forgot the 2 days in amsterdam in between hamburg and heidleburg

Stay at hostels as much as you can, meet heaps and party

Well, not in places like Nogent-le-Rotrou.

“experiencing culture” is a bit of a loaded phrase that’s overused here at Eurotrip, and it means different things to different people. While you’re not going to leave this short trip as an expert on French and German societies, you can immerse yourself by not being afraid to stay in a small town like Nogent. Or even in the big cities don’t be afraid to walk into bakery or a bar where it looks like all the patrons are locals (not backpackers or Anglo expats), and don’t be afraid to leave the touristy districts. Don’t be afraid to eat something you’ve never eaten before; and keep in mind that one dish that you may think is the national dish of the country, may just be an obscure dish that’s not commonly eaten or only eaten in a certain part of the country. So, be adventurous, and try new things.

Marseille-Munich is going to be a very long commute (at least an entire day), so factor this into your timing. I doubt there are any direct trains, and indeed, I didn’t find any on our favourite train-search website

Also, if you’re going anytime from April through September, I would suggest spending more than 2 days in Marseille, and take daytrips to nearby towns like Arles, Nîmes, Avignon, Grasse, Cannes, Antibes, Eze, Menton, etc.

Heidelburg to Nogent-le-Routrou will also be a lengthy commute, as you’re traveling from a mid-size German city to a small French town, you will have to transfer trains at least once in Paris, and maybe in Germany as well.

Unless you’ve already purchased your plane tickets (which you probably did), it would make more sense to keep Paris and Nogent-le-Rotrou close to each other on the itinerary, so that you don’t have to return to northern France at the end of your trip.

In fact, I would suggest flying into Southern France (Nice or Marseille), work your way to Northern France, and then head to Germany, and fly out of Germany.

Additionally, when I looked up Nogent-le-Rotrou, I noticed that it’s centrally located between Normandy, Brittany, Paris, and the Loire Valley. Do your friends have a car? Maybe you can take a day-trip or side-trip to Mont-Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo (in Brittany and Normandie), 3 hours by car from Nogent. And/or visit any of the Loire Valley “chateaux” (“castles” that are really little countryside palaces built by nobility during the 17th-18th centuries….some of them were actually converted from medieval forts/castles). The closest ones are 2 hours from Nogent by car.

I think it really depends what you are going for. Chateuax’s are great if you are travelling around with your girlfriend but it’s not the kind of sights my mates and I would be concentrating on. The German cities you are going to are great too but once you see the main attractions in that city, which won’t take too long, you are essentially just in a big city not too dissimilar to the last.
If I were you I would look at each of the places you have on your itinerary and work out exactly what it is you want to see and do at each place. When you have done that decide if it is really something you and your mates want to do/see or maybe there is somewhere else that will suit your needs better. Also look at how long it will take to do what you want to do in each place. Will it take 3 days to see/do everything you want to do in Munich or will it take 1 day and leave you with 2 days to wander around aimlessly.. which is fine if thats what you want to do. That’s just my opinion. Mt last trip to Europe was 27hrs in the air just to get there so I wanted to make the most of every day and see/do as much as possible. Don’t be afraid to get on a plane/train and go exactly where you want to go, everything in europe is close and if you can travel at night or very early morning you lose no time, just a bit of sleep sometimes.

It’s something to do one of those boring afternoons if the OP will be spending five whole days in a small town located in a flat, inland area of the country, 2 hours from Paris. To me, the chateaux are not something “romantic” that’s only for sheltered, giddy American girls or herded Japanese tourists…they’re an interesting site of architectural and historic interest that don’t require you to sacrifice a drinking night because they’re doable during the day.

You do bring up a very good point though, which got me thinking: There’s some really good advice I forgot to give the OP, because I wasn’t thinking clearly. That advice is:

DO NOT DEPEND ON YOUR HOSTS

This is one of my personal golden rules of traveling, and one that I learned the hard way.

