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Am I doing To Much (My route)

Forgive me for filling up the Helpline with questions...

Is this route a little two much. Be brutally honest please.

Paris 4 Nights (day trip to Versailles, train to Epernay)
Epernay 2 nights (morning train, stop in Lille for lunch)
Bruges 2 nights (mid afternoon train to AMS)
Amsterdam 3 nights (overnight train to Munich)
Munich 3 nights (Possibly spending 1 day/night in Salzburg, one day @ the Castles for sure...overnight train to Interlaken..)
Interlaken 3 nights (Possibly spending one night in Lucerne
Nice 3 nights (day train to Florence, IT where we will be living for 5 months)

Its myself and my girlfriend, we're both 20 years old. This route suits our personal interests - we want to see as much as we can without feeling like we're waking up, running around to see things before catching a train and doing it over and over.

Posted by
10344 posts

This kind of question is difficult to answer: ideally we want to avoid assuming that the way I travel is the way you should travel. If a person believes they will return to an area, they're more likely to spend more time in fewer places. But if they are not sure they will return to an area, there's an understandable interest in seeing as much as possible, however without turning it into a "death march to exhaustion" itinerary.To me, your itinerary doesn't look too exhausting--busy but not frantic. The only thought I have is: You might want to skip the Lucerne night and add it to the 3 Munich nights to get 4 in Munich: and this only because your 3 existing nights in Munich really only give you one full day in Munich, because you're using 1 day/night for Salzburg and 1 full day for a day trip to the Castles, which doesn't give you much time in Munich itself, whereas if you skip Lucerne and add that night to Munich the 4 nights in Munich give you about 2 full days to see Munich itself instead of one.

Posted by
12172 posts

It sounds like not much Munich (3 nights minus a day @ castles and a day/night @ Salzburg). IMO Bruge, Amsterdam, Interlaaken or Nice could be a little less in exchange for more time in Munich. If you're doing museums, I would visit the Altes Pinokotek in Munich (or both Altes and Neues) over the Rijksmuseum in A'dam.

I'm not sure how long the train ride from Munich to Interlaken takes. Is it enough time to get some sleep? I haven't done overnight trains, so I can't give you good info on them.

Other than that, I think your trip is pretty well paced. All of the places you are visiting are good choices, I wouldn't eliminate any of them.

Posted by
12040 posts

The middle part of your trip is too full. Don't expect to be too fresh upon arrival in Munich (the majority opinion seems to be that getting a good night of sleep on a train is wishful thinking). You won't see much of Munich if the three nights include side trips to Salzburg and the castles, and by the time you arrive in Interlaken from another night train, you WILL be exhausted.

Posted by
174 posts

I think we are going to X Salzburg - it was just a thought but doesn't look like the best option. Lucerne will most likely be X'd too - we want to go do outdoor stuff in Interlaken and just enjoy the mountains. Since we'll be living in Florence for 5 months we can always go back!

Posted by
632 posts

In answer to Brad's question above, I was surprised to see that the train trip from Munchen to Interlaken is over 7 hours...and it's not a direct route...you have to go through Stuttgart, Basel and Bern before you reach Interlaken.