Eurotrip! Thoughts & suggestions welcome

[CraKaJaX]

My sister is teaching English in Prague until April of next year, so I've got a place to stay there. I'll be flying into Prague March 15th and flying out of Prague March 28th. I've never been across the pond before so it will all be new to me. I'm sure wherever we go will be amazing, but of course I would like to get some suggestions from ATOT....

Our -potential- plan is Prague -> Munich -> Zurich -> Genoa -> (day trip) to Cinque Terra and then back to Prague spending a couple of days in each city. We'll be flying when we can and taking the train for everything else. Is this too much? Too little? Anyone who has been to said cities have any "must-sees" for me? Places we should look at staying? (Hostels are an option as we're not too picky). Of course this list is not set in stone at all, so I'm open to suggestions on checking different cities out for those of you who are avid travelers.

Please note: no pics of sister - srrrrry

Thanks guys

 

[biostud]

How many days?

 

[GTaudiophile]

Prague is obvious.
Munich - OK ... also have lovely parts of Bavaria to explore ...
Zurich - NO!
Italy: Cinque Terre is too good for a day trip. Also Pisa - Cinque Terre would be better combo.

To your list also consider Budapest.
If you had more time, I would add Dresden too.
Avoid Vienna IMO.

What are some things you are into? WWII history? Beer? Cars? People watching? Certain foods? Outdoor sports?

 

[CraKaJaX]

How many days?

I actually leave JFK 03/14 but get to Prague 03/15 @ 945AM. Leave Prague 03/28 @ 11PM.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Prague is obvious.
Munich - OK ... also have lovely parts of Bavaria to explore ...
Zurich - NO!
Italy: Cinque Terre is too good for a day trip. Also Pisa - Cinque Terre would be better combo.

To your list also consider Budapest.
If you had more time, I would add Dresden too.
Avoid Vienna IMO.

What are some things you are into? WWII history? Beer? Cars? People watching? Certain foods? Outdoor sports?

Could you elaborate on why no to Zurich?

As far as activities: beer, hiking, cars, music, cooking.

Vienna was on our list at first but since it was in the other direction we canned it.

 

[Uppsala9496]

If you are heading towards Salzburg, Hallstatt is a very picturesque town. Good hiking there too.
I ended up driving there from Linz, so not sure how accessible it is via train or other modes of transportation.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Hallstatt

EDIT: Also went to Dachstein which is right there. The ice caves was ok. Figured I would see it since it was there. Worth the money.
And edit again, forgot to mention the 5 fingers viewing platform. Will give you vertigo.
http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com/en/dachstein/above-ground/5fingers/

 

[jaedaliu]

When visiting my sister in Zurich, we did day trips all over the country. Our 2 most memorable things that we did in Zurich:
1) The steam boat ride to rapperswil. (we took the train back because one of the locals had to get back by a certain time) There's a castle there, it's a nice town to walk around and take pictures.
2) Zurifest, which occurs biannualy. You'll miss it by a 3.5 months.

There's this ?swiss? ?german? dish called raclette. It's a winter food, but some restaurants serve it year round. It looks like broiled cheese. It wasn't quite what I hoped for. The cheese didn't brown, it just separated after melting. Maybe I should have asked if they had mozzarella.

Is the eurorail pass still a thing? Maybe you can get an unlimited use pass for X days. Might be cheaper than flying.

edit: oh, and movenpik icecream. Their mint chip is the best I've ever had.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Zurich is a banking town. A complete snooze job.

Only part of Switzerland I recommend is the Interlaken area. Amazing for all kinds of sports but winter sports in March most likely.

In regards to beer, there are too many options to mention. Many in Prague and Munich areas especially. The best beer in Bavaria is also said to be in northern Bavaria around Nürnberg. But going to the Hofbräuhaus in Munich would be your biggest mistake. In regards to cars, you can do BMW stuff around Munich as well.

 

[GTaudiophile]

If you are heading towards Salzburg, Hallstatt is a very picturesque town. Good hiking there too.
I ended up driving there from Linz, so not sure how accessible it is via train or other modes of transportation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallstatt

I've taken a train from Salzburg to a train stop across the lake. Hallstatt is served by a regular ferry boat from this stop to the town.

