my travels

[Cameron]

So I'll be travelling to Europe soon, and am wanting some opinions on places that I'm able to visit (listed below).  A company provides transport between them all, and I can choose which to stop at for any length of time (within the timeframe of May and early June).  I'm just wanting to see if those of you that live there or have been to any of them have better ideas of what to do or see, rather than the typical wikitravel or similar ideas, and then roughly recommend how long I should spend at each place, or whether it's even worth me going to.  If you need an idea of what I'm like, I'd rather be out most days doing something (like a pub crawl or river rafting) than spending a whole day walking around a museum or two.

Places are:
Bruges
Amsterdam
Berlin
Prague
Český Krumlov
Vienna
Grünau im Almtal
Salzburg
Munich
Wildschönau Valley
Venice

Cheers!

[FusSioN]

I heard that beer in Prague are the best.

[pvtjimmy]

Definite musts are:
Amsterdam
Berlin
Prague
All three of them are really cool cities and worth a visit.

In the Netherlands you might also consider spending a night in Utrecht. It's not that far away from Amsterdam (20-30 minutes by train) and has similar architecture like in Amsterdam. It is a typical "student city" in the Netherlands with fun night life.

I currently live in Munich, let me know if you need detailed help. Depending on when you're visiting I might even be able to guide you around a little.

I heard that beer in Prague are the best.

Czech beer is good, but for the best beer you should visit Munich. Just saying

[prozajik]

Czech beer is good, but for the best beer you should visit Munich. Just saying

Unless you tried Svijany/Poutník, you can't really say that you tasted Czech beer (dunno which you tried, just wanted to point that out). Also, Pilsner is just overhyped and doesn't really stand to its hype imo.
I personally never tried beer in Munich, so can't compare those two.

But how I think Czech beer really stands out is the price, you can get 0.5 litres for around 1 euro (usually less) pretty much anywhere (except for aiports lulz). Again, not much knowledge about prices in other places, but Marawana was really surprised by the price.

So yea, wanna a reason to travel to Czech republic? Beer!

For some unconventional places to visit, there is 4D cinema in Prague and also a 'wind tunnel' (you step into a room with has a huge fan on the floor and it holds you in the air like that). I guess these are more of activities than places tho. Don't think i can suggest much more, other is just basic sight-seeing stuff[1] and i haven't been to Prague that often to know some other cool places to go.

1.. Chalres bridge, Petřín Lookout Tower, Prague Castle

[ic3y]

Cologne + Phantasialand (theme park)
and / or
Hamburg + Heidepark (theme park).

Europapark is nice too



Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Cologne, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich

[coraz0n]

Dresden is nice

[Ace]

If you can make the trip to Switzerland I highly recommend it. I've been to most of the major spots in Europe, and Switzerland was right near the top. Specifically I really liked Engelberg. Went skiing and hiking. Lots of fun.

For stuff on your list, Prague, Amsterdam, and Munich would be the top of my list of the places I've been.

[Rick]

If only you were going late June </3

[Cameron]

Thanks for the replies

Definite musts are:
Amsterdam
Berlin
Prague
All three of them are really cool cities and worth a visit.

In the Netherlands you might also consider spending a night in Utrecht. It's not that far away from Amsterdam (20-30 minutes by train) and has similar architecture like in Amsterdam. It is a typical "student city" in the Netherlands with fun night life.

I currently live in Munich, let me know if you need detailed help. Depending on when you're visiting I might even be able to guide you around a little.

Looking at spending maybe 5-7 days in each of those at the moment, but seeing as I'm in Amsterdam on a tour before this as well, I like the idea of going out of the city a little bit.

But how I think Czech beer really stands out is the price, you can get 0.5 litres for around 1 euro (usually less) pretty much anywhere (except for aiports lulz). Again, not much knowledge about prices in other places, but Marawana was really surprised by the price.

So yea, wanna a reason to travel to Czech republic? Beer!

For some unconventional places to visit, there is 4D cinema in Prague and also a 'wind tunnel' (you step into a room with has a huge fan on the floor and it holds you in the air like that). I guess these are more of activities than places tho. Don't think i can suggest much more, other is just basic sight-seeing stuff[1] and i haven't been to Prague that often to know some other cool places to go.

1.. Chalres bridge, Petřín Lookout Tower, Prague Castle

Yeah I definitely won't be missing out on the cheap beer, very keen on that!  Yeah sightseeing stuff I'll probably do for a day or two, so yeah want to fill up the rest of the time with activities/drinking (of which the wind tunnel will now be one... haha). 

Cologne + Phantasialand (theme park)
and / or
Hamburg + Heidepark (theme park).

Europapark is nice too



Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Cologne, Hamburg, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich

I'll keep those in mind as at the moment I'm not directly going to either Cologne or Hamburg, but if I end up with extra time I assume trains aren't too expensive to make the trip?  More likely would be Hamburg.  I wasn't planning on stopping in Salzburg, what is there to do/see there?

