BOE 21 day tour-question regarding time spent at.....

I took that trip but unfortunately I did not time each of those stops. Suffice it to say that it was long enough for me to get to see what I wanted to see.

From all of the blogs I've read of people having taken this trip, I think the time is sufficient for a good overview of each place. The open air museum is a couple of hours. I believe it was about 45 minutes at Anne Frank (which isn't a big place at all), and a couple of hours at the Lourve. The castles can very. Neuschwanstein Castle has 45 minute tours- they only show you certain parts of the castle. That's the regular castle tour time, nothing to do with Rick Steves people. The bigger places take about 2-3 hours and the smaller places around an hour. Certain places you go to during your own free time, so you can determine the length. Hope this helps. There are a lot of blogs out there regarding this tour in particular, if you get some time, check them out. They're full of great information and really are getting me psyched for my tour in May!

If you are really interested in seeing something and want to take your time, you can often return during your free time. It may mean paying another admission. For instance, the Louvre. I don't enjoy more than an hour in most museums, but some people can spend an entire day in the Louvre.

We spent several hours at the open air museum but it was also the lunch stop. The lunch (Dutch pancakes) service was slow and retrospectively I would have excused myself earlier (I'm vegan so had an alternative meal). There was time to see most of the buildings.

The only place I did not have enough time was Dachau. It was pouring buckets and after the tour I did not have time to get to the back of the camp to the areas I wanted to see.

The Louvre tour was the highlights and we did it after driving in from Beaune. I was ready for a break after that but went back a few days later. We did not go in Notre Dame as a group but got an explanation of the outside. There was time later to go back and see it.

The Vatican/St Peters tour was also the afternoon we arrived from Florence. Not much time in the Basilica as it was near closing time amd there was also a mass being said so you could not access some parts of the church. We left there as a group to do a walking tour of Rome but there was not an option to linger as they were closing. The colosseum and forum tours were quick but that day was free entrance Sunday so we went early. The rules had changed in Sept and the private guides were not supposed to do commentary on the free entrance day altho all were. This rule was new and certainly may change. You could return later in the day but it was crowded.

Anne Frank Huis you are in a line going thru. There was time to read the displays. If you are interested in WWII perhaps you can see the Dutch Resistance Museum before the tour starts. I would not revommend it for your first afternoon as it is kind of dark. Guided tour of Rijks museum and time to sit in the garden after for a bit. This is an extremely long walking day.

I had plenty of time at Accademia and Uffizi.

What I found is that this tour has blockbuster sights every day. You have to keep moving to see them all!!

Our experience this summer was similar to those detailed above re time. If you are the type of traveler who likes to spend a long time at many sites (as am I) this can be challenging at first. For example, for us an hour wasn't nearly enough time at the Anne Frank house....we had to leave without viewing the film at the end and whatever was beyond that. I also definitely could have spent more time in places like the Open Air Museum, Colosseum, and Dachau. For me, the shorter art museum tours were ok, because the focus was on really learning about a small number of works, and the local guides did such a fantastic job. We had to adjust our mindset and realize that the trade off was being able to see so many things and learn which of them we'd want to return to on our own, when we had ample time (a full day for Dachau, for example). There really is no way we could have had enough time everywhere we went without adding another full week (or more) to the tour. ((I have to say, I find the idea of a 28 day tour really appealing. An extra day or more in Rome, Paris, and the Cinque Terre, maybe more of Austria....)). However, the tour allowed us to see SO much more than we ever could have on our own. It is so fantastic to arrive at every stop and immediately enter--bypassing long, long lines. The amazing local guides not only provide a narrated tour, but they also provide navigation (and I know I've wasted valuable time getting lost....or searching for artwork/items/rooms etc listed in my self-guided tour or on an audio guide). Not to mention never being at the mercy of public transportation (train schedules, the ubiquitous strikes, walks from station to hotel, etc) or the stress of driving/navigating/parking, etc. So, although it's a bit of a trade off and you may wish you had more time to see some of the sights, you will probably still see (and learn, thanks to the local guides) more than you ever could have on your own.

Perfect responses! I'm sure it's impossible to please every single person on a tour as to the amount of time spent at each locale. It seems this is a perfect mix and as some have said, it gives you a taste for what you KNOW you want to see more of.

Kathy, hold that attitude with you and you will have a splendid trip! Weather may affect what you see or do at times but if you approach it knowing it's a sampler and something else fabulous is around the corner you will be able to wring every ounce out of your journey.