Two Twentysomethings in Central Europe ITINERARY
Mar 15th, 2015, 06:57 PM
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Two Twentysomethings in Central Europe ITINERARY
Hello everybody!
My younger brother and I (22 and 23) are going to be traveling around Central Europe for 3 weeks in beginning-mid June. We are going to be flying from Seattle to Amsterdam, then to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. I studied abroad in Salzburg so I have visited Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich before, but Amsterdam and Berlin are new to me!
1. I was hoping for some feedback on our itinerary; I know most people would say that we should spend less time in Salzburg; of course the reason we are staying here for 3 nights is because I used to live here. Outside of that, any cities where we should spend less time/more time?
2. I have Cesky Krumlov and Stift Melk/Wachau Valley as 2 overnight side trips from our itinerary; I've visited CK before but not spent the night; do you think spending the night is necessary, or should we skip it? I have visited Stift Melk but did not get the opportunity to explore Wachau Valley at all, and I've heard it's amazing wine country, which we would love to explore. Is 1 night enough here? And any recommendations of which little city to stay in?
3. Any other little side trips you would recommend (along the same vein as CK and Melk)? Big cities are fun and we want to explore them, but a lot of culture is hidden in the smaller towns/cities!
Thank you all for your feedback!
Day 1, Sat 5/30: Drive Seattle => Vancouver (flight leaves PM from Vancouver, Dan and I get to Amsterdam around 10:30 AM)
-Night 1: Flying
Day 2, Sun 5/31: Arrive into Amsterdam! (Around 10:30 AM)
-Night 2: Amsterdam!
Day 3, Mon 6/1: Amsterdam!
-Night 3: Amsterdam!
Day 4, Tues 6/2: Amsterdam!
-Night 4: Amsterdam!
Day 5, Weds 6/3: Amsterdam => Berlin! (probably plane but maybe train?)
-Night 5: Berlin!
Day 6, Thurs 6/4: Berlin!
-Night 6: Berlin!
Day 7, Fri 6/5: Berlin!
-Night 7: Berlin!
Day 8, Sat 6/6: Berlin => Prague (probably train, unless bus?)
-Night 8: Prague
Day 9, Sun 6/7: Prague!
-Night 9: Prague!
Day 10, Mon 6/8: Prague!
-Night 10: Prague!
Day 11, Tues 6/9: Prague!
-Night 11: Prague!
Day 12, Weds 6/10: Prague => Cesky Krumlov (not sure if bus or train will be best; also not sure if we will want to spend the night here or not but for now we have planned on yes)
-Night 12: CK
Day 13, Thurs 6/11: CK => Vienna (again, not sure if train or bus)
-Night 13, Vienna!
Day 14, Fri 6/12: Vienna!
-Night 14: Vienna!
Day 15, Sat 6/13: Vienna!
-Night 15: Vienna!
Day 16, Sun 6/14: Vienna => Stift Melk (would be a bus or a train)
-Night 16: Melk?
(The original plan here was to leave Vienna early in the morning, sightsee around Melk, hop on a boat up to Spitz, then bike from Spitz to Krems. Then we would train from Krems to Salzburg. But I haven't quite figured out what we're doing with our packs while we bike; also, this is supposed to be an absolutely gorgeous valley on the river with lots of wine
. So I think we may want to stay at least 1 night here, but I'm not sure in which small city will be best.)
Day 17, Mon 6/15: Melk/Spitz/Krems (somewhere) => Salzburg (probably train)
-Night 17: Salzburg!
Day 18, Tues 6/16: Salzburg!
-Night 18: Salzburg!
Day 19, Weds 6/17: Salzburg!
-Night 19: Salzburg!
Day 20, Thurs 6/18: Salzburg => Munich (train)
-Night 20: Munich
Day 21, Fri 6/19: Munich!
-Night 21: Munich!
Day 22, Sat 6/20: Munich => Vancouver and Vancouver => Seattle (flight leaves Munich early AM and gets to Vancouver around 3 pm
My younger brother and I (22 and 23) are going to be traveling around Central Europe for 3 weeks in beginning-mid June. We are going to be flying from Seattle to Amsterdam, then to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg, and Munich. I studied abroad in Salzburg so I have visited Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich before, but Amsterdam and Berlin are new to me!
1. I was hoping for some feedback on our itinerary; I know most people would say that we should spend less time in Salzburg; of course the reason we are staying here for 3 nights is because I used to live here. Outside of that, any cities where we should spend less time/more time?
