Seeking Info on the following potential European destinations in one trip please

[PLANT]

Hi all,

Travelled extensively to multiple destinations but only in Europe London and Paris...self planned.
Not interested in 30+ bus trip to see the following.

Rome
Berlin
Prague
Athens(maybe a day to see sights or straight to Greek islands)
Dubrovnik

How would you do it?
Where would you fly into and out from?
Of course would seek to use QFF and VFF points to get there and back....
What time of the year?
Getting between places? AIR\train?
Places recommended to stay AirBnB or hotels
Tips and tricks that the travel agent forgot to mention or has not experienced?

Thankyou all for any input

 

[OATEK]

We flew Finnair J and you can tag on HEL-TXL as part of the fare. Ane probably get an open jaw return from either Rome or Athens. If in Berlin try a trip out to Schonhausen (Pankow). It is the old schloss used by the East German government to schmooze their friends (eg USSR).

A day or two the in Athens including a trip up to the Acropolis is worth it (look for the little green tourist train for a trip up via the Plaka district - see some pics in my trip report below). The Athens Gate Hotel in Athens has breath taking views of the Acropolis from some rooms and from the rooftop restaurant.

We have booked Aegean for the short hop to Santorini (JTH) and back next year, as it saves a day or more on the ferry.

 

[mooingchicken]

Europe summer will be the best time. June-August/September

I would look at the train option, atleast for places close, Dubrovnik-prague-berlin etc rome to greek islands look at train and then ferry, but I think flying would be easier for this leg.
Depending where to fly in and out of depends who you fly. If using VA into rome and out of berlin or vice verser might be best, perhaps Athens...

Dubrovnik, depending how long you are there, I would stay within the walls, or close to the entrances. (there is a Hilton inside), otherwise its a bit of a walk, but there is a half decent bus service (or taxis) note that there is no cars inside the walls.
Greek island - If you don't want to party I would avoid mykonos, I have heard Kos is good, but have not been myself, otherwise the sailing croatia is popular atm, and meant to be better than greek islands.

Prague, again stay somewhere central'ish, but there is a lot of trams to get around.

Athens everything is pretty spread out, so will need to train or taxis to get around and see the places, so location no as important. same with rome. both train systems are pretty good and not to hard to get around.

Berlin, has so much to do, again its spread out, but it is pretty walk'able.

you can get cheap business class out of asia to lots of euro destinations for around the 2k mark, so add on a Y ticket to asia, 2.8k for the longer half of the trip in J, if you go down the paid fare route. Finnair is one as mentioned

 

[Renato1]

Rome - We've been there for 11 days all up, which is just enough time to see the first tier historic sites. The second tier historic sites are more historic than those of most other places you are likely to visit. Visiting the main sites using the A and B train lines is relatively safe. But at some stage you'd have to use the buses to visit other sites. The buses are crowded and you would be extremely vulnerable to thieves. I spotted eight of them on one bus we were on.

If you get the opportunity, catch the train to Ostia Anticca, and spend a relaxing day wandering around an abandoned Roman town which is more interesting, and in much better shape, than Pompeii.

Berlin - Everyone I've spoken to who said they didn't like Berlin, when I then questioned them more closely, it transpired that they had all stayed in the old East Berlin. We stayed in the old West Berlin near the zoo, and had a marvellous time. We were only there for six days and ran of time to see lots of places we wanted to see. The Metro trains get you to most places of interest in east and west Berlin. It is also a very pleasant nature walk through the Tiergarten, and coming across statues with bullet hits in them from the war.

Prague - We were there for four days - it was enough to see the main sites - and were glad to see the back of it. The people were unfriendly and didn't seem to like us much at all, and had an attitude problem wherever we went. Except for briefly, for a three hour period one afternoon, we caught up with an astronomy friend of mine from Melbourne who now lives there, and he showed us the historical astronomy sites. At those places, everyone was quite friendly ( I don't know if it was because we were with him, or because they had better attitude at those sites than at the other places).

Athens - can't comment, haven't been there yet.

Dubrovnik - We stayed in Lapad, which is a 10 minute bus ride to the Dubrovnik walls. And there's a bus every ten minutes. Our apartment was great, and we really enjoyed relaxing at the Lapad promenade (where there are stacks of hotels) and where we didn't have to pay the rip-off prices for average food that we paid in central Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik itself only needs a day and a half to two days to see the major attractions within the walls. Yes, Walking the Walls is a must do experience, but really, some of the attractions that the Dubrovnik Card gets one entry into, are pretty average to sub-average.

