An Aussie travelling to Europe - First Time, Help Needed!

[MikeAU]

Nice timetable MikeAU! When do you plan to do the trip?
Btw, if you don´t know this already, you can (and should!!!) book tickets for most of the museums online. I remember that I was lucky to only need 2 hours to get into the uffici galleries because I did some tricks to get in early, otherwise four hours in daytime are not unusual...

In Munich you should plan to visit the Viktualienmarkt if you like to taste good food. You will see lots of native specialities including humans:)
Whenever you come to my hometown I can give you a short trip through the small remainings of the older centre of Berlin and give some advice for chill activities. Bring sunshine please :D

The trip is from 1st August 2015 to around the 10th of September. So by the time I reach Germany/Netherlands it will technically be fall, however, the rest of EU will be during the last month of summer.

The Viktualienmarkt looks pretty good -- looked up some history about it and will certainly make some time to visit. I am not sure what you mean by "native specialties including humans" however, at a glance I think it is safe to say that i'll pass....or should I say nein danke?

I certainly want to try the beer over there and purchase some steins to bring back, i've been told the Hofbräuhaus München is definitely worth a visit in Munich? And closer to the time, I may hit you up on a bit of a guided tour of Berlin and i'll shout you a beer and/or bring you over some Aussie food (apparently Tim-Tam's are all the rage in EU and US)? I'll do my best to bring the sunshine, but no promises! I've actually never seen falling snow, so it'd be pretty uncanny if I saw it when I was over there :P

 

[whistle]

for rome I think the time-consuming attractions are best split into two days: one day for the vatican and one day for colosseum/forum. each of those probably will take up most of a day (tourist day being 10 till 4). then for the last two days you can walk around with no purpose enjoying rome/see other attractions (pantheon/trevi fountain/spanish steps)/revisit portions of the first two days where you didn't get to spend a lot of time (palatine hill/random pope event that happens at specific times). the metro system is a straightforward two-line cross and their bus stops are all digitized and tell you estimated arrivals along with destinations. I think you should just walk everywhere though. BUT - if you have four days, it's pretty much impossible to screw up (rome is a two day city for non-classical minded travelers imo).

if you buy a postcard and mail it from within the vatican grounds (there's drop boxes) you get the vatican stamp.

not sure what you have planned for luzern/zurich but if you find yourself with time left over, consider a daytrip to bern. I spent about 3-4 hours there walking through the different layers of the historical city and didn't feel too rushed, although you could easily stay longer if you wanted to.

if you want to do the versailles daytrip from paris, leave as early as you can in the morning.

 

[Sapientia]

The trip is from 1st August 2015 to around the 10th of September. So by the time I reach Germany/Netherlands it will technically be fall, however, the rest of EU will be during the last month of summer.

The Viktualienmarkt looks pretty good -- looked up some history about it and will certainly make some time to visit. I am not sure what you mean by "native specialties including humans" however, at a glance I think it is safe to say that i'll pass....or should I say nein danke?

I certainly want to try the beer over there and purchase some steins to bring back, i've been told the Hofbräuhaus München is definitely worth a visit in Munich? And closer to the time, I may hit you up on a bit of a guided tour of Berlin and i'll shout you a beer and/or bring you over some Aussie food (apparently Tim-Tam's are all the rage in EU and US)? I'll do my best to bring the sunshine, but no promises! I've actually never seen falling snow, so it'd be pretty uncanny if I saw it when I was over there :P

I'm from munich and I'm not sure what he means either =P
The Viktualienmarkt is worth visting and in the center anyways, so you should go there.

Yes, you should go to the Hofbräu - not just for drinking, also the food there is good. If you want to try some beers, there are also a lot of good beergardens in Munich (Augustinergarten, Hirschgarten, Nockherberg to name a few), but in the fall you need to be lucky with the weather if you want to visit them. And I guess you won't see snow in germany in september, unless you got to the alpes :x

 

[hard]

MikeAU good luck with your snow, we only have Schnee in our clubs but I can´t recommend that. Germany isn´t the WinterWonderland you know. But I can keep some snow in my fridge for you to take home :P

Sapientia nice to meet a german fellow in an aussie thread! I can recommend most of those locations as well, and had some luck with the weather even during Oktoberfest, you get quite some sun in the "south".

It really has been very warm in september over the last years, so it might be a good time for outdoor clubbing if you are into that.
best to enjoy the 24/7 club culture over here as long as it still exists, who knows what time will bring.

 

[MikeAU]

MikeAU good luck with your snow, we only have Schnee in our clubs but I can´t recommend that. Germany isn´t the WinterWonderland you know. But I can keep some snow in my fridge for you to take home :P

Sapientia nice to meet a german fellow in an aussie thread! I can recommend most of those locations as well, and had some luck with the weather even during Oktoberfest, you get quite some sun in the "south".

It really has been very warm in september over the last years, so it might be a good time for outdoor clubbing if you are into that.
best to enjoy the 24/7 club culture over here as long as it still exists, who knows what time will bring.

Cheers, just keep it in the back of the freezer!

Hard to believe it is like 7months tomorrow until the trip! Everything is paid for and locked in, so besides packing and preparing to deal with the horrid flight... 15hrs to Dubai, then 8 to London. Cannot wait though.

Besides the normal tourist stuff, what are some must-see/do things in Germany? I know there are a million so I was more thinking from a local's perspective, what can you not afford to miss out on?

