Bear Down Wildcats

So... next Summer we are planning a big family trip to Europe to celebrate our 25th Anniversary as well as my youngest graduating High School.

Also to note- My boys and I are getting our Austrian Citizenship's for Descendants of Nazi Victims- not sure of all the benefits that having an Austrian Passport will be- but it can't hurt!

So Austria (Vienna) where my Grandfather is from(the only person in his family to survive the holocaust) is obviously on the list of places to go but we still trying to figure out where else to go. This will be the 1st time in this area for all 4 of us.

Right now the list is looking like (but nothing in stone):

Vienna, Salzberg, Prague, Somewhere in Switzerland and probably ending in Paris.

Any recommendations, ideas in this area (or areas in this region) would be appreciated!

We are thinking of going for 2 weeks... and do not consider ourselves "touristy" but will check out the popular places that really are must dos.

I'm looking for some tips as well. My wife and I are going in October for our 30th. I have only booked the tickets- nonstop from Phoenix to Paris on AirFrance. Also 2 weeks.

Leaning towards Germany (my family is almost all German with a touch of Austrian) and Switzerland as two other places. Planning on taking trains and would prefer to not have to rent a car.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 4:35 pm I'm looking for some tips as well. My wife and I are going in October for our 30th. I have only booked the tickets- nonstop from Phoenix to Paris on AirFrance. Also 2 weeks.

Leaning towards Germany (my family is almost all German with a touch of Austrian) and Switzerland as two other places. Planning on taking trains and would prefer to not have to rent a car.

We might do a little part of Germany too- so I'd love to hear where you go!

We also plan on not getting a car and just trains and public transit

I'm woefully ignorant of both regions. All I remember is they were very expensive. Hopefully the dollar strength will endure for both of you. I hope to be re-educated by both your experiences.

I've always wanted to go to Prague and Budapest.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 4:35 pm I'm looking for some tips as well. My wife and I are going in October for our 30th. I have only booked the tickets- nonstop from Phoenix to Paris on AirFrance. Also 2 weeks.

Leaning towards Germany (my family is almost all German with a touch of Austrian) and Switzerland as two other places. Planning on taking trains and would prefer to not have to rent a car.

From Paris, make your way to Gare de Lyon and take the train to Basel, CH. You can spend some time there or go to Zurich - it’s not far away.

The cool thing about Basel, they have international connections at the SBB station with France and Germany. If that doesn’t work, there’s a DB (German trains) station, Basel Bad. From Basel, you could loop around DE on DB.

Maybe hit Strasbourg, get a taste of the Alsace region on the way back from DE and take a TGV to Paris to finish your trip.

Get the Trainline.eu app and play around. EasyJet is great for longer hauls. My daughter and I flew from Basel to Rome for a long weekend for 49€ each way.

OUIGO has discount TGV trains throughout France. I’ve gone to Strasbourg from Gare de L’Est (Paris) for 12€ before.

I'm leaving in ten days for a trip on which we will be driving through a huge swath of Germany (Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, and Munich) so I will come back with my thoughts. I have been to Frankfurt and Munich before and Munich in particular is amazing.

I did a day trip to Strasbourg in 2019 and loved it. I think it's very much worth visiting if it's not too far out of the way for you.

I also highly recommend the Provence region and the Cote d'Azur. Provence might be tough to do without a car, but we did an English-language wine and history tour of the Rhone Valley with a guide who had a van. Well worth it.

UAEebs86 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 4:35 pm I'm looking for some tips as well. My wife and I are going in October for our 30th. I have only booked the tickets- nonstop from Phoenix to Paris on AirFrance. Also 2 weeks.

Leaning towards Germany (my family is almost all German with a touch of Austrian) and Switzerland as two other places. Planning on taking trains and would prefer to not have to rent a car.

I'm back from my epic journey across western Europe.

Germany was a little hard to evaluate as a true vacation destination because so much of my time was dedicated to following the Euros. As I mentioned, we visited Cologne, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart, Munich, and Frankfurt, but only really spent tourist time in Stuttgart and Munich. The Mercedes museum in Stuttgart is probably worth visiting, but if you're looking for just the German hits, I'd probably skip it and the others in favor of just Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin. Munich is a great city, especially in summer when the weather is good, and it has an. This was my second time visiting and I only fell in love with it more. Munich is absolutely on my escape valve list if things do end up going sideways here in the US.

I've never been to Hamburg or Berlin, but I made a bunch of new German friends on this trip and they all rave about them, particularly the former. Berlin is more of a young person's party city.

After Germany my girlfriend met me for a week in Cote d'Azur before we spent the final few days of the trip in London. Both are also very much worth visiting if you haven't been. Or even if you have--this was my fourth time in the Nice area and my sixth time in London, though the first three trips to the former were to Cannes for work and I have been to London so many times in part because I was born there.