First time Central Europe

Continues... Day -1 Leave home (Uruguay) Day 0 Arrive in Europe (Paris) Recover from flight Day 1 Paris Day 2 Paris Day 3 Paris Day 4 Paris (day trip Versailles) Day 5 Paris / London Day 6 London Day 7 London Day 8 London Day 9 London Day 10 London / Brussels Day 11 Brussels Day 12 Brussels (day trip Brugges) Day 13 Brussels / Amsterdam Day 14 Amsterdam Day 15 Amsterdam Day 16 Amsterdam / Berlin Day 17 Berlin Day 18 Berlin Day 19 Berlin Day 20 Berlin (day trip Postdam) / Overnight train to Munich Day 21 Munich Day 22 Munich (day trip Fussen) / Overnight train to Venice Day 23 Venice Day 24 Venice Day 25 Venice / Florence Day 26 Florence Day 27 Florence Day 28 Florence (day trip Siena) / Rome Day 29 Rome Day 30 Rome Day 31 Rome Day 32 Rome Day 33 Rome / Vernazza (via Pisa) Day 34 Vernazza Day 35 Vernazza / Lugano Day 36 Lugano / Luzern (Bernina Express) Day 37 Luzern / Interlaken (Golden Pass Line) Day 38 Interlaken Day 39 Interlaken Day 40 Interlaken / Bern (Golden Pass Line to Montreux + regular train to Bern) Day 41 Leave Europe (from Bern or Paris)
Day 42 Arrive home I'm thinking that days 5, 10, 16, 25, 33 can work as "rest days", with little walking involved so as to recover some energy. Thanks in advance and best regards!

The first thing that jumped out at me is that you plan to start in Paris, go to London, then back to the continent to Brussels. You are going as far south as Rome, then going north again, possibly flying home from Paris. I suggest you fly open jaw, starting south and moving north. Fly into Rome and fly home from London. Get out your map and link your desired locations in a logical manner to avoid backtracking.

Wow, what a wonderful trip!! I bet Bern is beautiful, but so is Geneva; a continuation from Montreaux. The reason I say this, in addition to the beauty, your return flight might be more affordable, I believe Geneva is a major hub. While in Montreaux, you might consider Castle Chillon. Once you arrive in Geneva, and walk out of train station, you might want to consider Hotel Warwick, all you have to do is cross street and there it is, you may be tired at this point and it's nice to have convenience, modern Hotel, and for Geneva, somewhat reasonably priced. I've not traveled to these areas in May, snow or melting snow may be a factor. ABSOLUTELY go to the Berner Oberland area, the private trains are expensive, but worth every penny if you use proper Rail pass. Some of our more experienced posters will chime in regarding this. murren is a personal favorite of mine, but I'm uncertain if all the tourist ventures will be open.

Can I come too? I promise not to be any trouble.

Your proposed itinerary looks pretty good to me. You will inevitably miss something, but don't worry. You're seeing plenty for a first trip.

Andrés, It's late so I'll just make a brief reply tonight to mention a couple of areas that stand out. I'll have a closer look tomorrow. As someone else mentioned, I'd suggest starting in London and then moving to the continent. The trips back and forth will waste both time and money, so it would be efficient and cheaper to start in London (and perhaps less of a "culture shock"). I'd suggest spending a couple of days in Bruges and deduct at least a day from Brussels (unless there's something special you want to see there). You could also consider spending a day in Ghent, as it's a University city and very beautiful. Regarding your stay in the Cinque Terre, you could also consider staying in one of the other four towns (unless you really prefer Vernazza). As you may know, you'll need to take a Bus from Lugano to Tirano to take the Bernina Express. It's an easy trip. You may have to spend at least one night in Chur, as the train doesn't arrive there until about 18:00. For your stay in the Berner Oberland, you might consider staying in the Lauterbrunnen Valley rather than Interlaken. Towns you might use as a "home base" in that area are Lauterbrunnen, Mürren or Gimmelwald. If you'll be using Hostels at all during your trip, the famous Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald would be a good choice. If you'd prefer to stay in Interlaken, have a look at Balmer's Herberge. If you could provide a bit more information on your interests (ie: Museums, Galleries, historic sites), it would be easier to recommend things to see in each place. Do you have access to Rick's Guidebooks in your location? You may be able to download E-book versions? They provide a LOT of great information, including hotels, sightseeing and transportation. Cheers!

Andrés, You've planned a great trip and on the whole your time at destinations is extremely reasonable and good. The only thing is I might cut one night off of Venice, from what I've heard over and over (admittedly, have not been) is that it's fairly small and 2 nights is fine. My only issue, as others have mentioned, is that the order of your sights don't necessarily make sense. One possible idea is to fly into London and out of Rome, but open jaw would be ideal. It may be more expensive than a round trip flight, but do consider the cost (and time!) of getting back to your starting point to figure out if the savings really make sense to you. With your trip, a Railpass is probably not a good idea, as most of the countries you're traveling in require an additional seat reservation on high speed trains, which can add up and be difficult to purchase in advance (yet, the seat reservations for passholders can sell out, so it's stressful to leave it til you get to Europe). I would recommend buying point to point tickets in advance online. The only place where a pass may make sense is Switzerland, hopefully others familiar with the train and pass system there can give you detailed advice. Sounds like a fantastic trip! As you finalize your itinerary, please return to the board for any questions you may have or recommendations you may want!