Whenever staying with friends or family, don’t give up your independence. You may be on holiday, but that person is home. Even though they insist that they want to take you places, they may not have the appetite for that when you actually get there. The first day you arrive, they’ll just want to chill at their place, and “tomorrow” you guys will go some place really awesome. One day leads to two…then three…and “tomorrow” never comes…you just spent 5 whole days in Nogent doing absolutely nothing. Your hosts may not turn out to be like this, but there’s a strong chance they will.

Insist to your host(s) that they shouldn’t feel obligated to show you around, that you don’t want to be in their way (you can meet up with them at night for dinner and drinks), and ask them to show you where the nearest bus stop is and/or how to get to the train station and/or if there is a car rental place nearby (FYI finding automatic transmission may be a challenge).

Or better yet, as Samant pointed out, re-evaluate your itinerary, and determine if you really need to spend 5 entire days in Nogent (which is not well-connected by rail to nearby points of interest) instead of spending more time in Paris. Maybe you can stay with your friends for just one or two nights in Nogent, allocate the other 3-4 days to Paris, and from Paris take a sidetrip to Mont-Saint-Michel and Saint-Malo. Are there any places you really want to go other than where the friends and relatives live?

That’s a good point raised. I also learned the hard way. I stayed with relatives for a few days overseas and although it was great to catch up with them but there were things I wanted to do that I just ran out of time to do. Your itinerary has 12 days in 4 different places staying with friends and family so you can pretty much rule out 4 days of your trip as luv_the_beach said chilling at their place. My suggestion is, if you are going to stay with friends/family make sure you plan your days before you go and have it written out, that way you can go over it with them and in that way they know what you plan to do while you are there, may offer some suggestions or even offer to come along or take you there but main thing is you won’t be sitting around waiting for them, they won’t feel obligated to have to spend a few days making sure you have a good time while you are there and they know your ‘chill’ time with them will be inbetween doing what you have planned to do/see in their city.

luv the beach, are plane tickets have not been purchased yet, but from what im seeing anything from Montreal to southern France is way more expensive than to Paris. The idea of less nights in Nogent and having are friends come with us to Paris is something we have already talk about and is something we are considering.
As for the friends in Nogent I’m not too worried about them holding us down. They are all 18 to 20 years old and I stayed with one family last spring with an exchange program threw my school and he spent the winter at my house, so i speak french fluently which is why the small town does not scare us. We want to be able to spend alot of time with our friends because we really dont know the next time we will be able to see them, as it is they are pressuring us into staying for 2 weeks. As was stated above say we have 3 days allotted for some places where it turns out 2 or even 1 was really needed, where should we spend that extra time? maybe add another city such as Prague, or more time in Paris or Berlin?
Also most of us have already been to Munich so maybe we should schedule less time there? If so what are some alternate cities? Maybe a day in the Alps?
Thanks for all the advice and suggestions guys it helps

Hello *Sebaeric…!!! *

You have planned a good trip with nice understanding..There is nothing to change in your plan,as i think….Just want to suggest you to spend more than 3 days in Berlin and also try to save money by staying in budget hotels…..

Ryan Cleak…
_____________________

3 days in Berlin, what are some things we could do to fill up three days there?
Thanks
Sebaeric

Jewish Museum—well worth it, even just for the architecture alone.
Checkpoint Charlie, the Wall, Brandenburg Gate.
Hang around the Kreuzberg neighborhood, look for Banksy’s stuff, have drinks/dinner at the Freischwimmer restaurant on the water.
DDR Museum
“The DDR Museum is the only museum which concentrates on everyday life in the GDR. We don’t only show the crimes of the State Security or the border defences at the Berlin Wall but we display the life of the people in the dictatorship: Maybe you know the spreewald pickles, nudism beaches and the Trabi – the rest of the life in this socialist state is unfamiliar to most of the people in the world.”

The amount you spend really depends on how long in advance you are booking.

Paris and Amsterdam will be very expensive regardsless of a hotel or a hostel. Do secure as much as you can as early as you can, especially flights and hostels. All the rest you can change as you go

For Amsterdam I would probably suggest Hortus if they still have avaialbility for the location and the price.

Feel free to give me a shout if you need anyrther help.

Knd regards,
Jelena@AnyTrip

You’ll be disappointed by Marseille…big, dirty port city (small old town section doesn’t compensate for the other negatives)