2. I have Cesky Krumlov and Stift Melk/Wachau Valley as 2 overnight side trips from our itinerary; I've visited CK before but not spent the night; do you think spending the night is necessary, or should we skip it? I have visited Stift Melk but did not get the opportunity to explore Wachau Valley at all, and I've heard it's amazing wine country, which we would love to explore. Is 1 night enough here? And any recommendations of which little city to stay in?
3. Any other little side trips you would recommend (along the same vein as CK and Melk)? Big cities are fun and we want to explore them, but a lot of culture is hidden in the smaller towns/cities!
Thank you all for your feedback!
Day 1, Sat 5/30: Drive Seattle => Vancouver (flight leaves PM from Vancouver, Dan and I get to Amsterdam around 10:30 AM)
-Night 1: Flying
Day 2, Sun 5/31: Arrive into Amsterdam! (Around 10:30 AM)
-Night 2: Amsterdam!
Day 3, Mon 6/1: Amsterdam!
-Night 3: Amsterdam!
Day 4, Tues 6/2: Amsterdam!
-Night 4: Amsterdam!
Day 5, Weds 6/3: Amsterdam => Berlin! (probably plane but maybe train?)
-Night 5: Berlin!
Day 6, Thurs 6/4: Berlin!
-Night 6: Berlin!
Day 7, Fri 6/5: Berlin!
-Night 7: Berlin!
Day 8, Sat 6/6: Berlin => Prague (probably train, unless bus?)
-Night 8: Prague
Day 9, Sun 6/7: Prague!
-Night 9: Prague!
Day 10, Mon 6/8: Prague!
-Night 10: Prague!
Day 11, Tues 6/9: Prague!
-Night 11: Prague!
Day 12, Weds 6/10: Prague => Cesky Krumlov (not sure if bus or train will be best; also not sure if we will want to spend the night here or not but for now we have planned on yes)
-Night 12: CK
Day 13, Thurs 6/11: CK => Vienna (again, not sure if train or bus)
-Night 13, Vienna!
Day 14, Fri 6/12: Vienna!
-Night 14: Vienna!
Day 15, Sat 6/13: Vienna!
-Night 15: Vienna!
Day 16, Sun 6/14: Vienna => Stift Melk (would be a bus or a train)
-Night 16: Melk?
(The original plan here was to leave Vienna early in the morning, sightsee around Melk, hop on a boat up to Spitz, then bike from Spitz to Krems. Then we would train from Krems to Salzburg. But I haven't quite figured out what we're doing with our packs while we bike; also, this is supposed to be an absolutely gorgeous valley on the river with lots of wine
. So I think we may want to stay at least 1 night here, but I'm not sure in which small city will be best.)Day 17, Mon 6/15: Melk/Spitz/Krems (somewhere) => Salzburg (probably train)
-Night 17: Salzburg!
Day 18, Tues 6/16: Salzburg!
-Night 18: Salzburg!
Day 19, Weds 6/17: Salzburg!
-Night 19: Salzburg!
Day 20, Thurs 6/18: Salzburg => Munich (train)
-Night 20: Munich
Day 21, Fri 6/19: Munich!
-Night 21: Munich!
Day 22, Sat 6/20: Munich => Vancouver and Vancouver => Seattle (flight leaves Munich early AM and gets to Vancouver around 3 pm
Mar 28th, 2015, 12:39 PM
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I live in Seattle so I am a little confused. Are you driving to Vancouver to fly to Amsterdam? Why? You know there are direct flights from Seattle to Europe. You can take polar route flights directly from Seattle to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. That last thing I would want to do after a transcontinental flight home would be to get in the car and driving another three hours.
Mar 28th, 2015, 12:40 PM
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I live in Seattle so I am a little confused. Are you driving to Vancouver to fly to Amsterdam? Why? You know there are direct flights from Seattle to Europe. You can take polar route flights directly from Seattle to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. That last thing I would want to do after a transcontinental flight home would be to get in the car and drive another three hours from Vancouver to Seattle.
Apr 6th, 2015, 07:14 PM
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My boys, age 25 and 29, did a similar trip last August. They flew into Amsterdam, spent four nights in Amsterdam, train to Berlin (which was their favourite place), four nights Berlin and then the train to Prague for four nights.
They only spent time in Prague, but I did go to CK the year prior. It was okay, but I did not recommend to them as I though that Prague was much more interesting IMO.
