Try to take more than 2 weeks, esp. if you are studying abroad. You’ll have the time and be based near Stansted airport in LON which is a great hub for cheap airfares (EasyJet, etc).

Prague is a must see
Obviously those you mentioned are all the classics, see those
Consider some "off the beaten track" stuff. It will give you a flavour of real Europe, not just the touristy parts….

Suggestions for that:

The Baltics (Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia)
Ukraine
Bosnia
Montenegro

You get the jist.

Let me know if you have other specific questions

-A

I’m always of the opinion you can spend at least 5 days in the big cities seeing/doing stuff, especially Rome. Of course whenever I take trips I tend to stay just visit one country/area for a couple of weeks. As for your specific requests for recommendations:

Grindelwald is a quiant little mountain town at the base of the Eiger in Switzerland. Mostly hiking, visiting the outdoors around here, but I enjoyed it. Didn’t really visit the big cities of Switzerland.

If you are planning on visiting Munich, probably the easy concentration camp to visit is Dachau as it isn’t too far outside the city. Auschwitz still probably had the most impact on me, but to visit there you’ll have to make a little jog over to Poland.

If you do visit Rome, make sure to take a bus ride up to the university as there is a great pizza place there. I can’t remember the name, but literally long tables where you just find a place to sit and have some great wood stove pizza. Cheap too, although you can find lots of cheap pizza places in Italy. This was my favorite though.

I’ve always liked Amsterdam, although I lived there for a year…

Other off-beat places I would recommend are the Alsace region of France. It’s an interesting collision of French and German culture. Rothenburg ob der Tauber in central/southern Germany is just a great little town whose old town is completely intact, very similar to Cesky Krumlov.

Very true suggestion on Auschwitz vs. other camps.

It definitly was the one that had "that impact" on me as well. Birkenau especially (one of the parts, where Schlinders list scenes were filmed) is shocking for it’s vastness, etc).

You could go from Germany to Krakow. From there it is a short bus or train trip to Oscwencim, Poland. Don’t be fooled into some ridiculous "tour" from Krakow to Auschwitz. Just take the proper train or bus, and you can find your way there. It’s really not that hard.

-A

thanks for the advice!!! A few questions I have are have any of you been to Interlaken, Switzerland?? I was doing some sufing on the internet and it seemed like a beautiful place, as well as a place with some stuff to do! So in order to go to Auschwitz then I have to go to Poland?? How long of a train ride is this from Interlaken….and is it close to any of the "big" German cities?? Another question I have is how long are the train rides from say Paris to Rome…..and Rome to Interlaken??? And does a Eurail pass work for these destinations?? Thanks a bunch!

One more question! You said that Prague was a can’t miss….just interested in why this is so!! What is there to do there??

So in order to go to Auschwitz then I have to go to Poland??

Hah!! Gave me a good laugh here. Yes, usually in order to go to a city in a country, you must enter that country…..

Accrd. to Deutsche Bahn’s rail site (link on my site <http://www.freewebtown.com/uherope> you can go Munich to Oswiecim leaving Munich at 23:44 with arrival in Oswiecim at 11:52 the next morning. That would involve a train change in Vienna, and also it looks like a station change (but DB’s site is bad with that, I bet you don’t have to change stations).

Why not see Krakow in Poland? Definitly worth it. Also if you like the outdoors, you might want to see Zakopane in Poland, it’s a cool town, IMHO.

-A

If you’re going to go to Switzerland I wouldn’t take the train all the way to Rome from Paris, but go to Switzerland from Paris, then on to Rome. Or, you can grab a cheap flight on Ryan Air from Paris to Rome.

Prague

It’s like most big European cities in that there are a large number of historical sites to visit. I found the Jewish Quarter very interesting. The Cathedral and area around it is fantastic. Especially in the summer there is a lot going on in town. When we were there, the opera was doing outdoor shows. (Buy at least the middle level ticket though, becuase in case of rain they have to move inside and they can only seat 2/3 of the people). Kunta Hora is a good day trip away.

Plus Prague is cheap relative to a lot of the rest of Europe (even if it is 1.5x to 2x more expensive than the rest of the Czech Republic).

