Originally posted by: Aztech
Who's been? Who of you can suggesst places to go and things to do around there? It's pretty central to a lot of major cities:
Vienna
Rome
Venice
Florence
Prague
Munich
What to do, what to do?
I've done all those cities. Here's my suggestion:
Munich: Visit HofrauHouse (sp?). Neuschweinstein(sp?) castle & other neighbroing casteles in the region. Skip Dachau--unless you're into that type of stuff. See the ENglish Gardens in town center--nude sunbathers--a must see for all its natural beauty .
Prague: Beautiful city. Relatively close to Munich. You can take a walking city tour. Spend only one or 2 days at most.
Vienna: Boring!! Go to the country side! That's what Austria is famous for! Peruse/buy "Rick Steve's Germany/Austria/Switzerland" book for beautiful country trips.
Venice: A little overhyped as a city. Worth visiting, though, for one/two days. Do the "expensive" canal boat ride, of course. BTW, you can negotiate and lower the price of these rides, though in Summer it's harder to pull this off b/c there's so many tourists. Canal boat operators will solicit you around every corner, so just be patient and haggle with some of them until you get a feel for the varied pricing and ultimately finding a Canal boat operator WILLING to accept your price..............Day 2, you can visit the Venetian "islands" where they make the world famous MURANO glass. The stuff here is cheap compared toe the INSANE prices this stuff is offered in boutiques so pick some up at the little factories as gifts and souvenirs--remember, you'll have to pay $$$ for this same stuff once imported into the States!
Rome: Great city. Spend 3 days there (the Vatican/Museum alone will take an entire day so get there EARLY for the huge lines. You can catch the Pope do a weekly service outside)------->Go South and visit Pompeii (amazing preservation!). While in that area, you're basically at the foot of Mt Vesuvius/Naples/Sorrento/Amalfi Coast region. If you skip this, you'll KICK yourself later! Beachy. Amazing cliffs and natural beauty. VERY popular with tourists in-the-know and celebrities, so book hotels in advance. VISIT CAPRI by boat for a day trip or 1 day (right off of Sorrento/Naples)!! You can stay at
this HOTEL which is well proced and has AMAZING VIEWS. Drive along the Amalfi Coast. Eat/stay along the way. It's sooooo beautiful!! (Cali & S. France ain't got nuttin' on this place)............If you're pressed for time, my suggestion is to take days off Vienna, then Prague, as this region will be one or two BEST highlights of your trip!
Florence: Great city for culture. A must visit if your'e an art guy. Pisa is close by (1 day lost here if you do it), but skip it....Amalfi coast is so much more worth to spend one's time.
Remember, to spend some time to
saturate. Driving or taking a train from Munich all the way to Rome, with stops in between will take a GOOD amount of time. It's not as easy as it looks. Trains are rather slow and rental cars have weak engines along with congested highways. Maybe taking one of these
SUPER CHEAP airliners is the way to go (i.e. Ryan Air, etc, etc, etc). With timely bookings and sales, it can easily be CHEAPER than trains/car rental!.
Also use local tourist offices for FREE last-minute hotel reservations/sightseeing maps (every town has a tourist office and should be listed in your Guide Book. Street signs will also point the way to a toursit office)....Beware that if the tourist office makes a hotel reservation on your behalf, the price may be higher than if you called...Tourist office personnel are well known by hotel owners and will ramp up their rates to 20% if the Tourist office is calling to make a reservation for a "rich" tourist.
Just remember my advice (I've extensively travelled
all over Europe)...if you skip Amalfi Coast region, you will REGRET it for the rest of your life!
Bring a swim suit!
To help you along your travels, you
MUST buy the "Let's Go" Guides. They offer the BEST, most numerous clean budget hotels of ALL the guides. Use "Rick Steves" guide books to help you find the "beauty areas" of a region--Rick has a knack for this. Then use a picture guide book like "Insight Guides" or "DK" to show/educate you of stuff along the way......remember you can check-out some of the books (choose a recent version for up-to-date info on opening/closing times and ph. #'s) from your local library to use them on your trip--even with late fees it'll be waaay cheaper than buying. You can also find the books used for a song on Amazon or Ebay. My suggestion is to Buy the "Let's Go" guide and a picture guide )i.e. DK, Insight) to show friends/family where you were, and then rent out the Rick Steves, Fodors, Frommers, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide.
Have fun and good luck! You'll
fondly remember this trip for the rest of your life!
:beer: :beer: :beer:
P.S. If you haven't done so already BUY a camcorder! It captures the experience of a trip 1000X better than a camera--it's really NO comparison!!.....I'm revisiting Munich this summer too, and I'm going to video record the great party scene at the Hofbrau (sp?) House with a liter beer stein in tow
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