Edit: the stop is obvious from Google...

But if you're going this, then add Berchtesgaden to your itinerary too. Eagle's Nest, outdoor sports, etc.

 

[GTaudiophile]

You also have King Ludwig II's three fairy tail castles...

 

[pcgeek11]

Munich ( München ). Go spend some time in the Deutsches Museum. ( Industrial Museum )

http://www.deutsches-museum.de/en.

 

[GTaudiophile]

But while in that area I also recommend people pause to visit a concentration camp like Dachau or even Terezin near Prague.

 

[Uppsala9496]

I stopped at the Mauthausen concentration camp. Glad I went. Hard to describe it. As a history buff, I enjoyed it. As a human being it was depressing as hell. That's up near Linz.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Zurich is a banking town. A complete snooze job.

Only part of Switzerland I recommend is the Interlaken area. Amazing for all kinds of sports but winter sports in March most likely.

In regards to beer, there are too many options to mention. Many in Prague and Munich areas especially. The best beer in Bavaria is also said to be in northern Bavaria around Nürnberg. But going to the Hofbräuhaus in Munich would be your biggest mistake. In regards to cars, you can do BMW stuff around Munich as well.

The same sister did a semester abroad in Interlaken. The pics looked amazing, but for her sake we wanted to do something different in Switzerland. Anything will be new to me.

As far as beer, I obviously know the Hofbrauhaus is more of a tourist attraction than a beer hall. I'm sure there are -plenty- of other halls that are better with the same experience.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Concentration camp has been added to the itinerary.... completely forgot about that. Terezin looks like the easiest to get to... and creepy as hell.

 

[Exterous]

If you are heading towards Salzburg, Hallstatt is a very picturesque town. Good hiking there too.

:thumbsup:

Could you elaborate on why no to Zurich?

Granted its been over a decade since I've been there (eesh I'm getting old...) but I agree with GTaudiophile. Not a lot to see and do compared to other options and pretty expensive. I greatly preferred Bern to Zurich

That said I disagree with him about Vienna. I did my homestay not to far from there and really enjoyed the city. There is just a lot of history and architecture to immerse yourself in if you're into that kind of thing.

Random side note: Check to see if you have foreign transaction fees on your credit cards before you go and see if they at least have a Chip & Signature option. Chip and Pin would be best but C&S is better than just swipe. Also you may want to consider getting an ATM card that reimburses for all ATM fees (Schwab)

 

[glenn1]

Prague is obvious.
Munich - OK ... also have lovely parts of Bavaria to explore ...
Zurich - NO!
Italy: Cinque Terre is too good for a day trip. Also Pisa - Cinque Terre would be better combo.

To your list also consider Budapest.
If you had more time, I would add Dresden too.
Avoid Vienna IMO.

What are some things you are into? WWII history? Beer? Cars? People watching? Certain foods? Outdoor sports?

Agree with skipping Zurich, if you want to do Switzerland take the Glacier Express train. Budapest is nice but way too far out of the way given OPs other destinations, Innsruck and the Tyrol is a much more sensible choice. And given this is OPs first time to Europe I would substitute Florence for Genoa.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Wondering if we should substitute Swiss for Austria (any of the cities mentioned above)... Innsbruck looks amazing!

Thanks for the input so far guys - appreciate it

 

[_Rick_]

Substitute Zürich with a visit of Alsace/Schwaben. The rolling countryside is pretty neat, and there's plenty of towns that flourished in the 19th century. Generally the Rhine along Saar and Moselle is pretty interesting place to be, culinary, landscape and city-wise.

Alternatively, you could also do the French lakes, in the Annecy/Aix-les-Bains region, with a visit to Geneva, before heading into Italy.

I wouldn't head too far south in Italy, if you're so time limited. I can recommend the lago d'Iseo though, if you can get there by train. It's a slightly less touristy alternative to the big lakes in the region.
Milano and Torino could be done, but I'd suggest you stick to a rather tight focus of what you want to see, and see that properly.