Dresden is nice

I think I'll be stopping there on the bus on the way to Prague, so won't have much time to do anything there except a quick walk around.

If you can make the trip to Switzerland I highly recommend it. I've been to most of the major spots in Europe, and Switzerland was right near the top. Specifically I really liked Engelberg. Went skiing and hiking. Lots of fun.

For stuff on your list, Prague, Amsterdam, and Munich would be the top of my list of the places I've been.

I'll be there for a couple of days on a tour before I start backpacking, I think in Lauterbrunnen, so I'm hopefully going to go skydiving and maybe skiing there, and then whatever else the tour ends up doing of course.

If only you were going late June </3

I'll still be there haha, gonna be in Iceland late June, then following Tour de France around in July.

So from everyones suggestions so far, the cities that I need to spend some decent time in are Amsterdam, Prague, Munich and Berlin (and Vienna?).  Seeing as no-one has commented on it either, is Venice worth going to twice?  I'll be there on the tour before this stuff for a couple of nights to do the typical tourist stuff, but would rather spend time elsewhere if that is going to be enough.

[Ace]

Venice is alright, but I was fairly bored after two days there. There's much better places to spend your time nearby. Maybe make a trip over to Florence, it's a 3 hour bus ride or so but there's a ton to do during the day and at night. There's the typical museum sort of things, but the real attraction of Florence for me was that you can kind of just wander around and be completely happy with it. There's a few major attractions that are worth seeing, but it's mostly little things that make it great. Lots of history there if you geek out over that sort of thing like I do. Be sure to go out at night, it's really lively and there's tons of people out and about.

Another option is Cinque Terre. It's right on the coast, and is gorgeous. It's a bunch of smaller towns connected by hiking trails. Could easily spend a day visiting each of them. Had lots of fun there. Just look at it...

[pvtjimmy]

Looking at spending maybe 5-7 days in each of those at the moment, but seeing as I'm in Amsterdam on a tour before this as well, I like the idea of going out of the city a little bit.

The good thing about the Netherlands is the fact that is really is small and they have good train and bus connections throughout the "Randstad". Randstad is the area between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, den Haag and Utrecht, which is like the main area in the Netherlands.

As for Munich the good thing is you have the city and the alps nearby. Since you are coming in the summer, you will be able to enjoy "biergarten season". Biergarten is probably one of the greatest inventions the Germans ever did. When exactly are you coming? If I'm not mistaking the "Frühlingsfest" is taking place early May. It is more or less a smaller version of the Oktoberfest and therefore less crowded.

Vienna definitely is worth a visit as well!

[Cameron]

Venice is alright, but I was fairly bored after two days there. There's much better places to spend your time nearby. Maybe make a trip over to Florence, it's a 3 hour bus ride or so but there's a ton to do during the day and at night. There's the typical museum sort of things, but the real attraction of Florence for me was that you can kind of just wander around and be completely happy with it. There's a few major attractions that are worth seeing, but it's mostly little things that make it great. Lots of history there if you geek out over that sort of thing like I do. Be sure to go out at night, it's really lively and there's tons of people out and about.

Another option is Cinque Terre. It's right on the coast, and is gorgeous. It's a bunch of smaller towns connected by hiking trails. Could easily spend a day visiting each of them. Had lots of fun there. Just look at it...

Look you've pretty much sold that to me with the photo and word hiking haha.  Venice-Florence trains leave after 5pm so I should be alright to get there after the bus trip instead of staying in Venice, and then venture out to the Riviera for a day or two.  Think I'll enjoy that more than seeing Venice again.

The good thing about the Netherlands is the fact that is really is small and they have good train and bus connections throughout the "Randstad". Randstad is the area between Amsterdam, Rotterdam, den Haag and Utrecht, which is like the main area in the Netherlands.

As for Munich the good thing is you have the city and the alps nearby. Since you are coming in the summer, you will be able to enjoy "biergarten season". Biergarten is probably one of the greatest inventions the Germans ever did. When exactly are you coming? If I'm not mistaking the "Frühlingsfest" is taking place early May. It is more or less a smaller version of the Oktoberfest and therefore less crowded.

Vienna definitely is worth a visit as well!

Pretty much I leave Paris on May 3rd, and go around this loop, but have to be in Rome by the June 5th as I have a flight booked.  From what Ace posted above, I'll skip the Venice-Rome part, and train it from Venice to get Florence and the Riviera in the trip.  So yeah theres only the start and end dates that are set.  I checked the dates for it as well, gonna be there two days before on the other tour, and it finishes May 3rd so won't be able to make it at all

I've got 2 days in Vienna planned at the moment, and 2 on the other tour I'm doing, so I'm assuming that'll be long enough.