2 Weeks in Europe - First Time

London is always worth a visit, but what's the logic with "since it's the first time should we start with London"? My first trip to Canada was Calgary/Banff and not Toronto. Yet I survived ;-) To me it would be most logic if you booked an open jaw ticket from Calgary to Paris and from Munich back to Calgary. And then from Paris take the Thalys train via Brussels to Cologne. The main sight in Brussels is the downtown area around the Grand Place, for which you could spend a few hours. Then stay in Cologne for the night. Cologne has got great beer halls and thousands of pubs lined up in the old town. The next morning visit the cathedral (2nd largest gothic cathedral in the world) and then leave for the Mosel and Rhine river valleys. You should probably spend around 5 days in that area and then leave for Munich with one night in Rothenburg en route.

Thanks for your response Andreas! Some of the highlights I'd like to see are the Cologne Cathedral, Rhine Valley and Rothenburg as you mentioned...also Heidelberg, and of course the famous castles including Neuschwanstein.

You also mention Brussels via Thalys...I was thinking more Amsterdam, I'm assuming that would be just as easy?

I'd love to finish off the trip in the Swiss Alps but I think that would be too much...maybe save that one for the next trip...

To be totally honest, alps are alps. They're as spectacular in Switzerland as they are in Austria. Personally I prefer Austria as it's a bit cheaper and people are more friendly and there is just more fun in Austria. Switzerland is all about rules, reglementations, tidyness etc. Check with the Thalys website about Amsterdam. I know that there is a direct Paris via Brussels to Cologne train. Also there are very cheap flights from Paris to Cologne on airberlin.com, germanwings.com, tuifly.com etc. If you want to do Heidelberg and Rothenburg you should rent a car from Frankfurt and drop it off in Munich. That way you can win a lot of time, can do Neuschwanstein and Austria as day trips etc etc.

It seems like you are interested in seeing places on the continent, so I would skip London for another time.

In two weeks you should focus on your priorities, maybe 4 destinations.

Sounds like London isn't one of them for you, so save it for another trip.

Hey Andreas, I forgot to ask you how you enjoyed your Calgary/Banff trip? Hopefully you had a good time...

Anyways, thanks for the feedback guys...As of right now I believe I may leave London out of the picture for this trip, it's just so tough the first time cause you want to do everything!

Interesting comments about the Alps...I live in the Canadian Rockies so I suppose mountain ranges aren't new to me...

Any comments on the Frankfurt to Munich Tours thru Viator?

Steve, you need more time in the rhineland. 4 days for Paris are sufficient. And I wouldn't do the Rhine and Mosel river valley as day trips from Cologne but rather stay in the area. Check one of the other threads on here where Paul posted links of his pictures from the rhine and mosel river valleys (cozy Bavarian B&B thread). 1 night @ Cologne is sufficient, unless you want to add a sidetrip to Düsseldorf, Dyck Castle (www.schuerrle.com/dyck) or the Beethoven city Bonn.I was in Banff for skiing in 1995 and really loved the entire Banff/Lake Louise/Kananaskis (spelling?) area! We only did Calgary on our last day and it was so cold that we really appreciated all the tunnels, covered bridges and underground malls. But that's also why I don't know what the city really looks like ;-) Don't keep your visitors in tubes and cellars! ;-) Back then there was a nonstop DC-10 connection on Canadian Pacific Airlines between Frankfurt and Calgary.

LOL! Good 'ol Calgary...Glad your experience in Kananaskis was good, I never get sick of it.

I edited my post but thanks for responding to my initial details/itinerary. All I really want to see in Cologne is the gothic cathedral...we want to try to limit the amount of times we switch hotels, it would be nice to stay in 1 place in the Rhine and just do day trips, and then head to Munich.

I will check Paul's thread...

It's better to tour the British Isles as a seperate trip.

Your plan is good. Fly into Paris, see Bruges, Amsterdam (to me A-dam is dirty and vice-ridden but I guess worth seeing once), Koln, Rhine Valley, Rhotenberg, Salzburg (maybe Hallstadt or Berchtesgaden) and fly home out of Munich. That is a full two week trip and you won't spend all your time and budget on long trips between destinations. If your schedule gets tight, you can always pare down your itenerary by skipping something.

I agree with Andreas on Swiss versus Austrian Alps. People come out of Switzerland with blown budgets. Austria is affordable and more down to Earth.

Alps are alps.Ive seen Swiss,French,German,Austrian and Slovenian and they are all great.The advice you get to train to Cologne is good.I would then rent a car and drive to Munich stopping in Bacharch,Rothenburg,Reutte and finally dropping the car in Munich at the train station staying a few days and flying home from there.

Steve-Skip London this trip. It is to expensive right now. The trip you are currently planning sounds great to me. You are getting a lot of great input. Have a great time. Cheers, Kim

STeve have you looked at prices of airfares. Zoom flys in and out of Calgary and had much better prices then Air Canada, in fact for almost the same price I am flyign "premium economy " vancouver to Paris with Zoon as opposed to Ac.
I'd forget London also, the pound is twice our dollar, making the $1.45 euros look good, LOL

PS Don't plan any long drives first day, jet lag is real..LOL

Brad's correct, I would skip Amsterdam, see Brugge instead, if time allows...much nicer. Better yet, since your time is limited, after Paris, go with your plans for Germany. We enjoyed the Koln cathedral, the Mosel: hiking up to Burg Eltz, and staying at historic Hotel Haus Lipmann in Beilstein...very beautiful. The Rhine, Bacharach,& Rothenburg was great...but for me the Bavarian Alps region is the ultimate destination in Deutschland...plan as many days as possible here, then fly out of Munich. BTW, we were in Calgary a few years back driving up from Glacier, Yellowstone, and the Tetons...great city!!