 

[Blkmage0253]

So I can offer a bit of insight on Switzerland as I was there for about 3 months. It may help a bit to know what exactly you're interested in seeing in CH. As others have already stated, best way to get around Switzerland is by train. They go to all of the major cities and also pretty much all of the picturesque towns.

I would honestly say that Swiss cities are on the whole not all that fascinating. Bern and Lausanne are nice. Zurich is the largest city and probably has the most going on in the way of nightlife. I'd really recommend spending a few days hiking though if that's your thing. Switzerland is truly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The backdrops to the cities are nice, but actually being in the mountains is another thing entirely.

For some idea on day hikes, check out this page on the Via Alpina, which is an extended hiking trail crossing the Alps from east to west. I think the whole thing is like 370 km but it's split into 20 or so "stages," which can easily be done as day hikes. Between each stage is a town with (AFAIK) a train station, accomodation, food, etc. So you can (1) do a day hike from one town to the next and just take a train back to whatever city you're staying in or (2) do a day hike from one town and turn around half way or so back to the town you started from (a good option if you're not sure you can finish the hike). Some of the segments I did were Grindelwald --> Lauterbrunnen and Griesalp --> Kandersteg, both of which were incredible.

If you're not that into hiking, I would say still check out Interlaken and Grindelwald, the former being a large tourist town (with activities like skydiving and paragliding if that interests you) and the latter being a much smaller but still very well-known town. These are both around central Switzerland and somewhat close to Bern (1-1.5 hr train ride away). Zuerich is further north towards the border with Germany. Lucerne is halfway between Bern and Zuerich and supposed to be very nice, but I've never been so maybe someone else can advise you.

In the southwest closer to the French-speaking section and on the border with Italy is the town of Zermatt, which you'll probably know if you google pictures of it since it's where the Matterhorn is. Plenty of easy day hikes to do here and also many tourists in town.

I really don't know anything about the Italian part of CH so best leave that to google or someone here who actually knows about that.

So that's pretty much all I can think of...sorry for the terrible organization -- I was just writing as the thoughts hit me.

And there aren't really any faux pas that are particular to Switzerland. Maybe just be aware that there are four national languages (Swiss German, French, Italian, and Romansch (spoken by a very small minority)). Often times, people from different sections of the country (especially younger people) will communicate with each other via English. I noticed there was some casual rivalry between the French and German regions. If you can speak decent French or German, then definitely try to use it when you can in those respective regions, but French in the German region and vice versa will definitely get you a few looks.

Enjoy your trip! I'll actually be back in Switzerland next summer to do all of the Via Alpina :D

Feel free to message me if you want more details or have any questions!

 

[MikeAU]

So I can offer a bit of insight on Switzerland as I was there for about 3 months. It may help a bit to know what exactly you're interested in seeing in CH. As others have already stated, best way to get around Switzerland is by train. They go to all of the major cities and also pretty much all of the picturesque towns.

I would honestly say that Swiss cities are on the whole not all that fascinating. Bern and Lausanne are nice. Zurich is the largest city and probably has the most going on in the way of nightlife. I'd really recommend spending a few days hiking though if that's your thing. Switzerland is truly one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The backdrops to the cities are nice, but actually being in the mountains is another thing entirely.

If you're not that into hiking, I would say still check out Interlaken and Grindelwald, the former being a large tourist town (with activities like skydiving and paragliding if that interests you) and the latter being a much smaller but still very well-known town. These are both around central Switzerland and somewhat close to Bern (1-1.5 hr train ride away). Zuerich is further north towards the border with Germany. Lucerne is halfway between Bern and Zuerich and supposed to be very nice, but I've never been so maybe someone else can advise you.

In the southwest closer to the French-speaking section and on the border with Italy is the town of Zermatt, which you'll probably know if you google pictures of it since it's where the Matterhorn is. Plenty of easy day hikes to do here and also many tourists in town.

And there aren't really any faux pas that are particular to Switzerland. Maybe just be aware that there are four national languages (Swiss German, French, Italian, and Romansch (spoken by a very small minority)). Often times, people from different sections of the country (especially younger people) will communicate with each other via English. I noticed there was some casual rivalry between the French and German regions. If you can speak decent French or German, then definitely try to use it when you can in those respective regions, but French in the German region and vice versa will definitely get you a few looks.

Enjoy your trip! I'll actually be back in Switzerland next summer to do all of the Via Alpina :D!

Cheers Blkmage0253! Apologies for not responding sooner -- been a very action packed January and unfortunately could not take any leave from work as its all set aside for Europe!

My interests are a bit all over the place. I'm not a big history buff but Renaissance Italy, I know more and have more books than i'd care to admit, however, once we leave Italy (spending 2 weeks across Rome, Florence and Venice) the activities seem to shift from day-tours and historical sights/tourist stuff to relaxing, scenery and all.

I'm very big on culture and just living as the locals do -- experience what life is like from food/drink to customs, etc. I am most looking forward to the scenic offerings of Switzerland, Germany and Amsterdam as I do a lot of photography.

I'll post up an updated itinerary as I'll need some help filling in the days once I hit the above 3 countries.

6months to go and its creeping up -- and startin to stress out about packing, etc. :P Moreso making sure I know what to pack as I have a horrible tendency to not do anything until the night before.