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Munich or Salzburg? I can't decide.

Posted by (Los Angeles, CA, USA) on

I have been pulling my hair out trying to put together an itinerary for Europe this summer. I've got pretty much everything figured out, though admittedly I am still not certain on any of it. I would welcome advice on all parts of my itinerary; however my biggest concern is the title of this topic.

Some things to consider when offering your advice:
- I've been to London twice, but each time it was only for a day. Although I'd like to spend more quality time there, I don't want to take away too much time from cities I haven't been to yet.
- I've taken a day trip to Vienna, and have always wanted to return. However, most of the forums I've read say that Vienna is only worth one day. On the other hand, I am a classically trained musician.
- My day trip to Vienna was from the Czech Republic, where I spent all my time during my first Europe experience. I don't need to visit Prague, Cesky Krumlov, Brno or Telc. The reason I'm saying this is because I keep reading forums that advise people to visit Prague on their way from Berlin to Vienna.
- I like architecture, music, art, history, pretty cities, and good nightlife. While I don't mind taking day trips to cute little countryside towns, I want to be based in more urban areas where people are up after 9 pm.

The days I have listed are full days, meaning I will wake up and go to sleep in the same city. Days with an asterisk (*) mean that one of the days will be almost full, as I will either arrive early in the morning or leave late at night. Days where I am traveling mid-day are not counted towards any city. I have a mix of trains and flights for my transportation depending on the distance between the cities; the exception being Munich/Salzburg to Venice, for which I'll take an overnight train.

Having said all that, here is my tentative itinerary, posted in the comments since this question is too long:

Posted by
21 posts

ARRIVAL IN EUROPE: Early morning arrival in London.

London: 3 days, 3 nights. My original plan was 2 days, 2 nights.
Berlin: 3 days, 4 nights. Is this too much time in Berlin?
Vienna: 1 day, 2 nights. My original plan was 1 day, 1 night. I was going to fly to Munich instead, and take the night train from Vienna, but I figured only one night in a city would be too hectic. I then changed it to 2 days, 2 nights, but I wasn't sure if I was allotting too much time to a city that I'd already visited, especially considering all the advice I'd read about giving Vienna only 1 day. Is the day trip to Bratislava worth it?
Munich/Salzburg: 3 days, 3 nights in one, day trip to the other. The question is, which gets which?
Venice: 3 days, 3 nights.
Rome: 3 days, 4 nights.
Paris: 3 days, 4 nights. Originally I had planned to take an overnight train to Paris, with a stopover in Milan, but I was advised to fly instead to save time. Only one person has said that Milan was worth visiting.
Brussels: 1 day, 2 nights. Considering a day trip to Bruges after my arrival (early train, check in at hostel, drop off luggage, train to Bruges and come back for the night). The full day would be spent in Brussels.
Amsterdam: 2 days, 3 nights. Stopover in Rotterdam?

DEPARTURE FROM EUROPE: Take off from Amsterdam to London, land at the same airport as my flight back to the States 3 hours before scheduled departure. The timing of the flights, and hence the elimination of another trek to the airport, was a huge factor in Amsterdam being the last city on my itinerary. Flying open-jaw is not an option; the round-trip to London has already been booked. Most trans-atlantic flights connect in London anyway, so I don't think I'm causing myself too much of an inconvenience by doing it this way. I think 3 hours is plenty of time to grab my luggage, check back in and go through security again, but I might be wrong.

What do you guys think of all this?

Posted by
10344 posts

Note to repliers: The original poster submitted the same question in General Europe and it's being answered on that thread. It simplifies things if you don't answer here and instead answer this question on the other thread here

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