Where to go for second trip - Suggestions

"Looking for something maybe with less travel or centrally located. Some gems I don't know about. thanks" If you have only seen Füssen in Germany, there's much more for you to see there. Berlin, Munich, the Middle Rhine Valley, Franconia (Nuremberg, Rothenburg, Bamberg, Würzburg) and the Black Forest are good places to look into. And Germany is surrounded by other countries if you have time for more than one. You can be in France's Alsace region or in Switzerland in under one hour from Freiburg (near the Black Forest,) or in Salzburg Austria in less than 2 hours from Munich. Transportation in Germany is efficient and cheap as well.

Warren, Did you post here re your trip two years ago? I think I remember you a little. The first thing that comes to mind is this; Berlin Prague Krakow Budapest
Zagreb, down toward Dubrovnik, Croatia Sprinkle in smaller city/town/village visits in between the cities for variety. Of course, there are numerous possibilities, but this covers ground you have not seen before and has a bit of Eastern flavor, yet still easy to get around with plenty of tourism support.

Buchuresti and Constanta! Eastern Europe had the finest looking street art I've ever seen.

Ireland or Turkey.

You've already gotten some very good ideas. Here's an alternate- focus on one country or area. Personally, I'd pick Scotland. Glasgow is NOT all of Scotland, by any means. You could fly into Edinburgh, spend several days, then work your way north (by train or car). Hitting places like Aviemore or other Speyside villages in or near the Caringorms, Inverness- needs several days at least, The islands- Isle of Skye, Oban, Iona, all the way up to Orkney. You could have a variety of urban experiences some small towns/villages and rural ones, too. You could have moutains, seashore, lowlands, lakes, rivers and just about any other kind of landscape that you are interested in. Then, if you wanted you could work your way south and see the borders- both Scotland and England, and if time permits, explore Wales, the midlands of England, and English cities other than London. I LOVE London, but there's a whole lot more!!!!

Randy, I did post my trip. .. that was probably me you remember. Everyone else, thanks for the suggestions. This is what I was hoping for. Keep 'em coming. Right now Ireland would be someplace I would like to visit and Eastern Europe may merit some consideration. Thanks

Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, & Prague. Budapest would work well with this group but I it was my least favorite.
You could fly into Munich and train between cities and fly out of Prague. Prague, Amsterdam, Brugge, & Seville are favorites. Spent two weeks in Nice and had a great time. Lots of daytrips from Nice. If I had to do it over again, I would use Villa Franche as my base and take daytrips from there. Least favorite city in this area was Cannes.

What about Switzerland??? We made it a 4 night stop on our 1st big trip, and are going for the 3rd time this June.

Although it appears inconsistent with your "less travel". i would choose a country and get out in the countryside. maybe England by car; Loire chateau, Mont St Michel and down the coast; Rhine villages and bavaria

Last May, I went to Barcelona, Nice, Milan and Munich. It can all be done by train. Took side trips to Venice, Dachua and Salsburg, by train and bus. I recommend that trip. You have lots of choices. I, too, am planning a follow-up to that "trip of a lifetime". Enjoy!

Since you haven't yet been to Spain I'd suggest Spain or stay on the Iberian peninsula and visit both Spain and Portugal.

Awesome suggestions. So far, Ireland, Prague, Vienna, Nice, Milan, Spain, Switzerland, Munich and the English countryside are all appealing to me. We also would like to go back to Amsterdam and do some bicycle tours out into the country. I'm going to need more time :)

Just took a look at a map and was thinking about something like this: Fly into Prague, train to Vienna, train to Munich, train into Zurich or Geneva (not sure which would be better), train to Amsterdam, fly to Dublin (or ???) and back home.

Warren, are you limiting yourself to big cities? If you are then you are missing out on some of the best of Europe. For Switzerland I would recommend the Berner Oberland area which can be reached by train. I would skip both Geneva and Zurich.

Jill, I'm not limiting myself to the big cities. I was just looking at a map and getting a general idea of the route. Since I'm a total greenhorn on Europe, I'm counting on you and others for the experience. The suggestion of skipping Zurich and Geneva is priceless.