Regards,
Renato

 

[PLANT]

Leaving June back September

Alright I have been given a potential itinerary and seeking input as it suddenly got longer....
Land in Amsterdam
2 nights AMS
Take cruise Norway for 14 nights
Train to Berlin
4 nights Berlin
Train to Prague
5 nights in Prague
Train to Vienna
5 nights Vienna
Train to Venice
2 nights Venice
Cruise 11 nights
Rome 4 nights
Train to Florence
Florence 3 nights
Train\flight Florence to Milan
5 nights Milan
Fly home

Too long in each place?
Better to fly than train?
Accom options places\links
Using points looks bloody hard both via Velocity and Qantas
Cheers

 

[GarrettM]

Berlin - Everyone I've spoken to who said they didn't like Berlin, when I then questioned them more closely, it transpired that they had all stayed in the old East Berlin. We stayed in the old West Berlin near the zoo, and had a marvellous time. We were only there for six days and ran of time to see lots of places we wanted to see. The Metro trains get you to most places of interest in east and west Berlin. It is also a very pleasant nature walk through the Tiergarten, and coming across statues with bullet hits in them from the war.

Can't imagine how anyone would not like Berlin. I've stayed in the West and East and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. Mind you they were both stays of 3-4 days each.

PLANT - You could never hope to see everything important, but you won't lack for trying. As mentioned the Tiergarten is great. Public transport is fairly simple. Very walkable as well, and you will still find plenty of evidence of 20th Century conflict in many buildings.
Museum Island is fantastic although gets quite crowded as you'd expect. The walking tours of the area are pretty neat, or you can do your own thing.
I'm not a huge traveller by any means, but Berlin is one place that I felt the weight of events as I walked through it. Definitely planning to go back again whenever I next can.

For something different - if you have a sciencey bent - check out a day trip to Potsdam to the south-west. Former home of the Prussian kings and now a major science centre for Europe.
I reckon September is good. Still warmish but without the massive tourist influx of June/July.
Plenty of cool sights as well.

In Berlin we went AirBnB the last time. A cute apartment in Kreuzberg. Easy walk to the main trainline and river, but not heaps around in terms of entertainment.

 

[GarrettM]

Leaving June back September

Alright I have been given a potential itinerary and seeking input as it suddenly got longer....
Land in Amsterdam
2 nights AMS
Take cruise Norway for 14 nights
Train to Berlin
4 nights Berlin
Train to Prague
5 nights in Prague
Train to Vienna
5 nights Vienna
Train to Venice
2 nights Venice
Cruise 11 nights
Rome 4 nights
Train to Florence
Florence 3 nights
Train\flight Florence to Milan
5 nights Milan
Fly home

Too long in each place?
Better to fly than train?
Accom options places\links
Using points looks bloody hard both via Velocity and Qantas
Cheers

Others may disagree, but I think 5 nights in Prague is one too many, and 2 in Amsterdam is one too few.
But that's purely my experience. YMMV

 

[mooingchicken]

Probably don't need 3 nights in Florence... unless you want to spend a lot of time at the museums.
5 nights in Prague/Vienna may be a bit much, but I really liked both. One place i might also suggest is Budapest, if time allows, it was a really cool city.

Also I have heard there isn't much to do in Milan, unless your into fashion and all that, but I think my mum is going there so if people have suggestions, I will pass onto her.

 

[Renato1]

Leaving June back September

Alright I have been given a potential itinerary and seeking input as it suddenly got longer....
Land in Amsterdam
2 nights AMS
Take cruise Norway for 14 nights
Train to Berlin
4 nights Berlin
Train to Prague
5 nights in Prague
Train to Vienna
5 nights Vienna
Train to Venice
2 nights Venice
Cruise 11 nights
Rome 4 nights
Train to Florence
Florence 3 nights
Train\flight Florence to Milan
5 nights Milan
Fly home

Too long in each place?
Better to fly than train?
Accom options places\links
Using points looks bloody hard both via Velocity and Qantas
Cheers

If it was me,
- one more night in west Berlin, and one less in Prague, and
- maybe one less night in Vienna and one more night in Venice, and
- I don't understand why the five nights in Milan - unless you are doing day trips from there to the lakes - I'd only spend two nights there, and redistribute the other three nights between Florence and Rome.
Regards,
Renato

 

[Renato1]

Can't imagine how anyone would not like Berlin. I've stayed in the West and East and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. Mind you they were both stays of 3-4 days each.

Excluding the old East Berlin area in front of the Brandenberg Gate which has had heaps of money poured into it, a lot of the rest of it was fairly run down. And some places in East Berlin we ate at seemed very reminiscent of what we experienced in other former eastern block places like Prague and Budapest (i.e. not very clean, poor to very poor attitude).

My Dentist was giving a lecture in Berlin earlier this year, and I gave him a run down of what to expect based on our visit there back in 2007. When he got back he told me that the parts of east Berlin he visited weren't quite as bad as he thought they'd be based on my description, but that yes, the difference I had described was still quite noticeable.
Regards,
Renato

 

[PLANT]

Due to FF points usage to get there cutting off Norway cruise. Thinking day trips from Milan.... As I thought to long there too.