time. I also decided to skip Croatia entirely as I want to spend more time and do it right, ideally in shoulder season.

So here’s our 2nd draft, and would appreciate input especially on the part between Berner Oberland and Budapest, those are the 12 nights that are flexible. (Mister E made a good point that Switzerland is an outlier, and it really is; but I want to hike there in the summer and I’m not convinced I’ll be back in the summer with that opportunity, so am not going to give it up!)

We like both cities and beautiful nature and have tried to mix them in this trip. The only place we have been previously is Paris.

  1. Fly to Paris – stay 5 nights (incl 1-2 day trips)
  2. Train to Bayeux - stay 3 nights (Overlord Tours booked for 1 day; rent car for 1 day to drive to other beaches, museums)
  3. Train to Berner Oberland - stay 5 nights (Murren - hiking) **4. Train to Bern and then Zurich; TBD if we will stay 1 night just to avoid mishaps between B.O. and flight
  4. Fly to Sarajevo – stay 4 nights
  5. Private transfer and bus to Lake Bled – pickup rental car, stay 2 nights
  6. Drive to Kobarid, stay 2 nights
  7. Drive to Ljubljana, drop off car, stay 3 nights**
  8. Bus to Budapest, 5 or 6 nights
  9. Train to Bratislava, 1 night
  10. Train to Vienna, 3 nights
  11. Shuttle to Cesky Krumlov, 1 night
  12. Train to Prague, 4 nights

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

Posted by
7570 posts

Just thoughts...

Bayeux to Murren is a long haul by train, 10 hours or so? with multiple changes. I try not to travel more than 4 hours at a time, maybe stretch it to 6, breaking up a long haul with an overnight stop along the way.

Other than that, you seem to have a decent amount of nights in each place, with only a few one nighters, and those are enroute to another bigger place.

If you are happy with it, go for it.

Posted by
18009 posts

Bayeux to Murren is a long haul by train, 10 hours or so? with
multiple changes

Sometimes you gotta bite the bullet to make dreams come true.

If you can do mid-june you will miss some of the heat. July is generally the warmest. Prague and Cesky Krumlov will be zoos, but you are spending the night in Cesky Krumlov so you can avoid some of the day tourists (its nice early morning and evening). Budapest is a large enough that tourist crowds are only an issue in a few locations around town ... otherwise not bad at all. Paris, well, Paris is Paris .... enjoy ... one of my favorite things. Soon you will understand why I love Paris and Budapest ... a lot in common.

Great trip! So many stops in places I love.

Jealous.

Posted by
18009 posts

If, out of Dubrovnik, Split and Sarajevo I could only do one, it would be a tough call between Dubrovnik and Sarajevo and I think in June/July I would choose Sarajevo as it will be a bit cooler. They are totally different and totally worth it. Split ? Ehhhhhhhh ... naaaaa

Posted by
7570 posts

You missed Dubrovnik and Split, why?

Not the OP, but both would be well out of line from the rest of the trip, and demand enough time to drop a couple other cities.

Personally, I would save Croatia (with maybe Montenegro and a bit of Bosnia) for another trip. I mean if Split and Dubrovnik, then why not Hvar, and Korcula, and....

Posted by
137 posts

I decided not to try to do part of Croatia and save it for its own trip. So removed Dubrovnik. The hardest part was giving up on Plitvice, I really want to go there, but it fits much. better into a full Croatia (and hopefully Montenegro) trip. I started looking more at both countries and realized I could easily fill 2 weeks with them alone; and given that it's peak season, decided to try for Sarajevo this summer and hopefully return another year in the spring or fall for Croatia, as I'm not a beach person.

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