Well Warren, you're NOT a total greenhorn since you've already been on your first big trip. So give yourself some credit. I enthusiastically agree with the notion of seeing some of (or a lot of) small town Europe. In fact, the only reason my previous suggestion only mentioned cities specifically is because that was the sort of trip you took and enjoyed before. I usually recommend getting out of the cities as much as possible and frankly, I get shot down a lot for saying so. It gets old. In every trip we've ever taken, cities have accounted for no more than 50% of our time, and usually quite a bit less. Ireland would be a great place to go rural, as would France, England, Germany and Italy. (Of course, you could successfully go rural anywhere, but those places seem to have exceptional offerings) Going rural takes some research and potentially some creativity for transport. But it is well worth it, in my opinion. One of the things I like most about travel is picturing real life - both current (through reality) and centuries-old (through my imagination and what buildings remain). In my experience, all of that is more vivid outside of cities. It wouldn't take long until you received suggestions from others here covering virtually all of Europe. If you are an enthusiastic traveler and diligent reseacher, you could have a great trip anywhere. It might be more effective if you came out and eliminated locations you really don't have any enthusiasm for, if any. Then subtract the places you've already been and that might clarify where you should focus.

Given your desire to experience it all as in big cities and small towns, I again suggest Ireland.

thanks for all the input As mentioned before, I think the Prague (wife wants to go there), Vienna, Munich ( I want to go -beer), somewhere in Switzerland (wife's boss is from there), Amsterdam (for the bike riding) and Ireland (wife REALLY wants to go there) route is the general plan. Not necessary specifically those cities, but in the area. Fly to Prague and take the straightest route.

Warren, just thought I'd throw out that there is great biking all over Europe - not just Netherlands. We're biking around Lake Constance this summer which is probably one of the most popular biking routes, but some others would be along the Danube, and the Rhein. Here's a website to give you some ideas http://biketoursdirect.com/

LOL My wife and I took our "once in a lifetime trip" last year and on the flight back home we were planning the next one. We went to Spain, France, Italy and Germany. My favorite place was Germany , especially Munich, but your interests might be different than mine. BTW When I start talking about where to go, my wife sometimes says "what part of once in a lifetime didn't you understand?". But that's said in jest, she wants to go back as badly as I.

"Munich ( I want to go -beer)." Like Jill says, "there is great biking all over Europe." The same is true for beer. I wouldn't pick Munich just for beer. If there's going to be a rural component, you might focus your itinerary not only around major cities. Exercise your enthusiasm for biking and beer by visiting the Beer Road, which is dotted with 8 small breweries and which begins not far from Nuremberg in Bad Windsheim: http://www.franken-bierland.de/biertouren/aischgruender_bierstrasse/ Nuremberg is a city but a good stop too. It is well connected for trips to/from Prague, has an interesting old town and castle, nice pubs, and it's the home of the Nazi Documentation Center.

Warren, My experience is mostly in France and Italy, but after several years of visiting these places (and London). I went to Ireland last year with my family. I was interested in seeing it, but not over-the-top excited. But I have to say after being there for a week, from Dublin - driving across country and exploring Kerry county -- it was beautiful and wonderful. The people, food, beer and music were delightful -- city, small town and rural countryside. Gorgeous scenery. I would go back there in a heartbeat.
Your wife may be on the right track.

Beer look no further than the Czeck Republic. Prague will make you happy. Kozel

If its beer you like, then consider Belgium. It is heaven, beer heaven. German beer is good, Belgium beer is pure bliss.

What about suggestions for Austria? Did some reading about Vienna, and it doesn't really draw me. Would like to go to that country just because we haven't been there before. I've read Rick's ideas from his Through the back door.

Warren: After spending many European vacations driving as far and to as many places as possible, I suggest the following itinerary: Munich is a great place, and everytime I walk in the door of a big beer hall, I know I'm home. It's a world class city, with plenty of things to see. Salzburg is another lovely place. The Augustiner Brewery is many serious beer drinkers' favorite place to spend the afternoon. The locals are incredible hosts, as they're all like tour guides. It's a music city. Innsbruck is a city of incredible beauty; and a day trip by rental car out of Salzburg. The mountains look just like Switzerland. Vienna is another world class city, with Schoenbrunn Palace and city palaces that are well worth the visit. It's a city of great class and music. (Stay @ K&T Boardinghouse.)
Prague is a city I've never experienced, but I understand it's a bohemian paradise. Very fun and lively place. With $9 gasoline, travel by train between cities is best. Go by mass transit within the cities. Rent a car to do day trips out of a central location, like Salzburg. All of these stops have plenty of things to do. I especially adore Vienna, the most underrated city in Europe. This travel schedule will give you all the enjoyment you could stand. If you decide you'd like to go to Italy, I also have an itinerary prepared, as we're going there 4/1 for 2 weeks.