1 Week - 3 Cities - Europe Baby!

lc180

Hey Guys

So I need advice on a solo European adventure!
I have one weeks holidays to use before the end of the year and I want to make the most of it.
My plan is to book flights with Ryanair to a European city, sight see for a couple days and then via train/bus travel to city number 2, couple days there and so on to city number 3 before flying back to Dublin. Very much a budget trip, staying in hostels etc.

Just wondering has anyone done this trip before and can recommend 3 cities that are quite well linked together, which have lots to see and do!
I'm interested in most things, I love learning about other countries history but also enjoy sampling the local brew & nightlife.

I've never been to Germany, Belgium, Italy, Holland or Scandinavia yet so I would love to tick one or more of these of the bucket list!

I've been to Barcelona, Paris, Prague, London and Edinburgh so trying to avoid those if possible. But really open ALL ideas and suggestions.

Cheers in advance!

lc180

I am gonna reply to my own post (like a loser...) in the hope somebody notices it!!!

Come on i would love suggestions!

rossie1977

italy fly into pisa stay there a night, look at the tower, get train to florence stay there 2 nights and get train to rome, thats one option, if you can add a few more days, about an hour by high speed rail south of rome is the amalfi coast, sorrento, pompeii, capri etc, well worth a few days of anyones time

another option would be to fly into budapest, 2-3 nights there, bus it to krakow (its about 5hrs with these guys and really cheap and comfortable) http://www.orangeways.com/en krakow is really nice and has the salt mines and auschwitz within easy distance and loads of tour companies doing those and then maybe a night or two in zakopane which is about an hour or south south of krakow by bus

Oranage2

A week to 3 three cities - I'd go Amsterdam - Berlin - Krakov

You can either fly or get a train -

WilcoOut

fly to berlin then head to prague by train and then back to munich

or

vienna to bratislava and then onto budapest

lc180

Thanks guys!

I've been thinking Italy, Maybe : Milan --> Florence --> Rome. 2 days in each. The train system seems pretty good in Italy.

I've been to Prague so hoping for somewhere new, but eastern Europe is tempting. I've heard great things about budapest, bratislava and Krakov. Are these cities much less expensive than Italy or Germany??

Cheers!

munchkin_utd

A practical and good combination of cities would be Munich-Vienna-Budapest

Munich has plenty cheap central hostels, in the Autumn for even a tenner a night. Eating out is cheap, beer great and on your own you'll have plenty to keep you occupied.

Vienna is 4 hours up the line from Munich. As a city its full of palaces and other sights and at night it lively. I was there for a couple of nights on my own and had no problems. Hostels also there are cheap. Wombats (also in Munich) being an especially.
PLUS - you could factor in a day in Salzburg en route which would be very worthwhile.

Budapest is also worth visiting. Its a proper monumental capital city. And again a great option on a budget. Its very different from Prague so for you a plus!

Travelwise aerlingus or ryanair fly to Munich and in the autumn are for peanuts.
On the other side theres direct flights back from Budapest. No ryanair deals but if you got a 3.99 flight plus tax with aerlingus youre still not too skint.

Ground travel though might be the big plus here.
On the german rail site, www.bahn.de you can get from Munich to Budapest for 39 Euro booking in advance. Interestingly, you can also add in stops to the journey which can be 48 hours or whatever you want.
So for that 39 euro ticket you could stop for free in Salzburg for the day en route between Munich and Vienna and then stop for say 2 or 3 days in Vienna!!

purcela

Berlin - Prague - Krakow. Great craic!

lc180

Brilliant ideas! thanks for the info, i just checked Aer Lingus and if i book it now for a trip in November the flights are really good value, wasn't expecting that!

I think I'm sold on Munich, sounds like fun and it offers good connections to quite a lot of great interesting cities nearby!

cheers!

AIDO Tours

unich for one week, day trips to Salzburg, Augsburg, Ulm, and Nurmberg, and possibly Innsbruck, all fascinating cities though small except for Munich

jonnybravo

OP where did you go in the end? Planning on doing the same trip in December but its hard to find information on distances between cities and whats manageable in 9 days. Anyone know a website that gives travel options between different European cities?

AIDO Tours

bahn.de is the german rail systems website. It gives a lot of time tables that aren't available elsewhere. It can find connections for from french town to french town that aren't available on the french system. It will give you a good idea of the connections between towns that aren't too far away and a good idea of times. It doesn't do prices for out of germany though.

In December you should head to southern Germany/Austria. Covered in snow it is beautiful (cold but not too bad if dressed properly) and it gives you the option of trying a day or twos skiing as well.

jonnybravo

AIDO Tours wrote: »

bahn.de is the german rail systems website. It gives a lot of time tables that aren't available elsewhere. It can find connections for from french town to french town that aren't available on the french system. It will give you a good idea of the connections between towns that aren't too far away and a good idea of times. It doesn't do prices for out of germany though.

In December you should head to southern Germany/Austria. Covered in snow it is beautiful (cold but not too bad if dressed properly) and it gives you the option of trying a day or twos skiing as well.

Cheers - yeah thinking of Prague and Vienna and then maybe somewhere in Germany like Munich or Berlin or Salzberg in Austria. Just trying to work out times between places and flights.

lc180

jonnybravo wrote: »

OP where did you go in the end? Planning on doing the same trip in December but its hard to find information on distances between cities and whats manageable in 9 days. Anyone know a website that gives travel options between different European cities?

So in the end my plans changed slightly. Instead of going away for a week I'm going away twice! Two trips - 4days each.

I'm going to Manchester & Liverpool with a few mates in a few weeks. Not very cultural, bit of a lads trip really. Got return flights for 38 euro! Dub --> Manchester. Happy Days.

In December I am doing a 4 day solo trip in Italy. I fly into Milan and then back from Rome. 4 days is kinda ridiculous to see these two cities but feck it! Got flights for a whooping 63 euro in total! Which seems good for Italy. I saw some advice on the Italian trains system from another post on Boards. Can be really reasonable if you book right. Might even stop in Florence for a dander if I can fit it in

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

Cheers for all the advice guys! I'm definitely gonna keep some of your ideas in mind for a future trip.

I'm gonna start a new thread on Hostels in Milan and Rome. If you have any advice that would be great!

cheers