RunningBum
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2007
- Messages
- 13,249
DD and I are kicking around the idea of touring Europe after she graduates from HS this summer. Probably about 2 weeks in June. We talked about St Petersburg and the Baltics, but decided we'd rather travel around by rail, and western Europe with a Eurail pass seems to be a better choice for that.
Has anyone done this, have tips, best gudebooks or web sites to use, where to start from, etc? I'm also reading the current Switzerland thread for any overlap but don't want to hijack that.
Our interests would be to see castles, churches/cathedrals, and other historic buildings such as Ludwig's castle and the Eagle's Nest; sightseeing by train, on foot, and trekking; Salzburg (we both like Mozart and The Sound of Music); quaint mountain villages (I spent a day in Gourdon, France once and loved it). Museums and fine dining are less important.
I'd guess flying into Munich might be most convenient / cost effective, and a good starting point. See the Germany sights mentioned. Check out Switzerland, perhaps northern Italy, Austria, and Prague. We need to read more on destinations to come up with a bit more detailed itinerary and see how it fits the time.
She does weeklong backpack trips where she hauls everything on her back, and I run ultramarathons, so packing a fairly light load and hauling it everywhere does not deter us. We've done London on our own before and making our own plans and being able to adjust on the fly appeals to us more than a packaged tour and being stuck at the pace of others. She also speaks some German. I speak English.
Has anyone done this, have tips, best gudebooks or web sites to use, where to start from, etc? I'm also reading the current Switzerland thread for any overlap but don't want to hijack that.
Our interests would be to see castles, churches/cathedrals, and other historic buildings such as Ludwig's castle and the Eagle's Nest; sightseeing by train, on foot, and trekking; Salzburg (we both like Mozart and The Sound of Music); quaint mountain villages (I spent a day in Gourdon, France once and loved it). Museums and fine dining are less important.
I'd guess flying into Munich might be most convenient / cost effective, and a good starting point. See the Germany sights mentioned. Check out Switzerland, perhaps northern Italy, Austria, and Prague. We need to read more on destinations to come up with a bit more detailed itinerary and see how it fits the time.
She does weeklong backpack trips where she hauls everything on her back, and I run ultramarathons, so packing a fairly light load and hauling it everywhere does not deter us. We've done London on our own before and making our own plans and being able to adjust on the fly appeals to us more than a packaged tour and being stuck at the pace of others. She also speaks some German. I speak English.