If you do visit outside of Prague in the Czech Republic, you will find more people speak German than English, at least that was the case 3 years ago…

hello!! I think that I have decided on the following itenerary:
From Oxford I will go to
Paris- 3 days
to
Rome- 3 days
to
Possibly Venice if time allows
to
Interlaken, Switzerland- 1 day
to
Berlin- 3 days (with day trip to auschwitz)
to
either Prague or Amsterdam?
back to London to come back home!!!
Please criticize and/or give suggestions!! Quick question….how do you get from London over to mainland Europe and get to Paris (cheapest way)??? Thanks a bunch

Hi!

I was in the Jungfrau Region (around Interlaken) last summer. I would recommend staying in one of the smaller cities around there. I was in Lauterbrunnen and it was beautiful, a good starting point for lots of hikes! Interlaken is extremely touristy. However, if you’d rather party, Interlaken might be better. Also, I don’t think one day in that area is enough. I was there for three days, but would have loved to stay for a lot longer!

Also, since you’re only going to be travelling for two weeks, you might want to visit places that are closer to each other (if you’re taking the train or bus, that is). Otherwise you’ll spend a lot of time travelling!

Sorry, but there is absolutely no possible way to do Auschwitz as a daytrip from Berlin. The train ride to get there would be over 8 hours long. Unless you’re willing to go to Krakow (I’d recommend it), forget about Auschwitz. If you’re hell bent on seeing a concentration camp, then go to Dachau outside of Munich or Terezin outside of Prague.

It’s not even worth going to Interlaken if you are only going to spend one day there. After the long train ride it takes to get there, you’re not going to want to go on another long train ride the very next day. The area deserves 2-3 days minimum.

Cheapest way London to Paris is bus-ferry-bus. However, if you know the day that you are going to make this journey, then flying via Easyjet or Eurostar (chunnel train) can also be quite cheap if you are willing to book it right now.

I’m not a huge fan of just spending 1 night in any location. I feel you waste too much time traveling there and end up being "rushed" in that town. Unless if you can do and overnight train to a city, spend a night, and an overnight train out (which would give you a 2 full days there), I would recommend either spending more time in Interlaken or spend more time elsewhere.

I understand the feeling to try to see as much of Europe as possible in 2 weeks, but I think it’s better to try to stay in smaller area so you don’t waste as much of your time traveling (again, unless if you are taking overnight trains). It’s my opinion, but part of visiting Europe is being able to sit in an outdoor cafe in Paris relaxing with a glass of wine, a beergarden in German enjoying a brew, or Rome with an espresso. If you try to travel too much, you’ll be too busy trying to travel and see everything and not get a chance to relax.

I could easily see just doing a 2 week trip as one of these regions:

• Paris-Northern France-Brugge/Brussels-Amsterdam
  
• Paris-Southern France-Florence-Rome
  
• Rome-Florence-Pisa-Venice
  
• Berlin-Prague-Munich-Switzerland

You can always try to visit another region on your next trip.

hello again!! Thanks for everyone’s critiques!! I read all of the advice that eveyone suggested and am very thankful!! It’s very frustrating for me trying to plan out this trip b/c I have never traveled out of the USA in my entire life, and am extremely enthusiastic about going to Europe….and I want to see as much as possible ya know!! The travel time does bother me….but I am planning on taking the night trains (to save money and time)!! How can I see the train schedule so I can plan ahead and possibly reserve seats on night trains?? In my itenerary I forgot to mention that I have a few extra days and plan on using them in which ever place I find most exciting!! As far as Interlaken goes….at first I just put it in there as a pit stop between rome and berlin….but as i researched it it has begun to excite me…..but I wasn’t sure if there was really a lot to do there so I decided to only put reserve one day there….but by judging some of ya’lls responses then I will probably spend longer there!! As far as the day trip to Aushwitz….I really just want to go to a concentration camp that will put me in awwww and make me realize the horror of what was the Holocaust (it just really interests me)!! So if Dachau ouside of Munich is comparable to Aushwitz then I wouldn’t mind just going there!! Any suggestions?? Thanks a bunch!!

In my opinion, Dachau isn’t even close for what you are looking for (to show you the true horror). It felt like a sterilized disney-esque version of a camp to me. If anyone else has been to both, please tell me I am wrong or right, but it’s really how I felt.