Consider Nuremberg as an alternative to Munich, or an addition.

Given the little amount of time you have, I would probably skip Italy completely though, instead do a clockwise trip, through France, Belgium (beer!), Northern Germany (beer!), Berlin and back into Poland. Crossing the Alpes is expensive, takes a long time, and ultimately has little pay-off.

I'd recommend doing relatively short hops by train, and visit more of the medium-sized towns in the regions you cross.

An example:
Prague - Nuremberg - Munich - Konstanz - Freiburg -Strasbourg - Nancy - Luxembourg - Liège - Enschede/Münster/Oldenburg - Bremen - Hamburg - Berlin - Dresden- Prague

That's 14 stops, usually within 2-4 hours of train of one another, so you can probably visit some town centers quickly, while waiting for a connecting train, or only for lunch.

This is probably the way to see the most culturally diverse part of Europe, since Germany has one of the least coherent cultures per area, with a strong influence from the bordering countries, because of "flexible" borders.
Austro-Hungary and France on the other hand had relatively stable central givernments for centuries, and as such also a stronger leitkultur, and less variation in regional riches, which determines when architecture and arts have been more or less funded.

Also, this route is the most beer-relevant

Edit: cars? Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Unimog have major museums in the Black Forest area. Also, driving in the black forest is pretty awesome. If you can pick up a rental in Stuttgart and drop it off in Freiburg, then that's a nice daytrip with a few stops to ogle at old and new race cars.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I couldn't imagine a trip to Italy without a multi-day stay in Florence. Of the big three, it was by far my favorite. I'd spend multiple days in Prague, too. It's beautiful and SOOOO cheap relative to the other touristy places. If you insist on Switzerland, I'd visit Zermatt. It's stunning.

 

[ViviTheMage]

woooooo, I leave tomorrow for 25 days of EU goodness

milan, venice, pula, plitvic lakes, sibinek, krka, hvar, dubrovnik, athens, zakynthos, milan, cinque terre

renting a car in croatia, few ferries/boats/planes ... should be fun . I've done a similar trip last year, so I know a bit of what to expect!

I've been to every country in the EU, outside of spain, so if you have any questions i'll try to watch this thread and answer em for ya!

 

[CraKaJaX]

@Rick - awesome. I just sent your response to my sister to see if she's been to any of those little places you mentioned. I do like how it is influenced by beer..............

 

[CraKaJaX]

I couldn't imagine a trip to Italy without a multi-day stay in Florence. Of the big three, it was by far my favorite. I'd spend multiple days in Prague, too. It's beautiful and SOOOO cheap relative to the other touristy places. If you insist on Switzerland, I'd visit Zermatt. It's stunning.

What are "the big three"? Prague is a definite, so if you have some places to recommend... spill'em out here! I know my sister will know of places, but obviously that's limited. As I said above, Switzerland is not required...

 

[CraKaJaX]

woooooo, I leave tomorrow for 25 days of EU goodness

milan, venice, pula, plitvic lakes, sibinek, krka, hvar, dubrovnik, athens, zakynthos, milan, cinque terre

renting a car in croatia, few ferries/boats/planes ... should be fun . I've done a similar trip last year, so I know a bit of what to expect!

I've been to every country in the EU, outside of spain, so if you have any questions i'll try to watch this thread and answer em for ya!

Awesome. Unfortunately I just started a new job at the beginning of Sept so vacation was limited. I'm just happy to be going for the first time!

Looks like you're going to be all over the place. We looked at going to Dubrovnik but decided it was way too far out of the way. You'll need to let me know how Cinque is...

 

[ViviTheMage]

Awesome. Unfortunately I just started a new job at the beginning of Sept so vacation was limited. I'm just happy to be going for the first time!

Looks like you're going to be all over the place. We looked at going to Dubrovnik but decided it was way too far out of the way. You'll need to let me know how Cinque is...

I read cinque is more then a day trip, but I am going to make it a day trip from MIilan...trains run every 2 hours, so I am not too worried about missing anything.