They would have liked to spend more time in Berlin (they both said they would love to move there for a while actually).
Day trips out of Amsterdam, they rented bikes and got out of the city which they enjoyed a great deal.
Don't know if this helps. I am sure you will have an amazing time.
They only spent time in Prague, but I did go to CK the year prior. It was okay, but I did not recommend to them as I though that Prague was much more interesting IMO.
They would have liked to spend more time in Berlin (they both said they would love to move there for a while actually).
Day trips out of Amsterdam, they rented bikes and got out of the city which they enjoyed a great deal.
Don't know if this helps. I am sure you will have an amazing time.
Apr 25th, 2015, 09:39 PM
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Sorry about that!! I haven't posted in this forum before and thought I would receive an email notification when somebody replied; my bad!
AisleSeat, we would definitely have preferred to fly directly from Seattle, but flights were about $500 dollars cheaper to fly from Vancouver. On the way home, we actually stop in Seattle on the way to Vancouver, but to buy a ticket where we get off in Seattle was hundreds of dollars more. Luckily, my brother and I have amazing parents who are willing to drive up and pick us up
Thank you all for the great advice! I'm still trying to decide whether we should spend the night in CK or not; for the sake of the long train ride I'm just thinking we wouldn't really have time have time to explore CK if we only stop-over on the way to Vienna and don't spend the night, but it's also not really a place where we might want to spend that extra night.
Thanks again everybody!
AisleSeat, we would definitely have preferred to fly directly from Seattle, but flights were about $500 dollars cheaper to fly from Vancouver. On the way home, we actually stop in Seattle on the way to Vancouver, but to buy a ticket where we get off in Seattle was hundreds of dollars more. Luckily, my brother and I have amazing parents who are willing to drive up and pick us up
Thank you all for the great advice! I'm still trying to decide whether we should spend the night in CK or not; for the sake of the long train ride I'm just thinking we wouldn't really have time have time to explore CK if we only stop-over on the way to Vienna and don't spend the night, but it's also not really a place where we might want to spend that extra night.
Thanks again everybody!
Apr 25th, 2015, 11:54 PM
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It's not exactly a small town, but Potsdam is a usual suspect when it comes to daytrips from Berlin.
The parks and palaces are worth to explore - and it's very easy to get there by suburban rail from Berlin with 3 trains per hour.
But with only one full day in Berlin, I am not sure if you want to shave off more time to go to Potsdam.
If you want a dose of the (in)famous Berlin club scene keep in mind that as anywhere else, the weekend nights fri/sat and sat/sun are the busiest with the most action. It won't be dead on a thu/fri night, though.
Typical hang-outs for the 20-30 somethings would be the pub & club scene in the borough of Kreuzberg, roughly between Kottbusser Tor and Schlesisches Tor subway stops.
And the RAW area at Warschauer Str. subway and suburban trains stop. Which has been a fairly large railway yard where bars, restaurants, music clubs etc have taken over the abandoned buildings.
A more gentrified bar & club scene can be found in the borough of Prenzlauer Berg, along Kastanienallee near Eberswalder Str. subway stop.
As currently, two major crosstown suburban and subway lines are under renovation you should check the transit authoritiy's website at bvg.de for the most up-to-date info and network maps.
The parks and palaces are worth to explore - and it's very easy to get there by suburban rail from Berlin with 3 trains per hour.
But with only one full day in Berlin, I am not sure if you want to shave off more time to go to Potsdam.
If you want a dose of the (in)famous Berlin club scene keep in mind that as anywhere else, the weekend nights fri/sat and sat/sun are the busiest with the most action. It won't be dead on a thu/fri night, though.
Typical hang-outs for the 20-30 somethings would be the pub & club scene in the borough of Kreuzberg, roughly between Kottbusser Tor and Schlesisches Tor subway stops.
And the RAW area at Warschauer Str. subway and suburban trains stop. Which has been a fairly large railway yard where bars, restaurants, music clubs etc have taken over the abandoned buildings.
A more gentrified bar & club scene can be found in the borough of Prenzlauer Berg, along Kastanienallee near Eberswalder Str. subway stop.
As currently, two major crosstown suburban and subway lines are under renovation you should check the transit authoritiy's website at bvg.de for the most up-to-date info and network maps.
