Hi,
I have a business trip on 9th to13th March 2013 in Frankfurt, Germany. I intend to extend my stay from 14th to 22nd March. Frankfurt will be my base. I would like to explore Munich, Berlin and Cologne. Aside from this, I want to have a day or 2 in Paris. I also want to go to other countries like Benelux and Switzerland.
My questions are:
1. Would it be possible to visit those cities and countries within 9 days?
2. Can someone provide me with suggestions on how to cover those cities and countries?
3. Any ideas or tips, would it be wise to buy point-to-point ticket or purchase a ticket pass like Eurorail? (I'm thinking of traveling at night using train from crossing one country to another, this is to save cost on lodging).
4. Any suggestion on lodging like inn or hostel?
Would appreciate your tips / suggestions. Thanks a lot!
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Frankfurt a "base"? Do you mean as in leaving from there to go elsewhere.
I don't think your distances will be great enough to use for sleeping.
And no, you can't do all in 9 days except as a drive by. If you are on a budget you might want to omit Switzerland.
I suggest getting a map and connecting your dots. A Eurail pass will probably not be as economical as point to point. Check the German train site. Sorry I don't have it.
1. It would be possible to visit 4 cities and 2 countries in 9 days but you would have very little opportunity to sight see. Suggest you limit the number of places you visit to 3 at the most.
3. Night train? Have you really looked at night train schedules for these routes? Perhaps you're thinking of one from Frankfurt to Paris that takes 12 hours and has 4 changes.
The Frankfurt to Brussels night train takes 12 hours and makes several changes whereas the day train takes 3 hours with 0 or 1 change.
Can you really not afford E25 for a hostel bed? You won't get much sleep on the train.
You can buy inexpensive point-to-point tickets if you buy in advance but I suggest firming up your itinerary before buying anything.
4. It's rather difficult to suggest hotels/lodgings for entire countries. It's rather like saying: I'm going to Texas. Can you recommend a hotel.
There's lots of threads on Frankfurt and Paris hotels if you do a search. All price ranges.
Tips:
Limit the number of places you visit in 9 days as you will spend most of your 9 days traveling from place to place. For example. A day trip from Frankfurt to Berlin will have you on the train for 8 hours plus the time it takes to get to the train stations at either end (another hours at least) so that leaves very little sightseeing time or time just to wander around Berlin.
You'll have much more fun and come home with a better experience if you spend time in particular places rather than seeing the inside of train stations and trains. Please believe this.
Forgot to give you the train site:
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml
Stay in Germany--that will fill more than 9 days.
Next trip plan on another 2 weeks to see the rest.
Benelux is three countries. You could spend all 9 days in any one of the three quite easily, any two of the three if you want to spread yourself thinner.
Bobthenavigator gives the best advice. Explore Germany. The rest will still be here next time. Though even then you'll need more than 2 weeks to do all you want.