Eurotrip route

wez130

wez130

wez130

Soldato
Joined
31 Jan 2004
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Matakana New Zealand
Spinning off from my other thread, i thought i'd start a new thread for help planning my trip.

First, how do i embed a google maps route here?

I've (roughly) planned a route but i need to work on it a lot as it's about 2000 miles longer than i'd like, but at the same time i don't want to leave too much off it! It's going to be about 4 weeks trip.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...UjAA;FSVlCQMdfz8cAA&t=h&doflg=ptm&mra=luc&z=5

Where on that route would you miss out, and likewise, where alse should i add? I'd like to see some of the old German castles, any along my proposed route? I Also wanted to add Berlin onto the route but i can't zig-zag everywhere so i'll have to compromise.

What tips would people share with me, and what legal requirements do i need to know? (i know i need hi-viz and spare bulbs in the car for France for example)

Help me plan, i've got just under a year to do it :D
 
That's a hell of a lot of driving in 4 weeks. I've done a mini euro trip (not driving), and found it very tiring just walking/trams/metros around the cities.

It's pointless travelling to these cities if you don't spend a good few days in each one truly exploring what they have to offer.

I went to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. And I'd suggest you go to Vienna instead of Budapest, much more to see, and IMHO a much more interesting city. We also passed through Brno, and you could probably knock that off your list, unless it's a flying visit? There isn't much there, and Prague has a lot more to offer in terms of seeing things, and stuff going on. I'd also knock off Barcelona, it will give you more time in other places, especially when you can hop on a flight for about £30 and go to Barcelona when you please if you must. There are only a couple of things to see there.

Will you be staying within the cities you visit? What are you plans for accommodation?
 
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Yes i know it's a lot of driving, ideally wanted it to be around 3000 miles, I don't want to leave Barca off but i've had a play and got the route down to about 3800 miles by missing Krakow and Budapest but adding Vienna.

https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...fz8cAA&t=h&doflg=ptm&mra=dme&mrsp=11&sz=9&z=6

I'll be staying a couple of nights in big cities like Barca, Rome and Paris etc, i plan on camping a few nights, like at lake Como and other places too to save a bit of cash - however, cash is not an issue, we'll have over enough for the trip. The south of France is also a must as i want to visit Monaco etc.
 
Prague is a fairly small city, and I still think you need 2 days, maybe a day and a half at a push to get a real taste for the place.

You definitely need 2 days in Vienna, I spent a full day just in the grounds of the Schonbrunn Palace.

Personally I wouldn't be rushing around, as you've then travelled all that distance on not spent time in each place visiting all the landmarks, experiencing the cultures, tasting the foods, and enjoying the nightlife.
 
It sounds like far too much to me. Thats about 3 Eurotrips in one.

I did 3000 miles..

UK to Prague to Budapest to Vienna to Munich to Innsbruck to Stelvio Pass through Switzerland then back up through Germany.

Switzerland is exceptionally expensive to stay in - I opted to stay in Austria on the border.
 
That's madness for 2 weeks honestly.

Id make it a 2 centre holiday possibly 3. That many miles will mean motorways everywhere and all the interest is on the back roads/ a roads etc.

Definitely take in Germany, swizterland, Italy, France. Probably in that order.

Edit, just saw 4 weeks. I think I'd pick either east/west or north/south tbh. ID also possibly get the first few nights sorted and then the middle and end nights and wing the rest.
 
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[TW]Fox;24780164 said:
It sounds like far too much to me. Thats about 3 Eurotrips in one.

I did 3000 miles..

UK to Prague to Budapest to Vienna to Munich to Innsbruck to Stelvio Pass through Switzerland then back up through Germany.

Switzerland is exceptionally expensive to stay in - I opted to stay in Austria on the border.
Click to expand...

I've got it down to 3800 miles over 4 weeks now. Gonna miss Poland and Budapest, Stelvio pass would be nice though. My route is going to get tweaked a lot over the next few weeks / months though. I've pretty much decided where i want to spend a couple of nights though, Will spend one night in Amsterdam, one in Luxembourg, two in Zurich*, two in Munich, two in Prague, one or two in Vienna, one in Trieste (Croatia), one in Rimini (Italy), two in Rome, two nights camping at Como with a visit to Milan, two nights in Monaco (or one in Monaco, one in Cannes or Nice), two in Barcelona and two in Paris, that accounts for 22 nights, with 6 to spare if we want to stay longer anywhere else based on 4 weeks away.


*i actually forgot why i put the * there now lol. I'm sure i'll remember and change this sentence in the near future.
 
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Shame to miss Budapest, it was excellent.

Two nights in Zurich will bust the bank somewhat. I stayed in a place called Dornbirn instead - right on the Swiss border.
 
I've just been on a 10 day trip through Europe and from the route you've put I'd say a couple of things if you were to go with that.

Don't bother with Trieste as a stopover. Go to Koper in Slovenia, beautiful place, far nicer than I thought it'd be and far cheaper than Italy, then go for a visit to Trieste.
We also found a great place to visit in Slovenia were the caves at Postojna, awesome cooling off time when outside is at 35-40C and inside the caves is at 10C!

Also, Stuttgart isn't a great city I didn't think, very industrial and nothing too interesting apart from the Merc and Porsche museums. Try either Karlsruhe or Heidelberg, far nicer places to stay.

Over the rally we did 2800 miles in 10days and that was way too much to actually get a proper look around the cities. We needed double the time really. So don't try to fit too much in.
 
My experience of longer trips is that personally I would rather smash out a lot of driving in one go and stay for several days in one place.

Otherwise you end up living out of a suitcase and its hard to spend enough time in any one place to actually do anything apart from eat and sleep.
 
[TW]Fox;24781965 said:
Shame to miss Budapest, it was excellent
Click to expand...

It's changed then since you were last there. The castle and parliament are just big construction sites. There's not much else to see really...
 
Budapest does indeed look nice, but the route is by no means set yet, the only reason Trieste is on my route is because my gf wants to visit Croatia and Trieste is the closest city on my route without going too far out, i could persuade her that Budapest is better.

I had a look on booking.com at hotels in Zurich, sure there are expensive ones, but there are a couple near lake Zurich that work out under £300 for 2 nights which, in the grand scheme of things, isn't too bad, I'll look into where you stayed though Fox.

What's Barcelona like in October? The reason i ask is because, i may go there this October instead for a holiday so then i can remove it from my summer trip, giving me more scope for Eastern Europe instead. How warm is it etc?

Are there any German castles anywhere on my intended route? I'd really like to see some of them.
 
£150 a night for 3 star hotels is a huge amount of money. By contrast, I paid £38 a night for a Courtyard Marriot in Prague. I paid £49 a night for a Hilton in Dortmund, etc etc.

Infact I've never in my entire life paid £150 a night for a hotel, anywhere on the planet. Whilst I don't stay in opulant 5 star luxury, I don't exactly spend my time in Travelodges either.
 
[TW]Fox;24782785 said:
It can't have changed that dramatically in less than year?!
Click to expand...

Buda castle - with work being done on the front.
imsf.jpg


Parliment with construction work all around.
vz24.jpg


There were also homeless sleeping on every park bench throughout the city, on the metro lines in the evening when the ticket inspectors seem to disappear they come on the metros and beg for things, which made the trips very uncomfortable.

It was a nice city, but I wouldn't recommend it for the OP as it seemed to take him off course, and Vienna is much more worth a visit.
 
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