Where would you go with six to seven weeks

Over six weeks ...

Brussels (for Bruges) - 4 nights
Amsterdam - 4 nights
Berlin - 5 nights
Dresden - 3 nights
Prague - 4 nights
Munich - 4 nights
Salzburg - 3 nights
Vienna - 4 nights
Budapest - 5 nights
Kraków - 3 nights
Warsaw - 3 nights

All by train except Budapest to Kraków which I think is best by bus.

I've made most of this trip (in multiple visits over a couple of years). For adventurers only: https://goo.gl/maps/u46Wu4iTP9q Would be a great 6 or 7 week trip. Because of the part of the world, its pretty inexpensive to travel "well".

Another way to handle it would be to

Week One: fly to Istanbul for a week and do day trips and overnight trips from a good base.

Week Two: Fly to Sofia and spend a week doing the circle of the country.

Week Three: Work out of Bucharest for a week

Week Four: Fly to Budapest and spend a day in Hungary with overnights and day trips

Week Five: Poprad, Slovakia for a week

Week Six; Vienna for a week

Week Seven: Prague and surrounding for a week.

Thanks for the information while I loved Istanbul i am just home for almost a month in Turkey. So Turkey is out for this trip. Amsterdam and Bruges are must sees for me this trip. Is 4 days enough in Amsterdam to see the city and do a few day trips. I was thinking Amsterdam may warrant a week, Would you say that is too long? Looking at a few day trips

I think if you wish to see more of Holland from Amsterdam, and are very keen on museums, then a week would be easily filled for you.

Wendy, last summer I did a 5 week itinerary quite similar to yours. I flew into Brussels and home from Budapest. I didn't go to all the places you have planned but then it was 1-2 weeks fewer than yours. My itinerary went like this:
Brussels - 3 nights; Bacharach (on the Rhine) - 1 night; Frankfurt - 3 nights; Berlin - 5 nights; Munich - 4 nights; Cesky Krumlov - 1 night; Prague - 3 nights; Krakow - 3 nights; Vienna - 4 nights; Budapest - 6 nights.

All of my transportation between cities was on trains except for the Cesky Krumlov stop, for that I took a train from Munich to Salzburg and a private shuttle from there to CK, from CK to Prague I took a bus. All of the other cities were easily connected by train. I understand some people's dread of long train trips so they prefer to fly if possible, I like trains so the longer rides were definitely doable for me (longest was from Prague to Krakow, approx 7 hrs).

I would have like to spend more time in some of these locations, if I had had more time I would have stayed an additional night in both Prague and Krakow and probably would have gone to Warsaw also. I was very glad that I ended up with 6 nights in Budapest because even with just one half-day trip outside the city I still didn't get to see everything I wanted to.

If you're a big museum person be sure to plan at least 4-5 full days in Berlin. Also probably need to give Amsterdam at least 4 full days, more if you want to get out of the city to see some other places.

I think you'll love the places you are planning to go to, I absolutely loved that part of Europe and hope to maybe get back there sometime.

EDIT: I edited my post to clean it up a bit.

Hi,

You're going solo for seven weeks doing the above itinerary...bravo! I agree with Vienna, Krakow, Warsaw, Budapest, Berlin, Prague, choose between Amsterdam and Brussels. Numerous day trips can be planned depending on your specific interests, some of which you listed. My suggestions which you can choose from are: Vienna...Baden bei Wien, Eisenstadt, Melk, Bad Ischl (still doable), Wiener Neustadt; Brno,CZ;... Berlin...Potsdam, Halle an der Saale, Neustrelitz, Seelow (if you're interested in war history/museum), Dresden, Meißen, Jena: Krakow....Tarnow, Pszczyna. Numerous museums (history, of course) can be seen in Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Warsaw, ...all a matter of deciding which and tracking them down. If you read German, all the better in understanding the historical realia (in Berlin and Vienna) which you can't get from an audioguide, one reason I don't use them.

Depending on how much you want to pack in, you may want to use all transportation options...buses, trains, (including night trains, say from Krakow to Budapest or Berlin to Budapest, discount air carriers.

