Hello! For my daughter's high school graduation I would like to take her to Paris to visit the Louvre and then to Germany to see the mountains and castles. We've been to Paris once on a guided tour but we were rushed and spent a total of three hours in the Louvre and have regret not seeing everything. My daughter would love to see Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany.
I'm not picky on whether or not to fly into Paris or Germany and we'll probably travel by train between Paris and Germany. I'm a bit nervous about doing this alone so I would love any ideas you can give me. Any ideas on hotels would also be great. Thank you!
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6289 posts
Sounds like you're going to have a great trip with your daughter. I think you'll get more replies and better responses if you post this on "Travel Forum" instead of "Tour Forum." How much time are you planning to spend in Europe? Have you looked into the Rick Steves Paris in 7 Days tour? It's very good. It also only spends a few hours in the Louvre, but you have lots of free time for a return visit.
Posted by
5 posts
What a wonderful graduation idea! We did this exact trip a year ago. We found the prices flying into Paris were extremely cheap, and then we flew out of Cologne Germany. The direct train between Paris and Cologne is about 3 hours, we were able to buy the tickets on a sale and got first class. This included really big seats and food was continuously being served. The trains are very easy to connect to from the Metro in Paris. Don't forget to get the Paris Pass if you haven't already, it will save you lots of time and $$$ Our favorite thing was the catacombs, we did a tour we found online. Also the Eiffel Tower books out 3 months ahead... reserve online! We reserved in the early evening, went up in the daylight & watched the sunset from high up! Rick Steves has a free self guided walking tour of Paris on iTunes, it is about 4 hours and we enjoyed going at our own pace and listening on our iPods.
Our favorite castles were in the Rhine and Mosel River area, Ricks book goes into great detail - our favorite was Burg Eltz. A steamer boat ride on the Rhine River on KD Lines is worth the effort, you can do it round trip or one way catching a train the other way. A train to Fussen and Neuschwanstein would be quite easy - again online reservations are a must at those two castles! The hike to Mary's Bridge will give you an unbelievable view of the castle. We stayed at the Alpen Stuben bed and breakfast , a short walk to the castles. Their rooms were comfy and food good, and price great! In Paris we rented an apartment on Homeaway.com that was next to the Luxembourg gardens and near the metro. That was very convenient and gave us a kitchen, washer/dryer... We've also used trip advisor to rent apartments. Good luck, have fun!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
To generally save time and money, book a "multi-city" flight plan, such as into Paris and home from Munich. The best prices on international train tickets go on sale about 3 months in advance of your travel date, and those that touch Germany are easiest to buy as e-tickets on the German DB site. Rick's guidebook for Paris is comprehensive and he also has some for selected parts of Germany.