Apr 27th, 2015, 07:29 AM
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Thank you for the advice Cowboy1968! We actually have 2 full days in Berlin, but I think that's still not enough time to take a day trip to Potsdam? I was thinking though that it might be easy enough to stop in Potsdam on our way from Berlin to Prague; do you think we would need a night in Potsdam, or would it be alright to just stop for a few hours and then continue on to Prague?
Apr 27th, 2015, 08:07 AM
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I think some Wachau Valley boats provide bikes to passengers - or rent them so folks can do like you want to do - bike a little along one of europe's finest and most popular biking venues.
Berlin to Prague definitely by train - and consider stopping for at least a few hours in Dresden if not for a day or two - great city! www.bahn.de/en - the German Railways site has discounted tickets as low as 29 euros if you book (in stone) weeks ahead to get them.
Prague-Vienna bus or train - either seems good - if about the same price then always go for the more comfy train.
Buses are good on that route and are 18 euros flat fare it seems: http://czech-transport.com/index.php?id=344
For trains:
http://www.czechrailwaytickets.com/p...FQYHaQodj4UAjg
"Book at either www.oebb.at (Austrian Railways) or www.cd.cz/eshop (Czech Railways) from just 19 euros ($25?) 2nd class or 29 euros ($35?) first class." Quoting from Man in Seat 61 who posted this on another site and for ten extra euros you may well want to 'splurge' and go first class - always more empty seats and room for luggage.
For lots about European trains in general: www.seat61.com - great info on discounted ducats; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
Krems-Salzburg by train will mean taking the shuttle train across the Danube from Krems to St. Poltein - on the mainline to Salzburg - again Austrian Railways site for discounted tickets.
Strongly consider doing the Lake District (Salzkammergut) just east of Salzburg - and Hallstatt - the latter easily gotten to by train and the Lake District by train to Bad Ischl then buses to say St Wolgang, the most popular resort town there and has buses to Salzburg that take only about an hour.
Berlin to Prague definitely by train - and consider stopping for at least a few hours in Dresden if not for a day or two - great city! www.bahn.de/en - the German Railways site has discounted tickets as low as 29 euros if you book (in stone) weeks ahead to get them.
Prague-Vienna bus or train - either seems good - if about the same price then always go for the more comfy train.
Buses are good on that route and are 18 euros flat fare it seems: http://czech-transport.com/index.php?id=344
For trains:
http://www.czechrailwaytickets.com/p...FQYHaQodj4UAjg
"Book at either www.oebb.at (Austrian Railways) or www.cd.cz/eshop (Czech Railways) from just 19 euros ($25?) 2nd class or 29 euros ($35?) first class." Quoting from Man in Seat 61 who posted this on another site and for ten extra euros you may well want to 'splurge' and go first class - always more empty seats and room for luggage.
For lots about European trains in general: www.seat61.com - great info on discounted ducats; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
Krems-Salzburg by train will mean taking the shuttle train across the Danube from Krems to St. Poltein - on the mainline to Salzburg - again Austrian Railways site for discounted tickets.
Strongly consider doing the Lake District (Salzkammergut) just east of Salzburg - and Hallstatt - the latter easily gotten to by train and the Lake District by train to Bad Ischl then buses to say St Wolgang, the most popular resort town there and has buses to Salzburg that take only about an hour.
May 1st, 2015, 06:27 AM
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Thank you for the advice PalenQ! The reason we haven't added th Salzkammergut to this trip is because my brother and I have both travelled there (since I lived in Salzburg I've been there a couple of times.
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
May 1st, 2015, 06:53 AM
#13
We stayed in the little town of Weissenkirchen last fall and it charming. I don't think you can go wrong no matter where you choose to stay. We biked from there to Melk and rose through some beautiful scenery.
I think that I would stay one night in CK if you are set on going there from Prague. It would just make your trip more relaxing.
I think that I would stay one night in CK if you are set on going there from Prague. It would just make your trip more relaxing.
May 1st, 2015, 01:36 PM
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If you plan to arrive in Prague at night you *could* spend the day in Potsdam first.
OTOH, the trains from Berlin to Prague (as well as the intercity buses) take a different route and do not call in Potsdam. So it might be easier to take a day trip from Berlin while you are there, and spend most of the last day in Berlin, and take a later train or bus to Prague.
OTOH, the trains from Berlin to Prague (as well as the intercity buses) take a different route and do not call in Potsdam. So it might be easier to take a day trip from Berlin while you are there, and spend most of the last day in Berlin, and take a later train or bus to Prague.
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