Honestly, if you are VERY interested in it, just make the trip to Auschwitz. It’s worth it. If you are in the area, you might find the Wieleczka Salt Mine outside of Krakow very cool too

-A

Dachau, like all the camps within Germany, was a concentration camp, not a death camp. People were worked to death, staved to death and died of disease by the thousands at Dachau — which kept the crematorium busy. There is a gas chamber at Dachau, but it was never used — this was not a death camp like Auschwitz that was in the systematic business of killing people.

The death camps were all outside the borders of present day Germany.
Dachau was an awful prison, Auschwitz was a factory — an assembly line specifically designed to efficiently kill people.

Thanks OldLady for putting my words much more eloquently. I should have elaborated more, was in a hurry with my last post.

Dachau, Terezin, basically camps not in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, the ones in Germany, Czech, etc. were not extermination camps. That’s the real difference.

quote:
Suggestions for that:

The Baltics (Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia)
Ukraine
Bosnia
Montenegro

haha, i guess ive never seen the real europe then. even though its where i was born and still live.

well…..from reading ya’lls posts I feel encouraged to go to Aushwitz instead of settling for Dachau!! It seems like it would have more of an impact on me!! Questions:
1) Where should I take the train to from Berlin to see Aushwitz and about how long will it take?
2) Not really relevant to the Aushwitz topic but about how long is a train ride from Paris to Rome….and from Interlaken to Berlin?? Trying to determine how many days I need to set aside for traveling (still planning on taking night trains though)??

Thank you a lot!!!

kleine-myrtje,

Hah, no not exactly what I meant. I mean, that as a tourist in say…Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, London, you are likely to see more of the normal tourist sights. Now, if you are a tourist to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, etc…you get the point, you are not going to have the same familiarity with sights to see, and thus, you will experience more culture and living like a local.

Jbfowler,

As far as the Berlin-Auschwitz train….here is what DB has to say for a night train on that….

Berlin-Lichtenberg 05.03.05
dep 21:45 15 D 345
HOT83707 Nacht-Schnellzug
Through coach, Sleeper and couchette train, Subject to compulsory reservation
Runs as D 345 up to Poznan Gl., then as HOT83707
Trzebinia 06.03.05 arr 08:12
Trzebinia 06.03.05 dep 09:55
2nd class only
Oswiecim 06.03.05 arr 10:35
Duration: 12:50; runs daily
Border crossing: Frankfurt(Oder)(Gr)
Hint: Prolonged stop

So, basically, a night train connecting to another in Trzebinia, Poland.

Check out the DB site, you can link to it through my site @ www.freewebtown.com/…. On my site, I have all sorts of "Trip Planning Links," and you can get to the Rail Links section from there!

-A

quote:
kleine-myrtje,

Hah, no not exactly what I meant. I mean, that as a tourist in say…Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, London, you are likely to see more of the normal tourist sights. Now, if you are a tourist to Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, etc…you get the point, you are not going to have the same familiarity with sights to see, and thus, you will experience more culture and living like a local.

i know what you meant, just thought it was funny, the way you said it and all. anyway, its true. i hate it when people come here, go to paris, london, and rome in 5 days, bring a crappy souvenir, and then go home and say ‘ive seen europe’. dude, ive been camping in france every summer for 3 weeks ever since i was born, and i cant even say ive seen all of france, let alone europe.

KM,

He He He! Yeah, very true. I’ve lived in two seperate Euro countries, but still wouldn’t say I’ve seen EVERYTHING to see there. Hell, I’ve been to Prague like 5 times, and lived there, but I haven’t even seen the entire city. Just not possible.

But of course you need that crappy souvenier. Maybe something especially tacky like my "Zagreb, I love you" or "Croatia, my love" T-Shirts that I acquired for humor value!

-A

quote:
KM,

He He He! Yeah, very true. I’ve lived in two seperate Euro countries, but still wouldn’t say I’ve seen EVERYTHING to see there. Hell, I’ve been to Prague like 5 times, and lived there, but I haven’t even seen the entire city. Just not possible.

But of course you need that crappy souvenier. Maybe something especially tacky like my "Zagreb, I love you" or "Croatia, my love" T-Shirts that I acquired for humor value!

-A

and ofcourse our wooden shoes, that nobody here wears except for the people in volendam, who when the tourists are gone get out of their costums and put on some jeans haha.

Anyone else feeling uneasy about the comparing of concentration camps to see which one is ‘better’ to visit? Seriously. Dachau saw the deaths of many as did all the other camps. If you go to Dachau you will be moved.