Amsterdam-Belgium-then Eastern Europe itinerary suggestions

I like the first stretch up to Bruges. The trip to Dresden will probably take a long time, like a full day. So if there is a night train, I would take it.

If you're going all that way to Dresden, why not go to Berlin instead. I enjoyed Berlin so much more than Dresden.

Vienna instead of Salzburg is an option after Budapest.

I may be wrong here, but if you want to visit both Cesky Krumlov and Budapest back-to-back, you might want to check rail and bus schedules first. I researched some routes for a trip we took this past March and found that CK was inconvenient to get to from a lot of places - and/or it could be an all-day affair getting between the two.

Here is the official Czech Rail website (click to English on the right about mid way down the page):

http://jizdnirady.idnes.cz/vlakyautobusy/spojeni/

We didn't make it to CK but did go to Brno, Czech Republic. I'd enthusiastically recommend it and if you'd like any further info, feel free to contact me.

Spent a lovely weekend in Chatham many moons ago. I have not been to Dresden but to Berlin a couple of times. It is great city...lots of history and sites, nice aquarium (busy) and zoo. Not so much a food city, though. Great department store, comparable to Harrods. In that part of the world, have you considered Poland. Warsaw is interesting, but Krakow is especially nice. Obviously Prague, Vienna, Budapest are all great. You may want to slant a bit in favor of Buda, timewise, if cost is any issue (great food too, especially the goose liver). One of the real memories of our trip to that part of the world was Auschwitz-Birkenau. Somber but memorable. I also hired a car to take us from Prague back to Frankfurt for our flight home. The trip at 230 kph was exciting. Dan

Since you're going to Prague already, I wouldn't recommend CK at all. With those extra 3-4 days, I would say you take the path south to Vienna, then through to Slovakia since its on the way to Budapest. But really, that leaves you pretty far east from Amsterdam...what's the plan to get back there to catch your flight back home?

In any case, sounds like a really full schedule. If its a trip of a lifetime, I say absolutely see as much as you can in the 27 days. If you're a frequent traveler and will have the opportunity to go back...I wouldn't go to any destination for less than 3 days. With less than that, you only seeing glimpses of the places you're visiting.

Good luck with the plans. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

http://www.minitraveler.ca

Thanks all for the great feedback, planning this adventure really is a lot of fun.

Wendy, make your trip a big loop. You have plenty of time to see the cities you've listed and still be able to stay in each one 2-3 days. After Amsterdam, I would take the train to Dresden. On the backside of the loop I would then do cities closer to Amsterdam. Here's an example of how you could plan the trip. Day 1-4 Amsterdam; Day 5-7 Dresden; Day 8-10 Prague; Day 11 & 12 Ceske Krumlov; Day 13-15 Budapest; Day 16-18 Vienna; Day 19-21 Salzburg; Day 22 & 23 Brussels; Day 24 & 25 Brugge; Day 26 Haarlem; Day 27 Amsterdam

Of course, you could take a day from Amsterdam at the beginning and add it to another city/town. It's just a first plot of an itinerary. Have fun planning.