cold__
Traveller
49 comments
Posted 11 years ago
Hi there!
As a few of you may remember (Peter, flow) I have done ([u]https://rail.cc/en/from-london-to-paris-luxembourg-belgium-amsterdam/f9389[/u]) a couple of months back an eurotrip around Western Europe. The final route you can have a look here ([u]https://rail.cc/en/from-london-to-paris-luxembourg-belgium-amsterdam/f9389[/u]), also there you go a map. Within 24 days I\\\'ve visited Portugal (Lisbon), Spain (Madrit, Barcelona), France (Paris, Lyon, Nice, Marseille), Monaco, Italy (Genoa, Cinque Terre), Switzerland (the Alps, Zurich), Luxembourg, Netherlands (Amsterdam), Belgium (Bruges, Gent, Brussels).
Now I aim to do the Central & Eastern, which would be a much longer trip. I\\\'ve initially scheduled it for 3 months kicking off at the beginning of July. I got a lot of time, but want to plan it very well :)
My idea: Sicily -> Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence, Milan, Pisa, Naples, San Marino? :D ; about 3 weeks there?) -> Liechtenstein -> Switzerland (Bern, Lucerne, Geneva, also would like to do again the Alps rail journey) -> France (Lyon, because my family lives there!) -> [b]South & East Germany[/b] (Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg) -> Copenhagen -> Berlin -> Dresden -> Prague -> Vienna -> Bratislava -> Budapest -> [b]Slovenia [/b](Ljubljana) -> [b]Croatia [/b]-> [b]Bosnia & Herzegovina[/b] -> [b]Serbia [/b]-> [b]Montenegro [/b]-> [b]Kosovo [/b]-> [b]Macedonia [/b]-> [b]Albania [/b]-> [b]Greece [/b](incl. Athens) -> Istanbul -> [b]Bulgaria [/b]-> [b]Romania [/b]-> [b]Moldova [/b]-> Lviv (optional) -> Krakow, [b]Poland[/b].
Here is the first google map from Sicily to Budapest: link timed out
It is too early to specify the rest since I do not know the cities that are worth visiting yet.
Not quite sure if I can afford Switzerland again ( ;) ) and also, I consider going through Luxembourg some way just to grab a post card as I collect them from all the places I travel to, unfortunately forgot about it when I was there last time!
It is very draft of course. Now I need to manage all the cities, scenic routes, amazing locations, create a google map, etc. Hope with your help I can make this trip even more astonishing than the previous one :)
Thank you for your suggestions and opinions.
PS. Peter, is it possible to keep the links in this post pls?
Flo
Traveller
10724 comments
As promided a few words on your overall route.
Since you want to include the Bernina Railway again and also visit Liechtenstein the best option would be to go from Milano to Tirano - Bernina - Chur and then via Sargans and Buchs to Schaan-Vaduz, the central station of Liechtenstein. You have to be careful with planning as Liechtenstein wont be served by any train on weekends next year.
To get to Luzern, I would then recommend to travel with Voralpenexpress, another scenic route - although not as spectacular as the Bernina route it runs through lovely countryside. If you have enough time you can travel the complete route from St Gallen to Luzern via Arth-Goldau; it could be a bit quicker to just travel from Pfäffikon but I would consider that a question of fine-tuning.
From Luzern to Bern you should take the Brünig Railway and travel via Interlaken, quite a scenic trip again; you might also think about making a day trip to Aare Gorge from Meiringen (I might have suggested this last year already...) :D
[u]https://rail.cc/en/train/lucerne-to-interlaken[/u]
While in Luzern maybe also visit Mount Rigi...although it's not cheap it is a great experience with fantastic views over almost the whole of Switzerland on a bright day (blog post to follow...)
If there is still some time left I could recommend two other day trips from Luzern: Travel scenic Gotthard route to Göschenen, then through Schöllenen Gorge to Andermatt from where you could proceed up to Oberalppass - a bit similar to Bernina Railway.
Or continue on Gotthard Railway all the way to Locarno, then with Centovalli Railway to Domodossola and via Brig to Bern.
I just thought that it might be better to travel to Lyon before going to Bern: Luzern - Brünig Railway - Interlaken - MOB - Montreux - Geneve - Lyon (possible in one day), then back via Geneve to Bern and then take the night train Basel - Copenhagen.
I remember Copenhagen to be quite expensive, so you might look into staying in Malmö on the other side of Öresund instead.
To get to Berlin the best option would be the Malmö - Berlin night train, although it only runs thrice weekly in peak summer.
You could then travel Berlin - Hamburg - Frankfurt - Munich - Prague - Dresden - night train to Budapest - Bratislava - Wien - Ljubljana; that way you could include three trips on night trains to save time (and some money).
For this first part of the trip a 10in22 or one month IR pass should do the trick; depending on how your plans on Italy evolve you might use two consecutive 10in22 tickets.
Depending on where you want to go in Croatia you might use IR here as well; then somehow include Bosnia&Herzegowina and go to Montenegro to buy a Balkan Flexi Pass for travel in Montenegro, Serbia, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania.
Since you also want to include Kosovo and Albania and Greece you will have to rely on buses as well (will be needed to travel around Croatia/Bosnia/Montenegro as well...I cant recommend a particular route yet.
Keep in mind that there are no cross border trains into Greece and only limited services to Bulgaria (1x daily to Turkey and Serbia, 2x daily to Romania)
Oh, I forgot Luxembourg.
Well...then it might be better to travel Lyon - Bern - Luxembourg - Frankfurt - München - night train to Berlin - Hamburg - Copenhagen - Malmö - night train to Berlin and onwards to Dresden - Prague - night train to Budapest - Bratislava - Wien - ...
Flo 8)
cold__
Traveller
49 comments
Hi Flo,
Wow, very appreciate it! Thank you for such a detailed post. I need to check everything deeply out now. The other scenic route you mentioned sounds very interesting as well.
Will keep you updated and get back later.
Thanks again!!! I owe you a couple of beers ;)