Here's the route I'd take:

Brussels > Ghent (base) > Den Haag (base) > Amsterdam > Berlin > Dresden > Prague > Vienna > Budapest > Krakow > Warsaw

I've changed trains in Brussels but never actually visited! I prefer Ghent to Bruges. It's about halfway between Brussels and Bruges, so it's easy to day trip to both. Ghent is quieter, less touristy, lovely after dark, and cheaper lodgings than either of the others. You could leave Ghent in the morning, stop in Antwerp for the day (or not) and end in Den Haag, which is cheaper (and cleaner) than Amsterdam. It has good museums and can easily be a base to visit other cities - a short tram ride to Delft, train to Rotterdam and/or others. Stay in Amsterdam only to see Amsterdam. You can fly or train to Berlin. There are several direct trains a day (6.25 hours). I'd rather relax on a train than go through the hoops and hassles of flying, which will probably take you nearly as long and cost more.

After Berlin, stop for 2 nights in Dresden on the way to Prague (if you have time in your schedule). A lot of people visit Cesky Krumlov on the way to Vienna (I didn't). It makes sense to stop in Vienna on the way to Budapest because the trains go through there anyway.

I've recently done a lot of research on getting from Krakow to Budapest (planning a first trip to Poland in May). There are 2 solutions, one cheap, one expensive. Both drive through Slovakia and are scenic. There are direct tourist-class buses between the two cities run by 3 different companies. The drive takes about 7 hours and the price is around $20. You can hire a private driver for no less than $250. It won't be shorter but it will be (according to one of our treasured contributors) an enriched and rewarding experience. I'm planning to take the bus. There are no direct flights or trains. Any connection will take as long as the bus and cost a lot more, plus the hassles.

Use the German train website for train schedules. You can buy tickets for trains in and out of Germany here. Use the national train sites for other train tickets. Some, like Germany, have big discounts on tickets bought in advance.

You won't need - or even want - a car on this trip. I also love museums (I claim to be a "museum mole" a la "bookworm"). Start making a list, and be selective - there are so many to choose from. Here are a few of my faves.

Den Haag - Escher, Mauritshuis (and don't miss the Mesdag Panorama)
Amsterdam - of course the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. There may be an exhibition at the Hermitage that you want to see. The Dutch Resistance Museum, Maritime Museum, Portuguese Synagogue
Berlin Pergamon, DDR Museum, Neues Museum for the Egyptian collection
Vienna great art museums - just choose which collections most appeal to you.
Budapest I never got to an art museum! Holocaust Memorial, Museum of Applied Arts (described to me thus - go in just to see what it's like to be inside a wedding cake), Museum of Ethnography, Post Office Museum (honestly, this was great, it was closed for a couple years, but apparently has reopened).

There are tons of other things to see and do. See all of the Netherlands in miniature at Madurodam (Den Haag), the Schonbrunn (Vienna) is the second most beautiful palace in Europe, day trip to Potsdam from Berlin, to Theresienstadt from Prague for a fascinating look at the concentration camp experience (without the death camp aspect).

Your itinerary looks good. With your allotted time I would think about adding few smaller towns which are on your way (exception: Gdansk). So it could look like this:
Brussels 2 - 3 nights
Bruges 1 - 2
Amsterdam 3
Berlin 4 - 5
Dresden 1 - 2
Prague 4
Brno 1 (or)
Bratislava 1
Budapest 4
Krakow 2 - 3
Gdansk 2 - 3 plus day trip to Malbork (or stop on the way from Warsaw to Gdansk or vice versa).

Warsaw 2 - 3
Or you can do it with a slight change: Brussels-Bruges-Amsterdam-Berlin-Dresden-Prague-Cesky Krumlov-Vienna-Budapest-Krakow
-Gdansk-Warsaw.
All of it could be done by train. Prague to Cesky Krumlov could be also done by Student Agency bus (so called yellow bus, yes it's yellow). Bus is direct and slightly faster. By train you have to change once. From Cesky Krumlov to Vienna it's quite faster if you take shuttle to Linz and then train. Or all the way to Vienna by shuttle but that's more expensive. Or all the way by train, that involves changes, takes longer but it's cheaper.

Thanks for all the information. I am thinking of adding Munich as I have not been for 23 years and that was only for a day in my student euro rail days. Does it make any sense to,add Luxenburg to this trip it looks interesting even if I just do it for a day. I can travel any time starting April 20 and need to be home by August 1. My plan is May and June would you go at a different time within my dates.

Wendy

Hi,

Weather wise going May/June, ie last couple of weeks in May, first two weeks in June is almost ideal for Germany, Austria, and the rest of Central Europe, not too cool and no heat wave. Plus you can expect successive week to have more day light unlike in October with each successive week to be darker and cooler.