Hello fellow readers. My husband and I are leaving the 2nd of November for London, staying four nights, then (by train) Bruges-one night, Munich-two nights, Interlaken two nights and lastly Paris for two nights. Is this reasonable? I have a hotel booked in London, but I'd love to hear some suggestions for Bruges, Munich, Interlaken and Paris. When we travel we prefer not to stay in a chain hotel, we enjoy getting a feel for the country we're in and being a part of the culture. That said, our budget is around $200/night give or take. Also, any suggestions on weather, and type of coat? Thanks!
Posted by
Orlando
166 posts
Hotel Splendid in Interlaken was wonderful. Great location across the street from the park and breakfast was terrific. I would suggest an all-weather coat for wet weather. Have a great trip!!
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Well, out of an 11 day trip you will have 3 long rail journeys and 1 medium length. That is a lot of traveling, but of course some people enjoy the trip as much as the destination. If it were me, I would do only London-Bruges-Paris, but it is your trip, and not mine. However, some of the routes you plan on involve trains that require reservations and on all of them advanced purchase will save lots of cash plus avoid possible sold-out situations. This is especially true of the Eurostar from London to Brussels, where you will change for a train to Bruges. On the Brussels to Munich route, given that you will be coming from Bruges, the best train appears to be the Thalys (reservation required) from brussels to Koln; then change to an IC that will get you into Munich about 18:32 (6:30 pm). In essence, a full day on the train. Munich to Interlaken, your best choice appears to be leave Munich at 8:41 and arrive Interlaken at 15:59 (4 pm). Finally, Interlaken to Paris you have a lot of choices, but could take the 8:01 changing in Basel, and arriving in Paris at 13:34.
Again, if you decide on this, you ought to move rapidly on getting tickets. Hotels should be fairly easy to get at this time of year...buy Rick's books if you haven't already.
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Follow up...I just realized that you are leaving on the 2nd, which is next week. Be prepared to pay heavily for last-minute tickets, and be flexible...some of your intended routes may be sold out, or disrupted due to strikes. Again, caution would suggest less travel, but.....
Posted by
OP
st.louis
33 posts
Roe, et al.
Are there train strikes happening on other countries aside from France? I guess I'll get train reservations first, then hotels... We're planning to Eurostar from London to Brussels and on to Bruges - after that we plan on buying the four country rail pass. With the strikes,fuel shortage,etc...we had planned on avoiding France alltogether, but our airlines can't switch us out of CDG going home. So we're trying to come up with an itinerary from London to CDG in 11 days with as little aggrivation as possible.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
NO !! Most of us on this site would tell you that .....getting a feel for the country we're in and being a part of the culture...... is very hard to do when changing hotels/location every other night and with long train rides you will see a lot the country side from the other side of a train window. Be careful - when factoring in reservations fees for trains, etc. the rail pass may not pay for itself. Have you purchased the rail pass? You cannot purchase it in Europe.
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
Laura: There was a strike today in Germany, and there have been off and on strikes in Belgium. In my opinion, the best way to handle your situation is to do something less ambitious that preserves maximum flexibility. Buy a Eurostar ticket for Paris for the 8th day of your trip. This assumes you can do 7 days in England, doing London, Bath, York, and perhaps the Cotswolds or another great destination such as Cambridge. (or just London alone...there is that much to see and do) Then Eurostar to Paris directly. If a strike shuts Eurostar down, go the next day, or the next. Make hotel reservations for days 1-7 in England, but leave France until you get there. Carry Rick's books with you, so you have an idea of which hotels to try first. Once in Paris, you can get around if you have to on foot, but in all probability you'll be able to use the Metro. Have your hotel line up transport to CDG for your departure, or even spend the last night at a CDG hotel if you are really insecure. You'll be fine......
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I going to take a wild stab, based on the way the temperatures have progressed in the past several weeks- expect highs mostly in the 40s, with night time lows around the freezing mark. Interlaken will likely be colder.
But as the others have hinted... you're going to spend too much time in transit if you go with your plan. The only part of the culture you'll really experience will be trains and rail stations. Everything else will be rushed. And in particular, hours of daylight can be very short in November. If I were you, I would cut Munich and Interlaken and spend more time in Paris and London.