Hey everyone! Thanks for all your answers, I didn't expect them so quick! You all have shared very valuable tips to keep in mind. Regarding some of them: You're right about the "geographical" order of the cities; I have noticed that before, but I'll take a look at it again. I like the idea of starting in London and then moving to the continent, and although I wanted to leave Cinque Terre and Berner Oberland to the end, I can think of a different alternative. I've been to some nearby 1 week "get-away" trips with my girlfriend, and also a 10-days trip to Rio de Janeiro, so this of course would be the longest trip with her but not the first. I'm rather confident about this subject though. Regarding our interests, first of all we would really like to soak up some European culture (people, food, living styles), but also, we're pretty interested in historic sites in general (I'm particularly interested in WW1 and WW2 sites). As for Rick's Guidebooks, I'm considering buying the e-book versions already! Last but not least... Sam: we'll give you a call before leaving so we can meet over there! LOL

Ditto on the post regarding rail passes. Many travellers, at least on these forums, begin their planning with the assumption that a pass is a must. I prefer starting at the other end of the equation. Roughly chart out your routes, then use the German rail site http://www.bahn.com/i/view/index.shtml to check point-to-point prices. Only then can you evaluate whether a pass is saving enough money to be worth the extra bother for reservations etc. that they cause. Since you very wisely plan to settle into main cities for enough time to get to know them, you probably don't qualify for the hectic travelling required by the time limits on many passes. Another valuable research site for rail travel is www.seat61.com

Ken, no offense, but funny that you brought up the old "London as less of a culture shock" chestnut for an Uruguayan. I guess Italy, as a "Latin," Romance-speaking country would be less of a culture shock for Andres! Reminds me of meeting a Spanish guy in Amsterdam, who said he found the Netherlands very foreign, and that he considered himself "100% Mediterranean." Of course, Amsterdam was fairly foreign to me too, but not in the same ways.

Hi, A very good trip planned for six weeks with good choices. I would suggest dropping a day from Amsterdam, add it to Berlin. As for some of the numerous WW II sites there, go to Berlin-Karlshorst, Treptow, and outside of Berlin (consider this as a day trip in addition to Potsdam) go to Seelow. If you decide to rent a car, it's much easier to get to. It's also doable by public transportation...transfer at Frankfurt an der Oder. If you get a Pass, then I suggest rearranging Paris and London, ie., fly into London. Do that, and I would suggest a three country Pass of Switzerland, Germany, France. But I can see why you want to fly into Paris instead. In Munich, Paris, Berlin, London are good hostels quite close to the train station all within a few mins. The two night train trips are for the right places.

Andrés, For WW-I and WW-II sites, here are some suggestions for the places listed: > London - Imperial War Museum, Cabinet War Rooms, HMS Belfast, IWM Duxford. If you had more time, you could visit the Tank Museum at Bovington (it's fantastic!). > Paris - Invalides (covers a wide range of history, but there's a small WW-era section). There's MUCH more history to see in Normandy but not sure if you'll have time for that. > Brussels / Bruges - You might be able to work in a day trip to Ypres and Passchendale. LOTS of WW-I history there! There's also an excellent War Museum in Brussels covering a range of history. > Amsterdam - Anne Frank house. I found it quite moving. > Berlin - You'll have LOTS of history to cover there, both WW-II era and Cold War. You might consider a few tours with Original Berlin Walks including a tour to Sachsenhausen (unless you feel it might be a bit too "intense" for your girlfriend). > Munich - LOTS of history! Have a look at Radius Tours for some of the local walking tours covering the WW-II era. You could also tour Dachau. > Rome - there is WW-II history there, but it's a bit "hidden". One sight you may want to visit is the Ardeatine Caves Memorial. Again, it's a bit intense so may not be the best place for your girlfriend. > Lucerne - You may enjoy visiting the fantastic Museum of Transport. There's LOTS to see and it took me the better part of a day to get through the Museum. There are LOTS of other historic sites in the areas you'll be visiting, but these are the ones that come to mind at the moment. You'll probably have to balance your interest in WW-I & WW-II history with your girlfriend's interests. Cheers

Hey everyone Thanks again for all your answers! They've been of great help and I'm taking note of every comment! I still have some doubts with the scenic trains in Switzerland though, do you think fitting both Bernina Express and Golden Pass would be worth it? I'm thinking of dropping the Bernina Express (then, Lugano also) and heading directly from Cinque Terre to Berner Oberland (say Vernazza – Interlaken). Would that make sense? Cheers!

Andrés The only person who can say if these train trips are "worth it" to you - is you. Millions of people take the Swiss scenic trains every year and there is a good reason for that. They are uniquely wonderful and scenic. I happen to love them. You have to decide if that is what you and girlfriend want or if something else has a higher priority - for you.